2nd Evangelical Free Church

Blogging Through Isaiah: Modern idolatry.

Isaiah 31 

Isaiah supplements the previous series of oracles with another one pronouncing woe upon those who trust in Egypt. Yahweh says plainly that He will fight for His people. He is the divine Warrior. Though His strength cannot be seen because it is in the realm of the Spirit, He is omnipotent and attacks with surprise and fear far greater than the “shock and awe” strategy that was so proudly proclaimed by the US military in Iraq. No human being who takes arms up against the Lord can ever hope to win. Trusting any person or thing or system other than the Lord is idolatry and must be rooted out.

It may be hard for us to think of idolatry except in terms of statues, idols, false gods and myths, but it actually takes many forms. Any person who does not submit every area of his or her life to the Lord is committing idolatry because he/she is not putting total allegiance or faith in the Lord. All those who rely primarily upon human government to secure and protect them is committing idolatry. Any person who does not seek the Lord’s counsel first in any issue or crisis is committing idolatry. Any person who values the opinions of any celebrity or politician, movie star or guru, friend or relative over the counsel of God is committing idolatry. Of course we tend to forget this in our media drive society. We compartmentalize our lives into work, relationships, leisure. Our relationship with the Lord does not influence how we act in these other areas of life. Yet this too is idolatry.

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The church as governmental advisor.

Isaiah 30 

Isaiah presents here a few more oracles concerning the folly of Judah’s policy of relying on Egypt. The leaders were looking for military help to secure their borders against Assyrian expansion, and so be able to continue their own agricultural and commercial prosperity. The Lord told them that their trust is in error because Egypt was but a shadow, a phantom that promised great strength but produced nothing. The nation was to rely solely on the Lord in the crisis. Yahweh is the one and only God so all decisions regarding alliances and strategies must be made in the light of His counsel. He alone can produce the prosperity and security they sought. 

 To the world today the idea of seeking the Lord’s counsel seems utterly ridiculous. We think that we must first rely upon our resources, our skills, our armies, our weapons and our diplomats. Considering such resources will then allow us to better formulate our plans and strategies. Once we know what we can do and how to do it we look at what we want to do. Then with our plans made we can ask the Lord to bless them. Such has been the way of most individuals and governments down through the centuries, including that of the United States. Such behavior is rebellion against God because it puts our trust not in Him but in our leaders and in the plans and schemes of human beings. He may use them but He must first be consulted to discern His will in the matter. Failure to trust God over all and in all invites disaster.

Today it is up to the church to serve as a godly advisor to our leaders. The church cannot play politics or give in to the government’s demands. The church must provide godly teaching and warning when the governing authorities are acting in disobedience to the will of God.

 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The fiery discipline of the Lord.

Isaiah 29 

 
Ariel is a word which means “an altar hearth”, the flat surface on which a fire was lit to consume sacrifices. Isaiah used it to refer to Jerusalem which was the center of the worship of Yahweh. Apparently the whole city was going to become the site of God’s consuming fire that would purge her of idolatry and iniquity. The leaders and people both had heard the words of warning the Lord had spoken through Isaiah. Yet they refused to listen, as if the words were sealed up. They preferred their religion to be composed of lip service and superficial acts which kept the letter of the law but did not come from a burning heart that was consumed with love for the Lord. 

Such superficial religion rejects God’s authority treating Him not as Lord but as a servant who must give me what I want. Many people reject the God of the Bible because they don’t want to have to obey Him. They would rather try to get Him to give them what they want. They keep the rules, or at least the ones they think are valid, but will not surrender their wills to Him. 

God hates such false religion, but even Christian leaders behave this way. It is shocking the level of inconsistency that religious people and leaders are capable of. Quite often decisions are made and policies enforced based on individual whims and power politics rather than on what the Lord wants. Such disrespectful behavior often denies the love of God as well as the message of forgiveness and humility that is preached in God’s word. The Lord desires that we serve Him with humility and dependence on Him. Pride in our abilities and self invites His discipline.

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The judgment on Israel serves as a warning to us.

Isaiah 28 

 
The issue discussed in the next several chapters concerns whether Judah and her leaders, including Hezekiah, will trust Egypt and her military might or the Lord in the face of the ever-increasing Assyrian threat. The warning against Ephraim, (the northern kingdom of Israel) is an oracle that prophesies her destruction by Sennacherib and his forces. In the face of the Assyrians, Israel and her leaders, both civil and religious, ignored God’s warning and made a mockery of His Laws. They engaged in debauchery and drunkenness to alleviate the fear but were destroyed nonetheless. Despite the warning, Judah did not trust the Lord either and then suffered the consequences. She made a covenant with Egypt which Isaiah called a covenant with death. Only God’s miraculous intervention saved her from total annihilation.

