1. "If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that when it comes to the future, none of us have 2020 vision."

2. "To be in a valley is to lack vision, to lack perspective, to fail to see the big picture. And that's where God's people find themselves in Isaiah chapter 22."

3. "To be a Christian in one sense is to have proper vision. And not because we always understand everything that's going on, but because we have God's Word. And God's Word is what helps us keep perspective on things."

4. "Instead of weeping and mourning, they're throwing a party. And instead of living for eternity, they're living for the moment. It's not that they're consciously denying God's judgment per se. They're just not thinking about it."

5. "Fear isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fear just reveals what you value."

6. "God was going to get glory for himself because of his people's weakness. He was going to put the mouse in the trap and then deliver it from the trap. Because that's who our God is. That's what shows off his glory."

7. "Our weakness plus God's power means he gets all the glory."

8. "Your fears don't go away just because you get bigger. Just ask your parents. They get scared too sometimes. No, fears go away when your understanding of God gets bigger. Watch what happens as your God gets bigger. Your fears will get smaller."

9. "Trust doesn't just happen. Trust is built over time. God could just command his people to trust him, and he does command us to trust him. But God also patiently teaches us how to trust him, and he does that by giving promises and by showing himself faithful to fulfill those promises."

10. "God is giving his people short-term promises to teach them to trust Him. He's giving them these small promises and He's going to be faithful to them to teach them to trust Him with much bigger promises."

Observation Questions

1. According to Isaiah 22:1-2, what is the surprising behavior of the people in Jerusalem described in this oracle, and how does the prophet characterize the city?

2. In Isaiah 22:5, what specific things does the prophet say "the Lord God of hosts" will bring upon the valley of vision?

3. What does Isaiah 22:11 say the people failed to do even while they were busy fortifying their defenses and building reservoirs?

4. According to Isaiah 22:12-13, what response did the Lord call for from the people, and how did they actually respond instead?

5. What verdict does the Lord pronounce in Isaiah 22:14 regarding the people's iniquity?

6. In Isaiah 22:22, what is Eliakim given, and what authority does this symbolize according to the passage?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is the title "Valley of Vision" in verse 1 ironic, and what does this reveal about the spiritual condition of God's people in Jerusalem?

2. How does the contrast between Isaiah's weeping (v. 4) and the people's partying (vv. 12-13) illustrate the difference between having a proper fear of God's judgment and living in spiritual blindness?

3. According to the sermon, why did God choose Jerusalem—a city with obvious vulnerabilities—as His dwelling place, and what does this teach us about how God displays His glory?

4. What is the significance of God being called "the Lord of hosts" (Lord of armies) five times in this chapter, especially in light of Judah's frantic efforts to secure their own defenses?

5. How does the prophecy about Shebna being replaced by Eliakim (vv. 15-25) serve as a short-term promise meant to teach God's people to trust Him with bigger promises, and how does this ultimately point to Christ?

Application Questions

1. The people of Judah responded to warnings of judgment by saying, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (v. 13). In what specific areas of your life are you tempted to live for the moment rather than in light of eternity, and what would it look like to change that this week?

2. Isaiah 22:11 indicts the people for not looking to God even while they were busy with legitimate preparations. What "good activities" in your life—work, planning, problem-solving—might be crowding out your dependence on God, and how can you intentionally "look to Him" in the midst of them?

3. The sermon emphasized that our weakness is an opportunity for God's glory. What weakness or limitation have you experienced recently that you could begin to view as an opportunity to trust God and display His power rather than something to overcome on your own?

4. Reflecting on 2020 (or the past year), what is one specific way you have seen God prove Himself faithful to you or your church community? How might remembering this help you trust Him with uncertainties in the coming year?

5. The sermon challenged us to consider whether our plans and resolutions reflect an awareness of God's coming judgment. What is one concrete change you could make to your priorities, habits, or goals for this year that would demonstrate you are living in light of eternity?

Additional Bible Reading

1. 2 Kings 25:1-12 — This passage records the historical fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, showing how Jerusalem fell to Babylon exactly as predicted.

2. James 4:13-17 — This passage echoes the sermon's theme about our inability to know the future and the call to submit our plans to God's will.

3. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 — Paul explains God's pattern of choosing the weak and foolish to display His power, reinforcing the sermon's point about God receiving glory through our weakness.

