Israel and Roller Coasters - Chapter 29

"And in an instant, suddenly you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire."

Isaiah 29:5

"Because this people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me a commandment taught by men."

Isaiah 29:13

"In the day the deaf shall hear the words of a book and out of their gloom of darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy from the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off..."

Isaiah 29:16-20

"For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel."

Isaiah 29:23

Isaiah 29 is such an intriguing chapter. The first word is "Ah", signifying great grief and suffering, then "Ariel, Ariel". Honestly, my mind jumped to The Little Mermaid :-) but that's not what we're talking about. Scholars don't actually know. It's Hebrew ('Ari'el). Some think it means "altar hearth" while others lean towards "lion of God" or "hero". How you read the rest of the chapter is significant based on which meaning you choose. I chose "Israel". It's not one of the options scholars give, but I think there were times when God was ready to sacrifice Israel (altar hearth) and find a new people. However, there were also times when He was actually proud ('lion of God' or 'hero') of Israel. So, I just stuck with the people.

Like Israel, i have my up and down moments with God. It's kind of like a roller coaster. You're always strapped in and sage because of God's love, but there are times when you feel as though that seatbelt is loose, usually when we're flying downhill towards the bottom. Those are the times I disappoint God. Then there are times when I'm pinned down, going no where, and braving the loops, twists and turns.

Just like the seatbelt on a roller coaster, God is always with Israel; He stuck with them no matter how hard times got. Even when there words didn't match their actions, "Because this people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me a commandment taught by men." (v. 13). He protected them, "For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off..." (v. 20). And eventually, at the end of the chapter, God even seems to be proud of Israel, "For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel." (v. 23).

It doesn't mean Israel didn't go through terrifying moments, "And in an instant, suddenly you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire." (v. 5) But God never gave up, never let them out of their protective seatbelt.

Mass Destruction - 34

"Draw near, O nations to hear,
and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
the world and all that comes from it.
For the LORD is enraged against all the nations,
and furious against all their host;
he has devoted them to destruction,
has given them over for slaughter."
Isaiah 34:1-2

WOW!! We're way past Assyria and the trouble that nation caused. Now we're onto all nations, all people and everything that fills the earth.

I have to admit, this passage depressed me. So much so that I needed to take a break from Isaiah and talk of destruction, it was too much for me. I had to spend a little time in the New Testament (1 John 4 to be exact) and remind myself of God's love so I could balance out His wrath.

Coming back to Isaiah 34 didn't seem as bad them, But it's still bad.

Four times in the first 8 verses the phrase "The LORD has" is repeated, The first is in verse 2, "The LORD is enraged". The comments in my footnotes say the Hebrew idiom could be translated "The Lord has rage". That verse alone is enough to terrify me, but it goes on. Verse 6a, "The LORD has a sword", verse 6b, "The LORD has a sacrifice", and verse 8, "The LORD has a day of vengeance". So, to summarize, we have an enraged LORD, who's picked out a day of vengeance, has a sword, and knows what he's going to sacrifice. In that day (to borrow the phrase from Isaiah) all hell will break lose, literally.

If you oppose Zion or its cause you will be destroyed. There are no loop holes to jump through, no clauses or exceptions, just the fact that if you're not with God, then you're against Him which means you're going down.

The scene described is a living hell, the detail is so distinct:

"land shall become a burning pitch...

it shall not be quenched...

it shall lie waste...

thorns shall grow over its strongholds...

it shall be the haunt of jackals..." 

(selection of verses 9-13). 

And in case you have any question as to whether that can happen, when then read,

"Seek and read from the book of the LORD; 

not one of these shall be missing;

...for the mouth of the LORD has commanded, 

and his Spirit has gathered them." 

(verse 16)

In simpler terms: what God says, God does. There are several other horrible things described in verses 9-15 and He says everything mentioned will happen. 

I moments like this, you have to decide if the Bible is all truth or all lies. It can't be part way, it's all or nothing. What are you going to believe?

Still re-learning the SAME lessons - 30

"'Ah, stubborn children'" declares the LORD,

'who carry out a plan,

but not mine, and who make an alliance,

but not of my Spirit, that they add sin to sin;

who set to go down to Egypt without asking my direction...'"

Isaiah 30:1-2a

"Egypt's help is worthless and empty;

therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still."

Isaiah 30:7

"And now, go write it before them on a tablet

and inscribe it in a book,

that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.

For they are a rebellious people...

children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord..."

Isaiah 30:8-9

"In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength..."

Isaiah 30:15a

Why do we so readily run to solutions of the world rather than look to our creator? We turn to the powers of our time before we seek God. We're no different than the Israelites. We all, it seems, have to learn the same lessons. And I'm sure, just like the Israelites, we sadden God's heart.

We can read Isaiah 30 and think, "the Israelites WANT to go back to the people who made them salves?! Are they crazy?!" But how often do we turn to (or are at least tempted) devices of the world? We all have our weaknesses.

Personally, when I'm down I like to shop Rather than turning to God, I go blow some dough on clothes, jewelry, bags, etc. I know it doesn't really help, yet I want to do it anyhow. Just like the Israelites I'm "unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD."

I wish it could stop there. I wish that's as bad as it gets, but it's not. The Israelites resorted to telling their prophets they didn't want to hear how upset God was, they only wanted the good news. How often do we have selective hearing? Listening only to what we WANT to hear; or just wanting the good news without the bad.

Thousands of years later humanity is still learning the same lessons, still pulled towards the same distractions and evils.

We don't know how to REST in God. And it's often hard for us to return to Him. But that's what He desires of us. To "return and rest" in Him; to lean towards "quietness and trust". All we have to do is call to Him, because God ALWAYS hears the cries of His people.