Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 78

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 78

We are in a chapter called "Woe To David's City", and although Isaiah refers to the city as "Ariel" (a word which means "altar hearth"), we know he is speaking of Jerusalem. The Lord has been telling the people they have forsaken Him and are simply going about the rituals of religion. They have lost the relationship. They are bringing sacrifices and saying and doing all the right things, but their hearts are far from God.

I grew up in the church and I knew how to talk the talk. I knew how to make it look like I was walking the walk as well, but it was a charade. Until I was twenty-two the Bible was a book that I believed in my mind but I didn't feel with my heart. It's likely I fooled a lot of people because I knew exactly what to say and do, but my heart was far from God. My neighbors and co-workers might not have known it, but God knew it. Jerusalem's neighbors probably viewed her citizens as very religious, as people who loved and served their God, but appearances were deceiving. The temple was busy, offerings were being made, sacrifices were being brought, but the hearts of the people had strayed far from the Lord. And He knew it.

"Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?'" (Isaiah 29:15) They were living the double life I spoke of living in the paragraph above. Outwardly they looked good. They were obeying the religious laws and doing all the right things on the outside, as if God could only see them when they came to the temple. They forgot that God sees all the way to the heart and that He can read everything in our minds. The Lord Jesus criticized this kind of hypocrisy and He especially criticized it in the nation's religious leaders. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and the outside will also be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:25-28) 

Cleanliness begins on the inside. We can make ourselves look good on the outside and say and do all the right things, but if our hearts aren't right with the Lord, He says we are hypocrites. In the days before I had a relationship with Christ, I could sit in a church and look just like everybody else. I could quote Scripture and I could probably even have led a halfway decent prayer if called upon. But I was like a cup that's clean on the outside and filthy on the inside. I was like a whitewashed tomb, beautifully adorned on the outside but decaying on the inside. In Jesus' day the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were outwardly following all the rules. In fact, since the giving of the ten commandments, the religious leaders had developed over six hundred rules for men and women to follow. I don't see how it was even possible to remember them all, but many of the leaders spent their entire lives studying these laws and condemning those who failed to keep them all. They were missing the most important part which is that God offers us a relationship, not a rule book. 

If we first establish the relationship (cleaning the inside of the cup) then the right kind of living will automatically follow (cleaning the outside of the cup). We won't achieve perfection as long as we live in these frail bodies, but if the inside is clean we will naturally want to live in a way that honors our Lord. We will stumble from time to time, but because we are walking in step with our Savior, we know to reach up for His hand. We won't want anything to cause a distance between us and Him. The Pharisees, who were obsessed with ritual baths and hand washings and making the outside look good, once criticized Jesus and His disciples for eating with unwashed hands. Jesus replied, "What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." (Matthew 15:11) Traveling along the dusty roads of Judea, Jesus and His disciples didn't always have the opportunity to follow the written rules of outward cleanliness, but what mattered was that they were clean on the inside.

The Lord points out the foolishness of believing that He who created the eye cannot see and that He who created the ear cannot hear. Nothing is hidden from Him. "You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'You did not make me'? Can the pot say to the potter, 'You know nothing?'" (Isaiah 29:16) 

There is a quote that is attributed to Abraham Lincoln about being able to fool our fellow man. "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." I would like to add to that, "You can fool God none of the time." The people of Isaiah's day had fooled their neighbors. They had even fooled themselves. But they had not fooled God. He knew the inside of the cup was dirty and He wanted to make it clean. This is why He sent prophets again and again to reason with the people. He offered them opportunity after opportunity to repent and when this did not work, He brought discipline in the form of a foreign invader. Sitting captive in a strange land, the people would have time to think about where they went wrong. 

I see myself in the nation of Israel. I knew all the rules and I had the word of God and I had the religious training. On the outside I was able to behave like a devout Christian. I fooled others around me and probably even fooled myself. But I didn't fool God. Time and again He put me in situations where I was daily in contact with those who really did walk the walk, but I remained stubborn at heart. I pretended to feel the same way my co-workers felt about the Lord, but it was a charade. He gave me opportunity after opportunity to repent but I hardened my heart. So finally He brought discipline by letting me paint myself into a corner I couldn't get out of without divine help. That's when I had time to think about where I went wrong. That's when I accepted His offer to make me clean on the inside. 

