Here’s something sorta neat…I have been trying to keep the names of all these kings straight in my head. So this time when I read the first several lines of the opening of Isaiah it made sense for the first time!
I need to remember that these prophecies were not all delivered at once. If they had been, it would seem a little repetitious. Isaiah has two or three basic messages in these first four chapters. First, he is informing them that God is not pleased and will soon bring judgment upon them. He describes to them in some detail about how angry God is, and how he will take revenge on those who have shunned Him. Secondly, he hints at a time when peace and justice will be restored, and Jerusalem will be center for justice and learning for the whole world.
I don’t think this prophecy was intended for one specific time, rather I think Isaiah was talking about several different events, like the fall of Jerusalem, which happened when the Assyrians invaded and marched the people away for 70 years. Or maybe after Christ ascended and Rome sought out all the Christians in 70 AD and tortured them, and tore down the temple. When Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem being a place where all the nations will come to learn, and peace will cover the entire earth…so that no one uses swords or spears, and armies won’t even train for battle…that clearly hasn’t happened yet. Neither has the pillar of fire and cloud settled over the land to protect it from sun and etc. But actually, people from all over the world were present on the day of Pentecost when Peter gave his testimony about the death and resurrection of Christ, and the possibility of receiving the Holy Spirit. And Jesus taught in the temple many times, with people from different lands listening to His teaching.
I guess what I am saying is that these prophecies that Isaiah uttered may be true for several time periods, not just one. Of course, there are some elements that clearly are meant for only one specific time, which is likely the Millennium, also known as the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth.
I am making some mental notes to help me remember what exactly God is angry about. (for obvious reasons….I don’t want to repeat them)
So I see that idol worship is a big one. Making something with your own hands and then claiming that it is divine seems almost laughable to me. But even today there are people who continue the practice. I tend to think of idol worship in more broad terms, for instance: anything that has the ability to draw my attention away from God, or to send me in a direction away from God. Owning my own home was a great joy for me, but when I went into ministry we had to sell. Looking back I understand why. I would skip church to work on the house. I wouldn’t take time to read and study my Bible because there was work to do on the house. Tithing was a struggle at times because we needed that money for……you guessed it, the house. Looking back I see the house as an idol. Maybe that’s too broad, because I wasn’t saying that the house was divine or anything like that. I didn’t pray to the house. I guess I didn’t pray much at all, and when I did it was so that I could ask for things for me.
Maybe idols aren’t an issue for you. But if you can’t afford to tithe or find the time to attend church, or serve in some fashion….you might want to reconsider.
Okay, I also want to remember that God is angry about human pride and arrogance. This reminds me to always spend time thanking God for what He has done and is doing in my life. I try to make a point to praise God and give Him the credit for everything both publically and privately every week. In this last week alone several people have brought up the topic of humility in conversation. It wasn’t directive in any way, just a confirmation that they realized this great biblical truth: God works in and through humble people. Pray all you want, but if you aren’t humble you will never receive an answer.
The third thing I want to remember is to maintain social justice. Caring for the sick, the poor and those who aren’t able (for whatever reason) to care for themselves, or to plead their own case is important to God. It is a wise use of time and talent to share resources with the poor, and help those who are hurting or lonely or who are oppressed. Children fall into this category, even when they aren’t ill. Children are dependent, and when we take advantage of those who are dependent we invoke God’s wrath. Jesus demonstrates this in the New Testament in several places.
Fake worship is an issue. It doesn’t do any good to come to church and go through the motions if you don’t mean it. Now, I have had weeks when my heart wasn’t in it, or when I was distracted by sickness, pain or something else going on in my life. I’m not talking about that. I think we all have weeks when we aren’t “in tune” with the Holy Spirit, but we aren’t faking it, either. I think this is intended for the person who has no intention of serving God…maybe doesn’t even believe He exists, or doesn’t care….but they do all the things that the godly are doing. Beware or faking it when you take communion, because people have become sick and died from doing that. God doesn’t like pretender. Don’t pretend. In Revelation God says He would rather we were hot or cold, but not lukewarm. The pretender is “luke warm”, not really serving but looking as if he were.
Certainly God doesn’t want us to be “cold” but before we can be close to Him we have to be honest about where we truly are. If you are struggling, then tell Him. If you are having a crisis of belief, tell Him. He can handle your doubts, and won’t hold them against you. Be honest above all else, because dishonesty is worst of all.
I’m sure in the many chapters of Isaiah we will have a chance to comment on other topics that are mentioned here, but I didn’t touch on.
Faithfully,
PR