4. Revelation 3:7-13 — Jesus identifies Himself as the one who holds the key of David, showing how the promise to Eliakim ultimately finds its fulfillment in Christ.

5. 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 — This passage describes Hezekiah's preparations for the Assyrian siege, including his tunnel, and his exhortation to trust in the Lord rather than in human defenses.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Unpredictability of 2020 and the Need for Biblical Vision

II. Vision: The Valley of Vision as an Indictment Against God's People (Isaiah 22:1-5)

III. Judgment: Isaiah's Weeping Over Coming Destruction (Isaiah 22:5-14)

IV. Fear: Judah's Misplaced Trust in Their Own Defenses (Isaiah 22:8-11)

V. Trust: God Teaching His People Through Fulfilled Promises (Isaiah 22:15-25)

VI. Trusting Christ for 2021 and Eternity

Detailed Sermon Outline

Go to the gym three times a week. Take Claire out on a date every other week. Try cooking a new recipe each month.

Well, friends, those are just a few sentences out of a document I wrote about this time last year, heroically titled, New Year's Resolutions 2020. I'll leave it for you to decide which one of those I followed through on. Friends, if 2020 has taught us anything, it's that when it comes to the future, none of us have 2020 vision. We've learned anew the wisdom of James: you: do not even know what tomorrow will bring. But this isn't just a problem for us now.

You see, this was a problem for God's people in the Old Testament as well. And so as 2020 comes to a close with whatever relief or pain that may bring, and as we prepare to bring about and begin 2021, we want to spend a little time this morning considering what the Bible has to say about vision. Vision. And for that, we'll be turning in our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 22. Now to set some context because it's been about a year and a half since Blake BoylstOn preached to us from Isaiah 21.

Yes, Blake BoylstOn, it's been that long. We'll give a little context before diving in. Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. This is after the division of the kingdom into the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. Isaiah's ministry is to the southern kingdom.

His ministry was a long one. It spanned four kings. It was a time of military turmoil and political uncertainty as their foes outside were on the rise and their situation looked increasingly precarious. And it's in this context of political turmoil and national security threats that Isaiah has a message for the people of Judah. And that message is repentance.

He's calling for the people to return to the Lord. Now, the northern kingdom of Israel would fall to the Assyrians in 722 during Isaiah's ministry. And his message to the southern kingdom is essentially this, look, the same thing that happened to the northern kingdom because of their idolatry, the same thing will happen to you unless you repent. But rather than looking to God. Judah is always looking to other nations, to Egypt or to Syria or someone else for protection.

So much of the book of Isaiah leading up to chapter two is concerned with going nation by nation: Assyria to the north, Egypt to the south, Babylon to the east, and showing how the Lord God is over all these nations. He will judge them. They may look big, but God is bigger. And after 13 chapters of judgment, Isaiah finally turns from the nations out there to Jerusalem itself. And this is the message that Isaiah brings.

Read with me from Isaiah 221-5.

The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you to the housetops? You who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town! you! are slain, not slayed with the sword or dead in battle.

All your leaders have fled together; without the bow they were captured. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. Therefore I said, Look away from me! Let me weep bitter tears! Do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people!

For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling, and confusion in the valley of vision. A battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains.

Friends, as we examine this passage together, I want us to notice four things. Vision, judgment, fear, and trust. Vision, judgment, fear, and trust. Let's consider first vision. Vision.

That's really the first thing we should notice about this chapter because look at the title in verse 1: the Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision. Now, this is really a counterintuitive title for a prophecy. I mean, a valley of vision? Normally you would associate vision with high elevation, like a mountaintop, not with a vision. I mean, who goes into a valley in order to understand their surroundings?

That's why in the Bible visions are often associated with mountaintops. And more than that, Jerusalem here, which is what this prophecy is about, is itself located on a mountain. But here, the mountain has become a valley. And as we will see, the people's sight is more like blindness. So this title Valley of Vision is really more like an indictment against God's people, more like lack of vision, because that's what it is to be in a valley.

To be in a valley is to lack vision, to lack perspective, to fail to see the big picture. And that's where God's people find themselves in Isaiah chapter 22. If you're visiting here this morning for the first time, let me say welcome. But let me ask you, if this past year has been disorienting to you, have you found yourself in a valley of sorts this morning? Not able to get heads or tails of life or reality?