Below is a song about the only thing that makes us clean.

O The Blood

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 77

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 77

In Chapter 28 the Lord said the spiritual leaders of Israel and Judah have become prideful and drunken. They have fallen into excessive habits just like anyone else and are no longer fit to lead. Because they willingly numbed themselves against the pleading of the Lord, He will let a spirit of stupor come over them. "Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer. The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); He has covered your heads (the seers)." (Isaiah 29:9-10)

The priests have lost their zeal for God's word and have become indistinguishable from any other citizen in Jerusalem. The prophets are prophesying falsehood, promising the people peace when peace is not coming. Because the priests are intentionally blind to the word of God, the Lord is leaving them in that state for a while. Because the prophets are intentionally prophesying a lie, the Lord is covering their heads so they cannot receive a true vision. Sometimes, when we are wayward, God sees it's better to leave us on that bad path until we realize it's leading us nowhere. Sometimes He has to let us take ourselves down a dead end road before we will humble ourselves and call out to Him for help.

Nevertheless, God had His true prophets during this period of history. He has always had a faithful remnant in every age. Isaiah is daily delivering the message of the Lord to the people. But because the religious leaders have rejected the message for so long, now its meaning is hidden to them. "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, 'Read this, please,' they will answer, 'I can't; it is sealed.' Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, 'Read this, please,' they will answer, 'I don't know how to read.'" (Isaiah 29:11-12) These educated men have become like illiterate peasants. They can see the words but the words have no meaning to them. They don't want the words to have any meaning. It's so much more pleasant to believe everything is going to be fine, that they don't need to repent, that the Lord won't bring trouble to Jerusalem because His temple is there. 

The temple means nothing to the Lord without the love of the people. In fact, it wasn't even His idea to build a temple in the first place. King David, out of his love and gratitude for the Lord, wanted to build Him a house, but the Lord was satisfied with the tent of meeting the nation had always used. What is a magnificent temple to the One who owns the universe? Does He have any need of awesome cathedrals? All He ever asked for was a place to meet with the people. He could meet with them just as easily in a tent as in the opulent temple Solomon built. In fact, the tent may have served the people better, for the glory in it was of the Lord and not of the work of man. The people in Isaiah's day were still observing the temple rituals but they were simply going through the motions. Why should God protect His temple if the hearts of the people had strayed from Him? The temple of the heart is where He wants to live, not in monuments made by man. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is based on merely human rules they have been taught." (Isaiah 29:13) It's possible to follow the letter of the law while neglecting the heart of the law.

"Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." (Isaiah 29:14) The Apostle Paul took this verse from the book of Isaiah and applied it to the cross of Christ: the wonder of all wonders. (1 Corinthians 1:19) The Lord chose the message of the cross, something so simple it became a stumbling block for those wise in their own eyes. The message is so simple that the intelligent thought it was beneath them. "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) 

The plan of salvation comes from the brilliant mind of Almighty God, yet He made it so simple even small children can understand it. The proud mind rejects it but the humble mind is drawn to it. Those who are wise in their own eyes scoff at it but those who acknowledge their need for a Savior find peace in it. True wisdom is opening our eyes to our deplorable sinful condition and reaching out for the hand of the One who can deliver us. 

Yesterday my boss brought a book to work that gives a short synopsis of the beliefs of all the various religions of the world. (I'm not here to put down other religions; I'm here to lift up the name of Christ.) But I couldn't help noticing that the theme running through all of them, other than Christianity, is that man can achieve salvation through good works. None of them, other than Christianity, appeared to require man to admit he is broken and helpless and unable to save himself. If anyone believes man can improve himself or the world by doing good works with his own hands, I say all we need to do is look around us to realize this is a false idea. The world grows more wicked by the day. Wars and rumors of wars increase. Lawlessness abounds. Cruelty has reached new and shocking depths. An hour spent with one of the news networks will tell us all we need to know about what a miserable failure man's plan to improve the world has been. How can weak and imperfect creatures like us make ourselves better? How can we make the world better? Only by admitting we are weak and imperfect, by acknowledging that we are sinners, by calling out, "Lord, save me!" to the One who can take all our broken pieces and fashion us into something better and more honorable. 

