Isaiah 37 continues the story of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib (the king of Assyria). After seeming to thoroughly dominate the three Israelites, Rabshakeh goes back to Sennacherib. The Israelites go and report to the king, Hezekiah. Hezekiah, hearing the ominous report, tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth and ashes. He then sends the three high-up Israelites to the prophet Isaiah. They don’t say: ‘The Assyrian’s are going to attack! They have a massive army, and they said God was on their side! We’re doomed! Can you please pray for us?!!!!’ For to say things like that would have been a bit silly. Indeed, if God was on Assyria’s side, then why would He answer Israel’s prayer for deliverance from them? No, the Israelites come with the message:
‘It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ (Isaiah 37:4)
They come saying that Rabshakeh has reproached the LORD, and therefore the LORD will rebuke them for their words! This shows that their fear of the Assyrians was less than their knowledge of God’s righteousness. They knew that God is always righteous, and they knew that those who come intentionally bent on defaming Him will receive judgment appropriately.
They saw this situation as a God issue, not a military issue. See that their initial response was not: ‘We need a better army!’, it was ‘we need God!’.
As a result, God turned the Assyrian army around without them even starting to besiege Jerusalem. God honoured the king’s faithfulness.
Is this how we see situations in our own life? When people sin, do we see it as against us, or against God? Which do we see as more important? Our thinking should be so saturated with God that everything has something to do with Him.
Showing posts with label Sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sin. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Isaiah 22:10-11,14
Isaiah 22 has two parts. The first is about the coming siege of Jerusalem, by Elam and Kir. Elam refers to the Persians and I'm not sure where Kir was. Apparently they both had representatives in the Assyrian army. Elam must have sent a company of archers, and Kir some footsoldiers or armour-bearers.
The second part is a judgment on a man called Shebna, who was sort of like the prime minister of Judah, second only to the king. He was proud and misused his time, neglecting his duties. Therefore God pulled him out of office and replaced him with 'My servant' Eliakim (yes, he's on that list).
Going back to the first section, let's look at why Jerusalem had sinned in the eyes of the LORD.
'You [Jews] numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old pool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.' (Isaiah 22:10-11)
It seems stupid that the Jews forgot about God, to us. It seems so obvious that they are in the wrong. And they are. But of course to them it wouldn't have been so obvious. Just as nowadays for us, it is not so obvious. Most of the time when we are in trouble, 'besieged' by the enemy, what do we look to first? We look to earthly things. Usually. Not much of the time do we get armies besieging us, but often we are besieged by worries, doubts, sadness, temptation or any other thing. Usually first of all we see it as an earthly problem, and try to deal with it accordingly. If you're sad, then you try to make yourself happy by doing something that you love perhaps. But God calls us to look to Him for our answers. I am NOT saying that we are to neglect earthly ways of dealing with things (in fact that concept is sort of dealt with in the second section of the chapter). I am saying that first and foremost we must look to God as our help. For without Him, the earthly things which He created will have no effect! Being able to do this comes down to having a God-centred outlook on life. Seeing things through Gods eyes. Which in itself comes down to studying the Word and prayer.
In verse 14 it says:
'Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,
"Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you,
Even to your death," says the Lord GOD of hosts.' (Isaiah 22:14)
This is a big sin (there is another sin committed in verses 12 and 13, which is much related to verse 10 and 11). This indeed is not purely just a sin. This is sinfulness as a way of life. Not looking to God at crucial points shows a distinct lack of trust in Him. And it is by trust in Him that we are saved. Let's not live like we did as non-Christians. Let us always look to God.
The second part is a judgment on a man called Shebna, who was sort of like the prime minister of Judah, second only to the king. He was proud and misused his time, neglecting his duties. Therefore God pulled him out of office and replaced him with 'My servant' Eliakim (yes, he's on that list).
Going back to the first section, let's look at why Jerusalem had sinned in the eyes of the LORD.
