2nd Evangelical Free Church

Blogging Through Isaiah: Sin is no laughing matter.

Isaiah 48

Isaiah calls upon the future Jews in exile to leave Babylon when the Lord commands them to do so. This is true not just in a physical sense but in a spiritual one as well. They must forsake the gods and customs of the Babylonians as well as the idolatry, injustice, sin and oppression. Sadly, the Lord knew they would need a reminder for they were an obstinate people. Although they delighted in being called His people, the evidence of their lives showed that their hearts were far from God because they rarely exhibited righteous or holy behavior. The strong language that Isaiah used depicts them as a stubborn people who heard the word of God clearly yet chose to ignore it.

This is true of our day as well. The word of God is preached; people are warned about the consequences of sin, yet the message is ignored. Sin is rarely mentioned in society and many mainline churches do not even discuss it lest they be accused of intolerance. In this feel-good, self-centered world a lot of churches tell people they are good while ignoring their selfish and self-righteous behavior. In addition, the idea of sin in connection with sexual behavior is taboo in our society. What the Bible labels as sin, what we know as believers to be sin is merely an expression of one’s right to live as he or she pleases. The idea of calling a fornicator, adulterer or homosexual a sinner is considered to be an infringement of one’s personal freedom. No wonder the Lord calls such sinners obstinate, ignorant and rebellious. Sadly sin is not taken seriously and so the whole of society suffers, wondering in the dark powerless to provide real help and guidance to hurting people. The church must rise up and proclaim the truth that salvation, wholeness and healing can only come from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Babylon is like our modern world.

Isaiah 47

Isaiah depicts how the Lord will judge Babylon. Her great sin was her oppression of God’s people. He held her responsible though He had allowed this oppression in order to discipline His chosen people. Nevertheless, the Babylonians were routinely guilty of oppressing the poor and carrying out all sorts of brutal acts of injustice against those people that they conquered. And their greatest sin, as we see here was self-deification. Babylon put herself in the place that rightfully belongs to Yahweh alone. She thought she was so wise and so powerful that nothing could ever defeat her: she was invincible. In addition we note that Babylon created astrology and placed great value on the wisdom that it granted them. They thought that knowing the future gave them control over other nations as well as over the course of world events.

The spirit of Babylon is still with us. Oppression and injustice characterize not just the governments of almost every nation in the world, but also corporations, the rich, and celebrities. Millions of people still place a high value on astrology because they think it gives them divine knowledge and control over life. In this way they deify themselves because they seek to undermine God’s authority. Thus it is a mystery to me why many Christians still consult horoscopes and mediums. They may seem harmless but they are a mark of idolatry and all that is opposed to God. Trust in the Lord gives us all the comfort we need. We belong to Jesus not to the world, not to Satan. So be bold. The next time someone asks you what your sign is, tell them it is the Sign of the Cross. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: God is trustworthy. Idols are worthless.

Isaiah 46

Bel and Nebo were 2 of the chief gods of the Babylonian religious system. Bel, also know n as Marduk or Baal was the chief god while Nebo was his son. Nebo was the god of writing, and was in charge of writing down the destiny or future that the gods had decreed for each person. At the New Year (celebrated in Spring) the 2 idols were paraded around in grand procession. Here Isaiah describes them as heavy, overbearing and tottering over. This was an obvious reference to the inability of idols to take care of themselves, let alone take care of their devotees. They could not save themselves from toppling over, so how could anyone think they had any power at all? 

By contrast, Yahweh the Lord God Almighty is able to carry and protect His people. He cares for them. He disciplines them for their own good and is always able to help them in their time of need. Yahweh is a God who can always be trusted even in the toughest times when all hope seems lost. He knows all things; He knows the beginning and the end and the future of all human beings is in His hands not in the hands of the capricious and greedy gods of the Babylonians. As we thinkabput our lives, it is a good thing to lsee how the Lord is working and how He can use us. He can always be trusted.

