“Natural Law vs. Human Law”
Isaiah 28:14-29
Last week we looked at the beginning of Chapter 28 and discovered both the political leaders as well as the spiritual leaders chose to do things their own way. Isaiah saw it and called it what it was,
People refusing to trust in God, and putting their trust in themselves and the nations around them.
The results of such behavior was written in verse 13,
so that as they go they will fall backward;
   they will be injured and snared and captured.
Isaiah switches his focus in today’s Scripture from the leaders in the northern kingdom, to the leaders of the southern kingdom, Jerusalem. Verse 14 begins with the word, “Therefore,” as if to call the leaders of Jerusalem to learn something from the message he just delivered to the leaders of the north.
Isaiah then makes a sarcastic restatement, in verse 15, revealing a bit of the truth, that should the rulers in Jerusalem continue to make an alliance with Egypt and put their trust there instead of with God, they indeed have, “entered into a covenant with death.”
God gives a response to this alliance in the next 4 verses, 16-19b. Instead of the “lie” on which the leaders had built their “refuge,” God laid a “tested stone” which was measured by the “justice” and “righteousness” of God. Their refuge would be torn away by any sort of difficulty, such as hail or rain. The so called “hiding place” which the Jewish leaders created would be swept away, “morning after morning,” again and again. Which, by the way, ended up being an exact description of how the Assyrian army won. They came back to an area, again and again, and kept returning until it was completely destroyed.
Isaiah then puts in his reflection on what the Lord had to say. In the second part of verse 19, Isaiah explains that the “understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.” In other words, “You think this is bad, wait until God gets a hold of you!” The alliance with Egypt would be too small, too short, and too narrow to protect you. There would be no place to hide. When it comes right down to it, Assyria was not the “overwhelming scourge” the Israelites needed to be concerned with, but it was the Lord, whom they rejected, who was a far more serious enemy at this point. Isaiah reminds them of how the Lord struck down the Philistines with a flood at “Mount Perazim” (2 Samuel 5:20) and how He scattered the Canaanites with hail in the “Valley of Gibeon” (Joshua 10:11) and though it might be “strange work” or an “alien task,” it had been done before and God was ready to do so again. So Isaiah warns them, verse 22,
“Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier.” And they had better start listening and hear what the prophet had to say.
Let me remind you, the prophet was speaking to a group of drunkards and scoffers who refused to listen. So he decided to share his message in the form of a graphic illustration. Up to this point, Isaiah had been explaining what he saw as a set of simple cause and effect principles that ruled the spiritual world. The leaders had chosen to openly disregard these principles and their result would be disaster. So he illustrated his point with a story of a farmer. I think Isaiah chose the farmer to tell his story to demonstrate that even a lesser educated farmer knows that there are some things you do and some things you don’t do. And by beginning his story with “Listen and hear my voice,” the royal counselors would have recognized the connection to what they knew as wisdom literature. Much like when we begin a story, “Once upon a time,” we know that we are beginning a fairy tale. Wisdom literature was also often the comparison of the royal counsel, with farming. Isaiah began his illustration by explaining the things a farmer knows.
He knows:
that there are certain appropriate ways to do things He doesn’t keep plowing forever When he plants he doesn’t mix the different seeds Each seed needs to be grown separately He matches the tools when threshing, with the size of the seed: tiny caraway and cumin seeds would be crushed to dust if a sledge hammer or stone roller were used
And where did these peasant farmers gain such knowledge? Isaiah states in verse 26, “His God instructs him and teaches him the right way,” by natural revelation. Basically, Isaiah was questioning as to why it was that an uneducated peasant was able to understand that God could be trusted, and yet, the wise counselors, who had the benefit of both natural and special revelation, were not.
The point Isaiah was trying to get across was that the Creator had made the world according to certain principles. The discovery of these principles was quite easy, and Isaiah states that God taught these principles to the uneducated peasant.
One could argue that these principles weren’t created but exist as what we would call, common sense. To which, Isaiah would most likely ask,
“From where did we get our common sense?
“Did you create it?”
To which we would have to answer, “No.”
You see, we live in a world where there are definite cause and effects. If you roll over a caraway seed with something heavy, it will crush it. We may not know why that happens, it just does.
Humans don’t like that answer. They didn’t like it in Isaiah’s day and they don’t like it today.
The truth is there are spiritual principles that are as simple and definite as there are physical ones. Pagans, before Isaiah arrived, had observed this and had written some of them into their civil laws. For example, they knew that a society could not survive if lying, stealing, murder and adultery existed on a regular basis. They couldn’t explain it, but they knew it was so, they had experienced it. Therefore, in the Middle East those behaviors were forbidden in all the legal codes.
The creation reflects the Creator.
God is truth, integrity, love and faithfulness and those attributes are reflected in His creation. After meeting God, Moses realized that living according to the standards of truth, integrity, love and faithfulness was not just a choice to make so life would be easy, but was a choice made as an act of glad submission to the Creator,
 
Deuteronomy 10: 12-13,
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
How strange this must have seemed to the Israelites. Being obedient to the covenant with God the creator didn’t require strange occult activities, like all of the other religious requirements around them. Moses was telling them to live out a lifestyle that others had already discovered before them, however, now they were to do so for the sake of the love of God.
Today’s society is also deeply opposed to the idea of “natural law.” The world today will argue that we are able to make up laws of human and social behavior as we go along, and they are laws that we create, not from some god.
You see if we admit there is a natural law, then we would have to admit that we are not in control and society today refuses to admit that.
But before we go and blame society it is important for us to remember to whom Isaiah was speaking this message. He was directing this message to the spiritual leaders of his day.
What about the spiritual people of our day?
Unfortunately, I believe our society has infiltrated our churches today as much, if not more, than Isaiah’s society had influenced his fellow Israelites. In 2009 George Barna’s research group polled evangelical Christians and discovered that 54% of them did not believe in absolute truth.
Instead, our society, along with many of those in our churches, have compromised their thinking and embrace what is called moral relativism. “Moral relativism is the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles. It’s a version of morality that advocates “to each her own,” and those who follow it say, “Who am I to judge?”
Our “traditional values” are increasingly being abandoned. Our society promotes moral relativism in the forms of individual self-centeredness that can be seen by:
A focus on independence Personal happiness Instant gratification Tolerance Personal comfort The right to make choices that serve one’s self-interest above the interest of others So, what do you think?
What is your view of truth?
Isaiah reminds us that what we think about truth makes all the difference in the world. The Israelite leaders forgot that God was truth. His ways were the ones that needed to be followed, even when for all extensive purposes, they seemed to have a better plan. The Israelite leaders had forgotten, that God had revealed what was right and wrong and could be trusted, because He loved them and wanted to protect and care for them.
What are you compromising? What are you choosing to do because it fits your schedule, even though deep down inside you know God would rather have you do something else? The litmus test for whether or not you are putting God first in your life, is this: If God were to come down today and evaluate what you are doing, would He say, “A+, I know it hasn’t been easy but you have chosen to follow me.” or would He say, “Oh dear, you chose to follow the world, and forgot what was written in my Word and in your heart. Your consequences will be more difficult than it would have been to follow me in the first place.” And with tears in His eyes you would receive the consequences of your actions.
Sure, we live in a gray world, where the things around us don’t make sense. Where there are times we wonder whether God is even listening. Today’s Scripture reminds us that regardless of the circumstances around us, there is an absolute truth, and that is, verse 29,
“All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
   whose plan is wonderful,
   whose wisdom is magnificent.”
And who loves us, enough to die for all our sins.
And that is truth.
Let’s pray.