Isaiah 52:1–6 1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; And ye shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; And the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, That my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; And my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name: Therefore, they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
The Devil is a bargain hunter; he buys things incredibly cheap! That is what I get from today’s reading!
God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah to his people Israel, telling them that they have sold themselves. Instead of trusting in their true God they trusted other nations and turned to their idols. What did they get out of the deal?
Isaiah 52:3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; And ye shall be redeemed without money.
Nothing. They sold themselves for nothing!
They lost themselves in the deal but don’t have a thing to show from the transaction.
While God was speaking about Israel isn’t it is also true of us?
Please allow me to share two thought with you about this deal.
1. We Sell ourselves for Nothing.
Mankind has infinite value.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Of all his original creation it is only said of Adam and Eve that they were made in God’s image.
God himself made Adam and Eve and breathed into them and gave them something special, an eternal soul. He valued them so much that he designed the perfect garden for their pleasure. Oh, how precious they must have been to God! Then that old serpent, the devil, came deal shopping and Adam and Eve sold themselves.
What did they get from the deal? A little bit of fruit, just fruit, not even a pie with some Breyers ice cream, just fruit! And the worst part, once the fruit was eaten, what did they have to show?
When the apple was gone, they were left empty, hurting and dying.
They Had sold themselves for nothing!
There are a couple of things that happened as a result of the bad transaction in our reading.
They Felt Bad About the Deal
Isaiah 52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, That my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; And my name continually every day is blasphemed.
Those in our reading that had sold themselves into bondage were howling, moaning in agony, wailing because of their oppression!
Esau had a birthright that was priceless, as the firstborn of his family he would be the family head and spiritual leader of his family, but he sold it all away and for what? A bowl of pottage, soup. I don’t even like soup. When the bowl was eaten what was left?
Nothing but regret!
Hebrews 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Esau sold himself cheap and he couldn’t get take back the deal!
Judas sold the creator of the universe and what did he get out of the deal? The selling price of a slave, a mere 30 pcs of silver. That deal was so bad, he was filled with such regret, that the Bible teaches us he went out and hung himself!
Judas sold himself for nothing!!
What about us?
We were made by God, Adam and Eve's descendants, made in his image.
We have the stamp of the creator upon us.
You and I, we have within us an eternal, never dying soul!
If we are all honest, we have sold ourselves for nothing.
We shoot off our tempers, at least I know I do, and in the instant it feels good.
What do we have to show for the sinful transaction?
Lost relationships and bad reputations. We got it off our chest but lost so much more in the process.
A Woman made in the image of God, the most beautiful of all of God’s creations, gives her body away to a man in hopes of affection. How many times has the morning revealed her discarded and left to feel cheap? How many times as she sold herself for nothing?
The bottle, the purchaser spent good money on it, but in the morning what does he have?
An empty bottle, a little less money, a few fuzzy memories of bad decisions and a headache.
What is left over from that drug deal? The money is gone and the high is too, only the addiction remains!
The Devil is a bargain shopper and he is getting some really good deals, buying precious things at rock bottom prices!
God Was Blasphemed By The Deal
Isaiah tells us that not only do they feel bad afterward, but God is blasphemed by this bad deal.
Isaiah 52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, That my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; And my name continually every day is blasphemed.
Every transaction I have made with the Devil was a choice between he and God. I am so sad to say that I didn’t make the right choice! How could I ever pick so poorly, and do it so often? Can you relate?
2. We are Bought Back for Everything
Isaiah 52:3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; And ye shall be redeemed without money.
Great news! God is willing to buy you back!
Our redemption is free to us, we can’t buy it! It costs us nothing but this deal cost our God everything!
God is not like the Devil that way.
They Devil buys Cheap, but God pays full price!
The very next chapter tells us what he paid to buy us back, it was the suffering and sacrifice of his Son!
Isaiah 53:4–6 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So, what is the point? Don't sell yourself cheap? Yes, when it comes to future transactions, yes! But hasn't a lot of deals already been done? Go to the one who redeems, the price has been paid, accept the offer the Lord makes and be restored.
BB
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