Devotional thoughts from Isaiah

July 25, 2007

Isaiah 1: The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw regarding Judah and Jerusalem.

My devotional journey through the Message has taken me through the O.T. books of history and wisdom now.  The history books were the easiest and the books of wisdom were the most surprising.  I'm not sure where the 16 writing prophets will take me.  Since I am not writing as a theologian I don't intend to spend a lot of time working on the context of the prophecies, although I know that to fully understand these books that is absolutely necessary.  However, I'm writing in a devotional mode so I will generally just read and respond.  It becomes clear right off that these men of God weren't interested in winning popularity contests.  In the words of the old west, they "shot from the hip."  They also insisted that God was central to all of their lives and that their nation couldn't keep the Almighty confined to "acceptable" parts of their lives.  That's a message my nation needs to hear too.  The holiness, righteousness, and connected-ness of God drives their words.  We start off with the most famous of all prophets, Isaiah.  Some have suggested that Isaiah is not one person, but three or more.  That is because the tone and, according to the experts, vocabulary of his writings are as varied as it would be if three different people wrote.  They also point out that in that culture, the disciples of a person would never dream of using their own name, viewing that as a breach of ethics.  Again, the identity or identities of "Isaiah" won't be much of an issue as I write from a devotional point of view.  So, for months to come I will be writing from Isaiah and the other prophets of Israel.  Let's see where it takes us.

July 26, 2007

Isaiah 1: Meetings, meetings, meetings, I can't stand one more!

I can't help but think that this might be the words of many pastors and other church leaders!  In this case, it is God who is talking and he is weary of them going through the motions, filling their lives with meetings and other religious activity, but never simply getting about the business of righteous living.  In some cases, the religious activity is a cover up for sin.  In others, it is a substitute for actually going out and making a difference in the world.  There's a time and place for meetings but those meetings are to move us to real living in the Lord.  I fear that we church folk attend a committee meeting and think we have done what Jesus intended we do.  In some cases, we'd be better off to drop the meeting and get out into the real world, making a difference in people's lives for Christ's sake.

July 28, 2007

Isaiah 1: If your sins are blood-red, they'll be snow-white.

If you have the idea that the prophets are all about denunciation and condemnation you need to spend some time with this passage.  Yes, God is fed up with their religious charades; their going-through-the-motions spirituality; their under-the-table shady deals.  And, yes, he says he is going to put a stop to it.  However, it doesn't have to be with defeat, misery, and destruction.  "Let's be reasonable about this," the Almighty says, "we can fix this, and when I am finished things will be better than before."  All it takes is their being sensible and cooperating with God.  This isn't about having a sword hanging over their necks.  It's about grace and mercy, not justice.  It's still true today.  If God wanted to do away with us it would be his right and it would be just what we deserve.  But rather than hitting the "delete button" on humanity he offers restoration.  This passage is filled with sunlight and hope.  Plus that, it's a genuine offer from Heaven's Throne to each of us.  Come on; let's be reasonable about this...God can fix things, making them right between us and Him.  It's too good an offer to refuse.

July 30, 2007

Isaiah 2: No more will nation fight nation; they won't play war anymore.

We think that our day, with Iraq and Afghanistan, is somehow unique but we know it really isn't.  It isn't war that is unique to human experience, it is peace.  Human history, including that which is included in the Bible, is filled with war and every generation seems to take its turn at it.  Israel's possession of the Promised Land started with a war and - guess what - it's still at war today.  Isaiah's promise of peace sounds as fantastic today as it did then.  However, his promise isn't that of a politician who sincerely promises a "war to end all wars" but all too soon sees an even more devastating conflict breaking out.  Isaiah's promise is not man-centered, but is, instead, God-centered.  The secret to peace on Earth is not "one more war" or "bigger weapons" or even the leadership of some gifted peace-maker.  That's because the real battle field is not in the Middle East or any other geographical location.  It is the human heart.  James put it this way, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?" (James 4:1).  Until the conflict of the human heart is resolved there isn't a chance "in the world" of peace between nations.  Our hope then is Christ.  It is the peaceful rule of the Messiah that Isaiah looked to.  Today, I am reminded that the dominion of the one who "on earth brings peace to men" begins, not out on the battle field, but in my heart.

July 31, 2007

Isaiah 2: Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans...can't you see there's nothing to them?

A popular TV show here in my country is "American Idol."  I have not been a fan of the show.  In fact, I don't think I have ever seen an entire episode.  Honestly, now that I know more what it is about my attitude toward it has softened a bit.  It's basically a modern version of Ted Mack's Amateur Hour (you can look it up if it is a strange name to you!).  Know why I never started watching "American Idol"?  It was the name of the show!  As soon as I saw it the Commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" sprang to mind.  Really!  As anyone would, I guessed the premise of the show, but the name left a sour taste in my mouth so I never bothered checking it out.  Of course, Isaiah wasn't thinking about entertainers when he warned his fellow countrymen to stop "idolizing" people, but if he had had access to 140 channels of TV I think he would have been pretty specific in warning us about our attitude concerning everyone from sports stars to singers to actors to politicians.  I'm not against a person's being impressed by a golfer who can drop the ball within two feet of the hole from 150 yards out, but know what, he's nothing to get all excited about.  The same people who will rise before daylight to get a prime spot for watching some golf star tee off don't even bother to attend a worship service in hopes that the King of Kings will make an appearance.  Now that's having mixed up priorities.

August 1, 2007

Isaiah 3: Those women are going to smell like rotting cabbages.

The books of the prophets can often be hard to read, not because we don't understand what is being said, but because of the harshness of what is being said.  However, reading the words from a distance of centuries enables us to see some of the grim humor there too.  In chapter 3 Isaiah talks about how the socialites of his day who pride themselves in their appearance and expensive perfumes will look revolting and smell like rotten cabbage.  If that was said about you, well it wouldn't be funny at all, but if you are a common person who sees those in the upper class getting away with murder, well, you would probably see the ironic humor in it.  Of course, this isn't a comedy routine.  There are real warnings that need to be taken very seriously.  After all, the next lines of the prophecy describe death and mourning.  Why is all of this going to happen?  The answer is that they have fallen so in love with themselves that they have forgotten who they really are: a people who exist only by the grace of God.  With that in view, we see that this isn't punishment so much as it is abandonment.  That is, God isn't going to ruin their lives.  Instead, he is going to let them continue down the path away from him to where that path leads.  Maybe we Christians need to take a hard look at passages like this.  We are sometimes in danger of falling in love with our own spirituality.  In time, we are tempted to claim responsibility for what good Christians we are and when we do that, this passage no longer contains ancient words directed to people who lived long ago.  In the context of the passage I am reading today, I can say that no matter how spiritual you might think you are, you are what you are by the grace of God.  To cut oneself off from that truth is to travel a road to an unwanted destination.  Pardon the tenuous connection here -- but such a life "stinks."

August 2, 2007

Isaiah 4: Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as "holy."

The intention of God is frightening.  Jerusalem will be emptied out, cleansed of its sin.  The nation that was given this land as a gift of the Lord is going to be ripped from its inheritance.  The only people not taken will be those the invaders don't think are worth taking.  These will be discarded and left behind like some broken household item that isn't worth having.  It will be these survivors, these "worthless people" who will be the hope of new life in Jerusalem.  God intends to take those, who were considered unworthy, and transform their lives, reclassifying them as holy in his sight.  Our testimony is not so dramatic, but it is just as thrilling.  The Lord comes to us in our brokenness, our sin, our worthlessness and, as we cooperate with him, he begins to remake us.  He transforms us, making us into new people.  Jesus called that transformation process being "born again."  Oh, the grace of God -- how powerful and how wonderful.

August 4, 2007

Isaiah 6: Holy, Holy, Holy is the God-of-the-Angel-Armies.  His bright glory fills the whole earth.

Isaiah was already a prophet of God when he had his vision of the holiness of God.  However, it was that vision that fueled his ministry and transformed his relationship with God.  He saw worship taking place in heaven, with heavenly beings shouting out the holiness of God.  Everything was impacted by that holiness: foundations trembling, billowing smoke...and a humbled prophet of God.  So what does it mean for God to be "Holy, Holy, Holy"?  While I think the triple statement of God's being holy is intended to cause us to think of his holiness as being complete and not meant to give pastors the makings of a three point sermon I do see three aspects of the holiness of God.  First, his holiness is that of purity.  God is untouched by sin and sin is absolutely foreign to his character.  Second, his holiness is that of separateness.   God his not humanity multiplied.  There is an "otherness" about him and while we are created in his image, there is that about God which will be forever beyond our understanding.  Third, his holiness is that of transcendence.  Even as the brightness of the sun both warms the earth, giving life, and at the same time is so powerful as to be frightening to us, so is God's holiness both beautiful and at the same time awesome and untouchable by us.  Had God not revealed his holiness to us we would have zero chance of even dimly contemplating it.  Isaiah didn't write an essay about his thoughts on God's holiness -- he had a God-given vision of it, and once he had that vision he was never the same.