The message here as before is “Trust the Lord.” To help us do this, Isaiah gives us two images. The first is the cornerstone. The Lord is going to erect a new foundation, a new kingdom. Before He can do that, however, He must first uproot and destroy the old building down to the foundation because it is rotten. The process will be painful and cause some to doubt the Lord. When we consider Isaiah’s second image of the farmer, we see that God works in different ways at different times to achieve His plan. The farmer sometimes plows, then sows, harvests, threshes, then grinds. The threshing and grinding vary with the type of grain harvested. Yet all that is done is part of the process. So it is with God plan. 

Considering life from our perspective, we might often think that God does not know what He is doing or is acting capriciously or without mercy. As we consider the oracle related by Isaiah we can come to understand God’s ways better. This will sustain us and help us persevere in times of persecution and economic or physical distress. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The Kingdom of God is like a fruitful vineyard.

Isaiah 27 

Isaiah uses a couple of agricultural images to describe the coming Kingdom. First he likens the Kingdom of God to a fruitful vineyard that stands in contrast to the one he described in chapter 5. That vineyard was condemned for producing wild grapes that were unfit for consumption. This new vineyard is one that the Lord oversees personally, that He builds, tends, cares for and protects. This fruitful vineyard will provide eternal life and joy not just to the Jews or Israel but to all who call on the Lord. They will come from all nations and take root in God’s Kingdom.   

Before all this happens, Isaiah tells us, the Lord must uproot the old vineyard. This means that He must punish the wicked as well as chastise and discipline His children. The wicked will suffer God’s full wrath. Compared to that, the discipline the redeemed endure, though painful, serves God’s holy and wonderful purpose. It makes us realize the futility of trusting in ourselves or false gods. The discipline brings us closer to the Lord. Ultimately the redeemed will be delivered as the Lord blows the trumpet to announce the harvest of the righteous. Once the Kingdom of God has been established we will dwell no more on past sorrows, but rejoice in eternal peace. 

We Christians already experience the joys of God’s Kingdom only as we realize that we are part of the vine that is Jesus (John 15). As we are rooted in the vineyard of the Lord we are dependent upon Him for all things. If we think we don’t need Him, we will become disconnected from the vine and wither away. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The Kingdom of God is like a city.

Isaiah 26 

Isaiah pens this oracle to help the Jews have faith and perseverance to keep trusting in the Lord. Although they will endure defeat and exile with their cities destroyed and their land laid waste, the Lord will achieve the ultimate victory over their enemies. He will provide them with an eternal city. The residents of this city will be all the redeemed, those who have committed themselves to serving the Lord. They will have no fear, for the Lord is their peace. He is the one to whom they look for strength, justice and righteousness. The gates of the city stand open so that all who profess faith in God, all who seek Him, not just the Jews, may enter in.

The command here is for the redeemed to wait patiently on the Lord. The righteous often find this frustrating. They often feel like all they do, all they undergo produces no fruit, like going through labor pains and giving birth to the wind. They endure suffering, affliction, deprivation, violence and death and for what? Well, Isaiah gives them and us hope because the City of God is a certainty. Even those who die will be resurrected to find their reward in it. Sure it is frustrating to endure trials and tribulations when we think we should be fruitful and filled with joy. But even in that feeling of frustration we need not give in to despair. Even though we experience little or no joy in this life the sure and certain hope of the redeemed is that all we endure has meaning and purpose for serves God’s eternal plan. And, in addition, we will experience fullness of joy in the eternal City of God. Such hope keeps us going.

Blogging Through Isaiah: The Kingdom of God is like a banquet.

Isaiah 25 

Isaiah praises God for His glory. He is quite emotional and filled with awe as he enumerates all His wonderful attributes and all the great works He has performed and is performing as He establishes His Kingdom on earth. He describes the Kingdom in terms of a great banquet in which all the redeemed take part. This means that there will be no hunger or thirst. There will be rejoicing because there will be no shame or guilt. The banquet celebrates the comfort, peace, and freedom from pain, strife, anxiety and worry that the Lord brings. He has even conquered death and taken away that fear. 

