Second Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
Isaiah "Comfort My People"

Insights to Lesson 4
The Hard Way
April 17-23

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

What an appropriate title for our lesson. How often do we, as did Ahaz, refuse to believe the promises of God or accept His way of escape for all of our problems of life?

Ahaz chose to do things his own way, which always proves to be “the hard way,” instead of following God’s plan, which is the only way filled with joy, peace, and rest. Christ assures us just as He assured Ahaz, if we will come unto Him: “all ye that labour and are heavy laden, … I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Ahaz never found that rest that was so freely offered him in Christ.

The story of Ahaz’s reign is truly a very sad one; he brought Isaiah and all of Judah face to face with conditions more appalling than any that had existed in the past. Many who had never bowed their knee to Baal before, were influenced by idolatrous practices and were now being persuaded to take part in this heathen worship. Many false prophets and leaders were arising with messages to lead the people astray. Yet the leaders in apostasy still kept up a form of divine worship, still claiming to be numbered among the people of God.

During these troublous times the prophet Micah bore his testimony, declaring that sinners in Zion claimed to “lean upon the Lord,” and blasphemously boasted, “Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us,” yet were told they continued to “build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity” (Micah 3:11, 10).

It is not because God is unwilling to forgive that He turns from the transgressor; it is because the sinner refuses to make use of the abundant provisions of His grace that God is unable to deliver from sin. “The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1, 2).

During the reign of Ahaz, many invitations were sent to God’s people, pleading for their return to their allegiance to Jehovah. As the prophets stood before the people, they pleaded tenderly with them, exhorting them to repentance and reformation.

The God whom we serve is long-suffering: “His compassions fail not” (Lam. 3:22). Just as God pleaded with king Ahaz, so God’s Spirit continues to plead with man today to accept the gift of life. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” (Eze. 33:11). “It is Satan’s special device to lead man into sin, and then leave him there, helpless and hopeless, fearing to seek for pardon. But God invites, ‘Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.’ Isaiah 27:5. In Christ every provision has been made, every encouragement offered” (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, April 1, 1915).

In the days of apostasy in Judah and Israel, many were inquiring, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?” The answer is plain and positive: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:6-8).

Ahaz put his trust in himself and in man instead of putting his faith in God. He wanted deliverance from Syria and Israel, which God had promised to give him, but Ahaz was willing to trust a heathen king instead of the God of heaven. King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria did in fact conquer both Syria and Israel, but in the end, Judah was also conquered. What a lesson for us to learn. God only is trustworthy. He alone is faithful to His promises. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Psalm 118:9).

The apostle Paul might well have reminded Ahaz of the words Christ spoke to him on the road to Damascus: “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5).

Solomon, a man who had experienced his own time of wandering away from God and of following after gods of wood and stone, wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble” (Prov. 3:5, 6-4:19). If Ahaz had only believed the words of king Solomon!

For many of us today, we are still trying to work out our own solutions to our problems, as did Ahaz. Yet, if we would submit our own will to the leading of the Spirit, we shall find the easy path and rest for our souls. The message that came out of 1888, gives us the assurance of such rest and peace.

“Wearing Christ’s yoke and learning of Him the lesson of meekness and lowliness, we find rest in faith, and confidence and trust. We find that Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden light” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 124).

My prayer is that each one of us will find in Christ, that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. This is the only way that leads to peace of heart and mind and gives rest to the weary.

R. J. Gravell

Read the study notes for Lesson 5