August 6, 2007

Isaiah 6: Every word I've ever spoken is tainted...words that corrupt and desecrate.

Isaiah's first reaction to seeing the holiness of God is not reverence or ecstasy.  Rather, it is horror.  In view of a holy God he realizes his own lack of holiness.  When compared to his fellow citizens, Isaiah is a good man, even a righteous man.  However, when he finds himself in the presence of God he sees himself as he really is, and that vision brings him to his knees.  Isaiah's words are deeply personal and my reaction to this passage, if it is honest, starts with me and not with what I perceive to be failure in others.  Jesus touched on this in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."  Also, I note that Isaiah didn't announce that he was now going to commence a self improvement campaign.  Instead, it is honest recognition of his sinful ways and deep sadness as he realizes just how broken his life is.  Isaiah, in just a few words, says it all: "I am doomed because everything about me, even my words, is unclean and unholy.  Now that I have seen God I realize the depth of my lost-ness.  In myself I see no hope whatsoever."  The hope of Isaiah is not found within himself -- he knows it, and the Lord knows it.

August 7, 2007

Isaiah 6: Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.

Isaiah’s vision of God’s holiness breaks his heart.  Any claims to righteousness are blown away in light of that vision.  His brokenness brings him to the place of honest confession – and that’s what the Lord is waiting for.  Immediately, the Lord takes action to cleanse him from his sin.  Since this is a vision, there is a lot of symbolism here.  We have an altar of sacrifice with fire, which speaks to us of surrender and purification.  There is Isaiah’s direct reference to his “unclean lips” which refer to, not just a tendency to say the wrong thing, but his whole life, which he sees as speaking in ways that reflect a deep level of spiritual need.  The thrilling thing is how the Lord responds to Isaiah’s cry of repentance.  The heavenly being touches his lips with the burning coal from the altar declaring the wonderful truth that his sin is “wiped out” and his guilt is gone.  Listen, I don’t have to pull some surprising insight out of this passage.  In fact, it is surprising enough just as it is.  When I realize the purity of God and see my own deep failure…when I confess it, throwing myself on the mercy God…when I do that, I place myself in the only place where the Lord can help me.  I can’t forgive my own sin and I can’t purify my own life, but when I “repent and turn” he immediately does for me what I can never do for myself.  There is no better word from the Lord than “gone your guilt, your sins wiped out.”

August 8, 2007

Isaiah 6: Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

Isaiah's vision of God brings him face to face with God's holiness and his own uncleanness.  However, his cry for mercy is heard, and through the symbolism of fire from the altar, we see true cleansing for this man of God.  Now there is his commission.  Immediately, I am reminded of the need for "sent people" in the Kingdom of God.  The need is great, and, as Jesus said, "The workers are few."  The Lord wants to touch every life in wonderful ways, but workers must be willing to go and work in that harvest.  Also, we see that just any worker will not do.  The call came after the cleansing, or, maybe as a part of it.  A cleansed heart seeks only that which pleases the master while the carnal heart battles between self and God.  A soldier who must filter every order by deciding whether he really wants to obey or not isn't going to be very effective in the heat of the battle -- in fact, he might just get himself killed!  The call of God to go is for those who have died out to self and been purified by the work of the Lord.  Finally, there must be absolute willingness on the part of the one called.  The Lord didn't force Isaiah out into the difficult ministry he was to accomplish.  Isaiah's free will was not compromised.  The call went out for workers and Isaiah willingly stepped forward with, "I'll go. Send me!"  Workers in God's Kingdom are servants of the Lord, but we aren't in bondage.  We serve gladly and willingly.

August 9, 2007

Isaiah 6: ...they won't have a clue about what is going on...so they won't turn around and be made whole....

Isaiah's commission is powerful and associated with a vision of God's holiness.  The prophet is personally transformed by the grace of God and he is ready to "go" for the Lord.  However, the next thing Isaiah is told must have been very difficult to swallow.  In spite of his being a man with "lips touched with a coal from off the altar" his ministry would not bear fruit.  I know it takes commitment to step forward and say "send me" but how much more to go on this mission with the promise that it will fail.  The Lord says that the people Isaiah goes to minister to will not respond.  Why the Lord told Isaiah this is a mystery to me.  Why not just send him on without telling him of the failure to come?  I have no answer.  However, I do see one important thing here: we are to do the Lord's will and leave the results in his hands.  For Isaiah the important thing was "going" -- being faithful.  That is how it is for all of us who serve him.

August 11, 2007

Isaiah 8: Because when all is said and done, the last word is Immanuel--God-With-Us.

When the tiny nation Judah was under attack on two fronts Isaiah went to King Ahaz with the promise that Judah would prevail and the attack would fail.  Ahaz can hardly believe it.  His nation is out manned and out gunned by the invaders.  Isaiah tells him to ask for a sign, any sign, and it will be given him.  However, Ahaz's lack of faith is apparent when he off handedly says, "Oh, I won't do that."  Isaiah tells him that the Lord is displeased with his refusal to even bother asking for a sign, but that one will be given anyway.  It is here that we get into "virgin birth" talk.  However, the promise isn't for the Messiah to come, it has to do with current circumstances.  Isaiah says that before a girl, now a virgin, can marry, conceive, and give birth (in other words, a poetic way of saying "nine months") that those armies attacking Judah will be gone.  To underscore the reason for this withdrawal the child could properly be named "Immanuel" or "God-With-Us."  Isaiah goes on to express God's displeasure with Ahaz but, still, the bottom line remains.  When all else is "said and done" "Immanuel" remains true, God is with us.  When Christ is born this incident comes to mind and is played out in a very literal way.  This time it is truly a virgin who gives birth, and this time it really is God who is with us.  In these related incidents we see the dual nature of prophecy as there is a very current application that is echoed in an unimaginable way in a more distant future.  We also see that, today, we can grasp this wonderful truth at a level Isaiah could hardly imagine: God is with us indeed.

August 13, 2007

Isaiah 8: No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.

While telling of future events wasn't the major job of most prophets, it is the one we immediately think of when we think of the work of the prophets who mostly "forth-told" rather than "fore-told."  Even when they speak of the future it is often spoken in a conditional way, "If you do this, then that will happen; if you to that, then this will happen."  In fact, a major theme of these men of God is to remind the people of their free will.  That doesn't mean God is helpless, but it does mean, at least in this context, that the Lord allows people the freedom to decide, but holds them responsible for those decisions.  As Isaiah goes about proclaiming what is coming if these people stay on the road they are on, people say to him, "When I want to know what is coming, I'll go to a fortune teller," or, "I'll hold a séance."  Isaiah says, "If you want to know what’s coming, take a look in the Scriptures."  He isn’t saying that the Scriptures contain some kind of secret road map to the future.  Instead, he is saying that there is plenty of evidence in the Scriptures that God won’t forever put up with their foolishness.  Repeatedly, in the Scriptures, the Lord has warned them and it doesn't take some supernatural experience to see what is coming.  Talk about a timeless truth, this is one!  Today, we don’t need a fortune teller – we have the Bible in its entirety.  There's plenty of information about how God responds to sin and rebellion.  When we insist on ignoring God we don't need a crystal ball to know what is coming.

August 14, 2007

Isaiah 9: For a child has been born -- for us! The gift of a son -- for us!

Sometimes the prophet does exactly what we generally think of a prophet doing: he speaks of the future.  Isaiah says that even when oppressors come and seem to destroy everything that God will have the last word.  That Word, Isaiah says, will be in the person of a Child who can rightly be called names like "Strong God" and "Eternal Father."  Have you ever wondered about the state of mind of men like Isaiah when they speak words like this?  Did Isaiah see it all: manger, shepherds, and wise men?  Or did he scratch his head and wonder why he just said that?  I think the answer is somewhere in the middle.  I can give a very minor personal example of what I mean.  A few weeks ago I was delivering my Sunday morning sermon and found myself emphasizing something that had originally been only a minor part of my sermon.  Such an event is hard to describe to people who haven't preached, but I think most everyone who has carried on spiritual conversations have, at times, experienced something similar.  Honestly, as I thought about that sermon and remembered who was in the congregation I thought I had a pretty good idea of who that emphasis was for, but, truthfully, I didn't "aim" that portion of the sermon at them and surprised myself at pursuing that point as far as I did.  A few days later, with no thought of that sermon, I was praying and dealing with what I thought was a totally unrelated issue.  Suddenly, the words that I had said on Sunday morning came back to me and I realized that on an entirely different level they were meant for me!  At that moment, the "deeper meaning" of what I had said became real to me.  I think that prophets like Isaiah operated at that level when they spoke of things like those in Isaiah 9.  Had you had a frank conversation with Isaiah about his promise of the "gift of a son" I think he would have plugged it into some current situation in his nation.  That isn't to say he was ignorant of there being more than he could grasp, but that, for him, these words applied right then and there.  Only as God's plan is played out does the greater meaning of the old prophet's words come to light. 