We have an awesome opportunity to fulfill our destiny but it can only be accomplished through fellowship with the Creator. And He has chosen His Son as the only way to Him. The Lord Jesus was broken for us. He was bruised for us. He suffered being forsaken by God and going to the grave in our place. And He rose on the third day to prove that everything He said about Himself was true. The book my boss brought to work yesterday gave the date of death (or approximate date) of each of the founders of each religion and then it made the remark, "And he remained dead." But we who are in Christ have a Leader, a Redeemer, and a Savior who is alive! Today we could visit the tombs and gravesites of a number of religious leaders but they are still in their graves. We can go to the Holy Land and visit what is thought to be the garden tomb where Christ was laid on Friday evening. But He, unlike the others, is not there. This is wisdom: putting all our hope in the One who conquered death.

Our worship song link for today is below.

In Christ Alone

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 76

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 76

Chapter 29 is titled in the NIV "Woe To David's City". Isaiah refers to Jerusalem as "Ariel" which means "altar hearth". Considering the temple of the Lord was at Jerusalem, this is an apt description.

"Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on." (Isaiah 29:1) I am reminded of what the Lord said in Luke 12:48b, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." The city of Jerusalem had the temple, the priests and prophets, and the book of the law. You would expect this to be the holiest city on earth, yet idolatry was growing. The altar hearth of the Lord was there, yet sin was crouching at the door. (Genesis 4:7) Much is required of a people who are blessed by God, which is why I often say we in American are without excuse, the Bible being available to us at all times. Much was required of Jerusalem because, of all places on earth, the Lord chose that location for His altar hearth. The required festivals were still being observed and the people were going through the motions but as the Lord will say later in Chapter 29, "These people come near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." Year after year the rituals of religion were being carried out but the hearts of the people weren't in it. 

Despite the Lord's temple being there, "Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to Me like an altar hearth." (Isaiah 29:2) Many in Isaiah's day did not believe the Lord would judge Jerusalem because His temple was there. The prophet Jeremiah warned the people not to believe this, "Do not trust in deceptive words and say, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!'" (Jeremiah 7:4) False prophets were rising up and promising the people that God would never allow the city to be taken or His temple to be destroyed. But the true temple the Lord wanted was their hearts. If He could not have their hearts, what use was the temple? God cannot be put into a box, left behind the church doors, and visited only when we feel obligated. He wants to dwell with each one of us. God is a personal God. Because He was not being honored at the altar hearth of their hearts, He was not really being honored at the altar hearth of the temple. Therefore He is going to turn the whole city into an altar hearth.

"I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up My siege works against you." (Isaiah 29:3) This describes the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, but Nebuchadnezzar was simply the instrument of discipline in the Lord's hand, so the Lord takes personal credit for this action. Nebuchadnezzar's siege works are the Lord's siege works. 

"Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper." (Isaiah 29:4) Ground underfoot by the enemy, the city will lie broken, in dust and ashes. But something survives. Jerusalem is not cast down so far she will never rise again. Though brought down to a mere whisper, God's ears are open. At the right time His wrath will turn upon Jerusalem's enemies, "But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff." (Isaiah 29:5a) Jerusalem may lie like dust on the ground, but her enemies will be like fine dust blown away by the wind. Jerusalem will rise but her enemies will be found no more.

"Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night---as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So it will be with all the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion." (Isaiah 29:6b-8) Every enemy that Jerusalem ever feared will be rendered powerless, like a bad dream a person has in the night but that vanishes with the dawn. The Lord made an awesome promise to Abraham and his descendants, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3) Someday Jerusalem will look around her and find no enemies. Those who have cursed her will be no more and the memory of them will be like a fading dream. Her Messiah, whom she will accept at last, will rule in the midst of her. The descendant of Abraham (Christ) through whom all the world is blessed, will be King over all believers both Jew and Gentile. 

One of the commentaries I consulted stated that Jerusalem has been besieged at least twenty-seven times in its history. But a day is coming when the Lord will be the protective wall around her and the light within her. He will dwell in the hearts of the people. Never again will it be said, "These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me." The world will be at peace under the leadership of the Prince of Peace. Times of trouble and sorrow will be no more, like a bad dream that vanished with the sunrise. 

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 75

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 75

This morning we are going to conclude Chapter 28 which is titled "Woe To The Leaders Of Ephraim And Judah". Isaiah finishes up this section with a parable and I love parables because our Lord often used them. 

"Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?" (Isaiah 28:23-24) In Isaiah's parable, the Lord is the farmer. Isaiah is speaking to an agricultural society and they know the process of farming from beginning to end. A farmer has to break up his soil every spring but he doesn't keep on breaking it up all season. If he never gets to the planting he will never have a harvest.

The Lord had to break up the soil to plant Israel. The people of the land of Canaan had inhabited the land for centuries and their sins grew worse as time went on. We studied some of their religious practices when we looked at 1st and 2nd Kings. They even had the abominable practice of child sacrifice. The Lord plucked up the people of Canaan and planted the tribes of Israel in the soil there. "When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field?" (Isaiah 28:25)

The farmer knows when to plow, when to sow, and when to reap because, "His God instructs him and teaches him the right way." (Isaiah 28:26) Just like a knowledgeable farmer, the Lord knows exactly what needs to be done at every point in history. There is a time to plow, a time to get the land ready to plant a people in it. There is a time to sow a nation and let it grow. 

There is a time to thresh a nation. God has dealt with many nations over the millenia and He has dealt with each in a different way. "Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain." (Isaiah 28:27-28) The manner of threshing depends upon the type of grain the farmer is dealing with. Likewise, the manner of threshing depends upon the type of nation the Lord is dealing with. We can bring this on down to a very personal level because God individualizes His approach to every one of us according to our unique personalities. We all endure some threshing in this life. As we studied yesterday, God disciplines those He loves and He trains His children in the ways of godliness. The manner of threshing depends on our stubbornness and whether or not we cling to sin. For the one who is easily taught and eager to learn, the threshing is more gentle. For the one who is stubborn and willful, the threshing will likely take longer and be of a harsher nature. 

I have endured threshing in a variety of ways and will likely see more of it if I live long enough. When I was living in sin, the Lord had to let me hit bottom, knowing I would not look up to Him until there was no other place to look for help. That type of threshing is usually a lengthy process. Looking back now, I can't say why it took me so long to see the light, especially since I was brought up in the church and knew the word of God, but one of my failings has always been an independent stubborn streak. I have never liked being told what to do. I was a willful and wayward child and I grew into a willful and wayward adult. It took some intense threshing in my early twenties to get me onto the right path.

Even as Christians, we are threshed in various ways and for various reasons. Sometimes it's for discipline because we are holding onto a bad attitude, or onto a spirit of unforgiveness, or because we have fallen into sin. Other times it's simply for the purpose of training us, to make us more godly, to increase our faith and make us better Christians. Sometimes it's to prepare us for something in the future when we will need the skills we learned during the threshing. And sometimes it's so we can fulfill the motto of this blog, "so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God". 

