Thursday, September 8: Isaiah 13- Absolute Sovereignty

The more I read the Bible, the more I observe God’s absolute sovereignty. Ancient Greek gods battled among themselves… who was supreme. It was up for ‘debate.’ Romans had a pantheon of gods; one controlled this and another that. Was there one supreme god who had absolute control over everything?  No, not really. The Egyptians, too, had a plethora of gods.

The ancient cultures around Israel each had their own god, the god who protected them but not others. And so you have the god of the Assyrians and the god of the Babylonians and the god of Damascus, etc.

To the best of my knowledge, only the God of the Bible claims absolute sovereignty. Reading chapter 13, I observed God’s absolute power and control. In this chapter God declares that Babylon –the superpower of the day- will be judged, defeated and destroyed. Period, the end of the matter. Why? Because God decreed it. In this chapter God does not feel the need even to give His reasons. He simply declares, “this is what will be…”  Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians' pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah (19).

Reading this led me to meditate on God’s absolute sovereignty. What the God of the Bible says goes. What the God of the Holy Scriptures decrees happens.

I serve THE mighty all-powerful God. I am loved by THE Creator and all-knowing God. Wow, this thought simply staggers me.  I am in awe of God and God’s grace to reveal Himself to me, to us, to the world in the Holy Bible…

O, God, I feel embarrassed that I regularly choose to live my way rather than Your way, to think that I am right and You are wrong about some things. Forgive me for puffing myself up and reducing You. O, God, sin has such a hold on me.  Forgive me. Lord, that is all I can pray right now.  Please forgive me for my foolishness and my sin-filled-ness. I Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

 

Wednesday, September 7: Isaiah 12- Being real with God.

Praise, wonderful praise!  This chapter is totally praise. When God restores the remnant, when the shoot grows from the stump of Jesse, praise will erupt from God’s people.

One thing about Israel, they knew how to express their emotions to God. In times of joy, praise bursts forth in Israel like the singing of birds at sunrise. Many Psalms exemplify praise. Chapter 12 does as well.

In times of pain, sadness and bewilderment, Israel knew how to lament, to weep, to cry. Daniel’s lament over the destruction of Israel (Lamentations) and again, many Psalms are examples.

I found myself dwelling on Israel’s ability to be real with God, to express praise exuberantly when joy abounded and to weep rivers of tears when sadness ruled. My life and my emotions seem so muted compared to Israel.

Then I thought it is not the deep valleys and high mountaintops to which I should aspire, but rather the honesty in my relationship with the Lord. When pain hollows out my soul, to weep and cry out to my Lord expresses sincere relationship. And when joy blossoms, may praise flow.

Today I choose to sing with Isaiah because I know my Lord and I know that God’s salvation day is coming… I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

So I will "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Yes, I will, Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, …, for great is the Holy One … among you." (2-3, 5-6)

Lord, I know that Your day will come. That Jesus will reign over all the earth and all people will bow and worship You. I know that day is coming.  Father, You have set the time and date, and I will praise You as I await Your consummation and Jesus’ return. What a day that will be. Alleluia! Amen.

 

Tuesday, September 6: Isaiah 11- Musing on Jesus

I found myself reading and rereading the first nine verses… the stump of Jesse sending forth a shoot. This is a grand prophecy about Jesus and I mused on the riches of the many word pictures in these verses.

How “the spirit of the Lord” would rest on Him. I replayed many of His miracles and Gospel accounts.

The Apostles Creed instructs that ‘He will come again to judge the living and the dead.’ I thought about His judgments how they will stem from righteousness…

I wondered about the life to come, the re-establishment of the harmony of Eden. The lion and lamb together, even the cobra and viper are tamed.  There is no more evil, only the wondrous harmony of God’s perfect world.

All of this rests on the shoulder of Jesus, the shoot that emerges from the stump of Jesse.

Oh, the wonder of a relationship with Almighty God through Jesus Christ, the Lord…

Alleluia, my heart sings. Jesus lives and reigns. Jesus is the Answer and the Victor. O, my Lord Jesus, I bless You, I bless Your name. I thank You for saving me and for allowing me the honor and delight of knowing and serving You. Amen.

 

Monday, September 5: Isaiah 10- Absolutely and Perfectly Sovereign.

God is angry with His people Israel so He will bring judgment upon them through another nation, Assyria. Then after Assyria has served as a tool in God’s hands, God will bring judgment upon Assyria of which He will say, I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes (12).

Assyria neither served nor acknowledged Israel’s God –the God of creation. In fact Assyria served and followed pagan gods, yet the Lord controlled Assyria’s future even as He controlled Israel’s, even as He controls ours and the world of today.