August 15, 2007

Isaiah 11: The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him.

The flow from current events to spiritual events of the future makes some passages hard to read.  Isaiah has declared that the army of their enemy Assyria was used of God to purge his people, but went too far.  He pictures Assyria as a great forest filled with huge trees.  However, for all its majesty, that forest will be leveled because of the anger of God.  Then, with no real segue Isaiah continues with his "forest" illustration, proclaiming that out of the remains of Judah just one small twig will spring up.  Compared to the great "forest" that is Assyria, this green twig might seem insignificant.  That "twig," though, will be overshadowed by the Spirit of God.  It will grow to such a size that all the forests of the world will seem small in comparison and that "twig" will reach out in wisdom, understanding, direction, strength, and knowledge.  I don't know what Isaiah or his contemporaries thought of the unexpected direction of this prophecy, but to a Christian reader it makes perfect sense.  The army of Assyria is long gone, only of interest to historians and archeologists.  However, that "twig" -- the one who sprang up as a helpless baby in Bethlehem so long ago -- well, his Kingdom continues to flourish to this very day.

August 16, 2007

Isaiah 11: The world earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

Isaiah doesn't spend all his time looking to the future but when he does, he does it big time.  He describes not only a 700 year distant future and the coming of the promised Messiah, but an even more distant future, thousands of years ahead.  That future is my future too.  People generally think that they have to go to the book of Revelation to look forward, but here in Isaiah we are also able to turn to the end of the story.  It ends with a world that knows God.  That "knowing" is anything but superficial and is as deep and wide as the ocean.  Here we not only get a profound look forward, but a look backward as well.  This is our purpose, God's intention when he walked with Adam in the Garden.  He desires a deep and intimate relationship with all his Creation.  Even as Isaiah describes the strong medicine that is coming, we see that it is truly "medicine" intended to accomplish good.  In this case, it is to move part of God's Creation one step closer to that relationship he created in the first place.

August 18, 2007

Isaiah 12: Joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation.

I admit that I tend to flow from dealing with Scripture from a historical basis to just reading devotionally.  When I know something historical that has bearing I don't mind sharing it, the rest of the time I just read and respond.  That's what I want to do today.  When left in context I find this passage somewhat confusing and wonder if Isaiah is speaking of some future reign of the Messiah and the joy of the whole earth in living in his salvation.  However, I also find myself reading about the "buckets of water from the wells of salvation" and thinking about the encounter of Jesus and the woman at the well.  Jesus offers the Samaritan woman "living water" that she might "never thirst again."  As I see Isaiah promising a day when abundant "salvation water" will be available and remember Jesus offering just such water, well, I can't help but drop the historical questions and focus in on this wonderful offer.  I'm glad today that Jesus didn't just offer a philosophy of life or a new approach to religion.  Instead, his "well of salvation" contains that which is "living" and fully satisfying.  Whether Isaiah's prophecy really applies here or not, it does remind me of all Jesus has made available.   In the words of the woman at the well, "Give me that living water that I might never thirst again."

August 20, 2007

Isaiah 14: You said to yourself, "I'll climb to heaven...instead of climbing up, you came down."

If you were raised in church as I was you will identify with my observation that church folks develop a lot of folk theology.  When I was a kid someone told me that Isaiah 14 describes the fall of Satan from the splendor of heaven.   I believed it and grew to adulthood assuming that all Christians thought that about this passage.  One day it dawned on me (and I probably had some help with that awakening) that this passage is about Babylon and its king.  This kingdom thought it was bigger than God -- that because its economic and military power had no equal on earth that it surpassed the Kingdom of God.  Isaiah prophesies that mighty Babylon is going to fall, and will fall in a very big way.  Now, this passage can be used to illustrate other things, but it really isn't about anything aside from Babylon.  For instance the true-ism, "the bigger they come, the harder they fall" comes to mind.  Sometimes, even well meaning people can mistakenly use Scripture in improper ways.  As God's people we are to be people of truth, "rightly dividing the Word" even if that means we lose a handy proof text.

August 21, 2007

Isaiah 14: Exactly as I planned, it will happen.

The topic is still the downfall of mighty Babylon.  The very subject likely sounds like so much wishful thinking to many.  After all, Isaiah is talking about an unstoppable world power that dominates the entire region.  Any suggestion that Babylon will come crashing down must be an excursion into fiction.  But that is Isaiah's message.  Even though no power on earth can challenge this mighty army, a Power above earth has it in His sights.  Now, some have used this passage as a proof that God has either fully mapped out the future or somehow travels through time or even exists in all of time at once.  I accept the possibility of the first, but can't see the "time travel" versions.  For one thing, everything we know about God is what he has told us or shown us about himself.  We might read something in the Bible and conclude that God did it, or knew it, because he "looked ahead in time."  However, to do that is to come to our own conclusions, not because we have been given a Biblical insight about God.  Well, so much for the "time travel."  The first suggestion is that God mapped it all out.  As I said, I believe that is possible.  That is, I believe the Almighty has the power and authority to do just that.  The problem is not in that arena at all, instead, it is that such a view destroys the possibility of free will.  In other words, God could map everything out, but he can't plan it all and still grant free will to human beings.  That leaves me with a view of God that concludes he "could" have designed a universe in which he could travel through time, but we have no evidence that he did and that he could have written the entirety of Creation out on day one, but he couldn't have done that and given human beings anything greater than the illusion of free will.  So what do I do with a passage in which God says things will happen as he planned?  I will simply accept it.  Babylon has displeased the Almighty who says, "Because you have acted as you have, I have decided to do away with you."  Things will happen to Babylon as God has said because God is going to bring it to pass -- not because he has already seen the future or because he intended, from the beginning, for Babylon to fail as it did.

August 22, 2007

Isaiah 15: A Message concerning Moab.

Lest it appear that Isaiah has it in only for Babylon, we must note that a quick journey through this portion of Isaiah's prophecy brings to light God's displeasure with several other groups.  There is Philistia, Moab, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tyre and others.  In other words, not only have God's people gotten themselves in trouble with the Lord for their sin, they are surrounded by sinful nations that would like nothing better than to wipe Israel off the map.  (Somehow that sounds familiar -- oh yes, we heard something like this on the news this morning!)  Across the centuries God's people have survived only by the grace of God.  Their own failures have brought judgment and their enemies have posed a very real threat to their existence.  Today, that is still true for all of God's people.  We Christians believe we have been "grafted in" and are, by faith, children of Abraham.  As his people, God holds us to a high standard and we must not forget that.  Also, as was true for them, we live in hostile territory.  For some believers, this is literally true and for all believers it is spiritually true.  We are surrounded by that which would destroy our life in the Lord.  Israel's only hope was to reconnect with God.  Today, our remaining "in Christ" is also our only hope.

August 23, 2007

Isaiah 19: God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they'll get to know him on that Day.

The words of condemnation to Egypt compare what is coming to a powerful storm, sweeping away everything in its path.  Even the mighty Nile, the symbol of life in Egypt, will be dried up and the nation will be in a hopeless state.  Surprisingly, Isaiah's tone suddenly changes.  It is almost as though the storm ends and the sun breaks through.  God will make an appearance to Egypt and, with all else swept away, the people of that land will turn to him with all their hearts.  Isaiah says, "Egypt will come back to God."  Additionally, we are told, Assyria will join Egypt in the worship of God and the result will be that they will "share the blessing."  In one of his most famous statements Jesus announced that God "so loved the world."  However, here we are back in the Old Testament where a Jewish prophet has been, just as would be expected, telling how God is going to destroy all the enemies of the Jews.  Then, the tone of his prophecy suddenly changes.  The enemies of God's people aren't going to be wiped off the face of the earth.  Instead, they are going to be converted!  Here, we find ourselves at the heart of every missionary effort.  If God wants to do away with those who reject him, he can do it with just a word.  Instead, he engineers circumstances designed to draw us to himself.  Granted, some of those circumstances are stout medicine, but, then again, it isn't annihilation, which is what we deserve.  In this somewhat confusing turn about passage we get a glimpse of what will only become clear through the ministry of Jesus.