 

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: Dump those idols.

Isaiah 44:6-23

Isaiah moves on to describe in further detail the folly of idolatry. For one thing, it belittles the one true God and moves Him out of the main focus of life. Idolatry exalts some thing or person or idea or lifestyle and puts that into the place which should be held by God. Isaiah’s purpose for doing this is so that Israel (and we) will have no illusions about the vanity of idolatry. After all, idols in his day were just blocks of wood or stone fashioned by human hands and so useless to help in times of need except as fuel for cooking or heat.

We may tend to minimize the concept of idols because of the way Isaiah described them. The idols then were objects and people no longer really worship such things as statues or images. But we don’t have to look far to realize that this is not true. Many people do pray to statues and pictures and treat them with great honor and respect as they would do to a divine being. Many of those people would claim that they are not worshipping the image or representation but adore the spirit which it represents or which inhabits that image. Apparently these spirits cannot operate apart from the image nor can they be approached in prayer in any other way. How can they really help us then? Our God is a Spirit who can be reached anywhere, anytime for He does not need a statue or image, temple, shrine, or church.  

When we think of an idol today we usually adopt the version that the media has popularized: a person, a celebrity whom people admire with great passion almost to the point of worship. No man must ever occupy our attention or passion so much that he or she usurps the place of God as our authority, driving force, counselor, guide or reason for living. No man can provide the guidance or the salvation that Jesus can give. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Who will be a witness for the Lord?

Isaiah 43-44:5

As we have seen, Israel was a poor witness for the glory of the Lord. She was rebellious, disobedient and idolatrous and had been so throughout most of her history from the time she was in Egypt. Nevertheless, the Lord used her and worked through her so that He was able to proclaim and demonstrate His greatness. He performed mighty acts for His chosen ones. Isaiah describes these in terms that remind us of the exodus from Egypt. The descriptions of walking through the fire and wading through he deep waters refer also to the future obstacles the Jews will face when they will be sent off to exile in Babylon and when they will return. The Lord will always care for those He loves.

Like Israel, we believers are far from perfect. We are often rebellious, self-centered and unjust but the Lord loves us and still chooses to call us His redeemed. As Isaiah says in verses 1 and 25, He has redeemed us for His own sake, for His own glory. We benefit from His acts and favor and this too magnifies that glory for it shows how loving and kind He is.  He forgives us our sins and forgets them. None of the gods of the world are this kind nor are human beings most of whom seldom forget any sin or wrong suffered and who usually seek vengeance and restitution. People and false gods hold so much to wrongs that they require those who wrong them to work to atone for them. The Lord knows that in His case, it is impossible for any human being to atone for sin. Therefore He has made it possible for Him to forgive all those who turn to Him for mercy: through Jesus. No other religion can make such a claim. If God forgives us so, how can we withhold forgiveness from those who have wronged us? 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The mission of the Servant of the Lord.

Isaiah 42

Although Israel is specifically called the Servant of the Lord in the preceding chapter, here the Servant is a specific person who will come to fulfill the mission Israel had been called to. This chapter contains one of what scholars call “The Servant Songs” which develop the theme of servanthood. The servant of the Lord is totally committed to do God’s will, to perform His mission completely with gentleness, meekness, humility and patience. He will preach the word of the Lord that will enlighten those living in darkness and free those trapped in the bondage of Satan, idolatry and sin. He will uphold and fulfill God’s law. 

The mission of the servant was the one that the Lord chose Israel to perform, but which she failed to carry out. Israel failed to give praise to Yahweh for all the blessings He had showered upon them and became deaf to His words and commands. We who are believers are called to the same mission because we are the servants of the Lord. Too often, especially here in the USA we get mixed up with political discussions and causes and pay more attention and honor to the constitution than to the word of God. We neglect to preach the good news that Christ came to heal and save those who are weak, powerless,  poor and in the darkness of sin. It is our mission to preach to the lost as well as love the poor and oppressed. Salvation is a gift meant to be shared with everyone. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: The only true God is Yahweh.

