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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Isaiah 28: Don't Listen to the Drunk Guy
Can you recognize when leaders are steering you wrong? Join us as we unpack Isaiah 28, where the metaphor of drunkenness starkly illustrates the unreliable and flawed judgment of Israel's leaders. We guarantee you'll learn how to identify the pitfalls of pride and false security, and how to stand firm on faith as a foundation. For anyone who has ever felt the sting of being misled by those at the helm, this episode offers a roadmap to justice and redemption through divine guidance.
Leadership in the church isn't about perfection, as we candidly discuss the fallibility of pastors and the importance of aligning with communities that promote growth and adhere to God's teachings. Our conversation underscores the necessity of cultivating a personal relationship with God over relying solely on human leaders, ensuring that any letdowns don't derail your spiritual journey. We wrap up with a powerful reminder of God's ultimate leadership, encouraging trust in Him above all, supported by the assurance found in Isaiah 12:2.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, isaiah, chapter 28,. And here's the title. This is a hard chapter for me. Okay, the title is Don't Listen to the Drunk Guy. Don't Listen to the Drunk Guy.
Speaker 1:Now, this is a chapter. It's a message, primarily to Samaria, and it's about following bad leaders, and no one dislikes a bad leader more than a good leader. Okay, and as someone who leads a church and is a pastor, I can't stand bad leaders and bad pastors, right, I can't stand it. And so having to even discuss the fact that those people exist is hard. But God gives us what we're supposed to do, and so if you've ever been hurt in a church situation, if you've ever followed a bad leader, then you know what I'm talking about. It's brutal and it's difficult, and he's going to talk about that today, and then he's going to lead us into that better place. So, before we do that, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure that you are putting a five star review on the podcast, make sure you're subscribing to the YouTube channel. We're trying to get up to our next goal, which is 3000 subscribers. Make sure you're sharing that with everybody and make sure that you are going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing team of people that are writing devotions every single day and, man, I'm going to tell you, the more we dig, the more we find, and it's absolutely amazing what they're doing.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Isaiah, chapter 28. I don't know if you've ever been around somebody who's drunk before, but when somebody is drunk, depending on what kind of a drunk they are they could be a mean drunk, they could be a fun drunk, they could be a silent drunk, they could be a crying drunk but whatever it is, you don't take them serious. You know that they are not accountable for their words in this moment. Right, your goal is to get them away from you and move on with whatever's going on, and they're also unpredictable, so you don't put them in charge of anything, including themselves. That's why you have to get a designated driver, because they don't need to be driving a car. You cannot trust their judgment. Well, god is going to use that as an example to the leaders of Israel and how they don't need to follow them. And so we're going to talk about that today and see what God's word has to say to us. You ready?
Speaker 1:God's word says Isaiah 28, verse 1, what sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria, the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of the fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brawled down by wine, for the Lord will send a mighty army against it like a mighty hellstorm and a torrential rain. They will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground. The proud city of Samaria, the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel, will be trampled beneath its enemies' feet. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten. Then, at last, the Lord of heaven's armies will himself be Israel's glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people. He will give a longing for justice to their judges and he will give great courage to the warriors who stand at the gates.
Speaker 1:Now, however, israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions. It just makes me so mad that I got lost for a second going man. I slap a fool, all right anyway. Verse eight their tables are covered with vomit. That's disgusting. Filth is everywhere.
Speaker 1:Who does the Lord think we are, they ask. Why does he speak to us like this? Are we children? A recently weaned? He tells us everything over and over, one line at a time. One line at a time, a little here, a little there. So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language. God has told his people here is a place of rest, let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest. But they would not listen. So the Lord will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time. One line at a time, a little here and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall and they will be injured, trapped and captured.
Speaker 1:Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says of lies and deception. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says Look, I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, and a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. It will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness, since your refuge is made of lies, and a hell storm will knock it down, since it is made of deception. A flood will sweep it away. I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground Again and again. That flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away. This message will bring terror to your people. The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you. The Lord will come, as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perizim and against the Amorites of Gibeon. He will come and do a strange thing. He will come and do a strange thing. He will come and do an unusual deed For the Lord.
Speaker 1:The Lord of heaven's armies has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more or your punishment will be even greater. Listen to me, listen and pay close attention. Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? Does he not finally plant his seeds? Black cumin, cumin and wheat, and barley and emmer wheat each in its proper way, each in its proper place. The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin. The farmer knows just what to do crushed so he doesn't keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn't pulverize it. The Lord of heaven's armies is a wonderful teacher and he gives the farmer great wisdom. Wow.
