Isaiah Day 194 - Divine Temper Tantrum?
54:6
“For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
7
“For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
8
“In an outburst*** of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting loving kindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.
I find it both sad and
frustrating that the Bible gets translated according to our biases and picture
of God, rather than sticking to the text. In the end though it makes no
difference. God promised that we would find Him if we seek after Him with our
whole heart. Jesus came and said "If you have seen Me, you have seen the
Father", to clear up any misunderstanding about what He is like.
Even though Jesus lived out the
character of God, the clouds and questions remain, partly due to the Old
Testament in general being written "through a glass dimly" as Paul
described it, and partly because we can't seem to get over a dual concept where
God is distant and easily angered and Jesus is nice. Sort of the good cop/bad
cop routine.
Our passage today has a great
example in it of how the Bible gets translated according to our biases, namely
the bias that God is prone to fits of rage. The word translated 'outburst' in
verse 8 is not what the Hebrew text says at all. The margin of my Bible
suggests 'overflow' as a better translation. The literal Hebrew word is 'little'.
The literal word translated anger is 'foam'.
Hebrew has a limited vocabulary
and uses word pictures to convey meanings they don't have words for. So
literally because of a little foam God hid his face momentarily from Judah. Not
exactly a description of an outburst of wrath. What really happened is that
Judah took on another lover and God while that relationship was bubbling up God
turned away. He is a gentleman. He forces no one. He does not use the
underhanded techniques of this other lover.
Notice the sequence of events.
God is wooing Judah back after her disastrous affair with Satan. She is a wife
cast off in the blush of youth. It never takes Satan long to chew us up and
spit us out. Like the prodigal son, God gives us whatever time and space we
need to choose but His arms are ever open wide to receive us again. His
covenant is everlasting. He will never divorce His bride unless she stubbornly
insists and even then He will take her back if she chooses to return.
Foam has the appearance of
substance but is mostly air pockets. Everything Satan offered us appears good
but it lacks any true substance. His lying promises are a lot of hot air.
Remember Jesus on the cross? They
offered Him sour wine on a sponge. He refused it. He turned His face away from
it. He was thirsty but committed to that which has substance. Someday soon He
will drink the fresh fruit of the vine with His bride for the first time since
He drank it with His disciples the night before He died. He was committed. He
is committed. He will always be committed. Choose your "husband"
wisely.
Isaiah Day 195 - The Ultimate Promise
54:
9
“For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.
10
“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will
set your stones in antimony,and your foundations I will lay in sapphires.
12
“Moreover, I will make your
battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of
precious stones.
13
“All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your
sons will be great.
14
“In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
15
“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
16
“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
17
“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
I kept this section together as
one because it needs context to prevent misunderstanding. The message is from
God. The recipient is His wife, His bride, those who chose Him as their Husband
and Redeemer.
The promises all hinge around one
idea: God will never hide His face from His bride again. Never again will His
"anger" cause a division or separation. Why?
The separation that God instigated
was in Eden. He "threw His bride out". No longer could they enter the
garden He made just for them. No longer could they eat from the tree of life.
No longer could they walk and talk with Him face to face. They were separated.
It is critical to remember and understand that this separation was caused by
the choice of Adam and Eve to seduced by "another lover". It is also
critical to understand that the separation put in place by God was temporary.
It was put in place with conditions and a promise. One was coming who would
crush the lying lover they were seduced by.
Note in our passage today that
God presents His case for why we can trust His incredible promises. He created
the blacksmith that forges the weapons. He created the destroyer to ruin. These
ideas have been grossly twisted by some but God's point is clear. He States
that trouble will continue to come for a time but not by His hand and
ultimately He will deliver us from all trouble. How can we trust such a
promise? Because our enemies are under Him. They are mere creatures but He is
the Creator. God didn't create Lucifer for evil and ruination; that is not His
point. His point is we don't need to fear Satan because he is just a created
being and when God knows the time is right and the great controversy has run
it's course, Satan will meet his end and "one pulse of harmony will beat
throughout the vast creation".
God will keep this ultimate
promise. It was sealed in blood by His Only Son and even though the mountains
still quake and trouble still comes, hold on. He will come for His bride. He
will continue to keep every promise He has ever made, especially the ultimate
one:
"Let not your heart be troubled. You
believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it
were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go
and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that
where I am there you may be also." – Jesus
Isaiah Day 196 – Where Are You Investing?
55:1
“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
2
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
These verses are heavy with
meaning. They can apply literally to practical every day living, and they apply
to deep needs of our soul. The practical things you can pick up at Walmart or
the Grocery store or wherever money is exchanged for goods. The needs of our
soul are another matter. Sometimes we get the two entangled with each other.
