December 27, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them;
beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.” (Isaiah 13.2-3)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Deuteronomy 32.35, “It is Mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” Isaiah either knew this word because it was written by Moses before the Israelites entered the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership or his prophetic word became the genesis of its recording based on what Josiah saw looming on the horizon with the rise of King Nebuchadnezzar. Regardless of which line of reasoning you may take, the message remains the same and speaks volumes to us in today’s world and its current culture and climate of wrestling authority out of God’s hands…if that were possible! The message is clear because it remains prophetic and speaks to a time in their near future and ours. The message speaks to every tribe, nation and people. The message speaks also to every dark spirit and principality. It is a reminder to Israel’s people of God’s command to trust, honor and obey. The positive affirmation is seen in the blessings which are poured out upon them as they “walk in the ways of the Lord.” However, the negative confirmation is experienced when they “get in the way of the Lord” and experience the necessary course corrections of heart, mind, body and soul or are left to deal with life as it becomes without God’s blessing. I think that in today’s world especially, the desire to “make our own way,” “create our own blessings” and “to command the faithfulness of others to our own mindset” is the attempt to declare our impatience with God’s “working all things together for good.” That was the message which ultimately comes from Joseph’s proclamation to his brothers. He revealed himself to them in Egypt years after they had sold him into bondage which deposited him in Egypt. It was those circumstances which occurred to Joseph in Egypt out of which God made good on the prophecies given to him in Canaan. We have to consider that if the brothers had not gotten in the “way of God” by becoming jealous of Joseph being appointed by God to be leader over what would become the twelve tribes of Jacob Israel, then they would have experienced sooner the blessing. Rather, as is the case many times with human beings, the harder road of our own choosing becomes the choice and thus the consequences of it. We can say God anticipated the drought coming upon the land and used their jealousy to send Joseph to Egypt as the means of deliverance from an enemy they did not know was coming. Many did. I am not saying it was that way. I am saying, however, that God’s plan for redemption and salvation will not be thwarted. Regardless of the myriad of choices we may make for the good and the bad, God’s plan still marches forward. Through our misdirection, wrong turns and detours, even our decisions to simply “get stuck,” God never loses sight of the goal of His plan of redemption. He also knows that without such a plan, the end of all our journeys is simple: Hell!

So, whether it is the word revealed to Isaiah or Josiah, the objective remains the same. God’s people will be delivered from the enemy and God “will make a way.” What God wants is for people to make the right decision for the right reason. God has time for things to work out. We are the ones who grow impatient and act out imprudently. Further, God will use all the resources available to create order, peace and life. We see that in the story of Creation. You may wonder why I mention that story so much. The truth is it is the foundation of 1) seeing God’s sovereignty over all life and 2) it demonstrates the power of God’s word to bring about the needed change. Most, if not all problems, happen because 1) human beings desire to exercise their sovereignty over all life and 2) they use the power that is innate within them to effect change for their own good (even if they call it “the good of others.”) God does not desire automatons who simply comply and become a mindless collective. Sadly, this is the way too many people see that biased image of “a flock of sheep.” If we will be honest with ourselves, we might easily see that 99 are not mindless but simply have made up their minds to trust in the word of the shepherd. There will always be one (and sadly more than one, one hundred, one thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, one hundred million, one billion…) who decide to test the boundaries for themselves. Even Israel itself is evidence of that truth whether it was ancient Israel or modern Israel. Even you and I are evidence of that harsh reality. If not for Jesus, who becomes the image of the Good Shepherd on earth as His Father is the Good Shepherd of the cosmos, we would all be lost in the dark trying to convince everyone there is still “the light of day” by which we can make a way on our own. Jesus, however, trusts the 99 as the 99 trust Him, and goes out to “seek and save that which is lost.” God’s sovereignty is all about salvation, redemption and reconciliation. God’s sovereignty is also about truth and justice. He has made a way, and end goal, for us all. Sadly, for some and many, it will not be the same as for others. Hell is as real as Heaven but not so peaceful, joyful and full of life.

For Isaiah and Josiah, this is the reality presented to Israel. God’s choice is for all people to see the blessings of trusting God and believing in His sovereignty. Some will see it easily. Some will come around. Some will refuse to see. In the end, “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Unfortunately, Jesus will know, by His own experience on earth and heaven via the cross, who has chosen faithfully and who has chosen unfaithfulness. In Isaiah, Babylon becomes one of those test cases. God uses them to discipline unruly Israel. Just when Babylon believes it is the favored nation and chooses itself instead of believing in the will of God, God has His revenge on those who refuse as a matter of justice. Either we see the truth and live or deny the truth and live forever without it and its blessing. As in the days of Joshua we are given this reminder: “Choose, therefore, this day whom you shall serve.”

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.