To be a Christian in one sense is to have proper vision. And not because we always understand everything that's going on, but because we have God's Word. And God's Word is what helps us keep perspective on things. That's really what every Sunday morning gathering is, as we gather to hear God's Word preached, we're getting a vision reset as God tells us what's important and as our perspective on ourselves and our lives is shifted to accord more with God's Word. Word.

But it's really this lack of vision that Judah has, this failure to see that is contrasted with Isaiah's clear-eyed vision. As the prophet of the Lord gone, Isaiah sees things clearly. And if you look at verse 4, what Isaiah sees leads him to weep and to mourn bitter tears. What is it that Isaiah sees that leads him to lament? That brings us to point two, judgment.

Judgment. Isaiah weeps because he sees a vision of coming judgment. We know this because verse 5 starts with a for explaining Isaiah's response. Let's read verses 5 to 8.

For the Lord of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision. A battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains, and Elam bore the quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kur uncovered the shield. Your choice's valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. He has taken away the covering of Judah.

This is a vision of the siege of Jerusalem that would occur in 587 BC. Just 150 years later, as the city falls to the Babylonians and Judah is taken into exile. Verses 2 and 3 describe chaos as soldiers are captured and their officers flee. In verse 5 we see the wall falling down and the people crying out in despair. The city is surrounded by chariots and horsemen and the word is clear, there is no escape.

All of this is described in verse 5 in terms of the day of the Lord. That language of the day of the Lord is repeated five times in this chapter in verses 5, 8, 12, 20, 25. And much of Isaiah's ministry was concerned with warning the people of Judah about this day of the Lord. And in 587 BC that day came. You can read in 2 Kings 25 how the judgment unfolds exactly as is prophesied here.

The king attempts to escape, but after a prolonged siege, his army is scattered, he is captured, and the last thing he sees before his eyes are put out is the sight of his sons being put to death.

If this is the judgment that Isaiah is warning against, how should the people of Judah respond? What would an appropriate response to the judgment of God look like?

Well, if you keep reading, we see their response in verses 12 to 14. In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth, and behold joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my years. Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for until you die, says the Lord God of hosts.

What we find in these verses is Judah's apathetic response to repeated warnings. I mean, instead of weeping and mourning, they're throwing a party. And instead of living for eternity, they're living for the moment. It's not that they're consciously denying God's judgment per se. They're just not thinking about it.

As verse 13 puts it, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. And the difference between these two responses, the people's apathy and the prophet's anguish, It comes down to this one thing. It comes down to what they believe about God's judgment. Will God judge them for their sins or not? And friends, that same question leans into us this morning.

Are we living as if God is the judge? Verse 14 gives this indictment, Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for. Until you die. And friends, that is the verdict for every single one of us who has sinned against a holy God. And that is exactly each and every one of us.

Each of us has committed iniquity, as these verses say. Sin, we've rebelled against God, and the wages for sin is death. But friends, the good news of Christmas, the good news that we're celebrating this morning, is that God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life, to die a death in our place.

God raised him from the dead showing that the payment for sin had been paid in full for anyone who would turn from their sins and trust in him. Oh friends, if you have never done that, today could be the day of salvation for you. Turn from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ. And you will know a gift much greater than any Christmas gift you could have received this past week. You will know an eternal restoration to your relationship with God.

Friends, there's no question that 2020 has caught us off guard. That's true of us as a nation, that's true of us as a church, that's true of us as individuals. But if you could go back to January or February of this past year, and if you could do something different to prepare, what would you do?

Maybe not buy those non-refundable plane tickets. Maybe invest in home gym equipment. Maybe invest in Zoom stock.

Friends, in Isaiah's day, judgment was right around the corner. And the people did nothing. They ate. They drank. They lived as if judgment wasn't coming.

What about us? What role does God's coming judgment play in the way you shape your plans for 2021? Take your New Year's resolutions, for instance. Is there anything on there that you will have been proud of if you accomplished on that final day of God's judgment? What would it look like for your New Year's resolutions to be more in accord with God's coming judgment?