Speaker 1:So what God is saying is your nation is being led by a bunch of idiots, by a bunch of drunk folks who are so drunk that they be a-vomiting all over their table, and then they have, in their drunken stupor, made deals with the devil. And what's going on in the time of Isaiah is they are making these backroom deals with these other nations, thinking that these other nations are going to help them. But what God is saying is what you don't understand, is they ain't going to help you. And what happens is is, when Assyria and Babylon come to town all these other nations, they don't help them Like this actually becomes a thing, and he's saying that I put you in a place and I said come and rest here. Like, come and live here, let me be your God, everything's going to be okay. And then, because I'm going to bless you, it's going to turn the eyes of the rest of the world, and God had told that to Abraham Through you, I'm going to bless the rest of the world. But instead of that, they're going their own way. And so God's saying if you won't listen to me through my kindness, then listen to me through my kindness, then you're going to listen to me through judgment. And he's like you got to stop listening to these fools. And so what does that mean for all of us? And that is this as bad, as I hate to say it.
Speaker 1:Not every leader in your life is good. Not every leader you've had is holy and is doing the right thing for the right reason. Now, none of us are perfect, right? Nobody is perfect, okay, if you're looking to go to a perfect church with a perfect pastor and perfect people, you're not going to find one right. Every church is messed up, but the idea is to find one that's trying to grow in the right direction.
Speaker 1:But can I tell you with all of my heart, tell you with all of my heart, my goal is to retire from ministry one day, scandal free. I want to be a pastor that loves people, that loves God and never forgets to do those two things. But I'm still not perfect. I'm still going to make mistakes. I've hurt people, never on purpose, and I carry that every day with me of of the ways I've hurt people because I'm not perfect and because I make bad decisions. And so with that, the reality is is your primary goal should never be to follow me. It should be to follow God and to follow his word. And as long as I am following God and I am leading you toward God, great, follow me. But if I ever start leading somewhere else, don't follow me. Make sure that your primary leadership is your primary leadership. It's God's word, it is following God. That's the reality is.
Speaker 1:Is you have to put your hope in God. For many of us, we need to lower our expectations of people and raise our expectations of God. I've seen people who have been crushed to the point, they've almost walked away from God because of the failures of bad leaders. And I get it, I understand it. I've served with leaders before who fell away from God because at some point they got their eyes off of God and they got their eyes in a thousand other places. And it's like eventually, after a long season of God's kindness, it seems as though God said okay, if I can't reach you because of my kindness, then I'll reach you because of my judgment. And they fall Because people put too much hope in that leader and not enough hope in God. It shatters them. Of course it's okay to be disappointed when a leader that you think a lot of falls. It's not okay to blame that on God. It was their mistake, not his. We have no idea what God put in their life to try to help them before it got to that place.
Speaker 1:So the lesson of chapter 28 is to make sure that your primary hope and your primary leadership is in Christ alone and then, once again, to make sure that we have balance here, because if you're not careful, you throw out all leaders and you become rebellious. You become spiritual orphans. We don't want that either. The reality is you need to be part of a spiritual community, and I know we have people who listen to this from all over the world and you may be in a space where there are no churches close to you. For those of us who live in the United States, we're used to having a church on every corner, but we have people listening to this who are in other countries all over the world and there may not be a church within driving distance from you. And if that's the case, and if the only community you can find is the community online, then okay.
Speaker 1:But if you're a place where you're within driving distance or walking distance to a church, you need to be part of a spiritual community. You need a pastor watching over your life, you need someone who is praying for you, someone who's teaching you God's word and someone who is leading you closer to him. So you need to have a pastor. I'm not saying that you don't, and if you don't, you need one. What I am saying is make sure that you are lowering your expectations of man and raising your expectations of God, and make sure that you are primarily following the Lord, so that when your pastor becomes human, you can be disappointed but not discouraged. And if you have a pastor like these jokers who are drunk and vomiting everywhere and leading people the wrong way, then okay, yeah, run from them and go find a good one and realize that God is the one we primarily follow. That's a hard one, but it's an important lesson for us to remember.
Speaker 1:Today, let's pray, god. Thank you so much that you lead us in more ways than we can imagine. We trust you in all things, god. We trust you that you are leading us and that you are doing more in our life. And even when bad things happen, god, you even use those things to lead us in the right direction. We love you. Today, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 2, god has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me the victory. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Isaiah, chapter 29.