When we've been through a particular season of threshing ourselves, doesn't it give us more compassion for those enduring the same type of hardship? There are particular situations I have special sympathy for because I've been through them. Because of my experiences the Lord expects me to minister to those going through the same problems. You have been through things that give you sympathy for those enduring them and you are able to minister to them in ways others can't. Wouldn't it be terrible if a trial came into our lives and we were the only person on the face of the earth it had ever happened to? Who would encourage us? Who would we look to for proof that these troubles can be survived? How would we know for sure we could not only survive but thrive again? Who could reassure us that God is with us and He is for us and He is working these things for our good? Counseling seems useless when it comes from someone who has no real idea what we're going through. They can pat us on the arm all day and tell us everything is going to be ok but we don't feel any better because they have never endured what we're enduring. But when someone comes alongside us who has been through the same thing, and they lovingly encourage and support us, and they tell us what the Lord did for them during the same type of threshing, we find comfort. We find the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And that is how the Lord intends the body of Christ to work together. 

Like a wise farmer, the Lord knows exactly how to deal with nations and individuals. He knows the right time to break up the soil or to sow the grain or to thresh the crops. He knows who must be dealt with gently and who is going to need some extra work. But all of this is done in love and in our best interests. I'll be honest with you and say I would prefer not to be threshed. I'd like to just grow where I am and not be bothered. I'd like to be comfortable and at ease all the time. Like a tall stalk of corn, I want to just stay in my little spot soaking up the sun, drinking in the morning dew, and simply exist. But God has not called us to that.

Thinking back over your life, when did you learn the most about the Lord? Was it in times of ease and comfort or in times of hardship? Certainly we are thankful in the good times and we praise His name for our blessings, but do we really learn in the easy times that His promises are true? There are things I wouldn't go through again for anything in this world. But if I were given the choice never to have gone through them at all, I'd have to say no because I learned things about my Lord in those dark times that I could never have learned any other way. When I think back on those days I can't help but agree with the psalmist, "Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and Your servant loves them." (Psalm 119:40) We don't know who wrote Psalm 119 but it's safe to assume the author was a man who had been through some difficult things. He speaks of affliction and of having gone astray. He speaks of knowing the word of God is true because He has tested it. How was it tested? In the furnace of affliction. The psalmist makes his declaration right in the middle of a passage about having enemies, about being lowly and despised, about being in trouble and distress. He learned that the promises of God are true because God was with him in his troubles, holding him up, bringing him through, giving him the hope to face another day. And maybe God even brought alongside him a godly friend who said, "Brother, I love you and have compassion for you. I once was in the same place you are but God was faithful to me and will be faithful to you. God loves you and is for you." 

We live in a dark and scary world. As children of God and members of the body of Christ, we have a duty to comfort those around us. We are to draw upon our past experiences to comfort those who are going through the same things. We can take what we learned from our own times of threshing and encourage those who are enduring the same type of threshing now. God has designed it so that we are all to work together to encourage each other in the faith. As Isaiah says in his conclusion today, "All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent." (Isaiah 28:29)

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 74

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 74

Yesterday we finished with the people being charged of having forsaken the Lord. They are trusting in a lie, looking to anyone and everything but the Lord to rescue them. Therefore the Lord said they had made a covenant with death. They spurned His help and looked to a pagan nation for relief. They thought Egypt would help them against Assyria and I don't know of any other ancient culture more preoccupied with death than Egypt. In that sense too, the people of Israel and Judah were making a covenant with death. The people believed death would pass them by, that judgment wouldn't fall on them, if they allied themselves with Egypt. Egypt was experiencing a reversal of fortunes and had regained a great deal of her former glory, so she had invited surrounding nations to join her in an effort to rid the region of Assyrian oppression. But this coalition would not be successful. 

"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.'" (Isaiah 28:16) The Apostle Peter quoted this passage from Isaiah in 1 Peter 2, applying it to the Lord Jesus. Christ is the cornerstone of our faith. He is our Rock who can never be moved. And He is our only hope. 

Peter said of this cornerstone, "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious." (1 Peter 2:7a) Peter was speaking to first century Christians. But Isaiah is speaking to an unfaithful nation. They have not listened to the words of the Lord in times past and they are not listening in Isaiah's day. The message about a coming Redeemer is currently falling upon deaf ears because the nation is looking to her allies for help against the enemy, when all along her Helper was at hand. Because she has rejected Him, "I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through." (Isaiah 28:17-19a) The people had built their house upon the sand and the storm was about to sweep the house away.