Let's start with the practical.
Why buy and eat food that isn't going to feed your body? Researchers are saying
my generation (generation x) and the generations that follow are the first in
North America that will have shorter life spans. Ever since our ancestors
crossed the Atlantic, the fresh air, fertile soil, and hands on lifestyle have
been extending our life expectancy. Now processed foods, extreme amounts of
sugar, and inactive lifestyles are turning the tide. Why do we do it? Why do we
spend our hard earned money to buy edible stuff that isn't really food, that
our bodies can't benefit from, and don't ultimately satisfy?
Now the deeper meaning:
Our souls are hungry. To satisfy
the hunger, the emptiness, the gnawing void we try lots of things. We buy more
stuff - bigger house, better vehicles, more trips, more gadgets etc... We
consume more entertainment. We involve ourselves in relationships that are
perhaps sexually deep but otherwise shallow like that woman Jesus met at the
well. Speaking of sexual pursuits to attempt to satisfy the hunger in our
souls, how far are we going to go? Pornography is being consumed at a greater
and greater rate, sexual deviance is straying further off course by the day.
While all this is happening our ability to make and keep healthy relationships
is becoming less and less. Where are we going?
God steps into our self-directed
yet directionless attempts at satisfying our very real and legitimate needs and
asks "Why?" "Why are you doing what makes no sense and isn't
working when I'm offering you everything you need without cost?"
I get it partly. Religion doesn't
exactly have a stellar record but guess what? Neither does the empty and
endless pursuits we engage in to fill the void only He can fill. Read the
studies. The wealthiest people in the world as far as cash goes, have the
highest rate of unhappiness. They have access to everything and found that the
pot at the end of the rainbow is full of shiny hot air.
I'm not proposing religion for
you. I'm proposing you seek out your Maker. Let Him into your life. Let Him
help you make the choices both in your practical purchases at Walmart and your
deeper pursuits that will feed your soul. I drive a 2003 Ford Focus. Our house
is 43 years old and tired all over. We make less than the average income for
our area by quite a bit. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't consume pornography,
I don't have the latest and greatest of anything. When I have time or need a
change of pace I work on a 1968 Mercury truck because I love the process of
restoration. It constantly reminds me that My Father can fix anything.
Give Them All To Jesus
Are you tired of chasing pretty
rainbows?
Are you tired of spinning round
and round?
Wrap up all those shattered
dreams of your life
And at the feet of Jesus, lay
them down.
Give them all, give them all,
give them all to Jesus
Shattered dreams, wounded hearts,
and broken toys.
Give them all, give them all,
give them all to Jesus
And He will turn your sorrows
into joy.
He never said you only see
sunshine,
He never said there would be no
rain.
He only promised a heart full of
singing
About the very thing that once
brought pain.
Matthew 11:28
"Come to me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest."
Isaiah Day 198 - Today
55:6
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
Why the urgency? Why does it read
as if God is going away soon and then we won't be able to find Him? Didn't He
promise multiple times "I will never leave you nor forsake you?"
Have you ever intended to do
something but didn't and then forgot about it completely? We all have.
Sometimes it ends up being no big deal. Other times it is a major problem. How
about major lifestyle changes? "I'm going to quit... " or "I'm
going to start..." but we do neither and eventually we are so far down the
path of failed good intentions that we don't even desire to change any more.
Are you seeing where this is going?
The book of Hebrews and several
other places in the Bible talk about the importance of Today. "Today if
you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." Every decision we make
and/or every intention we fail to or do follow through on sets us on a course.
The further we pursue any course the less likely we are to change. That's why
God says "Search for Me while I may be found" and "Today if you
hear My voice..." Today is all we have and if we turn away today the
chances of making a better choice tomorrow are diminished and if we keep
resisting we will eventually not hear Him at all.
How often I have done it and how
often I hear others asking God to be with us, to protect us, to never leave us.
We talk to Him as if He is the unreliable One, as if He is the One prone to
wandering or not listening. The truth is the opposite. Each day we are forming
the person we will ultimately become. Are trending towards Him or away from
Him?
Yesterday I was reading my French
Bible and I came across the famous verse in Jeremiah 29:13 where He says: "Search for Me and you will find
Me..." but the French was worded differently. Translated to English it
said "Turn towards Me and you will
find Me..."
Didn't Jesus come looking for
Adam and Eve when they ran and hid? Didn't Jesus come to this dark planet as
one of us to rescue us? He has been pursuing us from the start. If you can't
find Him turn around. He's been there all along. If you wait, you will
eventually have no desire to turn around. "Today if you hear His voice,
turn around, don't wait..." The only sin that will keep you from Him is the
one you don't permit Him to erase. He will refuse none of us.