Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist – Isaiah 9:8-10:4: What Will You Do on the Day of Punishment?

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Once again, Isaiah preaches against the arrogance of His own people. They think that they can build back better after His judgment, but His anger is not turned away. They did not turn back to the LORD after He struck them, and so His anger is not turned away. In wickedness, the people of God fight against themselves, and so His anger is not turned away. Finally, the LORD declares woe on His iniquitous people and asks them a poignant question: “What will you do on the day of punishment? To whom will you flee for help?” Though the people fail to see it in their unbelief, the only right answer is, “The LORD. He alone is the saving refuge.”

Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 9:8-10:4.

“The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 1-39. The prophet proclaims to the people of his day and throughout history that the Holy One of Israel alone is exalted. Those who put their trust in the strength of man will be brought low, but those who trust in the LORD will see that He is their Immanuel. Jesus is God with us who reigns over the kingdom of God forever and ever!

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Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: [e-mail]

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

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Isaiah 9:8-10:4

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

⁸ The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
⁹ and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰ “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹ But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
¹² The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

¹³ The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴ So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵ the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶ for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.^[a]
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸ For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
²⁰ They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
²¹ Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
² to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³ What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org