"The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you." (Isaiah 28:19b-20) Barry G. Webb, in his book The Message of Isaiah, interprets it like this, "Having made their bed they will have to lie on it, but they will find that it is too short; it will not give them any comfort or protection." (pg 121) When we who are believers get out of God's will, we cannot get comfortable. There have been times when I "made my bed" by making bad choices. I tried to lie in it but spiritually speaking I could do nothing but toss and turn through sleepless nights. Being a believer yet living in opposition to God's word is a terribly uncomfortable position to be in. We won't feel satisfied at any time of the day or night. Nothing makes us comfortable again except going to the Lord and confessing our sins and forsaking them, thus having our closeness with Him restored. 

"The Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim, He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon---to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task." (Isaiah 28:20-21) God fought on the side of Israel at Mount Perazim and in the Valley of Gibeon. But now the people have arrayed themselves in battle formation against Him. They have made themselves His enemies by scorning His help and His redemption. So now He must fight against them and this is a "strange work" and an "alien task". It is strange and alien because the Lord and the people with whom He made a covenant are supposed to be on the same side. God, in His heart, would much prefer to be fighting on the side of Israel but He cannot because they have strayed from Him and have bowed to false idols. Bringing discipline on them is distasteful to Him but it must be done for their own good, just as a father disciplines a son for his own good. How can we be said to love our children if we never teach them the right way? How can God be said to love Israel if He does not teach them the right way? We've probably all heard the parental expression, "This hurts me more than it hurts you." In the case of the Lord, this is certainly true. It hurts Him to correct His people. It feels strange and alien to discipline His wayward children, but it must be done.

King Solomon said this about the Lord's discipline, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:11-12) The author of the book of Hebrews, who is thought to be the Apostle Paul, quoted Solomon's words and then went on to say, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?...God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:7, 10b-11) There are two types of discipline: the type used for correction and the type used for training. Isaiah speaks of the type used for correction because the people had fallen so far from God. But there is a type of discipline that is intended for training. Troubles may come even when we are walking in the will of God, and in those cases the troubles are for our spiritual development. The Lord's brother James said of this type, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." (James 1:2-3) Just as an athlete must discipline himself to train every day, so the Lord trains us for perseverance. We don't turn into marathon runners from couch potatoes overnight, either physically or spiritually. It takes training and discipline.

When troubles come, the first thing we ought to do is prayerfully examine our hearts to see whether we are caught up in a sin. Taking this problem to the Lord will allow Him to reveal to us anything we need to repent of. Repenting and turning from the sin may well shorten our time of discipline. But if, in our time with the Lord, we feel satisfied our troubles are not the result of waywardness, then we know God is training us for something. He is working on our spiritual development. He intends for us to learn something and to grow in our relationship with Him. The Apostle Paul said it well when he told us no discipline is pleasant at the time. I've certainly never enjoyed it. I've experienced the discipline that was a result of my sins and I've experienced the training that was intended to help me grow in the faith. Neither were pleasant. But in both types of cases, God was working something out for my good because He loves me. 

In the book of Isaiah, God is working things out for the good of His people. They have strayed from Him and must be disciplined, but He does not intend the discipline to destroy them. He is doing what the Apostle Paul said He was doing, disciplining for good so that they could share in His holiness. God, like any loving Father, wants the best for His children. 

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 73

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 73

Yesterday we concluded with the sad spiritual condition of the priests and prophets. They have become worldly and have given themselves to pleasures. We begin today with their indignation at being reminded of God's rules. They are angry with Isaiah for trying to bring them back to the basics of God's law. They feel they are too sophisticated to listen. "Who is it that he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there." (Isaiah 28:9-10)

The priests and prophets feel Isaiah is talking down to them when he reminds them of God's word in simple terms. They are prideful, saying to themselves, "Who does this fellow think he is? We are the spiritual leaders of Israel! What can he possibly teach us? He's talking to us like we are a bunch of little kids in a Sunday school class!" 