At the heart of what Judah is being judged for is their refusal to fear God. And that brings us to our third point: fear. Fear. You see, fear isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fear just reveals what you value.

That's why some fears can be good. For instance, a week or two ago, I returned home to my apartment, finding it smelling like gas.

It turns out that the gas stove had accidentally been left on while I was out, leading the apartment to fill with flammable gas. Now, I was understandably afraid in that moment, and fear revealed something of what I valued: my life, my wife, my child. In that same way, Judah's fear in this chapter reveals what they valued, but it also reveals what they didn't value. They didn't value the Lord. That's what we see in verses 8 to 11.

Let's read those verses now. In that day you look to the weapons of the house of the forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, you counted the houses of Jerusalem, you broke down houses to fortify the wall, you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to him who did it or see him who planned it long ago. These verses are full of hive-like activity. As the people are anxiously looking and seeing and counting and breaking and making all to attempt to make Jerusalem's defenses secure.

The reservoir in verse 11 is probably a reference to Hezekiah's tunnel, a massive engineering feat that was completed around 700 BC. You see, even more critical to a city's security in that day than its walls, was its water supply. If your water supply was cut off, you had no hope of withstanding a long siege. And so Hezekiah, realizing that their above ground water supply was a serious liability in their defenses, he went to construct an underground tunnel that connected the reservoirs in Jerusalem to the Gihon Spring, all but guaranteeing that Jerusalem could withstand a siege Indefinitely.

So the people are self-confident and self-assured. They're trusting in their own defenses rather than looking to the Lord. As verse 11 says, But you did not look to Him. And did you realize, do you notice how the one they are not looking to is described in this chapter?

Five times Isaiah refers to God as the Lord of hosts. That word hosts means armies. It's a reference to the innumerable number of angel warriors standing ready at God's command to execute His judgment. And they're not looking to Him. If you read through the book of Isaiah, you see that this title is used 60 times to refer to God, the Lord of hosts.

Now why would Isaiah be emphasizing here that the Lord God is the Lord God of armies?

It's because God wants them to look to Him alone for their security and protection and salvation. Friends, God isn't surprised by Judah's vulnerability one bit. He is the one who chose Jerusalem as his dwelling place, and he did so knowing all about its geopolitical uncertainty and fragile water supply. It's not like he was surprised at that. He was the one who said all the way back in Deuteronomy 12, I will cause my name to dwell there.

End of story. I will do it. It's not like he didn't know they'd be under the threat of neighboring armies. It's not like he didn't know their water supply was precarious. It's actually because of those things that God chose Jerusalem for his dwelling place.

Because God was going to get glory for himself because of his people's weakness. He was going to put the mouse in the trap and then deliver it from the trap. Because that's who our God is. That's what shows off his glory. That's what shows off his power.

That's what teaches us and the surrounding nations that he is the almighty God. And friends, if you read through the Bible, how many times does God need to make this same point? This is the God who chose Abraham, the man-fearer, Moses, the stutterer, David, the youngest and the smallest, Elijah who struggled with depression. This is the God who to accomplish our salvation came down and became incarnate as a baby, who accomplished our salvation in weakness. Oh friends, this is the God who chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

He chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. He chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Our weakness plus God's power means he gets all the glory.

Now, there's no doubt that in this past year, we have felt our weakness as a church in new ways. We felt our weakness to care for each other when the government tells us we can't gather. We felt our weakness to remain united around the gospel when political divisions are infiltrating the church and trying to tear us apart. We felt our weakness even in being able to provide encouraging sermons when our surroundings are cold and distracting. All of these weaknesses tempt us to fear.

But friends, let's not miss the opportunity of weakness. These weaknesses are the very things that bring God glory as they show off his power.

Just over a hundred years ago, in the midst of the Spanish flu, Francis Grimke preached these words to his congregation that met just over there north of Logan's Circle.

He told them, God knows what he is doing. His work is not going to suffer. It will rather be a help to it in the end. Out of this, I believe, great good is coming. All the churches, as well as the community at large, are going to be stronger and better for this season of distress through which we have been passing.

Oh friends, may that same confidence mark our hope in God this morning. Wait, watch, trust, see how God will work.

Kids, I wonder if this has been a frightening year for you. There have been a lot of surprises for all of us. But kids, you should know that your fears don't go away just because you get bigger. Just ask your parents. They get scared too sometimes.

