𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Do you have clothes that you only use on special occasions? What makes it special and when was the last time you wore it?
• Have you experienced playing a sport or any game against someone who broke the rules of the game? What happened?
• What comes to mind when you hear the word “justice”? Why?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗛 𝟱𝟵:𝟭𝟲

(Read also 𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗛 𝟱𝟵:𝟭𝟰–𝟭𝟱, 𝟭𝟳–𝟮𝟭.)

The prophet Isaiah was describing the condition of their nation: there was inequity, injustice, violence, and corruption. He said that because 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 (Isaiah 59:14), the people have been separated from God. The injustice in the land has left God’s people hopeless. But God wanted Isaiah to not only point out their transgressions. He also wanted to bring hope. Today, we will look at how God responds to unrighteousness in the world.

𝟭. 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘆𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲.
𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦 . . . 𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗛 𝟱𝟵:𝟭𝟰–𝟭𝟲

God saw the unrighteousness and injustice in the land and 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. He looked for someone who would intercede and serve as a champion of the oppressed, a protector of the innocent—but found no one. Knowing that God sees and desires to do something against the lack of righteousness and justice in society gives us hope today. We know that out of His concern and love for His people, He will act on their behalf. Zephaniah 3:5 says that 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. How can people take comfort in this truth?

𝟮. 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.
. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥; 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘻𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬. 𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗛 𝟱𝟵:𝟭𝟲–𝟭𝟳

When God saw that no man was interceding to bring righteousness and justice in the land, He stepped in and upheld His own cause. By His own arm and righteousness, He brought salvation. Putting on 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 indicates that He brought judgment on those oppressing His people. To this day, we know that God is moving to bring about His righteousness and justice. How have you experienced God’s intervention to bring justice in your situation? How did it encourage you to wait for God to bring His righteousness instead of taking matters in your own hands?

𝟯. 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿.
“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘡𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯,” 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋. 𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗛 𝟱𝟵:𝟮𝟬

God promised to send a Redeemer for those who will repent and turn away from sin. We now know that God was referring to Jesus Christ. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Even though He lived a sinless life, God poured out His wrath on Jesus in order to execute His justice. Jesus took the punishment for our sins and gave us His righteousness. Jesus alone can redeem us and bring us to right standing with God. God also promised His people that His Spirit and His words 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 out of their mouth, but will be passed on from one generation to the next (Isaiah 59:21). What the Redeemer did for us has reached us and continues to reach people all over the world. What are you doing at this time to pass on the Spirit and words of God to those around you?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• In what area of your life or society around you are you in faith that God would bring justice? Ask God for wisdom and what He wants you to do in this situation.
• Meditate on Psalm 139:23–24 this week. Ask God to show you any area of unrighteousness in your heart and pray that you would draw near to Him.
• Who among your family members or friends do you think would be encouraged by today’s message? This week, how can you encourage them to trust God?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for His hand that brings righteousness and justice. Pray that God will use people in places of authority to help the oppressed and bring righteousness in our nation.
• Ask God to show you how you respond to the unrighteousness and injustice around you. Pray for grace to respond in faith knowing that He is at work and you can be His hands and feet.
• Pray for someone you know who has experienced injustice. Ask God to give you the words that will encourage this person to trust in and wait on God.