August 27, 2007

Isaiah 22: Don't tell me it's going to be all right.  These people are doomed.  It's not all right"

Have you ever been to a hurricane party?  The tamer version of it is that, with the storm knocking out all power, people dig into their freezers and have a feast of all the ice cream, etc. that won't survive the power outage anyway.  A few years ago, when we fled a hurricane supposedly aimed for our area, we took steaks we had been saving and had a big cookout as we awaited the bad weather.  We might as well enjoy the food, otherwise it will be lost when the electricity goes off.  I wonder if that is the thinking in this portion of Isaiah.  The nation is in trouble, and no victory has been won, but Isaiah complains about the party atmosphere he sees.  Apparently, someone has told him to lighten up, that things will be all right.  His response is that things aren't going to be all right.  They live in a doomed nation -- everything is about to fall apart.  Sometimes our message to our society is not the message it wants to hear.  And sometimes, it isn't going to be all right.  In fact, when we look at things from the largest point of view we know that the world isn't going to just go on and on as it is.  A day is coming with everything we know is going to melt away.  While we can't just live there, in doom and gloom, we Christians need to take a good look at the people around us.  Outside of Christ, to use Isaiah's words, "these people are doomed."  Ours is a message of hope, but it is the only hope of a world that is doomed.

August 28, 2007

Isaiah 22: You looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city...who has long had plans for this city.

Disaster is coming and Isaiah speaks of it as though it has already happened, in what is called "prophetic perfect tense."  He describes the preparation for battle: weapons, fortifications, even the securing of the water supply.  It seems they have done all they can do.  However, they have totally missed it.  In all their plans they have failed to look to the One who has plans of his own for their city.  Isaiah says that God's plan includes their repenting for the sins that brought them to all this in the first place.  Instead, they make their own plans and then throw parties, saying, "Eat and drink now, for tomorrow we may die."   This refusal to acknowledge God and, instead, to rely on themselves is going to cost them everything.  The truth is that we ought to identify with all this, possibly as a nation, but definitely as individuals.  God has plans for you and me and his good will to us has been abundantly demonstrated.  With that in mind my life should be focused on him.  Instead, I tend to do things my own way and then, once in awhile (especially when things get difficult) I pause to look to God and ask him to help me do what I have decided to do.  That isn't the way it is supposed to be.  It isn't that I am to never have a thought of my own, but it is that I am to live in partnership with the Lord.  Instead, I tend to "look and look" but never look "to him who gave" me life in the first place...to him "who has long had plans" for my life.  When I do that it's a recipe for disaster.

August 29, 2007

Isaiah 25: And God will wipe the tears from every face.

Isaiah's words contain a great deal of condemnation and his target is not only the enemies of Israel, but Israel, itself.  I get lost in it all and am not sure whether he is talking to specific people at a specific moment in history or if he has slipped into "prophetic perfect tense" in which he speaks of the future as though it has already happened or is speaking on multiple levels of an near future and a distant future with the same words.  At times like this, I take the easy way out and focus on my devotional reading, asking, "What is this saying to me right now?"  As I read this part of Isaiah I can't help but think of the book of Revelation which contains almost the exact same words.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the Revelator was reminded of these words even as he promised the glorious "no tears" day.  My conclusion is that whether we are speaking of broken people of Isaiah's day or persecuted Christians of John's day or hurting people today that God's message is one of comfort and hope.  Some of that hope is contemporary hope: what God is about to do, and some of that hope is out there in the uncertain future when the Lord wraps up history and brings a new reality into existence.  Maybe it is better to realize that there is theme of God's mercy and grace here than to debate with myself as to "who" and "when" Isaiah is talking about.

August 30, 2007

Isaiah 26: God, order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we've done, you've done for us.

What an interesting prayer this is.  I love the request for a "peaceful and whole life."  When all is said and done, this is about as insightful request as a person can make for their own life.  Isaiah lived in turbulent times and, in the face of so much uncertainty, this prayer makes a lot of sense.  However, he isn't the only one who has lived in such days -- so do we.  Again, I like this simple prayer.  The second half of this sentence though, is the reason the pray-er thinks the first half will be granted.  Isaiah says, "We are following your directions, Lord -- only doing what you would have us do -- operating under your power and authority."  You see, it makes no sense to plead with the Lord for peace and life if I am ignoring his intentions for my life.  The only way this prayer makes sense is when I pray it in the context of absolute obedience and trust.  It is only when I can say, "Everything I have done and am doing is what God is doing in me" that I can pray with an expectation of God's blessing on my life.

September 1, 2007

Isaiah 28: This is the meaning of the stone: A TRUSTING LIFE WON'T TOPPLE.

The people Isaiah preached to think they have everything figured out.  Before he says anything they think they have already heard it all and that his message is too simple for them.  He says, "You aren't as advanced as you think you are.  In fact, God is going to strip everything back to the bare basics and his message to you is going to be 'baby talk.'"  Isaiah describes the Lord's new approach in dealing with these know-it-all people as laying a new cornerstone.  That stone, he says, will be inscribed with God's simple message to his people: "A trusting life won't topple."  That message is, at the same time, both simple and profound.  It is simple because anyone can understand it.  It is profound because it is the secret to maintaining life in the Lord.  God isn't looking for clever people who come up with all kinds of gimmicks and cute slogans.  Instead, he is looking for people who will simply trust him.  As the Lord describes his future plans for the people of Isaiah's day, we see that he wants his people to be a trusting, steady people.  Today, that is still his plan for you and me.

Isaiah 29: They act like they're worshipping me but don't mean it.

Generally speaking, we know how to have church.  While it is true that there are various "flavors" of worship ranging from high church with rich liturgy to low church, filled with individual expression, there is beauty and some pretty impressive worship services across Christianity.  The issue is not that some need to abandon their worship tradition and adopt that of someone else.  Isaiah complains about how his contemporaries worship, but his complaint isn't that they don't know how to organize a worship event.  They were doing fine in that department -- the problem was on the inside, not the outside.  An impressive, well done worship service is meaningless unless the worshippers pour themselves into their worship.  This is no excuse for shoddy planning, but it does force us to concentrate on what really matters.  Isaiah says the solution is God doing a "shock and awe" operation on the worshippers.  Is that what it takes for us to move beyond "worship wars" and get about the business of worshipping from the heart?

September 11, 2007

Isaiah 29: These children will honor me by living holy lives.

They are such failures at being a people of God!  Nothing works for them.  Their worship is skin-deep, their vision of God is lost to spiritual blindness, and their relationship with their Creator is upside down and wrong side out!  The Lord, through Isaiah, has no compliments for them.  However, the Lord does have words of hope.  It will take some doing but God is going to make them into a holy people.  He is going to have people who worship in holiness, who reverence him as the holy God of Israel.  Getting there is going to cost them everything.  They will lose the land God gave them and, frankly, many in that generation will lose their lives.  Out of the destruction, God will begin remaking a people -- a people worthy of his Name.  Today, God is still in the business of creating holy people.  The process is, in some ways, the same.  He brings us to the place where we give up everything and even die out to self.  Once all else is gone he fills us with himself.  This sanctification process is often painful for us as we struggle with the Lord over ownership of our lives.  When we do surrender to him, though, the result is holiness -- God honoring, wonderfully satisfied lives.

September 12, 2007

Isaiah 30: Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.

As the small nation of Israel realizes just how precarious their place is on the world stage they seek an alliance with a world power, turning to Egypt to be their protector.  Meanwhile, God's prophets keep pounding away at them, calling on them to trust God and live the way he wants them to live.  Their desire to find a protector among the nations seems reasonable, but they have a higher calling.  However, Israel will not listen.  Those who speak for God are called irrelevant and impractical.  To them, religion has its place but not when there are "real" enemies with which to deal.  Their response to Isaiah is, "leave us alone while we deal with these real issues and quit hounding us with God-talk."  Since I believe God is very much involved in every aspect of my life; that he directs me and walks with me every day and in every situation, passages like this are of only historical value to me -- right?  You know the answer.  When something goes wrong, when someone says or does the wrong thing to me, when I have a problem, my first response is to head for Egypt for reinforcements.  My actions say, "Don't bother me with God-talk right now -- I've got a 'real' problem to solve.  Once that is taken care of I'll see you in church next Sunday."  I know it is possible to over-state things here because I believe God gave me a brain and he expects me to use it.  His plan for my life is not for me to sit idly by and wait for him to come to my rescue all the time.  Still, the reminder here is that the Lord wants to be fully connected to my life and he wants me to see all I do as a part of my walk with him -- not just the so-called "religious" stuff.

September 13, 2007

Isaiah 30: Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

The salvation being spoken of in this passage is not "getting religion."  Instead, it is salvation from an enemy that is threatening to destroy them.  Their effort to save themselves is that of preparing for war and forming an alliance with a powerful nation that they might defend themselves.  Still there is a spiritual element here.  Their nation's existence has always been improbable, a seeming fluke of history.  Their ancestors were slaves who never had a chance of calling any land their own.  Had it not been for God Almighty acting on their behalf they would have, by now, been a forgotten people, a mere footnote in history.  To forget that is a recipe for disaster.  However, that is exactly what they have done.  They have removed the One who gave them existence from the core of their lives.  Now, when everything starts coming apart they are looking for a "reasonable" solution -- one which excludes God.  Through Isaiah the God they have ignored tells them that they have only one chance and that is in him.  What is true of nations is also true of individuals.  We owe our very lives to him.  The next breath I take is a gift of God who has loved me and patiently worked in my life.  To turn my back on him and fool myself into thinking I can handle life on my own will result in disaster.  In Isaiah's words: my "strength will come from settling down in complete dependence" on the Lord.  There's plenty of hope here, but also plenty of warning. 

