Isaiah 60

Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

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I'm not particularly nostalgic but I do like "the old days". 50-60 years ago life seemed more simple...more sacred. I wouldn't mind going back to that better time.

That's impossible but...going forward isn't. If there could be a better time up ahead I'd be very interested.

Chapter 60 a congratulatory ode to Israel on the occasion of her restoration as the Mother Church (joined by the New Testament Church) from which the Gospel will be disseminated throughout the world. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown tells us this chapter alludes to the millennium...a thousand years of God's peace on earth initiated by the return of His Son.

And...it sounds like a good time in history. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you". Even the 1950s would have difficulty matching it. Israel will have influence around the globe. The days of Iran, Hezbolla and Hamaz threatening Israel's existence will be gone forever. God says "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn...you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come". This isn't the Israel we know today.

But it is the Israel to come...

We're told the entire world will then know that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the Savior and Redeemer. No longer will violence, or ruin or destruction be a part of the political landscape.  And best of all...we believers will be part of this promise.

I could look back but...it doesn't look as good as the future.

Live boldly out there today...

Isaiah 59

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity".

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Chapter 59 begins the final section of the Prophesy of Isaiah.  It covers the final events of world history, and closely parallels the book of Revelation. Ray Stedman reminds us the book of Isaiah is in many ways a miniature Bible. It divides like the Bible. The Bible has 66 books, and Isaiah has 66 chapters. The Old Testament has 39 books, and the first division of Isaiah has 39 chapters. The New Testament has 27 books, and the second half of Isaiah has 27 chapters. The theme of the last of Isaiah is the theme of the last of the Bible: the end!

So...what does the end look like? Based on the first few verses, the end doesn't look very good. This chapter answers the question many are asking today, "Why is the world in such a mess? If God is really running this world, why is he doing such a poor job of it?" Some feel even they could do a better job.

So it's all on us. We want to blame God...as though He should do more...when its our own fault because we've done too much. We've pushed God to the side and taken over the show. But, not with great results. So...after looking at the dismal results of our best intentions...are we just incompetent?

Yep...

Or, more precisely...depraved. We are not capable of producing good but, it doesn't keep us from trying.

I understand a part of the problem is "the condition of sin" that pervades creation. It has infected everything and makes true exceptionalism difficult. Sin leads to decay. Some would prefer to call it thermodynamics. But, this isn't the major concern. The primary reason for our pathetic world conditions today is our unwillingness to admit it's our own fault and repent. We'd rather blame God.

And, or course, the need to blame others reveals our own sinlfulness. So, before we are ever able to perform an imperfect act we intend to perform it with an imperfect heart. Long before sin is an act...its an attitude.

The attitude? "I'd rather do it myself!" Ands we have...with predictable results.

But, or course, God created us so it's His fault...

Well...the first sign of addiction is denial...

You and I are addicted to sin and we need to get into a 12 step program. The first step says it all: We admitted we were powerless over sin—that our lives had become unmanageable.

So..."justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows". It's the world we have constructed and nothing will change until we tell the truth: "Our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord".

There is a solution...and it sums up how things will end. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord".

Ah...the Second Step in our 12 Step program: We have come to believe that GOD can restore us to sanity. But...we didn't come up with this on our own. God's Spirit, who is constantly close, as revealed that truth to us. But pay attention. We never get to move on to the next step until we have successfully completed the step we are currently on.

Step Three says: We have made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.

Now, when you and I consider the end of the world...as we know it...these are the foundational truths from which God will act: God made it, we broke it, God will fix it. We are not going to be active participants in this. We tried that at it didn't work out so well.

Live boldly out there today...

Isaiah 58

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed? Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers".

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As though our only reason for fasting is so God will notice...and be impressed.

It belies the notion of  the "broken and contrite heart" that God demands (Ps 51:17). I suggest true fasting would be so focused on our own contrition we wouldn't notice if God was even aware. I also suggest if I've never fasted I'm revealing something about self-worth more than my Divine-worth.

Fasting is an important ritual for us, but it doesn't look much like we traditionally believe. We've been raised to view fasting as self-denial. We do not eat food. If we're really holy we sit in the front row of the sanctuary...starving...pouring out our sinfulness before God.

And...after a time...we go to Cracker Barrel...

At times I'm on my knees before God begging for intercession. I fast...I pray...and then I amaze myself by how quickly I revert to my quixotic ways as soon as I stand up.

Ray Stedman says Chapter 58 voices a protest from the religious community. Some people say, "We don't fit into this category. We're good, decent people. We go to church. We love the Bible. We give liberally. Yet God does not seem to give us joy and gladness. Why is this?"

What are we doing wrong? Isaiah explains. "For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them". Except, of course, until their fasting doesn't achieve its intended result. Then? "Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?"

Go ahead...tell yourself that isn't you. Or, just tell the truth and admit our lives are a daily battle with selfishness and sin. If it were not so, we would be at perfect peace. So...what's the solution?
 

God says "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

Fasting looks a lot more like hard work than like sitting around feeling guilty. And, it surely is self-denial. True fasting is giving our lives in service to others. Not out of a spirit of superiority and plenty but out of a spirit of humility and want. And the outcome is far different as well. "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer". 

So...the question is rather simple: Has your light broken forth? Has your healing appeared? Does God answer when you speak? Its all about the FAST!

