gemstones as a destiny

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (12)Isaiah 57:1-6

1 The righteous have perished, but there is not a man who cares. And loyal men are being gathered, while there is no one who understands, because the righteous one is being gathered from the a place where there is wickedness. 2 he enters peace; they will rest on their beds, walking straight ahead of him. 3 “And you, come near here, you children of a magic arts practitioner, offspring of an adulterer and she who commits fornication. 4 Who are you making fun of? At whom do you open wide your mouth making your tongue long? Are you not criminal youth, offspring of deception, 5 who make yourselves burn with lust among the oaks, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Your fate rests with those gemstones of the valley; they, they are your destiny; in fact, to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a food offering. should I change my mind about these sins?

gemstones as a destiny

Using religion for self-satisfaction, pornography, illicit sex, infanticide, living for accumulation of wealth alone – these are some of the things that the neighbouring nations did. The self-respecting Israelites would stand with their mouths wide open and their tongue extended in astonishment at these openly evil acts. They expected those who did such things to be punished by Almighty God. In the end, they expected the wealth of these nations to be destroyed, and the people with it.

But Isaiah dares to accuse these self-righteous Israelites of harbouring the same greed, lust and rebellion that motivated the pagans surrounding them. Yahveh asks these secret sinners if they expect to get away with the very sins that they expect him to destroy the Gentiles for. Should God change his mind about these sins, just because they are within his covenant community?

God has a plan. He wants to lead these pagan neighbours to his righteousness, to forgive their sins and cleanse them. But, how can he do this when the very covenant community he plans to bring them into is secretly seeking the same life of lust, murder and greed as the communities he wants to take them out of? God’s kingdom should be different.

LORD, cleanse our hearts. We do not want you to overlook our sins. We want you to take us away from that life that is heading for destruction.

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hungry, sleepy dogs

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (11)Isaiah 56:9-12

9 Come, all his field animals to eat all his forest animals! 10 His blind watchmen, none of them know what is happening. They are all dumb dogs; they are unable to bark, panting, lying down, loving to sleep. 11 And the dogs are voracious of soul — they do not know what it means to be full. And they are shepherds! They do not know understanding. They all turn to their way, each one for his purpose. 12 “Come, let me take wine, and let us party with an intoxicating drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only more so.

hungry, sleepy dogs

This passage took me a couple of days to mull over. I had a problem with the 3rd masculine singular suffix which appears twice on the noun chayah in verse 9. I finally found a way of expressing it. Here’s what I think Isaiah is getting at: While the LORD will be continually adding to his kingdom from other ethnic groups, the leaders of Israel will not know what is going on. They will turn the ethnic Israelites (his field animals) against the converts (his forest animals). The leaders are described as hungry, sleepy dogs, who only care for their own fulfilment. This text has a very practical application for today’s church. The LORD wants to gather new believers into his flock. But often we leaders are more interested in our own enjoyment, so we cause unnecessary divisions among those under our charge. That is not what our chief shepherd wants. He wants us to put aside our own appetites and to foster unity among the flock.

LORD, make us shepherds who truly care about building a unified flock.

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for all peoples

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (10)Isaiah 56:6-8

6 And the sons from the foreign country who join themselves to Yahveh to serve him and to love the name of Yahveh, to become his servants, every one who keeps Sabbath (from profaning it), and those who keep hold of my covenant, 7 I will bring them to the mountain of my holiness. I will make them joyous in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be permitted on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” 8 — a declaration of the Lord Yahveh, who is gathering the scattered ones of Israel. I will keep gathering for him, to his gathered ones.

for all peoples

Isaiah continues to encourage Israel to bring people from all nations into the kingdom of the coming Messiah, God’s Yeshua (verse 1). Yahveh is gathering sons from foreign countries for him, putting them together with his other gathered ones. Ethnicity means nothing. Race means nothing. Social status means nothing. Gender means nothing. Our identity as the gathered into Christ’s body is all that matters.

LORD, may we see each other as you see us … equal recipients of your gathering grace.

