2nd Evangelical Free Church

Blogging Through Isaiah: God reveals His plans through His prophets.

Isaiah 44:24-45:25

Many people like to predict what will happen to them in the future. Many more will make plans and resolutions that they promise to carry out with great certainty. Yet most of the predictions and resolutions will not come to pass and will be forgotten. Here Isaiah makes a prediction that in 150 years a king will arise by the name of Cyrus. He will defeat Babylon and restore God’s people to Judah. 2500 years later we know the prophecy came to pass as written.

Because the prophecy is so specific, many so called Biblical scholars maintain that the prophecy was not written by Isaiah but by an unnamed person writing at the time of Cyrus’ reign. Such an allegation is an affront to the Lord God because it not only calls Him a liar but also denies His sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence. In addition, some question the authority of the passage for it refers to Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia as “anointed”, a term which refers to the Messiah. How can the Lord elevate a pagan to such a place as His chosen one? But the fact is, God is sovereign. He alone has the authority and wisdom to choose to use any one He wants to accomplish His will and purpose. We created beings are in no position to question how and why God does what He does.

Finally of we compare 45:23 with Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10 we will note that these words that refer to Almighty God are used in the New Testament to refer to Jesus. That fact can help us to counter the lies of cultists and agnostics who claim Jesus was not God. The word says it so it must be true.

 

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

Isaiah 27 

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

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

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

 

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

Isaiah 25 

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

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

 

 

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

Isaiah 22

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

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

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Bad grapes in the Lord’s vineyard.

Isaiah 5

The symbol of God’s people as a vineyard is quite common throughout the Bible. The fruit is symbolic of the works of godliness that the Lord expects from His vines. Unfortunately, Isaiah indicates that the grapes are bad. He then pronounces judgment with great passion for he feels the Lord’s sorrow and disappointment at the rebellion of those He loves. The bad fruit they produced is judged. The people have been involved in defrauding the poor and needy and their neighbors through greed and selfishness. They have reveled in drunkenness and debauchery. They are arrogant toward and scornful of the Lord. They rejoice in evil and pervert goodness. They have exploited others through injustice. They are puffed up with pride. 

I think this indictment sounds a lot like modern day America. Many Americans are greedy and materialistic, not just the rich but the middle class and even the poor. Many are proud, self-reliant and self-centered. They have no need for a God who tells them what is right and wrong. Many do not care about the suffering of the poverty-stricken and politically oppressed peoples who inhabit the nations in the majority world. American businessmen consistently exploit the resources as well as the people of those same nations. American justice often favors the rich, the famous and the politically powerful who routinely evade the law with impunity. American culture has redefined what sin is so that what is evil is promoted as good and what is good is considered harmful and destructive to a free society. Since this is true we probably should expect America to undergo a “Day of the Lord”. Rather than complain or rejoice about this we should pray that the Lord would show mercy for the sake of His righteous ones. 

 

Blogging through Esther: The Trophy Wife.

Esther 1

Some question whether the book of Esther has a proper place in the canon of scripture. Not once does it  mention God or the name of the Lord. In addition, in contrast to Ezra and Nehemiah, nothing is said about the sinfulness of the marriage of a Jew, Esther, to a pagan, Ahasuerus. Rather it is viewed as a blessing for it is the means by which the Jews are delivered. Nevertheless the Jews included it as Scripture because it explained the origin of their popular holiday Purim and demonstrated that deliverance is always wrought by the hand of the Lord who is ever faithful to His covenant even when His people are not. 

Ahasuerus was in some sort of planning session with his generals and leaders, which probably degenerated into a drunken orgy. He wanted to display his queen, Vashti before them, yet, for an unknown reason, she refused. It is possible that Ahasuerus wanted to display her as a trophy, to boast of her beauty, a beauty which he possessed. But the writer of this book sees this incident as a satire. The king who boasted in great power, who ruled over a vast empire and a huge number of people all of whom were subject to his every whim, could not control his wife. This disrespect to the king was inexcusable and dangerous to the patriarchal society. Ahasuerus had to deal with it decisively. Vashti was condemned to a life of loneliness. 

 

Blogging through Nehemiah: Working in God’s kingdom.

Nehemiah 3

The work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem is recorded here in some detail. Nehemiah listed the names of all those families and people from surrounding towns who assisted and the sections where they worked. Although not everyone took part, those who did represented quite a diverse group: men and women, skilled professionals and unskilled helpers, the nobility, the upper classes, those in leadership as well as the High Priest, his fellow priests and Levites. These all consecrated their work as an act of worship to the Lord.