But the fact is that these men need to be brought back to the basics. They have become worldly like those who grew up in the church, know the Scriptures, but have decided they aren't to be taken literally. They are treating God's laws as if they merely suggest how a man should live, not as if it the Scriptures are the spoken word of the living God.

Because they refuse to listen to a godly man of their own nation, God will send them captive to another nation. "Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom He said, 'This is the resting place, let the weary rest'; and, 'This is the place of repose'---but they would not listen. So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there---so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured." (Isaiah 28:11-13) The priests and prophets have been mocking Isaiah's words, imitating him by babbling nonsense. The words translated "do this do that, a rule for this a rule for that, a little here a little there" are tsav latsav tsav latsav, gav lagav gav lagav, which would make a repetitive rhyme when shouted at Isaiah. It would sound like gibberish, especially coming from these men who have been drinking so much they end up vomiting on the tables, according to yesterday's passage. God is saying something like, "You will not listen to the plain speaking of My true prophets? You mock their words? Fine, I will send you to a nation whose language you do not know, and there everything will sound like nonsense to your ears."

"Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, 'We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place." (Isaiah 28:14-15) The people of Jerusalem hoped alliances with other nations would keep them safe from enemies, but it was not to be. Many of their neighbors fell to Assyria and those who did not eventually fell to Babylon, just as Jerusalem would. They are trusting in a lie. Their help can only be found in turning back to God but instead they run to and fro seeking help from idolatrous neighbors. Isaiah is pleading with the people, telling them what they must do in order to continue being a sovereign nation in the world, but they scoff at him. His preaching sounds like foolishness to them. 

We still have scoffers today. As the Apostle Paul said, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) He then goes on to quote from Isaiah 29:14, "For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'" (1 Corinthians 1:19) The spiritual leaders of Isaiah's day thought they were too educated and intelligent to listen to him. We see this attitude in our own times, an attitude that says, "Only ignorant backwoods hillbillies believe the Bible is true! A man named Noah built an ark? The Red Sea parted? A fish swallowed a man? A man rose from the dead after being beaten to a pulp and then tortured on a cross? Who would believe this?" The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are wise in their own eyes. This is why the Bible says they are perishing. They are perishing in their sins and unbelief. They have made a covenant with death by trusting in that which cannot save. 

But to those who are being saved, the message of the cross is the power of God. Pride is not saying, "I'm not a sinner and I don't need a Savior." Humility and the recognition of sin leads to the One of whom Isaiah will speak tomorrow, the precious cornerstone of our faith.

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 72

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 72

This morning we begin Isaiah 28 and in it the Lord pronounces woe upon the leaders of the nation.

"Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley---to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!" (Isaiah 28:1) Isaiah uses "Ephraim" interchangeably with "Israel" because Ephraim was the largest tribe in those days. Israel has given herself over to indulgence. She lives for pleasure. She is both physically and spiritually drunk, caught up in carnal excess. Her leaders have fallen so far from the Lord that they have become numb to the word of the Lord and the pleading of the Holy Spirit.

Samaria, the capitol city of the northern kingdom, was once a glorious city. But because of its spiritual decay, it is like a fading flower whose petals will soon drop to the earth. 

"See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground." (Isaiah 28:2) Isaiah does not call Assyria by name, but this is the nation who will overthrow Israel like a destructive storm.

"That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, will be trampled underfoot. That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest---as soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them." (Isaiah 28:3-4) The people wear their pride like a wreath (a victory crown) on their heads. It's true they've fallen into excessive pleasures, but pride is at the heart of their sins. Pride is likely at the heart of every sin. Pride is what says, "I will do what I want to do. I will have what I want to have. I can run my life better than God can. I can take care of all my own needs in my own way; I don't need to wait for Him or follow His laws."

In the days of Isaiah's ministry, it wouldn't be long before Israel was swallowed up by Assyria. The Lord compares the nation to figs that are ripe before the time of harvest. Anyone who comes upon unexpectedly ripe figs will immediately pluck and eat them. A person traveling along the roadway would be delighted to come upon the figs and would swallow them up, just as Assyria will be delighted to swallow up Israel.

