Impressions from Isaiah

In reading the opening chapters of Isaiah, I am struck by the similarities between my culture and Israel as described by Isaiah. The things that God condemns are commonplace in American society.

I suppose that in every culture in every age since the writing of Isaiah, readers have been able to identify some similarities between their culture and Isaiah’s. Yet I see an increasing drive in my culture to live without a prophetic voice. There is an increasing desire for spirituality as long as that spirituality does not include a transcendent Creator God who makes any demands.

For believers, the reading of Isaiah should provoke a need for repentance and at the same time draw us into the arms of the God who wants to “reason together” with us (Isaiah 1:18).

What should be striking is that if God condemned Israel and punished her for the perpetration of these sins, how can America hope to escape punishment? We have seen the fall of cultures more dominant than ours due to the internal weakness that these sins create. The breakdown of the family, the oppression of the poor (in the guise of helping them), sexual decadence and a failure to recognize absolute truth are all indicators of societal decline.

The only hope for our nation as a nation is for God to pour out his Spirit in a great revival. Our prayer must be focused on revival, starting with us individually, our churches and then our nation.

Isaiah 2:8 – Idols and Ayn Rand

I recently listened to a podcast that talked about the resurgence of the ideas of Ayn Rand in light of recent governmental decisions. Not that long ago I read again (or listened to) both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

In Isaiah 2:8, Israel was condemned for having a land full of idols to which they bow down. In her books, Ayn Rand seems to suggest that we should bow down to those who create visible objects such as great works of art or skyscrapers.

It is one thing to acknowledge that man, being in the image of God, is called to create in imitation of our creator. It is another thing entirely to worship that man or his creation. In the former case, we can worship God who gives gifts to men. In the latter case we are doing what the Apostle Paul condemns in Romans 1:25.

We live in a culture that offers many potential objects of worship. My worship can be drawn away from God almost without a conscious choice on my part. Yet, I am constantly reminded that in the end, it is only my relationship with God that will bring any lasting satisfaction. There is no person, experience or thing that will provide lasting fulfillment.

Isaiah 1:19 – Willing and Obedient

I am struck by the combination and the order of these words found in Isaiah 1:19, willing before obedient.

I have read parts of The God Delusion and quickly figured out that Dawkins’ largest problem is an unwillingness to believe. His is not an intellectual issue, nor an evidence issue, it is a will issue. He does not desire or choose to be open to the existence of a creator God.

There is an old saying that I heard long ago. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” To back someone into a corner in argument may not change his opinion.

It is only the Holy Spirit who can muck around in a person’s will. I cannot change someone’s mind if they are unwilling to believe. God, however, can do exactly that as is evidenced by C. S. Lewis in his autobiography. I believe it was in Surprised by Joy that he acknowledged himself to have been the most unwilling convert.

May we all be willing to hear God’s voice as we seek to move forward in an increasingly hostile culture. It is only when we are willing that we can then become obedient.

Isaiah 1:13 – Meaningless Offerings

God commands the people of Israel to “stop bringing meaningless offerings.” I have always taken that to mean stop bringing offerings since you don’t really want to obey.

What struck me this morning is that it is only meaningless offerings that are to be stopped. The offerings become meaningless when there is inherent dishonesty in the bringing of them.

I take this to mean that in coming to worship, I should not be pretending to be something other than what I am through the week. And all through the week I should be offering my life in sacrifice to God.

In the text in Isaiah, God tells them what they should be about throughout the week in Isaiah 1:17. They should “seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

In Luke 6:46, Jesus asked why they call him lord yet do not do what he says. The same question should be asked today.

Technorati Tags: Isaiah,Offering,Sacrifice

John Donne – Holy Sonnet XIV

One of the benefits of having an English major in the family is that one gets exposed to authors and genres otherwise not encountered.

I am not one naturally given to the enjoyment of poetry. For me the small amount of poetry that I can appreciate has been an acquired taste. Often when I read poetry, I am like a farmer evaluating a Ferrari based on how many bales of hay it can carry. I cannot grasp the intent of the author.

So, when encouraged to read John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, I was pleasantly surprised by Sonnet number 14.

During a recent period of struggle, I saw Donne on the shelf and pulled it down to p. 252 where resides this Sonnet. Lines 3 and 4 jumped out at me:

That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.

Donne captures some of the essence of Romans 8:28. I was reminded that even in the unpleasantness of life, God is still there, using the circumstances I am now in to shape me into a tool fit for his hand, if I allow the shaping.

These words make me think of the blacksmith shaping the metal through heat and blows, adding strength while shaping the object into usefulness. We live life between the hammer and the anvil.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 – Mourning is Better than Pleasure

2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

Jesus offers us a similar thought in the Beatitude found in Matthew 5:4 where he tells us that we are blessed if we mourn.

I suppose that it would not be healthy to go around dwelling on all the bad things that happen to me, my family, my community, my nation or my world. What I learn from these verses, is that it is just as bad to refuse to acknowledge that there are bad things to which the proper response is to mourn.

Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). I believe that Jesus was weeping not only because of Lazarus’ untimely death, but for death that was not supposed to be. We were not designed to die, have disease and sickness, be harassed by “natural” disasters or in any other way experience pain and suffering.

Yet, for now, we are to experience all of these with the realization that this is not our permanent state. We are to mourn over the way things are with the hope that in Jesus we and our world can be redeemed.