September 15, 2007

Isaiah 30: Cry for help and you'll find it's grace and more grace.

Things are a mess for the people of God.  They are living apart from the God who gave them life.  Their nation is under considerable threat and they are looking for help from everywhere but from the Lord.  Things look hopeless and, if they continue as they are, that is just the way it is.  Still, through Isaiah, the Almighty reaches out to them.  Isaiah says "He's waiting around to be gracious to you."  This is as powerful a vision of God's grace as you'll ever find apart from the cross.  If the Lord is waiting for me to mess up so he can "get me" the wait would be long over.  Instead, I see here a picture of God Almighty patiently waiting for me to look his way.  When I do that, he doesn't tell me I've been bad and that I deserve what I am about to get -- he tells me he loves me and wants to transform my life in wonderful ways.  The only thing that stands between me and the grace of God is, well, it's me!  When I bring my messed up life to him he begins to pour grace out: bucketfuls of it!  How about you?  Have you been afraid to come to God because you thought he was just waiting to send you to hell?  If so, this passage contains some of the best news you'll ever find.  When you turn to the Lord you find an ocean sized portion of grace just for you.

September 17, 2007

Isaiah 32: Weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured own on us from above.

Isaiah is addressing the women of his society, warning them that Judgment is coming and telling them that when it comes their comfortable lives will be fully disrupted.  The coming danger is not just that of invading armies, but of crop failures of those who supply the very food they eat.  Everything will be turned upside down on that day which Isaiah specifically says is just a little over a year away.  With such a storm bearing down on them, Isaiah tells them that there is just one thing to do: repent and seek God.  The coming disaster is not some random event; instead it is the Judgment of God.  If they change their ways and seek the Lord their story can be very different.  Earlier, the prophet has pictured God as a mighty eagle, circling high in the sky, not waiting to pounce upon some unwitting prey, but waiting to deliver.  Now, he says that if sinning, God-rejecting people will repent of their sin the Lord will pour his Spirit out upon them from above.  We often think of the prophets as having messages of only gloom and doom but that is only a portion of their work.  In this passage we see an abundant measure of hope for even the most God-rejecting life.  To this day, the Lord waits of us to look up in repentance and trust that he might pour his Spirit out on our lives.

September 18, 2007

Isaiah 33: The answer's simple: live right.

The picture Isaiah paints is not a pleasant one.  Things are going to get bad as a firestorm of God's wrath is on the agenda.  Who can survive such a purging?  How does a person prepare for it?  Isaiah has a list for all who will listen: "live right, speak the truth, despise exploitation, refuse bribes, reject violence, avoid evil amusements."  This, he says, is the way through the storm, the way to stability and satisfaction.  I know that some things about God are complicated and it takes a life time of serious study and application to master them.  However, some things are pretty straight forward and this list is an example of that.  The Lord expects us to "live right."  That is, we can drop the excuses and commit ourselves to, as best we can, doing the things we know we should do.  That isn't all there is to it, but it is a pretty good start.  Soon enough we'll realize that our best isn't good enough, but it does turn us in the right direction and with that done, we'll find ourselves aligned with God's grace which is freely extended to us.

Isaiah 33: Best of all, they'll all live guilt-free.

Jerusalem is conquered, now condemned by Assyria to bow and scrape to those in control of their holy city.  Isaiah promises that things will not remain as they are.  As the citizens turn back to the Lord, the Lord will turn back to them.  The day is coming when the Assyrian tax collector will be gone and their new masters' foreign language will no longer be heard in the streets of Jerusalem.  It won't be King Sennacherib who will be in charge, instead, Isaiah promises it will be "God who makes all the decisions here" and it will be God who will be king.  Isaiah adds, describing his people, "Best of all, they'll all live guilt-free."  This is such a wonderful promise.  You see, the people hearing these words are truly guilty.  It is their abandonment of God that brought this calamity on them in the first place.  The only One who can forgive them is very willing to do so.  It is a great thing when God removes the "foreign kings" from our lives and forgives us our sins.  One lady told me that when she confessed her sins and received Christ into her life that she "felt lighter."  In other words, having the sin burden lifted from her was just as real as if a 40 pound backpack had been lifted from her shoulders.  Only God can make that kind of difference in a life or in a nation.  The Good News is that he wants to do just that.

September 20, 2007

Isaiah 35: There will be a highway called the Holy Road.

God is a holy God and his purpose for us is that we be a holy people.  Isaiah looked to such a day, a day when the people of God would reflect God in their lives.  Of course, that reflection is incomplete even as the bright moon reflects the sun, but not the entirety of the sun.  Isaiah promises a day and a people who will walk the Holy Road and in that journey will "be becoming" the people God intends them to be.  To walk that road is, at the same time, a journey and a destination.  That is, the journey is what the Lord calls us to.  To him, "arriving" is not nearly as important as "journeying."  With that in mind we respond to his call on our lives, the call to holiness, and thus get on the Holy Road.  Starting is not the same thing as finishing, but without the start and without the steadfastness there is no hope of arrival.  Holiness people are people committed to that journey, not people who have finished it.

September 22, 2007

Isaiah 36: Be reasonable. Face the facts.

There is nothing theoretical about the threat Sennacherib of Assyria and his great army is to Jerusalem.  They can crush that city as they have crushed so many others.  The king sends a spokesman with his terms of surrender and he minces no words in telling them what will come if they don't give in.  He offers them a choice: be starved and then destroyed, or surrender and be relocated to a distant land under the rule of Assyria.  The king's man, Rabshekah, isn't much of a diplomat.  He is convinced that these pitiful people are in his hands and that either through defeat or surrender his army will win the day.  He says to them, "Be reasonable...face the facts..." pointing out that they couldn't mount an opposing army even if they were given horses and chariots with which to fight.  Those words strike terror in the hearts of all who hear them.  In that terror all of God's promises are forgotten and they are ready to do the "reasonable" thing and abandon their faith.  I am, I think a reasonable person and generally do a good job of learning the facts and acting on what I have learned.  However, there's a whole set of "facts" that can only be seen with the eyes of faith.  Rabshekah's facts ignore the fact that these are the people of God and that God has something to say about all this.  In the decisions I make I must remember that I have surrendered my life to the Lord and, even though some facts aren't apparent to me, they are clear to him.  When I have done my spreadsheet of pluses and minuses, I must remember that there is a dimension beyond my view and that dimension is every bit as real as the facts and figures I might collect.  If I'm going to be truly reasonable, I must carefully listen to the Lord.  That's the only way I can really keep my facts straight.

September 24, 2007

Isaiah 37: Then he went into the sanctuary of God and spread the letter out before God.

The threat Sennacherib makes to Judah through his general Rabshekah can't be ignored.  King Hezekiah sends representatives to God's man, Isaiah, to seek a response from the Lord.   Isaiah, or God, doesn't let Hezekiah down.  The Lord has heard the threats and the blasphemy and is going to personally deal with the situation.  Not long after that, Sennacherib is called away to deal with a crisis elsewhere in his kingdom.  However, before he leaves he sends a letter to Hezekiah, promising that he will be back to finish the destruction of Jerusalem just as he promised.   Upon receiving that letter Hezekiah takes it to the Temple.  There, in the presence of God he opens that scroll and spreads it out before the Lord.  He prays, reminding himself and God of the promise the Lord made to take care of Sennacherib and to protect his people.  I love what Hezekiah did with that letter.  He knew that the Lord had already promised to deliver him but that letter and the threat it contained was real.  Rather than letting it consume him with fear he took it to the Lord.  This is a lesson we need to learn.  What difference might it make if we took that lab report from the doctor that is causing us concern and laid it out before the Lord when we prayed?  Or maybe a good course of action would be to write out the situation from work that is worrying us and then laying it out before the Lord?  I'm not saying that this is some magical formula for getting the Lord to do what we want when we want it done.  However, I do think that it might serve as a practical reminder to us that God does know about these difficult situations and that he has promised to walk with us through even them.

September 26, 2007

Isaiah 38: I'll add fifteen years to your life.

Hezekiah is one of the good guys who trusted in the Lord; a king who had his priorities right.  When he gets sick Isaiah visits him and tells Hezekiah that this is it, he needs to prepare to die.  Hezekiah prays a simple, trusting prayer that touches the heart of God, who grants the king fifteen years more of life.  As I read this story I remember that my life is in the hands of God.  He has the final say.  In Hezekiah's case, the illness that came to him was a natural one but God trumped it by granting him healing.  I know that the Lord doesn't always do that, even in the lives of people just as good and trusting as Hezekiah was, but we can ask while trusting the wisdom of God to answer according to his grace. 

September 27, 2007

Isaiah 40: Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God.

