Isaiah 9:8-21

So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel…in a single day.

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Trouble has come to Israel but she doesn’t recognize the trouble came from God, Himself. Israel looked at the destruction and responded as we all would…they cleaned up.; “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with smooth stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.”  

And, God’s anger did not turn away…

The dilemma is…they “cleaned up” the wrong problem. They cleaned up fallen bricks and dead trees when they should have cleaned up their relationship with God.

We can clean up after a calamity like tornado, divorce, or flood and congratulate ourselves on our ingenuity and initiative but…overlook the possibility that calamity is not a trouble to be fixed but a message to be heeded. So, more trouble comes…the Lord raises against [us] adversaries and spurs [our] enemies on and they devour [us] with gaping jaws.

Trouble isn’t always bad luck. Neither, is it always God’s anger. Even so, I have to suggest we’re being self-destructive if we don’t entertain the possibility that God is trying to communicate his anger toward us. And, His anger will not dissipate until we “get it”.

I know…this all seems so droll. Haven’t we become sufficiently sophisticated to move beyond such superstitions?  We have…and that’s the problem. If our trouble actually originated with God…as a means of turning us around…God is not going to relent until He gets the response He desires. Our sense of enlightenment only ensures trouble will return.

And His hand is still stretched out. Yet the people do not turn back

Live boldly out there today…

Isaiah 9:1-8

“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this”

God offered some sage advice when He told us we should respond to the pressure to conform by saying “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.” Therein (scripture) is the assurance that God will prevail.  He says “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

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Somebody once said “it’s hard to remember you came to drain the swamp when you’re up to your hips in alligators”. So true.

If we believe our “drain the swamp” task is maintaining an uncompromised devotion to Godly values we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by the “alligators”.  Socially, these alligators look a lot like “peer pressure”, or “social acceptance”. After all, nobody wants to be called a “homophobe” or a “racist” or “xenophobe” or a “misogynist”. We will go to great lengths to modify our behavior so we don’t look like that!

We struggle to be faithful while avoiding anything that might draw attention to us. We try to look enough like the world so nobody will attack us. Very strange. That’s not a battle, that’s an armistice...with predictable results. Somebody once asked “if you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

Probably not… and…when we begin fighting the alligators the swamp never gets drained. We get sucked into a destructive vortex of confusion and fear. It threatens all of us. The apostle Paul cries, in the 7^th chapter of Romans, O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Is there a way out of this?

Of course…

What follows, in Isaiah Chapter 9, is possibly the most blessed promise in scripture. It is the promise that we have already won the war…even if we lose a few battles.  ^“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders;  and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore”.

The pesky alligators nip away at our self-confidence and self-esteem to the point that we eventually take our eyes off the “author and finisher of our faith” in order to avoid capitulation. Bad decision since…we’re told “the Lord of hosts” will “drain the swamp AND fight off the alligators!”

Live boldly out there today…

Isaiah 8

"For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people”

The book of Isaiah is about Judah’s sinfulness and God’s desire that the people repent. God went to great lengths…including appointing Isaiah…to tell the people exactly what He wanted.

Nobody was listening…

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It’s been said “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know”. It’s true…

Judah was living with the devil…Damascus and Samaria…and even though they had lost their independence Judah had grown comfortable with the arrangement.

“The devil you know…”

This wasn’t how God wanted it. God offered to intervene in fighting off Damascus and Samaria. The king said “no thank you”. How do you say “no” to God?

It happens all the time…

But, God is a jealous God. He will not take “no” for an answer. If we become too comfortable in our disobedience God will turn up the heat. He instructed Isaiah to tell the people “the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria”.

Life was about to become measurably worse…Assyria was coming.

The metaphor was clear. “Lord will bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates…and it will sweep on into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck”

“The devil you don’t know…”

Take a look around. In our complacency, who’s the devil we’ve grown comfortable with today? A recent Gallup poll tells us he’s our eroding social fabric. We struggle to cope with homosexuality, deficit spending, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and sexual permissiveness. And, the poll tells us we are assimilating these changes well. In other words, we are becoming more and more comfortable with values and conduct that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

And…just when we achieve a manageable level of comfort God will send the Assyrians. I can’t imagine what they’ll bring with them but, in the cacophony of moral decay God instructs us “not to walk in the way of this people”. God tells us some will prevail. How? When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers. Consult the spiritualists. Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?” Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”

Here’s the real question for people of faith. Am I struggling to find comfort in an eroding culture, or am I struggling to stay close to the comfort and safety of God? Either way it’s a struggle but…the two don’t yield the same results.

Live boldly out there today…

Isaiah 7

“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as hell or high as heaven.” 

Two Kings went up to Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. The people were frightened but God said to Isaiah “Go out now to meet (King) Ahaz, and say to him, take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs … it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.”

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Of course, within 65 years Ephraim was be shattered…no longer even an identifiable tribe. God was right. But, He told Ahaz “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last”. In other words…”you’re going to have to trust me on this one”.