'You [Jews] numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old pool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.' (Isaiah 22:10-11)
It seems stupid that the Jews forgot about God, to us. It seems so obvious that they are in the wrong. And they are. But of course to them it wouldn't have been so obvious. Just as nowadays for us, it is not so obvious. Most of the time when we are in trouble, 'besieged' by the enemy, what do we look to first? We look to earthly things. Usually. Not much of the time do we get armies besieging us, but often we are besieged by worries, doubts, sadness, temptation or any other thing. Usually first of all we see it as an earthly problem, and try to deal with it accordingly. If you're sad, then you try to make yourself happy by doing something that you love perhaps. But God calls us to look to Him for our answers. I am NOT saying that we are to neglect earthly ways of dealing with things (in fact that concept is sort of dealt with in the second section of the chapter). I am saying that first and foremost we must look to God as our help. For without Him, the earthly things which He created will have no effect! Being able to do this comes down to having a God-centred outlook on life. Seeing things through Gods eyes. Which in itself comes down to studying the Word and prayer.
In verse 14 it says:
'Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,
"Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you,
Even to your death," says the Lord GOD of hosts.' (Isaiah 22:14)
This is a big sin (there is another sin committed in verses 12 and 13, which is much related to verse 10 and 11). This indeed is not purely just a sin. This is sinfulness as a way of life. Not looking to God at crucial points shows a distinct lack of trust in Him. And it is by trust in Him that we are saved. Let's not live like we did as non-Christians. Let us always look to God.
Isaiah 21:3-5
Isaiah 21 was quite hard to understand contextually for me. It has a lot of prophetic and historical information which I will have to really investigate to understand more. Most of the chapter is about the Fall of Babylon which was not as yet a world power (Assyria was the world power at that time, as is expressed many times in the previous chapters). So Isaiah is predicting the Fall of the Babylonian empire before the empire even existed! What's more, he predicts what nation will cause it to fall and therefore replace it (the Medes and Persians). At one point, the description of the fall is very reminiscent of Daniel, where the Babylonian princes are all together eating and drinking while the Medes and Persians conquer their city.
'Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!' (Isaiah 21:5)
It is remarkably detailed and accurate for someone who lived when the empire he was prophesying about wasn't even an empire yet!
However, the verses that struck me were verses 3and 4
'Therefore my loins are filled with pain;
Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labour.
I was distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.' (Isaiah 21:3-4)
Isaiah, as accustomed as he was to destruction and violence, was afraid and distressed by this vision of God's wrath on Babylon. I've never been in labour before, and i guess i never will be, but i assume the pain is fairly horrific. To feel that kind of pain when you see something, especially when you are used to it, says something about the extent of the pain of the people going through it, wouldn't you agree?
This basically just reminded me how much God hates sin. He cannot stand it. Sinning a little bit here and there is not 'alright'. Drifting with the world and doing what it does (just with a lot more love) is not 'alright'. God punishes sin. He punishes it severely and drastically. By His grace only are we saved from that wrath. But knowing this, should we not be ever more conscious of our sin, and continually repent? Living a Christlike life does not only mean that we are to increase the positive (have more love, mercy, grace, kindness etc), but to decrease the negative (sin). Repeatedly in Isaiah we find the harshness with which God deals with sin. Harsh possibly to us. But to God, the severity is lenient. A terrible earthly death does not pay for the sin - an eternal death does. I believe we must constantly try to realise the depth of our own sinfulness, our own depravity and so doing, to come to a fuller knowledge of God's grace.
'Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!' (Isaiah 21:5)
It is remarkably detailed and accurate for someone who lived when the empire he was prophesying about wasn't even an empire yet!
However, the verses that struck me were verses 3and 4
'Therefore my loins are filled with pain;
Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labour.
I was distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.
My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.' (Isaiah 21:3-4)
Isaiah, as accustomed as he was to destruction and violence, was afraid and distressed by this vision of God's wrath on Babylon. I've never been in labour before, and i guess i never will be, but i assume the pain is fairly horrific. To feel that kind of pain when you see something, especially when you are used to it, says something about the extent of the pain of the people going through it, wouldn't you agree?
This basically just reminded me how much God hates sin. He cannot stand it. Sinning a little bit here and there is not 'alright'. Drifting with the world and doing what it does (just with a lot more love) is not 'alright'. God punishes sin. He punishes it severely and drastically. By His grace only are we saved from that wrath. But knowing this, should we not be ever more conscious of our sin, and continually repent? Living a Christlike life does not only mean that we are to increase the positive (have more love, mercy, grace, kindness etc), but to decrease the negative (sin). Repeatedly in Isaiah we find the harshness with which God deals with sin. Harsh possibly to us. But to God, the severity is lenient. A terrible earthly death does not pay for the sin - an eternal death does. I believe we must constantly try to realise the depth of our own sinfulness, our own depravity and so doing, to come to a fuller knowledge of God's grace.
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