As I read this chapter I am struck, once again, by the Lord’s absolute sovereignty over the world and all who are in it. The God of creation is not some distant, out of touch God who, like a watchmaker, makes a watch only to let it run the remainder of its life on its own.

No, the God of the Bible, our God, is absolutely and perfectly sovereign. There is no other god that can compare with our God –the God of creation and the God of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. As I read the Bible, God, being absolutely and perfectly sovereign, is a given. It is a foundation of the entire revelation from the first words of Genesis to the final page of Revelation.

Question is do I believe this? And even deeper will I submit to, serve and follow this God or will I serve some other?

How have you answered this question?  What proof is there in your life to validate your answer? Think about this…

Lord God, my prayer is simply this… I believe in YOU and I believe YOU. Here am I, send me and use me for Your bidding, whatever that may be. Through Jesus, my Lord, I pray. Amen.

 

Saturday, September 3: Isaiah 9- Consequences.

 

I cannot read verses 6&7 without thinking about Christmas and the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. What a gift God bestowed on humankind! Jesus, the way of salvation, the Lord of glory, who gave His life for mine and all people.

And yet, the wonderful words of life and hope and salvation in verses 6&7 are a future promise from God.  However, in the present moment, God’s anger rages against these stubborn and rebellious people.  Such is the message of 8-21.

Processing all of this, I realize that although God is loving and gracious toward us, God doesn’t take sin lightly. Sin has consequences and we must not take God’s graciousness for granted. If I am living in sin and rejecting God calls to repent and return, then I should not expect to get off scot-free.

I need to think about this some more…

Lord, tomorrow at worship we will celebrate communion.  The bread and the cup are reminders of Jesus’ life and blood given so that we can live. Lord, I am reminded of Peter, when asked on Pentecost what must we do to be saved, replied that people must repent and be baptized. Baptism signified that they believed and worshipped Jesus as Lord…

Thank You, Lord God, for Jesus, the Way of Salvation… Amen.

 

 

Friday, September 2: Isaiah 8- In whom do you trust?

 

We have already read that Isaiah will have a hard word to bring to the people of God. This chapter’s message fits that bill.

Verses 6-7 capture God’s indictment and judgment of His people. Verse 6 is the indictment: Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. God’s message: you have rejected Me (Shiloah was a place of God’s presence) and turned toward other people for your safety.

And God’s judgment: therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River-- the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks, what they feared will happen. They will be overrun by a foreign king (Assyria). Rezin and Remaliah will not be able to save them.

These verses raise the issue of whom we trust. Do I (you) trust in other people or human institutions like government or do we trust in God?

Being honest it is much easier to pose that question than to answer it. I’d like to believe I trust God but it is impossible for me to take people and human institutions totally out of the equation. After all, I pay attention to my retirement investments. I try to be a good steward of the resources God has given me, so I have a measure of trust in banks and the banking system. I am trusting that the government will keep social security solvent.  Again, this shows a measure of trust in the government.

Does this mean I am not trusting in God?  I don’t believe so. But honestly, I must remain vigilant about my faith and trust in the Lord.  It is all too easy to fall into trusting people and institutions instead of trusting in the Lord.

This is certainly worth some spiritual contemplation…

Lord, thank you for the mind You have given me. Help me, Lord, to use it to glorify You and to work and live in ways that honor You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

Thursday, September 1: Isaiah 7- Pretending to be godly

 

Ahaz, one of the despicable kings of Judah, is given an opportunity. God wants to do something to save Israel from an army coming against it. So God invites Ahaz to ask for a sign (11).

I am not one that believes we should go around asking God for signs to prove God is God. Gideon asked for a sign and God obliged but since the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, no Christ-follower in scripture asked for a sign. Instead, the Holy Spirit speaks and leads them.

Obviously this is an Old Testaments story and God, through His prophet, invites Ahaz to ask for a sign. But Ahaz, in a mocking tone, refuses, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test" (12).

This may sound pious but understand Ahaz has thrown God out of the temple and has begun worshipping false gods. He is not pious but mocking.

My thoughts spun. Do I ever use pious sounding talk to avoid God? Or do I ever act piously on the outside yet selfishly on the inside. In other words, do I ever pretend to be faith-filled?

I suspect that most reading this are no where near as despicable as Ahaz, one of the most faithless kings in Israel’s history. But I find it spiritually helpful to regularly examine myself to see if any seeds of faithlessness are growing within. This is what I find myself doing this morning as a result of this reading.

Maybe God is calling you to a time of self-examination as well.  Think about it.

Lord, it seems that You have me on a self-examination trail lately. Opening myself up to Your gaze and scrutiny. Go deep my Lord, that I might live faithfully before You. Root out all sin and wickedness within me, that I might grow in holiness even as You are perfectly holy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.