Introduction to Isaiah (4)

Pray Psalm 74.1-3.
O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Whydoes Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

Read Jeremiah 23.

Reflect.
1. How would you be able to identify a false prophet?

2. Why are prophets and those who are called to the ministry of the Word thought of as shepherds?

Meditate.
From the moment the first prophet appeared on the stage of history, false prophets began to proliferate. The primary distinction between the two was that false prophets had not received a Word from the Lord; instead, they were operating out of mere self-interest and making up their messages as suited the moment.

They were a continual source of woe, scattering, deprivation, deceit, and destruction to the people of God throughout the Old Testament. 

God condemned false prophets, but it is easier for Him to spot them than for the people of God. They use the same language as true prophets, claim to be speaking God’s Word, give the people messages easy to receive, and gain a measure of popularity that allows them to persuade a great many people.

In reality, the false prophet’s ways were slippery (v. 12). That is, they led to increasing sin and disregard of God, a slippery slope of drifting ever further from the Lord’s path. They taught darkness rather than light (v. 13) by letting people think sin was no big deal, God would never do anything but good for them, and the problems they seemed to have been facing weren’t all that bad.

God used true prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah to expose the false prophets, and that often got the good guys into a heap of trouble. But when truth is at stake, true prophets stand for God and His Word. They do not compromise. They refuse to tell people what they want to hear. They point the finger at false prophets and warn them of the judgment of God. And they leave to the Lord the consequences of their faithfulness.

There will always be false prophets in the churches of the Lord. One indication of their holding sway is that churches lose their vision, let go of the promises of God, turn from the plain teaching of His Word, try to attract the world on the world’s terms, and end up shallow, floundering, divisive, and lacking in fruit.

Where these markers are present, false prophets are not far away. Isaiah will help us to know the good guys from the bad guys in this most important aspect of our calling to the Kingdom and glory of God.

Prepare.
1. How would you be able to know if a false prophet was teaching in your church?

2. God promised to send true shepherds to feed the people, so that they would “be fruitful and increase” (Jer. 23.4). If the people are not being fruitful and increasing, what does this suggest about their shepherds?

3. What can you do to encourage your shepherds to continue as true shepherds of the Lord, and to resist any temptation to drift toward being false prophets? 

Against such people as these the Lord cries out, from these he reins in and recalls his erring people, saying, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who invent a vain vision for themselves, which they speak as false prophets from their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord. They say to those who reject the words of the Lord, ‘Peace shall be yours’ and to all who walk according to their own desires, to everyone who walks in the error of his heart, they have said, ‘No evil shall come on you.’” Cyprian of Carthage (fl. 248-258 AD), The Unity of the Church 11

Lord, help me to encourage the shepherds of our church to be faithful to Your Word. Today let me…

Pray Psalm 74.
Listen as you pray for the Spirit to show you any specific ways this psalm speaks into your life or the situation in churches and Christianity today. Pray accordingly.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 74 (Rockingham Old: O Lord Most High, with All My Heart)
O Lord, why have You cast us off?  Why does Your anger ever burn? 
Remember now Your Church, O Lord, and to us let Your grace return. 

Turn now Your steps to this sad ruin; our foes have damaged all within. 
They roar throughout Your meeting place and raise the banner of their sin. 

The wicked wield their ax within and desecrate our walls around; 
Defiling Your abiding-place, they burn Your temples to the ground. 

Within their hearts they plot and scheme: “Now let us finally bring them down!”
Our signs and prophets all are gone; they burn our churches to the ground. 

How long, O Lord, must they prevail and mock and spurn Your holy Name? 
Why stay Your hand? Deploy it now, and bring Your foes to lasting shame! 

Our God is King from long ago, Who works deliv’rance in the land; 
He split the sea, He crushed His foes; against Him none can ever stand. 

You opened the springs, fresh water flowed; to You belong both day and night. 
You bound the seasons and the earth, and gave the sun its glorious light. 

Remember this, O Lord, our God: a foolish people spurns Your Name; 
Deliver not Your flock to them, nor leave Your holy ones to shame. 

Your covenant recall, renew, for violence spreads throughout the earth; 
The poor and needy rescue, Lord, and we shall sing Your matchless worth!

Arise O God, and plead Your cause! See how the fools reproach Your Name.
Their voices quell, their uproar still, who Your majestic grace defame.

T. M. Moore

Where do the prophets fit with the rest of Scripture? How can I be a better student of God’s Word? Our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, can help you gain a better approach to and understanding of the Scriptures. Watch this brief preview video, then register at The Ailbe Seminary and enroll in this free online course.

Forward today’s lesson to some friends, and challenge them to study with you through this series on Isaiah. Each week’s lessons will be available as a free PDF download at the end of the week. Get a copy for yourself and send the link for the download to your friends. Plan to meet weekly to study Isaiah’s important message.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).