The idea of "swallowing up" is associated with total destruction, but Isaiah pauses here in his woeful message to insert a word of hope. "In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His people. He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate." (Isaiah 28:5-6) Isaiah says "in that day", indicating the coming kingdom of the Lord. The day in which Isaiah is living seems quite dark. Israel is wearing a crown of pride. But a day is coming when the Lord will bestow upon her a glorious crown, the crown that belongs to those who honor Him. In that day they will be His people and He will be their God. 

In contrast to the righteous judgment in the kingdom of God, Isaiah gives us a description of the deplorable lack of judgment among the nation's spiritual leaders. "And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth." (Isaiah 28:7-8) The revelry has extended all the way to the priesthood and to the company of prophets. We are not very surprised when we see a celebrity or politician arrested for drunk driving or drug possession, but we feel a special kind of disapproval when a spiritual leader is caught in such a sin. We expect more of them. We look to them to set an example of godly living. I remember back in the 80s when several television evangelists were caught up in various scandals and my mother said, "Well, if I ever hear anything like this about Billy Graham, I guess I'll never watch a TV preacher again." Mom was disappointed in the example the well-known spiritual leaders had set. She thought a great deal of Billy Graham; had she ever heard anything lascivious about him, it would have destroyed her confidence in all the well-known leaders. In Isaiah's day the people could not have confidence even in those who should have set an example for godly living. They too were overcome with excess. The Lord paints a graphic picture here of long drunken parties in which the participants end up vomiting on the tables. The priests and prophets are not simply intoxicated from having misjudged how much they have drunk; they have imbibed to the point of becoming filthy and revolting. They are no different than the wino passed out in the alley.

A nation has fallen very far into the gutter when its spiritual leaders cannot be distinguished from its unbelievers. Had we been invited into a home for a feast in Isaiah's day, we would not have been able to tell the difference between the priests and the bad boys. They all looked alike. 

When the church begins to look like the world, the nation is in serious danger of falling. The word of God gives this sober instruction to believers, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God---this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-2) The priests and prophets of Israel could no longer interpret God's will and give godly counsel to the people. They had conformed to the pattern of this world. Rather than living in a way that honored the Lord, they had given themselves over to the pleasures of the flesh, which honors and serves the creature rather than the Creator. Our worship of the Lord is not just our church attendance on Sunday. It is the self-control over our bodies as we live in such a way that even unbelievers recognize we belong to Christ. This honors Him. And because we honor Him, staying connected to Him at all times, we are able to discern His will for our lives and we can give godly advice to those in need. 

Most of us, at least in the free world, will probably never be called upon to be martyred for the faith. But the Bible calls for us to die to self and live for Christ, to become a living sacrifice. This means we are to do what is right in God's eyes even when our carnal minds want to do the opposite. If the church begins to look like the world, to whom will the hurting go for help? How will the lost hear the gospel? The gospel is not just the spoken message but also includes all our attitudes and behaviors. The world watches the lives of Christians. If they cannot tell us apart from unbelievers, what influence will we have? If Christians do not live honorable lives, why would anyone seek to join with us? If we are lying in our own vomit like the priests and prophets of Isaiah's day, how can we show anyone the way to be made clean? 

I have disappointed myself at times and have probably disappointed others. There have been situations where I've become so weary or so annoyed that I've reacted in ways that don't reflect who I am in Christ. The Lord knew there would be times we'd stumble and this is why it's a daily walk with Him, "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me." (Luke 9:23) It's a daily walk with our Lord, which is why the Apostle Paul said, "I die daily." (1 Corinthians 15:31) Paul had to get up every morning and strive to die to self and live for Christ. He was not a perfect man but he refused to give up. Every day he was challenged to be a better man than he was yesterday. We might have messed up yesterday but Christ doesn't disqualify us as disciples. We can still get up this morning, take up our cross, and follow Him.