Get Going! - Isaiah 48:16-22

Chad Richard Bresson

The Table of Los Fresnos

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Get out!

Yelling “fire” in a crowded theater was outlawed in 1919. The law was the product of a problem in the late 1800s of people doing exactly that. By 1919 there were more than 30 incidents of people yelling “fire” in crowded places. And people died as a result. However, if there really is a fire, it’s OK. Context is everything. If something bad is going to happen, you want to be told to “get out”.

Even “get out” has its own context. Ever told someone to “get out”? Yeah. That too. We have this phrase in our passage today. God tells his people living in Babylon to “go out” and “flee”. There are a lot of readings of this passage that tend to emphasize God’s displeasure at Israel and while their unbelief is an issue in this passage, is God really shouting at them to “get out” almost in anger or exasperation or even as if Babylon is on fire? I think there’s another way to read this because the entire verse has to be heard.

This isn’t to say Israel is all fine and dandy. They are not. Of course, they are not. Earlier in chapter 48 they are called obstinate. They’ve always been obstinate. It’s why they are where they are. Moses called it just before he died. You’re stubborn. You’re disobedient. You’re faithless. Bunch of idolators you are. And through the centuries, they lived up to Moses’ words. While there were some highlights of their faith and love for the gospel, most of their history is just unbelief and disobedience. God’s patience with them wore out. And God sends the big bad Assyrians and Babylonians to dispense judgment on Israel. They’ve lost their homeland, their temple, their kingdom… all of it. And they are taken hundreds of miles to a place that doesn’t share their culture, doesn’t share their language, and doesn’t share their religion.

Listen!

Israel has been there for quite a few decades and in spite of all the bad stuff, in spite of the PTSD, they are still obstinate. They don’t want God… and from the way it sounds, they kind of like Babylon. God promises to send them a Savior called Cyrus and their response is one big yawn. They’re stuck, they’re getting a savior, but you get the sense they don’t really feel the urge to go back to Jerusalem. They are still not listening. In fact, here in Isaiah 48, the word “listen” occurs more than 11 times.

And God’s heart is laid bare here for his people. Few places in Isaiah where you have this strong sense of emotion of heartbreak from God. Verse 18 is raw:

Isaiah 48:18–19 If only you had paid attention to my commands. Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains; their name would not be cut off or eliminated from my presence.

This is agonizing. Do you hear it? “If only you had.” Ever hear that? “If only you had” done this or that. Nobody wants to hear that. Nobody likes hearing it. Regret voiced at someone else. But then there’s the devastating realization… the phrase “would have been”. You put “If only you had” with “would have been”, you have some devastating language.

If only you had paid attention...

Your peace would have been

Your righteousness would have been

Your descendents would have been

Your offspring would have been

Their name would not have been

It’s one thing for us to say things like this to each other. The emotions are high when you hear it. Just imagine the Creator of the Universe saying this. “It didn’t have to be this way.” “If only you had, everything would have been different.” And look at the missed opportunities… every single one of them, benefits of salvation and the gospel… peace, righteousness, a name, offspring. If only you had listened. If only you had believed the gospel.. you’d have all the benefits of salvation. That’s the heart of a Savior who passionately desires to give his people salvation and forgiveness.

Missed opportunities. Missed expectations. Shattered dreams. All you had to do was. You had one job. Believe me. Trust me.

But here they are. They are not listening. Once again, they are in love with a life without God and without His best for them. In fact, history tells us that many of the Jews who were deported to Babylon started new businesses and built big homes… making a lot of money in the process. Life was better here than it was in Jerusalem for many of them.

Leave and flee

But God is sending Cyrus to free them from Babylon. And so Isaiah says… time to go. Get out. Get going.

Isaiah 48:20 “Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans!

Leave. Flee. It was the whole boiling frog syndrome. You know, it is said that if a frog is placed in hot water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in lukewarm water that is gradually heated, it will never get out, but slowly die. The exiles are calling their Babylonian basement the new normal.

But here’s the interesting thing. God’s pleading with them hasn’t stopped. The raw emotion is still there. “Leave” and “flee” are flowing out of a heart of compassion and love. And we know this because of the four commands that follow. It’s not simply that they are to “leave” and “flee” because they’ve become complacent. They have a story to tell.

Isaiah 48:20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with a shout of joy, proclaim this, let it go out to the end of the earth; announce, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

Leave and flee.. with the Gospel

Here the centerpiece for everything he is saying:

Declare.

Proclaim.

Let it go out.

Announce.

The LORD has redeemed!

I’ve seen some attach these imperatives or commands to the “leave” and “flee” as if that what is to be announced. The CSB has it right. It’s not the leaving and fleeing they are to declare… it’s the Lord’s redemption they are to declare. It’s not our response that we proclaim… it’s God’s actions on our behalf. They declare, proclaim, let it go out, and announce the gospel, as they are fleeing.