Isaiah 41

Isaiah continues to encourage the future exiles of Judah so that they will hold fast to their faith in the Lord even in the midst of dire circumstances. Then the Lord presents His case for His greatness as if He were in court in order to build up that faith. The first testimony is provided by a future deliverer. He will send some 150 years later. He will testify to the Lord’s greatness as well as His omniscience. The second witness is that of the gods of the pagans themselves. These are the works of human minds and hands. The gods of all religions are fabrications. They are imaginary, fake, fraudulent and so utterly useless.

For these reasons, we who worship the one true God, Yahweh, have nothing to fear from other religions or nations. We have nothing to fear from pagan gods or even Satan and his demonic hordes and the billions of humans he holds enslaved. The Lord God is Almighty. We who worship Him worship the only God who exists, and thus is the only God who can bring real peace and comfort.

In our world there are billions of people who seek this same comfort in other religions, in material goods, in relationships and in the pleasures of the flesh. How any one can maintain that all religions are equal is ridiculous since God Himself tells us that it is He who lives and it is He we should worship and adore. Though it may seem for a time that those who oppose Yahweh have the upper hand, this does not reflect reality. He will surely vindicate His loved ones and enforce true justice on all the earth. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Soothing words of comfort.

Isaiah 40

This chapter celebrates the coming of our King, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What a great comfort to know that our God is in control of all things. Isaiah wrote this for the Jews who would go into exile 100 years later. He wanted to comfort them in the midst of their afflictions and pain, to let them know that their trials would only be temporary. Deliverance was a sure and certain event that would take place when the Lord came. The Lord God is almighty, the one who created all things and sustains them by His word. No nation can stand in His way for He controls the flow of history.

And we too should remember that the Lord cares for each one of us. He is a mighty warrior but also a tender shepherd who cares for each lowly member of His flock. We might, like many in our world today, tend to forget that in the light of all the terrorism and violence we see all about us. Many people think that based on what they experience or see with their eyes that God is powerless or unfeeling or even cruel. The words of Isaiah assure us that He is not. The words of the gospel bring comfort to those in turmoil. You can just feel the comfort and peace flooding your being as you read these wonderful words. That is the peace and love of the Holy Spirit that fills you and testifies to the reality of the good news of peace and salvation in Jesus Christ. We cannot restrain ourselves from sharing such words of comfort with the people in the world. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Misplaced trust.

Isaiah 38-39

These chapters tell of events that took place some years prior to the attack by Assyria. Isaiah placed them here to highlight the fact that the destruction of Judah may have been delayed but not halted. Hezekiah’s terminal illness caused him to utter a weak but effective prayer of repentance and sorrow over his sin. The Lord gave him a reprieve and he was healed. Sometime later, the King received ambassadors from Babylon, at that time a small kingdom trying to throw off the yoke of the Assyrians. They came seeking to stir up Judah to resist as well. The mistake Hezekiah made was to take pride in the treasures of the Temple and palace as if they were his own. He did not consult the Lord or Isaiah when he displayed them to the Babylonians. The Lord then revealed to the king that though Judah would not fall to Assyria, she would fall a century later to Babylon. 

The lesson here is that the Lord often withholds judgment to spare the righteous but for other reasons as well, reasons which He is not obligated to disclose to us. The Lord keeps His own counsel. We know that His justice and His decisions will surely be carried out according to His plan. Therefore in every situation, in every crisis or dilemma we are to trust Him and seek His guidance so we can make godly choices.

Many people even believers fail to trust God. They choose people or idols or things that will prove false and lead then away from God. Many people (yes believers too!) put great faith and trust in the words of psychics, mediums, fortunetellers and media marketing gurus who tell people what they want to hear. In the long run such advice will lead them away from God into the arms of Satan.