The banquet of the Lord is a victory celebration. As with every victory there is a winner and a loser. The losers are those who are not redeemed. They rejected the Lord in favor of gorging themselves without limit in this life and so will miss out on the eternal feasting and rejoicing. With Isaiah we can rejoice in the glory of God and the wonders with which He blesses His chosen ones, but while here we will still mourn for the lost for many of them will be those we love and admire. Thus we must make every effort to ensure that our loved ones will not miss that heavenly feast. We must preach the gospel of salvation in Jesus alone not just in words but in deeds that demonstrate the saving power and love of Jesus. We must do this in spite of the opposition and ostracism which we will face. 

 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The curse.

Isaiah 24 

Isaiah has now finished his oracles against specific nations. The next 4 chapters address the world in general depicting judgments that will come upon the whole earth to usher in the Kingdom of God. God’s judgment has its origin in Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned and broke covenant with the Lord. What the Lord prophesied in Genesis 3 was a curse upon the earth, on all created beings as well, not merely on all human beings. In these verses, Isaiah shows that the curse comes to fruition in the judgment of the Lord. Major upheavals take place in the earth and the sky that cause anxiety and fear in all humans except for the remnant of believers. In the midst of travail they rejoice at the victory of the Lord.  

Perhaps we are experiencing the fulfillment of the curse in our own days. Even if the reports regarding global climate change are not true, there is no question that the weather and other “natural” disasters are causing devastating cataclysms the world over. The media and the world like to attribute such events to “mother Nature” an impersonal force that somehow people use to explain what ever is beyond their control. 

We Christians ought not to make such a mistake: the Lord is in control of all these events, not us. Yet some of these are man-made in the sense that we as humans have polluted the earth with all sorts of noxious waste. We have contaminated both land and water and are reaping the harvest of our folly. The Lord has been gracious in sparing us but if we are to believe the Bible, His judgment will come and it will not be pleasant or pretty.

 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Wealth leads to pride.

 Isaiah 23 

The last of Isaiah’s oracles against the nations concerned the nation represented by the city of Tyre. Tyre was an eminent and wealthy and seaport on the coast of the Mediterranean in what is now modern Lebanon. It was the capital of the trading nation of Phoenicia which dominated all sea trade on the Mediterranean as far west as Spain (Tarshish). Judah had strong diplomatic and commercial ties with that nation and so was somewhat dependent on Tyre for commercial prosperity. As we have seen, however, the Lord demanded that His people trust Him for all things.

Tyre faced the wrath of the Lord not for her wealth but for her pride in that wealth. Though there is nothing inherently wrong with wealth, the sad fact is that it leads people away from trusting the Lord to trusting self, to self-centered pride. Thus Tyre represents the pride of the wealthy in their wealth and in their self-sufficiency. Those who seek wealth often do so at the cost of human lives and relationships. In the quest to satisfy their lust for material prosperity the wealthy often do things that are unkind and unscrupulous. They spurn those who stand in their way and use and abuse those who can help them achieve their goals, after which they cast them aside. Those who seek wealth at all costs then will face God’s wrath as did Tyre.

Wealth and money and the things they can buy all will perish but He who does the Lord’s will receive eternal rewards that will not. Thus we Christians should be wary about seeking wealth for our own sake. If we seek wealth and material prosperity we had better be sure that our motives are to glorify the Kingdom of God. Otherwise what wealth we attain will become a curse and a snare. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Don’t place your trust in pleasure.

Isaiah 22

The valley of vision refers to Jerusalem and Judah. It was a misnomer, for in reality Judah lacked vision. She was blind to what the Lord was doing. The Lord was angry because the people, as a whole, failed to heed the prophecies Isaiah has just declared against the nations. If mighty Babylon was going to suffer a crushing defeat, how could little Judah survive? The Jews may have been filled with dread at this prospect, but this did not turn them to God for answers, help or comfort. Hezekiah may have repented but not the nation as a whole. They chose to follow other leaders who only led them astray. And, in the light of the doom that would come shortly they decided to seek comfort in sensuality and pleasure rather than in the Lord. 

Many of the people of our world are like this. Many are quite pessimistic about their lives and about the world in general. That feeling of dread and fear causes them to adopt lifestyles of hedonism and sensuality. All they have is the pleasures of the flesh. These delights numb them to the pain of life and block out their feelings of despair and grief but do not eliminate them. They reason that if this life is all there is, then it is vital to enjoy themselves by finding meaning and comfort in indulging fleshly appetites. But they lack vision. They do not see what God is doing; they fail to heed any of His warnings; they reject all of His loving invitations to come to Him and find rest. Non-believers lack vision because they are blind to their sinfulness, their need for repentance and their need for a Divine savior. The hope of the cross shines like a beacon in this dark world. Pray that many would see it and come to faith in Jesus.