Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20030706.htm

ISAIAH: GOD'S DIRECTIVE TO THOSE TROUBLED AT GOVERNMENTAL APOSTASY
Part II: God's Work To Shift Man's Trust In Human Government's False Crutches To Trust In God Alone
(Isaiah 2:5-22)
  1. Introduction
    1. Left to himself, mankind historically realizes his insight and abilities are no match for the unpredictable and often overpowering, threatening events of his earthly life.
    2. Man can respond incorrectly by collecting many false crutches for happiness or he can trust in God alone, and Isaiah 2:5-22 reveals the need to do the latter (as follows):
  2. God's Work To shift Man's Trust In Human Government's False Crutches To Trust In God Alone.
    1. The kings and people of Judah had looked to a variety of earthly sources to secure fulfillment in living:
      1. Isaiah called for the people of Judah to walk in the revelation of God versus their own darkness, 2:5.
      2. His reason for this call comes from the false crutches her kings and people used to secure fulfillment:
        1. The kings and people of Judah had looked to Oriental and Assyrian religions to secure fulfillment in living, so God had forsaken the nation, Isaiah 2:6a.
        2. The kings and people of Judah had come to depend on soothsayers, a witchcrast practice borrowed from the Philistines to secure fulfillment in living so God had forsaken the nation, Isaiah 2:6b.
        3. The kings and people of Judah had looked to material goods, financial wealth and horses to secure fulfillment in living and national defense respectively, so God had forsaken the nation, Isaiah 2:7. (This occurred during king Uzziah's reign where material and military might were greatly expanded, 2 Chron. 26:8-15: (a) Uzziah constructed towers in Jerusalem for the purpose of defense, 2 Chron. 26:8-9; (b) he built towers in the desert and dug many wells to protect and sustain agricultural pursuits for economic gain, 2 Chron. 26:10; (c) he mustered a large standing force of warriors for his nation's defense, 2 Chron. 26:11-13 and (d) equipped them amply with the best in personal weapons and group siege works for warfare with any nation at the time, 2 Chron. 26:14, 15. Even the powerful land of Egypt respected Uzziah's strength, 2 Chron. 26:8.)
        4. The kings and people of Judah had replaced trust in God with dependence on foreign idols made with human hands to secure fulfillment in living, so God had forsaken them, Isaiah 2:8-9.
    2. Thus, God promised to remove these crutches upon which Judah's kings and people were leaning to secure fulfillment, and to do so in short-term as well as long-term, end-time judgments, Isaiah 2:10-21:
      1. In judgment, God promised to show His might in contrast to Israel's helplessness in her sins of looking to false crutches for fulfillment, Isaiah 2:10, 19. Though this hiding of people in the rocks and holes of the earth partially occurred in the Babylonian invasion, long-term, this judgment also portrays the Great Tribulation judgments on the whole world, cf. Revelation 6:15-17.
      2. In judgment, God promised to humble the proud who trusted in man, Isaiah 2:11-14.
      3. In judgment, God promised to ruin the works of man that were used for national security, Isaiah 2:15.
      4. In judgment, God promised to ruin the ships that brought material goods and false religious beliefs from distant pagan lands to His people in Judah, Isaiah 2:16-17.
      5. In judgment, God promised to ruin the idols men had formed for false worship, Isaiah 2:18-21.
    3. In summary, God challenged Judah's kings and people to avoid trusting in man and his ideas, goods, creations and idols to secure fulfillment in life, for man is like a temporary breath that passes away, meaning all he does to secure his fulfillment is incapable of accomplishing that end, Isaiah 2:22.
Lesson: God promised to SHIFT Judah's RELIANCE on MAN and his WEAK and ERRANT IDEAS or WORKS to secure fulfillment in this life BACK to HIMSELF where that trust PROPERLY belonged, and to use UNSETTLING JUDGMENT in the process to accomplish this end!

Application: (1) ANYTHING that SUPPLANTS God HIMSELF as our source of fulfillment, be it a false religious belief, an errant experiential religious practice, material item or money, etc. is an IDOL that God does NOT TOLERATE: either WE must RID ourselves of it or GOD will do so FOR us in DISCIPLINE! (2) At the GOVERNMENTAL level (as this lesson series applies), we as a NATION must trust in GOD and NOT our economic or military might for our security or suffer His discipline!