I have read that the prophets of the Old Testament were given views of God's future plans that can be illustrated by what we might see when looking out toward a vast mountain range.  There, before us is one mountain in the "front range," but in the greater distance is yet another taller and even more majestic peak, called in Colorado, a "fourteener" -- a 14,000+ foot mountain.  The relationship between the two mountains is impossible to tell from a distance, and it is only as one travels through that same range that it becomes plain that there is a vast valley between the first and the second mountain.  It appears that when the prophets were given a vision of God's intentions that they would sometimes see an act of God that was close at hand and at the same time see a similar but even greater event so distant that they could hardly imagine.  Beginning with Isaiah 40 the focus of Isaiah's prophecies moves to words of comfort and hope.  These words will become a life line for his people in a few years.  All the terrible things he has warned them of will come to pass, and in distant lands the next generation will turn to these words to find comfort in their sorrow.  When we read this passage at the level of the "front range" we see that God's broken people have hope of restoration.  The Lord is going to return to their lives as a powerful king might return to his kingdom.  Isaiah's command to them is to start preparing for that sure event by making a smooth and straight road into their lives.  However, beyond that "front range" is a gigantic "fourteener," the coming of the true King of Kings to this world.  Hundreds of years later this prophecy will become John the Baptist's rally cry and it will be fulfilled in a much greater way by Jesus.  As a Christian I can identify with the dual nature of this view of God's plans in my own life.  That "front range" view is when I receive Jesus as King.  The "fourteener" view is then Jesus comes to this world the second time as King and Judge of all.

September 29, 2007

Isaiah 40: God sits high above the round ball of earth.  The people look like mere ants.

In this passage Isaiah pictures for us the God of Creation.  This is the God who "scooped up the ocean in his two hands" and measured out the mountains.  This God calls the stars by name and sits high above the earth, so distant that the inhabitants of this world look like "mere ants."  The purpose of this passage is not to teach what I have heard called "worm theology" in which the human race is viewed as insignificant and worthless.  After all, once those oceans had been created and the mountains put in place, God turned his attention to making us, and when he finished he was pleased with the results.  This portion of this passage isn't about putting humanity in its place.  Instead, it is about lifting our Creator to his place!  We aren't talking about a tin god here; we are talking about the God of the Universe, Maker of all.  This King is not the ruler of some little country off in some forgotten part of the world; no king and no god "holds a candle" to this Creator-God.  I can never fully comprehend him but I can fully worship him.  This passage is a reminder of the greatness of God and a call to humbly bow before him.

October 2, 2007

Isaiah 40: God doesn't come and go.  God lasts.

Sooner or later everything fails us.  Some failures come on purpose and can be considered betrayal.  Others come by accident but are painful none-the-less.  Still others come with great reluctance, such as the death of a loved one who promised to be with us always.  Sometimes I make something that was never intended to be permanent into a centerpiece in my life.  When the time comes for it to be taken away it becomes, spiritually speaking, a surgery rather than a simple letting go.  Because of the temporary nature of this life, I must remember the truth of Isaiah's words here.  There is only one place of absolute firm footing and that is on the solid rock of God.  He is the only One who never fails.  As I take my stand on the solid rock of his faithfulness everything else falls into its proper place.  I can weather betrayal because One vastly greater has not betrayed me.  I can survive some thoughtless, accidental failure and I can find hope even in genuine personal disasters because my hope is not focused there in the first place.  Everything else comes and goes.  If I have pinned my hopes and dreams on whatever (or whoever) that is, I will become a sad, broken man.  The only stability I really have (and need) is in the Lord. 

October 3, 2007

Isaiah 40: Those who wait upon God get fresh strength.  They spread their wings and soar like eagles.

Isaiah says that when everything else gives way that "God lasts."  He doesn't lose interest and he doesn't grow weary.  Everything else can, and will, fail, either intentionally or unintentionally but God never fails.  Beyond that, God's people draw strength from him.  We are still human and because of that face the frailties of humanity.  Still, as we trust in the Lord and lean on him we find strength where it matters the most.  The strength to soar like an eagle is not strength to win races or ball games.  It isn't strength to never fail in the events of life.  It is spiritual strength to live in a victorious relationship with our Creator even in the face of our humanity.  When Isaiah talks about people who run and don't get tired he is talking about the race of life.  The body wears out and begins to fall apart.  Physically, we spend 25 years or so gaining strength and then 50 years giving back, little by little, what we have gained.  Spiritually though, as we "wait upon God" we finish the race with all the vigor we had at the beginning of it because he renews us day by day.  It’s a bit of a paradox, but very often the people we know who on the outside seem to have the least strength are the very ones who "soar like eagles" in their spirits.

October 4, 2007

Isaiah 41: Who did this? ... I did. God. I'm first on the scene. I'm also the last to leave.

At the conclusion of the movie "The Langoliers" the adventurers travel "back to the future" and find themselves just a few minutes ahead of the present.  They stand along the wall, out of the way, and wait for time to catch up with them.  When the "present" arrives, they are already in place, waiting for it.  Now, I'm not ready to build a "Langoliers theology" and I am not ready (or qualified) to come up with some "God in time" observation.  However, Isaiah's statement about God's presence brings that scene to mind.  I arrive at some moment in my life and suddenly find myself dealing with something for which I am totally unprepared.  In spite of that, Isaiah reminds me that there is One who is there before me, not surprised at all and ready to help me work my way through this unexpected circumstance.  No matter what happens I need to remember that God got there first and, matter of fact, when I have to move on, he can still handle things just fine. 

October 8, 2007

Isaiah 41: I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go.

In my life I have heard a lot about commitment and, well, I've preached plenty of sermons on that topic too.  I believe in being committed to things.  Jesus told us that to be his followers we would take up our crosses daily.  One doesn't have to be a theologian to label that as a call to radical commitment.  Today, I am reminded that this "commitment business" is not one way.  Before we ever consider committing to God he has committed to us.  He tells his people, "I've picked you. I haven't dropped you" and, "don't panic.  I'm with you."  Human beings commit to things easily and then back out without a great deal of regret.  That is, we join bowling leagues, or agree to take on some project without a lot of thought.  Then, when circumstances change, we say, "Sorry, but I just don't have the time to do it."  Sad to say, that attitude extends beyond bowling leagues to marriage and other "biggies."  God's commitments are just the opposite of that.  He carefully counts the cost, and, once he commits to something he is willing to go all the way in that commitment, even to Calvary.   And, this "committing God" has made a commitment to me.  He claims me as his own and promises to never forsake me.  That's a commitment I can take to the bank.

October 9, 2007

Isaiah 41: I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty.

Some folks apparently think that spiritual talk is the language of need and complaint.  To them, an evidence of their belief in God is constant requests for prayer: "Pray for me, life is so hard that I sometimes don't think I will make it another day."  Now, I say this carefully, because challenging difficulties and temptations do come into life and sometimes, that kind of desperate prayer request is, indeed, an evidence of belief in God.  However, that isn't the everyday language of the follower of God.  This awesome God satisfies his people.  Even when life is not perfect, they have found a Source that provides a solid foundation for their life.  The native language for the one who trusts the Lord is the language of satisfaction: "In my distress I sought the Lord and he was there for me."  Personally, that means I must major on the goodness of God and not on the difficulties of life.  It also may mean that I have a responsibility to help other believers remember that God is there for them and help them learn this language of praise and thanksgiving.

October 10, 2007

Isaiah 42: He won't be stopped until he's finished his work -- to set things right on earth.

Even as Isaiah writes words of comfort to those banished from Jerusalem by the crushing might of Babylon, he looks forward to an even greater deliverance.  "One day," he promises, "God will send the ultimate Deliverer, his prized Servant, to the world to do an even greater thing than bringing a scattered people back to their homeland."  Isaiah looks to the coming of the Messiah, a man filled with the Spirit who will "set everything right."  One day, in Isaiah's distant future, a man would be baptized and God's voice would be heard proclaiming, "This is my Son."  Here, we see that event being foretold as the Lord says through Isaiah, "He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him."  The prophet doesn't have all the details.  In fact, it is unlikely that he has a vision of Calvary or of the empty tomb of Easter.  However, he sees in this Servant a persistence that drives him forward through every obstacle placed in his path.  Isaiah doesn't see a cross, but he does see a Messiah who won't be stopped by one.  Today, I am reminded that even as a cross couldn't stop this Servant of God, neither can he be stopped by the seeming insurmountable obstacles of the world today.  We Christians need to remember this and join the Messiah's mission.  Followers of his don't sit around wringing their hands while lamenting the state of things.  This Messiah won't quit until things are set "right on earth."  That is our mission as well as our hope.

October 11, 2007

Isaiah 42: I am God. I have called you to live right and well.