 We call it “trust but verify”. God said  “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as hell or high as heaven.”  Any, sign, the bigger the better.  All to prove Ephraim WILL NOT PREVAIL!

But Ahaz wouldn’t ask for a sign. I’m not sure why, except he said “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” This is silly since God has just challenged him…”ask for a sign!” I wonder if Ahaz contemplated saying “God…I need you to come here and sort this out”. And then, his sense got the better of him. He wasn’t confident enough to ask for something as “high as heaven.” even when God gave him a huge hint.

This was obviously a bigger deal for God than it was for Ahaz so God came right out with it. “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” This is amazing. God just promised His Son…Jesus. Giving Ahaz exactly what he should have asked for if he was brash enough.

Some things are better, left to God.

But still, it cost something. Ahaz could have said “I need it now” and God would have showed up on his doorstep. Instead, his lack of faith led to dire consequences. Judah would suffer for its leader’s hesitation. They would have to wait…

How often are we waiting for the miracle we desperately need…because we are simply too timid to ask for it?

Live boldly out there today…

Isaiah 6:8-13

“Then I said, here am I. Send me!”

With God, it almost always looks the same. “Whom shall I send, and… Go, and tell this people”.

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Go…and…tell!

Our problem is most of the time we don’t want to go anyplace…and we don’t want to say much. After all, that’s a sure way to get hurt. Just ask Nate Saint or Jim Elliot.

But…it has to be done. There are things that need saying.

Like…“listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it; look hard, but you won’t catch on.’ (The Message)

That’s exactly why we don’t want to go and say stuff…those kind of words are never going to get a “thank you” out of people.

All Isaiah could think to ask was “how long do you want me to do this?” And God’s answer was “until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off, the land is totally empty… the country will look like pine and oak forest with every tree cut down—every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps. But there’s a holy seed in those stumps.”

My reading of human nature is, the blessed promise at the end of God’s statement will be lost in the confusion of the judgment at the beginning. This is going to cost Isaiah something.

Even so, Isaiah said “here am I. Send me!” That’s the kind of person God can use!

We recently celebrated Memorial Day. Every grave stone in every military cemetery represents an American hero. Nobody remembers the human fears and failures that died along with the hero. That’s how it should be when brave men and women answer the call. They become immortal.

Like Jim Elliot.

How do you want to be remembered?

Live boldly out there today…

Isaiah, Chapter 6:1-7

“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips”

Isaiah had a vision. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him and one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.  Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim touched Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar.  He said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

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I wonder how Isaiah knew he was a “man of unclean lips”. Most of us aren’t so self-aware. Humility isn’t something we are known for in America. American students rank 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading. Yet, when asked, these same students speculated that they were probably number 1 in all categories.

Which led a commentator to state “the only thing America is number 1 in is…self-esteem”.

What follows this vision is God’s decision to commission Isaiah. I’m sure it has something to do with Isaiah’s humble sense of unworthiness. It provides a ready answer to the pleading cry “I wonder why God won’t give me something to do? I have a lot to offer!”

If we pay attention to Isaiah’s vision we can surmise that our level of humility is directly related to our proximity with God. After all, Isaiah said, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

The vision also reminds us that unworthiness is not such a bad thing…it can be fixed, although, sometimes in a painful manner.

So…the decision is ours. Do we want to be used by God in unimaginable ways? First we need to get up close to God in order to recognize we’re unfit to be used at all. Then, we need to let him make us fit. It’s a blow to our self-esteem but…all self-esteem got us was 14^th place anyway!

Live boldly out there today...

Isaiah, Chapter 5- The Song of the Vineyard

“What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

My friend Dan is retired from the wine business. Most of what he knows I don’t comprehend. He tells me how the flavor of the grapes (wine) is influenced by temperature, humidity, composition of the soil…and many other factors. The exact same grape, planted in different locations, will yield distinctly different flavors.

That’s the part I understand. What I find difficult to discern are the more nuanced qualities of wine.
·         Balance:
·         Length:
·         Depth:
·         Complexity:
·         Finish:
·         Typicity

We often have the same difficulty with people. Humans have nuanced qualities that are hard to judge accurately. So, we end up avoiding judgment so we “won’t get it wrong”. Or, we make profoundly unkind judgments with inadequate information. As a result, we sanction behavior that is odious to God or we condemn behavior that God doesn’t. We simply are unequipped.

Pretty soon we have no real idea what is…or isn’t…a bad grape.

But, God has an impeccable palate and can perfectly distinguish a good grape from a bad grape…even when we can’t. So, God says “Let Me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

Paul explains this in the first chapter of Romans. “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Now, those are some bad grapes!

It’s easy to view this as harsh…but then, we aren’t the ones who put all the work and sacrifice into the vineyard.

As for me, I’m not going to question God’s judgment if he doesn’t like a lot of wine He’s produced. I’m going to spend my energy, by God’s grace, becoming the best wine He ever made.

Live boldly out there today…