The Lord wants all of His people to take part in the building of His Kingdom. Although it really is His work, He has decided to use us frail human beings as His instruments. Yet not all those He calls upon will respond positively, to their detriment. Others will prove themselves useless as they will consider themselves indispensable because of their money, talents or education. This is because the Lord calls and empowers each according to His desire to carry out His plans. The Kingdom of God will be built by all those who come together under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This group will be composed of not just a select few skilled or “ordained” ministers or educated and wealthy lay people, but everyone who believes in Him regardless of their caste or station in society or even their abilities. We should all be willing to add ours name to those working on the building of God’s Kingdom.

 

Blogging through Nehemiah: Prayer helps Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah prayed for 4 months before he spoke to Artaxerxes about the conditions in Jerusalem. Initially he was somewhat fearful because the king could have misinterpreted his sadness, but he proceeded with his plan in the correct manner. He then obtained what he was hoping for and more, that is, protection from enemies and opposition. Artaxerxes must have recognized that a stronger Judah populated by loyal Jews would help to bring greater stability to the region and so provided Nehemiah with a military escort. Yet Nehemiah rightly recognized that the King’s actions resulted from the gracious love of the Lord. 

When he got to Jerusalem, Nehemiah made a clandestine survey of the damage to the walls figuring that if the enemies of the Jews found out what he was doing, they might have stirred up violence to hinder his plan. In addition he wanted to formulate a plan and get it started before the Jews could think up excuses for not carrying it out which would be in accord with their previous actions that had left the wall in ruins for so many years.  

Excuses are, unfortunately, often the reaction of church people when faced with new challenges. Few want to change their ways to get the work of the Lord accomplished. They debate and stall rather than act ignoring the fact that their delay may cause people to turn away form the help that the Church could bring to those who do not know Jesus. In addition a church that is indecisive and argumentative is a poor witness to the wisdom, grace and mercy that the Lord has provided. 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah: Josiah’s Passover.

2 Chronicles 35

The Chronicler goes into great detail about Josiah’s celebration of the Passover. His purpose is, in part, to remind his audience of the importance of the celebration in creating a cohesive and close-knit community. The Passover feast is one which binds all Jews and Israelites together as they recall their common history and covenant with Yahweh. Thus, it is vital that it be carried out faithfully for it has the power to engender hope and encouragement in the hearts of the people in the midst of difficult circumstances. The Chronicler joyfully recalls the details of the event for it was such a magnificent celebration that honored the Lord and one which would never be repeated in this way.

Jews today still celebrate the Passover with similar feasting around the Seder table. But the Passover meal is not just eating; it is a time of fellowship in which Jews gather with family and friends to call to mind their common bonds of faith and nationality. They call to mind and recite the things that the Lord did for their ancestors in the Exodus, for Jews throughout history and what He is doing for them. They were persecuted and they endured. They of course do not know Jesus, and so their commemorations do not bring them the real hope of eternal salvation. Nevertheless the church could learn from them how to come together as a community of believers around the Lord’s Table with a common purpose and heritage, as a family in Christ rather than as a loosely related collection of individuals who believe the same thing. After all we claim to be, as the Apostle’s Creed states, “the communion of saints.” 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah: Let’s eat!

2 Chronicles 30

Hezekiah’s reforms revived the spiritual life of the people of Judah. One of the key actions in this revival was the celebration of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which had not been done for many years. These days of celebration reminded the people of God’s sovereignty as well as of His special covenant with them. The feast reminded them that the people of Judah and Israel together constituted God’s chosen people. Therefore Hezekiah extended the invitation to the feast to those of the brethren left from the northern kingdom which had recently been overrun by Assyria. Most of the Israelites of the northern tribes had been take away captive and only a few of those who remained accepted. 

The Chronicler tells us of Hezekiah’s prayer for those who were still ritually defiled but who wanted to take part in the worship and fellowship. He asked the Lord for mercy and forgiveness and it was granted. This demonstrates to us that God values the right heart attitude more than He values adherence to formulas, rituals and rules. These have their place for we must obey God. Yet obedience and adherence to orthodox beliefs mean nothing unless a believer is filled with a deep heart attitude that reflects a mindset of repentance. This attitude is manifested by sorrow over sin, humility, thankfulness, a desire to please God and to love and serve Him above ourselves. Those with this heart attitude may be imperfect but they are the very ones that the Lord invites to come to the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb.

Therefore the question we should ask ourselves is “Are rules and right belief more important to me than a heart changed by the mercy and love of God?” If rules are more important than sorrow over sin then it is quite possible that our own hearts have never been changed by the mercy of God. Only those who have been truly touched by God’s mercy will extend the same mercy to others.