As Isaiah celebrates the ministry of the Messiah it seems that God, Himself, steps onto center stage.  He, too, comes to rejoice in the promise of a "new salvation work."  This Salvation-Bringer is coming, not because people have earned it but because the Lord has "taken responsibility" for them and is going to act in their behalf.  The result of that ministry will be that God's people will "live right and well."  Today, I'm reminded that Jesus didn't come to the world to condemn us for living poorly; instead, he came to enable us to live well in the sight of God.  Jesus put it this way: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10) 

October 13, 2007

Isaiah 42: I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country.

Have you ever been in a situation in which you needed a guide?  Some years ago Jackie and I rafted some serious white water and part of the deal was that we, along with some other folks, hired a white water guide.  As I recall, he earned his money, directing us along the way so that we got wet without getting dumped into the raging water.  Isaiah pictures for us God's offer to be our personal guide in life.  I don't think I am to draw from this that I'm to be a mindless drone, marching to the bark of a stern drill sergeant, but I do see the promise of God's faithfulness to me in the decisions of life.  Rather than barking out orders, the Lord more often speaks in that oft mentioned "still small voice."  Therefore, his offer of guidance can be refused.  Due to the fact that everything in my future can be classified as "unknown country" I thank the Lord for his offer to be my "personal guide."  I have to admit that I still need some work in the listening part of this arrangement.

October 15, 2007

Isaiah 43: I'm the only Savior there is.

I know that pluralism and tolerance are in, and, truthfully, I agree that these are a positive step away from bigotry and narrowness.  I also know that we Americans have a lot to learn from other nations and cultures.  Just my limited relationships with friends of Mexican heritage has both broadened my perspective and deepened my life.  This passage, however, underscores the other side this issue.  If there is a place for open-mindedness, there is also a time and place for narrowness and exclusivity.  Even as the Lord speaks words of hope and comfort through his man Isaiah, he reminds me that, while God offers us the gift of salvation, that he is the only one qualified to make that offer.  I can walk down the aisle of Walmart and decide which brand of peanut butter I prefer.  I can listen to presidential candidates and pick which one I want to support.  I can realize that the Oriental culture has something to offer that is just as good as what my own culture offers.  However, when it comes to salvation, there's only one place to go, and that is to the God Isaiah is talking about.  The salvation he offers is abundant and entirely sufficient for me and for every other person, but it is, truly, the only salvation that actually saves...he's the only Savior there is.

October 16, 2007

Isaiah 43: Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history.

This passage was especially meaningful to me several years ago when I was going through a major change in my life.  At the time, I was dealing with some "baggage" from the past even as I prepared to move forward.  As I read this portion of Isaiah the Lord seemed to highlight these words.  I needed to focus on what God was doing right then and move forward into that.  This passage inspired me to look forward with confidence.  The Lord was about to do a new thing and he was going to let me be a part of it.  How about you?  Is there something from your past that needs to be forgotten?  If so, let the Lord help you to do that.  The place to start is to refuse to keep thinking about it.  "Don't keep going over old history."  Every time it comes to mind, reject it.  Then, replace those memories by concentrating on the "new thing" God is doing in you and through you.  Live in what God is doing right now rather than in some past disappointment.

October 17, 2007

Isaiah 43: ...a people custom-made to praise me.

God has good news for his people.  The destruction of the past is ending and a wonderful plan of salvation is being put in place.  Things are going to change for the better as the dry times end and times of refreshing come.  God will bless his people who, in the words of this passage are, he says are, "a people custom-made to praise me."  Those who first heard these words never considered the possibility that those "custom-made" people could include anyone but their own nation.  We, though, have the whole story; how God's Son came to us to remake us into new people, a people who are his very own.  If it can be said that Israel was a "custom-made" people it might be added that, through Christ, we have undergone an "extreme make-over" in which everything about us has been transformed by the work of Jesus.  The result of this "customizing" encounter with the Lord is to be that we become enthusiastic worshipers of God.  Our new native language is the language of praise.  For us, life isn't a daily struggle in which we whimper words of complaint and need.  Our first thoughts and the words we most easily say are those of praise to God.  Israel was custom-made for that purpose and we've been made-over for the same thing.  We're a people who have had an "extreme make-over" -- in that, we are made to praise the Lord.

October 18, 2007

Isaiah 44: I will pour water on the thirsty ground.

Spiritually speaking, most of my life has been lived somewhere in the middle.  There have been high points, many of them.  For this I am thankful.  Also, there have been low points, though not so many.  I'm thankful for that too.  Out here in the middle, where I spend most of my time, things can get rather dry; sometimes with my not even realizing what is happening.  I go through my routine, focused on the common things of life and don't even realize that some of the joy of living in God's love has dried up.  The passage before me isn't about the spiritual lives of individuals, but a nation of people.  Spiritually, they have taken things for granted and the result is that they are as dry and fragile as the fallen leaves of autumn.  Isaiah's word of hope to them is that there will be an outpouring of God's Spirit on their descendants.  This isn't intended to say that they are doomed to dryness, but to encourage them that something better is coming for them and, even more, for their offspring.  While I know this passage isn't specifically about my "somewhere in the middle" spiritual dryness I do see a truth here that I can take to heart: God wants to have a vibrant, flowing relationship with his people.  If we will trust him and wait for it, he will "pour water" on our heart's "thirsty ground" when the time is right.  That is worth waiting for.  "Mercy drops 'round us are falling, but for the showers we plead."

October 20, 2007

Isaiah 44: From the beginning, who else has always announced what's coming?

These pages of Isaiah are some of the most encouraging in the whole Bible.  God has such good news for his people; salvation is coming to their spiritually dry lives like streams flowing into a parched desert.  This promise is so great that people can hardly get their minds and hearts around it.  To help them do that, the Lord puts his credentials on display.  He says he's the first and the last and "everything in between."  He is always trustworthy and he's the one who can speak about his future actions with absolute certainty.  I know some see this passage as ammunition for "God's knowledge of the future" discussions but it is more correctly seen as "God keeps his word" material.  The Lord is not passively watching events unfold and he is not letting history proceed in whatever direction it happens to find.  This God is "on purpose" in his dealings with Creation.  As he speaks to a fallen Israel, he has promises to make; salvation will come because he will keep his word.  How does God know salvation will come?  He knows it because he is going to do it.  And, generations later, God's promise is made reality in a stable in Bethlehem.

October 22, 2007

Isaiah 44: I've wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings. There's nothing left of your sins.

As I read these words an old Sunday School chorus comes to mind: "Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone."  To us Sunday School kids that was mainly just a catchy tune, although I know that it is important to "train up a child in the way he should go...."  The message here is mainly for grown ups, especially for those who are troubled by the mess that is their lives.  They look at their life and see a disaster that can, in their view, never be cleaned up.  You may have things in your past that are so ugly that you seldom allow yourself to remember them, and when you do, you are filled with shame.  Or there may be things that everyone knows about: broken promises, failures, and destroyed relationships.  The words of Isaiah are so filled with hope that our hearts cannot hold it all.  The only One who can deal with the mess that is our lives has already acted to do just that.  He cries out, "Come back to me, come back. I've redeemed you."  As I respond to that invitation, the words of the old chorus become mine..."gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone."

October 23, 2007

Isaiah 45: I'm the one who armed you for this work.

Cyrus the Great of Persia overthrew Babylon and pretty much conquered his world.  In modern terms, his name was in every newscast and many powerful people rose each morning and went to bed each night wondering what Cyrus was going to do next.  Isaiah, the prophet of God, also talked about Cyrus.  However, Isaiah wasn't worried about what this powerful conqueror might do next.  In fact, Isaiah has an entirely different take on Cyrus.  Isaiah says that even though Cyrus doesn't even know the name of the true God that God knows about Cyrus and is using this king to do what he wants done.  Whether Cyrus knows it or not, he is on a mission from God.  It isn't his cleverness or wisdom that gives him success -- it is the hand of God working through him.  Beyond that, what cleverness and wisdom Cyrus does have was given to him by God in the first place.  And, while Israel and Cyrus don't know it, the things that he is accomplishing by his military might are for the good of Israel.  Talk about devotionally rich material; this is it!  On the big stage of the world, even when I don't see it, God is at work.  That isn't to say that God is always orchestrating elections, etc.  However, I am reminded that God has a purpose in mind for this world and he is working at just the right level, whatever that level might be, to move things toward that purpose.  In smaller ways, I also remember that, even when I can't see it, God patiently works through people and circumstances with his goals in mind.  Or (and I said there was lots of devotional material here), I can place myself on the other side of things.  When I try something that is surprisingly successful I need to remember that, like Cyrus, my success may not be as much mine as it is God's.  He may be "clearing the way" ahead of me because he is doing something bigger than I know.  However, unlike Cyrus, who the Lord speaks to saying, "You don't even know me" I do know him.  Today, I remember that sometimes the Lord honors me by using me as a partner in what he is doing in this world.

October 24, 2007

Isaiah 45: I am God. I work out in the open.