Live boldly out there today...

 

Isaiah 57

"Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death".

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My friend Dan lost his wife...way too soon. I always find it difficult to comprehend why bad things happen to good people. I should spend more time saturating my mind with scripture. The answer wouldn't come with such struggle.

First, leaving this life is not a "bad thing" for a "good" person. When a good person leaves this life it is a blessing. They are being spared from something. In this chapter Isaiah talks about the death of good people. "The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil". I have no idea from what evil God wanted to spare Anne. And, I don't have to know. I do need to believe God brought Anne through because he loved her.

Of course it always seems like a bad thing for the loved ones who remain behind. We weep, we get angry, we lose faith. It's inexplicable.

Or, not...

I'm not suggesting this is should be painless. In fact, it's incredibly painful...for a reason. Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 15, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law". As humans we view death as a punishment because we understand it to be the consequence of sin. Ezekiel 18:20 reminds us "the soul that sins will die". And...who of us is without sin?

But...the definition of a "good" person is a person who has trusted the blood of Christ to wash away their sin. Effectively, there is no longer any sin charged against that person. So death cannot be a punishment. It's why Paul continues his statement to the Corinthians by saying "but thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ".

I've lost two close friends out of season. I've mourned and wept. I believe this is normal. It wasn't "the sting of death" that caused my sorrow. It was the loss of treasured companionship. That's quite a different thing.

We will face such loss again. Let's remember, it's not God's fault...it's God's blessing...even though it's difficult to endure. Still...we shouldn't forget there are some "bad" people and...for them...death is quite a different matter.

Live boldly out there today...

Isaiah 56

"And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer".

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I'm sure I miss a lot in my reading of scripture. There is so much there. One thing I haven't missed is the promise that God's promise to Israel is a promise to me.

 

Many may wonder how Christians make the leap from Old Testament prophesies for Israel to the New Testament Church. Well, here we see God inviting the foreigners...the Gentiles...to His holy mountain. He makes no ethnic distinction among people of faith. Furthermore, we are told in Galatians 3:29  "If [we] belong to Christ, then [we] are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise".

 

The Sovereign Lord declares—“I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”

It's often suggested we cannot fully understand or appreciate the New Testament until we are thoroughly familiar with the Old Testament. I understand why. Failure to study the Old Testament will likely result in failure to apply New Testament teachings properly. It explains why there is so much errant theology floating around in our churches today. I wonder how this should influence my reading...

I'm pretty good with the Gospels and the Epistles. How about you?

Live boldly out there today...

Isaiah 55

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost".

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This chapter is a continuation of chapter 54. God has returned to redeem our relationship with Himself. And look! He has brought with Him everything necessary to make it happen. We have nothing to bring and we need nothing more than a spiritually hungry for a renewed relationship.

It's called a "free ride". All we need to do is listen...and respond to God's overture.  "Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live...Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near".

Most of us probably think the action of "seeking God" would be harder than "listening". I don't think so. I'm curious that my greatest liability is my failure to listen. I'm pretty good at responding to God...when I hear Him. The ability to respond appropriately to God is a function of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. Conversely, the ability to "listen" is a function of our own hearts. When we're stubborn we put our hands over our ears and hum a tune...so the words of God can't get through. How, then, could we respond?

Let me suggest why this is so important. God says "as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it".

But, of course, if we don't hear it...

And, the result? "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands".

It all begins with "listening"...and it will serve as "an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Live boldly out there today...

 

Isaiah 54

 ^"For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.
“For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back".

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The metaphor for our relationship with God is marriage...for good reason. Marriage is the only human relationship that can approximate the endurance and intimacy God's desired in His relationship with us. When we cut our human marriages short we rob ourselves of the ability to comprehend the fondest dreams God may have for us

 

In any marriage there are times when we need some distance from our spouse. Things are said, or done, that freeze the relationship for a time but...in a good marriage...it always thaws out. And, God's relationship with his children is a "good marriage".

 

Another characteristic of marriage is that it seldom turns out as planned. Many years into the experiment we have a tendency to look back and wish things were different...better. Well, in this chapter, God promises they will be.

 



Historically, Israel was at a point of barrenness. She was disillusioned and disappointed that God had not come through on so many occasions. The fact this situation was not the consequence of God's shortcomings but, of Israel's, isn't particularly important because it didn't mitigate Israel's disappointment...even though it probably should have.

 

The GLORY of this chapter is God's promise to Israel...to you and me. He says “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” If we could humanize this text we would understand it to say everything we have ever desired in marriage will eventually come to fruition...our wildest dreams will come true.

 

So...let's think about our disappointment with God. It's only temporary.

 

For a brief time God moved into the spare bedroom. It wasn't His choice but...things had happened that He couldn't countenance. We both know who was at fault...even if we tried to deny it. Then God, in His matchless grace, came back and brought with Him...complete forgiveness.

 

It didn't matter to Him whose fault it was. Instead, He says "all your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. In righteousness you will be established...no weapon forged against you will prevail".

 

I covet this promise. In spite of my failures God is always in the business of redeeming our relationship. It gives me a hope and confidence to serve Him one more day. And, I'll bet, if I acted more like God in my marriage my wife might have the courage to try it one more day as well.

 

Live boldly out there today...