It’s time to get going. You’re being redeemed. You have a story to tell. And the story you’re telling is the same story for as long as you’ve existed: you’re a redeemed people. No matter what you’ve done, no matter how complacent you’ve become, no matter how much you don’t listen, this is your story. Leave, flee, because I’ve already redeemed you.

And it’s not just “let it go out”. “Let it go out to the end of the earth”. Israel isn’t just being pushed out of Babylon back to Jerusalem. This proclamation of God’s saving activity on his people’s behalf is to fill the earth. It’s to span every inch of the globe. So that there’s no place anywhere where God’s redemption isn’t being proclaimed.

And the redemption that he is providing them through Cyrus, the Gentile, is a movie they’ve already seen. That’s verse 21:

Isaiah 48:21 They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow from the rock for them; he split the rock, and water gushed out.

Their Savior has already done this once before. Through the Red Sea. He’s not only redeeming them and saving them from Egypt, he’s giving them water. He’s always providing water to the thirsty. One interesting thing here… “he made the water flow… he split the rock”. Hundreds of years later, God’s just subtly reminding everybody that he did all that. In case anyone really thinks Moses did all that. But that reminder about who is doing what runs to the heart of what’s happening here in Babylon. God is providing redemption to a people who aren’t all that jazzed about leaving Babylon, just like he was providing redemption and water for a people not all that jazzed about leaving Egypt.

I mean that’s the grace of the gospel being proclaimed. You want to know why they are to declare it with a shout of joy, and proclaim, and let it go out, and announce that they’ve been redeemed again. Because God has again redeemed a people that don’t deserve it.

No peace for the wicked

This section ends with one of the most popular verses in the Bible.

Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

This really is a popular verse. I’ve heard politicians use it. I hear preachers use it, usually in ways that are not helpful. Heard a character on TV use the line recently… “there’s no peace for the wicked. it’s my job to make sure there’s no peace.” Not sure that’s what God has in mind when he says this.

He’s already said “if you had only paid attention, you would have had peace like a river”. He’s again trying to get their attention. This is one of those places where the popular take is usually pretty close to the original. There really is no peace for the wicked. But you want to know why? Typically when we hear this in pop culture, the context is behavior. And the context is pagans. Oh man, that’s a bad guy… there’s going to be no peace for him. But here… the context is God’s people and their relationship to the gospel. There is no peace for those who refuse to rest in the gospel. There is no peace for those who just refuse to place all of their eggs in the Jesus basket. And in this context, there is no peace for those who are all about behavior… those who think that the law defines life. There is no peace for those who are trusting their self-sufficiency in the Christian life.

You’ve been redeemed; now flee!

The point of all this for us is that we’re all in bondage to something. We’re obsessed with all sorts of things. And it’s not just the typical vice list. That’s too easy. We’re obsessed with being successful. We’re obsessed with being on top. We’re obsessed with being right. We’re obsessed with the law and making sure that everybody is complying. And we’re stuck on the hamster wheel of making sure our holiness is enough. There is no peace there. There is no peace in the pursuit of always being right. There is no peace in always being obsessed about the behavior being circumspect.

To a people that don’t deserve it, God, in raw compassion, begs us to “leave” and “flee” our obsessions. Flee your self-sufficiency. Flee your lack of needing Jesus for the Christian life because you’ve got it. Flee the identity that is based on behavior. Jesus has already provided your salvation. Jesus has already redeemed you. He is your living water.

And tell the story. “Did you know that Jesus saves people who don’t deserve it”? “Did you know that Jesus is my redeemer, even though I’m not always about redemption?”

Isaiah 48:20 Declare with a shout of joy, proclaim this, let it go out to the end of the earth; announce, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

That’s your identity. That’s your story. That’s the story we’re telling to anyone who will listen… as we get going out of our own Babylons, fleeing to Jesus, again, because he’s the only one who provides us with living water.

This is one more instance in which Israel and we are being told that the cross is our identity. Jesus has redeemed us at the cross. An obstinate stubborn people. When was the last time you told somebody, “Yep, Jesus saved stubborn ole me”? Redemption has been so bound up with the American success story. “Look, who Jesus redeemed! Those who had the internal fortitude to repent. Those who had the brain smarts to see a good deal when they see one. Those who made the good decision for Jesus.” What about Jesus redeemed me when I didn’t want it?

I mean the language here in Isaiah is that God is telling people to flee AFTER they have been redeemed. You’re apathetic? I just sent Cyrus. He’s opened the gates back to Jerusalem. You like your life here. I’ve already redeemed you. You’re free to go. Leave. Flee. With the gospel on your lips because that’s your identity.

Let’s pray.

The Table

This is our redemption. We proclaim it. We announce it. This is the Table where Jesus provides peace for the wicked. Jesus meets us here and he shatters all of our self-sufficiency and our self-importance. This is where he confronts our apathy and provides us with the freedom and joy to talk about what He has done for us and does for us, over and over again at this Table.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

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