Isaiah speaks to people who have incorporated idol worship into their religion.  The religions of other nations have greatly influenced them, causing their view of God to include lots of mystery and magic.   In his message, Isaiah includes the words of the Lord who reminds them he has never told them to, "Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness."  In fact, the Lord has done just the opposite.  He has told them his plans ahead of time.  He has even offered them choices: "do this and I will do that, or do that, and I will do this."  This God doesn't work in the darkness and serving him doesn't involve a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.  Serving God certainly requires faith on our part.  There is much about that Almighty that is transcendent, beyond our understanding.  However, his desires for us are an open book.  As Isaiah says it, "Turn to me and be helped ---saved! -- everyone, whoever and wherever you are!"  Living in a relationship with God is not an exercise in ignorance.  This God partners with us, directing our lives, but, at the same time, allowing us to operate freely within his purposes.  This God prefers light to darkness and is, in fact, the Creator of Light (both physical and spiritual).  We serve him in absolute trust, but, since his purposes for us have already been clearly stated, it isn't blind trust.

October 27, 2007

Isaiah 46: Can you picture me without reducing me?

The topic is hand made idols.  God challenges his people to consider their tendency to create idols, not only of pagan gods, but those intended to "assist" them in worship of him, the true God.  He tells them that when they whittle an idol of him they insult him, and diminish him in their sight.  Now, I haven't been making any idols, of Nebo or Bel or even of God Almighty, so I am safe from breaking this commandment on the first level.  However, I might come up short here in some other ways.  It might be that in trying to understand God that I shrink him down so I can get my mind around him.  Or, I might enjoy a good discussion on theology and forget that the One I am talking about is part of the conversation.  If I do that, I may come off as less respectful of him than I should.  To some extent, even in my finest hour, I struggle to comprehend God.  I don't want to add disrespect or irreverence to my own human limitations.

October 29, 2007

Isaiah 47: You're acting like the center of the Universe.

God Almighty handed his chosen people over to Babylon, the powerhouse of that day.  His purpose was to humble Israel and bring this rebellious people back to himself.  However, Babylon went farther than God intended and now, he speaks to Babylon as though this nation is a wayward girl who has gone too far.  I think there is a case to be made here for the doctrine of free will.  God gave Babylon the power and position to dominate the region, then when Babylon behaves in a cruel way, God says they went too far and that he will now knock them off their high horse.  They think they are the "center of the universe" but the true "Center of the Universe" is about to put them in their place.  Another thing that comes to mind here is the underlying theme of God's love.  God has been stern with Israel, but it was out of love.  He was willing to use Babylon to bring them into submission, but there was a limit to how far God wanted them to go.  I am reminded of how, in the book of Job, that God gave Satan permission to strike Job, but, in doing so, the Lord also told him that there was a limit to how far he could go.  On one hand, therefore, I am reminded here of my accountability to God as to what I say and do, even when I am operating within the providence of God.  On the other hand, I see that God loves me, and when I am on the receiving end of hardship, that he has set boundaries, not allowing me to be tempted beyond what I can bear.

October 30, 2007

Isaiah 48: But do you mean it? Do you live like it?

I don't know how a pastor ought to look, but apparently I don't fit the part very well.  Because of that through the years I have surprised people.  I'll be taking to a man about something, maybe a business deal, and his language will have words and phrases that Christians don't use.  Then, when he finds out I am a pastor, it all changes.  I've even had people who started off using God's name in some inappropriate way shift clear over to telling me how good God has been to them.  Needless to say, I'm not impressed by such a sudden change of language.  In this passage, the Lord's complaint against Israel is not that they never speak the language of God or that they have forsaken prayer.  In fact, they say and do a lot of the right things.  The problem is that none of it is backed up in their lives.  They give God lip service and then turn back to their chosen life style.  There's a caution in this for all of us.  It isn't just a potty-mouthed used car salesman or a backslidden Israelite who should be considered here.  I talk the language of "Zion" a lot, and that is as it should be.  However, when I'm not being "spiritual" what is it that I do and say?  The measure of religion is not how loudly I sing in church.  All that "religious stuff" has to translate into how I relate to people when I am standing in line at McDonald's or driving in traffic during rush hour.

October 31, 2007

Isaiah 49: I form you and use you to reconnect the people with me.

The man of God looks to the coming of the Messiah and his words are filled with hope.  The Promised One's coming will impact lives as nothing else could.  The broken relationship that exists between the Creator and the Creation will be repaired as God comes to us in the Messiah.  When we consider humanity we conclude that our greatest need is the repair of this broken relationship.  Everything that is messed up about us is messed up because we have become disconnected from the Source of Life.  The solution is not that we try harder, or figure out how to fix things, or somehow appease the Lord.  While being forgiven of our sins and receiving the promise of heaven is a part of God's intention for us, it is only a part.  We were created to live in fellowship with God and that fellowship has been broken.  We broke it and in so doing, broke ourselves.  Only he can provide a solution to this problem. When I receive this "Re-connecter" into my heart, cooperate with him day by day, and let him do his work in my life his mission is being completed in me.

November 1, 2007

Isaiah 49: Even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you -- never.

The prophet describes the glorious reign of the Messiah, looking, not only to his distant future, but to ours as well.  The work of the Messiah is not only to provide salvation to the people of Israel, but to bring, in his words, "global salvation."  Of course, that is good news to me, since I'm on the "global" side of the equation.  Isaiah envisions some of his fellow Israelites looking at their current situation and thinking that God has totally forgotten them.  Their lives are anything but glorious and, while they want to hear this good news, they can't get their hearts around it.  To them, Isaiah says, "Can a mother forget her own child?  God has been Father and Mother to us and he hasn't forgotten us."  Israel had messed up in every way and her sin has had real, and painful, consequences.  In the darkness of those consequences she feels forsaken and forgotten.  But it isn't so.  God reaches out to them with the compassion of a mother nursing her infant.  Israel isn't the only one who has messed up.  The world is filled with people who have had far more failures than successes in their moral lives.  Does that describe you?  If so, the message of this passage isn't just for ancient Israelites; it's God's word to you, today.

November 5, 2007

Isaiah 50: It's your sins that put you here, your wrongs that got you shipped out.

The Lord tells Israel that he didn't "divorce" them; he didn't just kick them out.  They are where they are because of their intentional rejection of him.  Even when he reached out to them, they ignored him.  The disaster didn't come because he changed the rules or backed out of his promises to them.  It was their doing.  Because of that, the road back, as it did for the prodigal son, starts with their coming to their senses and acknowledging their sin.  There's hope here, because there is, indeed, a way back; the possibility of restoration even after sin.  It starts with admitting, "I'm a sinner."  If we think we will return to God on our own terms we are only fooling ourselves.  In this passage the Lord tells them, "I’m as powerful as ever."  Things don't have to stay the same because God has the power to make things right for them.  It's a long road home for these who have been exiled to distant lands and that road starts with their repentance.  That's true for them, it was true for the prodigal, and it's true for us when our sins have separated us from God.

November 6, 2007

Isaiah 52: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger bringing good news.

They live in darkness, separated from God and without hope.  Then, off in the distance a light is shining.  At first, it is barely visible, but in time bright enough to create excitement in all who have longed for this darkness to end.  Then, coming out of that light is a runner, silhouetted by the glow behind him.  He advances toward them and the crowd gathers, wondering what is going on.  They then hear him shouting something and the broken people strain to hear his words.  He is shouting, "Good news, good news."  With the light brightening behind him the runner races into their still-darkened camp.  All are quiet as everyone gathers around the runner who shouts out "Good news" one last time.  He then catches his breath and cries out at the top of his lungs: "God reigns!"   At first the people are stunned, and quietly speak these words among themselves, "God reigns.  God reigns."  Then, without really thinking about it, they begin saying those words in unison: "God reigns. God reigns."  The chat becomes a shout as hands and voices are raised, "GOD REIGNS, GOD REIGNS."  Their sins had separated them from God.  It seemed that all that was left was darkness and hopeless death.  Now, a new day is dawning, a day of salvation.  God is once again stepping into their lives. "God reigns."  Thank God for messengers of Good News.  Praise God, who is God, reigning in our lives.

November 7, 2007

Isaiah 52: He didn't even look human.

I think this is another of those "dual prophecies" in which the prophet speaks of something close at hand, but, maybe without realizing it, speaks words that resonate into the future.  On one hand, he is speaking of the restoration of his people.  They are broken, almost to the point of extinction.  If their condition was described as though they were one person, we would say he has been beaten to the point that he is unrecognizable.  Something good is coming, God's salvation, but at this point, things don't look very good.  It makes perfect sense to us that the writers of the New Testament were reminded of this passage as they saw what happened to Jesus.  The Jews were God's people and Jesus was God's Man.  It was sin that nearly destroyed the Jews and it was the burden of our sins that took Jesus to Calvary.  Physically, they were practically destroyed and the same can