November 26, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2.4)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

This verse stands as that “betwixt and between” moment in the history of humankind. “Betwixt,” while essentially meaning between, has been used to show the comparison and contrast which exists between people or things. By comparison, “between” is used to show the same in reference to ideas, concepts and positions. In defining the options, both “betwixt and between” require knowledge and experience in order to discern and judge correctly. Isaiah declares that it is God alone who will be able to judge as effectively as He instructed. Sadly, we forget that both are needed: instruction and adjudication. We may hear only the judgment, even from a court of law, but the principle of education exists as the judge issues the judgment to show discernment. The Supreme Court justices issue their opinions on the matter. There are opinions for and against. Reading through those opinions can provide a vast amount of education as they raise the issues that were considered and are yet to be considered. In verse three of Isaiah, chapter 2, we here of the instruction which God gives according to His Word. He is not partial to any party nor the opinion of any person. He does indeed hear the petitions and pleas which come before Him. By nature, He is compassionate and just and true. Thus, He is faithful to hear them and in listening, He is faithful to respond to them for their best interest. Sometimes it is difficult to accept that response as our interest may be different than God’s knowledge of it which is beyond our knowledge. This is what makes God the perfect judge. He is able to see the entire landscape of humanity. He sees and knows the course of our past, present and future. He is able to sort through the myriads of options which every human being given freewill may create and choose. Like the Good Shepherd, the paths have been crossed before and the end result is clear. There may well be many paths to travel but there is only one way that reaches the desired destination.

This is where the pivot point is offered. Isaiah describes what happens when the choices of all the people, not just the descendants of Jacob Israel, are for a relationship with God. They do not go to their local authority. They go to God. We heard a similar practice in the days of Moses as he became the deciding judge of all disputes. He did not act without God’s input. We know of those times when he acted on his own such as Meribah. Ultimately, his actions to speak “as God” instead of for God kept him from completing the journey he longed to take into the Promised Land. What we also learn from Moses as a judge is the mindset of the people. The disputes were great in number. It was overwhelming to Moses. He had to appoint judges among the people to settle lesser disputes while the more weighty of them were brought to his attention. Sadly, this situation was inevitable. It speaks to the frailty of human nature. But the day will come when there will be no need for such judgments. Why? It would seem to be that there will be no disputes among the people. There will be no “betwixt and between” because there will only be one course of action to which everyone agrees. Imagine that! Go ahead and say it, “Impossible!” As soon as you say that, however, Christ followers will be humbled by the very words of Jesus who taught “What is impossible for human beings is fully possible with God.” How is it that people will no longer have disputes between themselves in the midst of all their ideas, opinions, options and relationships? How will God make it possible? Perhaps it becomes possible because the focus of the people change. Remembering the teaching of Jesus was in response to the question of salvation, we can see the change of focus. The entire story represents the “both sides” of the situation brought to Jesus as the adjudicator and educator. In that moment, Jesus could be seen as the “Moses” of old. We know the end of the story which has Jesus moving on into the Promised Land. He did not argue with God nor act on His own volition. He was faithful to the calling by which He was called. The young ruler turned away from Jesus and rejecting His teaching on the matter. He judged for himself that what Jesus was asking was too difficult. What was too difficult? It was salvation by any other means than the one he had already chosen. What did he choose? He chose to follow the convenient commandments and build up his riches to control his worldly destiny. To surrender all of that and take the path which required more discipline and self-sacrifice was apparently an “impossibility.” He couldn’t imagine surviving it. He didn’t see the cross as Jesus did but he must have felt the burden of such a life changing decision. It was too much.

When the moment comes, however, that survival is no longer an issue and our confidence in the future is secure, then living a life of no conflict becomes possible. That means trusting in God alone, and leaning not on our own understanding, convinces us that God will provide and will fulfill His promise to be free from the entanglement of sin so that we, too, might enter into the Promised Land. There war will not be the tool of settling disputes. Sides will not be chosen to divide humanity into tribes and nations. The original purpose will again be embraced as God had commanded. The promise of sufficient provision will be fulfilled. Ultimately it seems that resolving the basic issue of salvation as being a spiritual concern and not a fleshly concern reaps great benefits. One day it will all become clear and the truth will be known. Sadly, for Isaiah and Israel and the world, that day had not yet come. What existed on the other side in the dispute was about to be revealed. It was not a pretty picture. So it is with our Advent preparation to celebrate the birth of the Lamb of God who is our singular savior. We have to embrace the rest of the story, which is in great part our own story, in order to grasp the whole picture of our salvation. What price are we willing to pay?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.