BEHOLD THE VOICE OF GOD

Isaiah 1:1-9

1The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah

and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,

kings of Judah. 2

:
“Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me. 1

Behold the voice of God. That is the launching point of this book and of our message today. Behold – stop, look, listen.

There are almost eight billion people alive today on planet earth. That means human beings are speaking as many as fifty trillion words every day in various languages. And now with the growth of the internet, Wi- Fi availability, podcasts, streaming channels, cable television, film, etc. we are drowning in a sea of voices.

But do you hear the voice of God?

Can you hear what he is saying?

In 1972 Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer published a book titled He Is There, and He Is Not Silent. In this book he argued the question that human beings have been asking for millennia – “Why is there something rather than nothing?” He concluded the only possible answer to be the existence of a triune God (one God in three persons – Father,

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 1:1–2). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 1

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the LORD has spoken

Son, and Holy Spirit) who speaks, and through his speaking reveals himself to us.

The reality is that, even based on the title of Schaeffer’s book, there is a presumed silence of God. And with the religiosity that so overwhelms us, people today tend to be satisfied with what they seek – not a deep relationship with the living God who loves them, has a plan for them, desires they know him, and seeks to offer full and abundant living but a religion or even a watered-down version of Christianity that offers a “verse-a-day to keep the troubles away” theology that ultimately is little more than a Christianized version of the surface-level, all-encompasing phrases found in fortune cookies.

No wonder there is such a struggle to hear God.

But here’s the great promise:

WE CAN KNOW, BECAUSE GOD HAS SPOKEN.

God has spoken. He is speaking.

Words create worlds.

God said “Let there be...light, seas, land, humanity” and by his word all that is was created.

Our words create worlds as well, but sadly they often devolve into worlds of shame, sarcasm, negativity, complaints, blame, frustration, and the like. That is why a positive, uplifting, good word is so valued and so rare.

God speaks words and his words create worlds. He speaks good news to undeserving bad people. This is the voice of grace and the message of the gospel.

2

The book of Isaiah is no easy read, but it has been called the most theologically significant book in the Old Testament. Theological giants from throughout Christian church history have called Isaiah’s book the richest in the Old Testament and the prophet himself as one of the greatest throughout Scripture. It is said that he is a prized treasure among those who have studied and read his writings.

His book is deep poetry. It is challenging. It is long. And if you dare jump into the prophet’s Holy Spirit-inspired writings you will no doubt stop at times saying “What did I just read?” While we will not dissect every verse in this expansive book, we will dig deeply where we do pause. We will step into this challenge of prophetic truth knowing that it will be hard. Knowing that the prophet’s words are like meat to many who are used to drinking milk. It is not easy...but who said this should be easy? Challenges are not uncommon for humanity. People have climbed Mt. Everest for decades. Dives to even deeper parts of the ocean than ever before have occurred in our lifetimes. Some here today were born in a decade when spaceflight was something left for science fiction and then Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked upon the moon. Now, humanity sets its sights on Mars and beyond. Whether delving into the great unknown of the vastness of space, climbing the tallest mountains, diving the deepest seas, or studying the subatomic levels of creation, we are drawn to challenges.

So, let’s step into this challenge together, even if only for a few weeks.

Who is Isaiah? First, as stated in verse 1, he is the son of Amoz. But that doesn’t help much because the Bible doesn’t tell us who Amoz is. Yet, rabbinical oral tradition tells us that Amoz was the brother of Amaziah and Amaziah was the king of Judah. Therefore, Isaiah has a royal lineage. We know Isaiah was married and had children. We believe he resided in Jerusalem. He was clearly a literary savant. With all that we do know, it is his name that tells us most. Isaiah means “The Lord saves.” His identity was an announcement to the people. And while that is beautiful and right, people do not by nature like that reality. Why?

3

Because the human heart focuses on being self-made, self-focused, and not needing anyone or anything. Isaiah’s name reminded everyone he met that they could not help themselves and that God alone could save.

What is this book about? He is a prophet, a seer. He sees.
Isaiah 2:1 - The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning

Judah and Jerusalem. 2

Isaiah “saw” a word. Now, logically we would say that it makes sense to hear a word, but to see a word? Unless you’re speaking of those who live with hearing loss and communicate with sign language, seeing a word is strange. No, Isaiah was not using sign language here. He was however, revealing to all the readers and listeners that we need a new way of seeing.

God is offering a new lens, a new view, a new perspective of seeing that reveals truth. This is the voice of God revealed.

As Ray Ortlund states:
“Left to ourselves, we live on the level of impressions and hunches and gut reactions. We are blind to the things we most need to know. But a prophet was enabled to see beyond the immediate. A prophet was not fooled or stampeded. He was a seer.”

The focus of the book is God. We are reminded throughout the prophetic word to “behold” him. To pause, to linger longer, to think deeply, to get what he is saying, to see what he is saying, to see the word, to hear the word, to know the word and ultimately, to be transformed by His Word who would come ultimately in the form of man, the God-man, Jesus Christ.

2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 2:1). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 4

God’s people in this era of Isaiah were arrogant and idolatrous. The concern Isaiah had of his countrymen, his brothers and sisters, his neighbors and family members is the same we have today. Many in our post-modern, technologically-savvy, knowledge-based, self-actualized culture would say that idols are a thing of the past. These are historic relics designed by less intelligent and enlightened people groups to explain the confusing and to offer some form of existential meaning to life.

And when Christians are speaking of idols, the only thing many remember are the sermons from years past where some preacher said “your money is your idol, your car is you idol, your house is your idol” and so forth, and today...that just seems so elementary.

Yet, idolatry reigns in the hearts of man. John Calvin stated that the “human heart is a perpetual idol factory” and he is not wrong.

Isaiah understands the power of God. He also understands the power of the non-gods. Daily the deepest fears of humanity hide behind amusements, games, professional achievements, our children’s accomplishments, or even smaller or lesser fears.

We are blamers.

You see a car wreck and immediately say “I bet they were texting while driving.” Maybe, but why does that come to mind? Because we seek to find blame. Blame is reassuring.

We do all we can to deny the true reality. In a culture where death is all around, people avoid even talking about it, much less planning for services. Attending funerals increase as we age, but if possible, many would never attend.

5

Fear is replaced by self-confidence, but it is not really confidence. It is a façade. So we ignore realities. We forget things, sometimes intentionally.

The people of Isaiah’s day were stuck in the motions of religion. When difficulties came, God was ignored. He was seen as being of no help. He was irrelevant – a monument to their ancestors, but not active, living, or worshipped.

And through this amazing book and through this obedient servant the Lord is announcing to the people that he is the LORD and that he saves and that we are sinners in need of salvation.

In Isaiah’s day the message was not received well. It was unpopular. Today that is true as well.

Behold, the voice of God, see what he is saying. Hear what he is saying. Receive what he is saying.

God speaks, but are we listening? That still, small voice remains. The message has not changed. It is not changing. It is eternally true. And it is the message for you, for me, for those far from him, and for all who need rescue.

Behold the voice of God. If you cannot hear him, do you know him at all?

Or if you do know him and your salvation is secure, but you do not hear him, there must be a reason. It is not because he has stopped speaking.

Behold the voice of God.