No, kids, fears go away when your understanding of God gets bigger. Watch what happens as your God gets bigger. Your fears will get smaller. That's why the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Friends, Judah's temptation was to allow their fear of the surrounding nations to eclipse their fear of the Lord.

Ultimately, this ungodly fear revealed a lack of trust in the Lord. And that's our fourth point, trust.

So much of what God is doing here in Isaiah and really in all of Scripture is teaching his people what it means to trust him. Because trust doesn't just happen. Trust is built over time. You see, God could just command his people to trust him, and he does command us to trust him. But God also patiently teaches us how to trust him, and he does that by giving promises and by showing himself faithful to fulfill those promises.

That's what's going on in this last section of Isaiah in chapter 22 verses 15 to 25. Here we're introduced to two familiar figures in Judah's political leadership. We're introduced to Shebna, who is introduced in verse 15 as the chief royal steward, something like a secretary of state in Judah, and also to Eliakim, who is referred to as the Lord's servant. Shebna, as it turns out, is the individual embodiment of all the evil that Judah was corporately. Self-reliant, self-confident, and self-serving.

Indulgent. That's why Shebna will be judged for his sins, demoted, and replaced by Eliakim who will faithfully steward his office. In verse 22 we read that Eliakim will be given the key of the house of David. This signifies civil and administrative authority. So why does all this matter?

Here's the point: God is giving his people short-term promises to teach them to trust Him. He's giving them these small promises and He's going to be faithful to them to teach them to trust Him with much bigger promises. You see this section contains 18 statements about what God will do. He says, I will hurl, I will seize, I will throw, I will pull, I will call, I will bind, I will close, and so forth. In every single one of those will statements, about what God will do is an opportunity for God to show himself faithful.

Now, stay with me here for a moment and flip over in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 36. Isaiah 36. I want you to see this. In Isaiah 36, when King Hezekiah sends out a delegation to meet the Assyrian army, look who is at the head of the delegation.

It's Eliakim. Eliakim, not Shebna, is described in verse 3 as the royal steward over the household, whereas Shebna has been demoted to the office of secretary. All it took was 14 chapters for God to fulfill His word. Promise made in chapter 22, promise kept in chapter 36. Maybe 10 years?

Maybe 20 years, maybe less. You see, these small promises are teaching God's people to trust him with much bigger promises.

Friend, I don't know exactly what your 2020 has held. I do know that many in our congregation have lost loved ones. Some have lost their jobs. Some have seen their health shattered. But friend, take a moment to consider how has God shown himself faithful to you in this past year?

Take a moment, think about this last year, and get one thought in your mind.

Friends, when I think about this last year, I think of our elders who have met regularly, made difficult decisions, and prayed fervently for our congregation. I think of our sound deacons who have made it possible literally every week for us to hear God's Word. I think of Mark and Bobby and Ben and Isaac who faithfully taught God's word to us every week. I think of moms who are balancing, instructing their kids at home and wrangling them while at church. I think of the legal team who made it possible for us to be meeting in Anacostia right now.

I think of the young men and women who volunteered to give rides to other members so that they can come to church. Friends, when I think of how God has shown himself faithful in 2020, I think of each of you praying, coming, hearing, encouraging, persevering. You are evidence of God's faithfulness. So as 2020 comes to a close, keep going. Keep trusting in the Lord.

No one who trusts in Him will be put to shame.

Friends, as Christians, our hope does not ultimately rely or reside in any person, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you look at the end of Isaiah 22, it seems that even Eliakim in verse 25 wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure that other people would put on him, and even he would fall. But even in that, you realize that he is pointing to one much greater than himself, one who can never fail. Because Revelation 3:7 says that Jesus is the one who holds the keys to the house of David. What he opens, no one will shut.

And what he shuts, no one will open. And when he says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, we can trust him.

Will you trust Him for your 2021? Will you trust Him for your eternity?

Let's pray.

Lord God, we praise you as the faithful God that you are. We thank you that you give us so many promises. And you have shown yourself to be so faithful, most of all in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would teach us to trust you. We pray that we would rely on you and that you would allow us to serve you faithfully for the rest of this year and for this coming year and until your return.

We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.