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a permanent name

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (9)Isaiah 56:1-5

1 This is what Yahveh says: “Keep acting fairly and doing righteously, because my Yeshua is close to coming, and my justice to being revealed. 2 A person living like this will be happy, and a son of Adam who keeps hold of it, who keeps Sabbath (from profaning it), and who keeps his hand from doing all evil.” 3 And do not let the son from the foreign country who joins himself to Yahveh say, “Surely Yahveh will keep me separate from his people.” And do not let the eunuch say, “Watch! I am a fruitless tree!” 4 Because this is what Yahveh says, “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose that in which I delight, and who keep hold of my covenant. 5 I will also give them a monument and a name in my house and within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give him a permanent name that will not be cut off.

a permanent name

Isaiah’s words speak to the marginalized within Israel. The foreign convert always envisions being a second-class citizen in God’s kingdom. The eunuch feels the same way, never fitting in to the nation which prides itself on its family roots. But Yahveh wants both of these marginalized groups to know that there is an equal future for them in the coming kingdom of his son, Yeshua. In Christ there will be no slave Christian, no Gentile Christian.[1] In Christ we all have a new name – a permanent name.

LORD, thank you for our new identity – and equality — in Christ.

[1] Galatians 3:28.

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a permanent sign

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (8)Isaiah 55:10-13

10 “Because just like the rain and the snow come down from the sky, and they do not return there until after they have watered the land completely and cause it to break out and sprout, and provide seed to the planter and bread to the eater, 11 that is what my word that goes out from my mouth will be like. It will not return to me without success, but will do what I want and be successful in the purpose for which I sent it. 12 Because you will exodus joyfully, and you will be escorted peacefully. The mountains and the hills will break forth in your presence, rejoicing and all the forest trees will clap the hand. 13 Instead of the thorn bush, a juniper will spring up; instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up, and it will serve as a memorial to Yahveh, for a permanent sign, not to be removed.”

a permanent sign

God’s promise to his people that they would experience a second exodus is a non-negotiable for him. It is going to happen. Just like the rain which God sends from the sky, and it makes the land fruitful, so God’s message of restoration and spiritual revival for Israel is a given. The fruit of that revival will serve as a permanent sign, a memorial to Yahveh, a proof of his love and his covenant loyalty.

Some people take these words from God out of their context and use them to teach that the words of the Bible have a magic quality. They teach that you can take a promise from the Bible, apply it to yourself, and if you do not waver in believing it, it will give you what you want. That was not at all what Isaiah was referring to. The success of God’s message from Isaiah was grounded in the fact that God had a plan to restore Israel. It was that message that would not return to God without succeeding.

But there is a message for the believer in Christ here as well. God has a purpose for our lives. It is wrapped up in his plan to reach the nations with the gospel. When we dare to trust that the gospel we proclaim will turn the nations to Christ, we can be assured that that word will not return to God without succeeding in what he wants to accomplish.

LORD, make us people who dare to proclaim your gospel, trusting in you to make it produce what you want.

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God in low orbit

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (7)Isaiah 55:6-9

6 Seek Yahveh while he is letting himself be found; call him while he is being near. 7 A wicked one should abandon his road, and a sinful man his thoughts. And he should return to Yahveh, so that he may welcome him back with love, and to our God, because he will forgive profusely. 8 “Because my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your roads are not my roads,” a declaration of Yahveh. 9 “Because just like the sky is high from the vantage point of the land, so my ways are high from the vantage point of your ways, and my thoughts from the vantage point of your thoughts.”

God in low orbit

God is everywhere, and no one can ever escape his presence. But there is a sense in which God is also out there and other. He thinks differently than us, and he travels on different roads. It is vanity and presumption to think that we have God figured out. However, we also will be blessed with times when our great God chooses to orbit our lives with a rare proximity. The LORD’s message through Isaiah is that we should all seek him during those times, because they are rare indeed. If we ignore God while he is in low orbit, he may never come around again in our lifetime.

John the Baptist and Jesus both preached that people should repent because the kingdom of God had come near.[1] Paul, James and Peter also used the concept of God’s rare proximity as a motivation factor.[2] The urgency of the gospel message is highlighted by the reality that God’s grace will not always be available to forgive. The good news is that his grace is available today, and he can forgive profusely those who take advantage of the amnesty his grace allows.

LORD, we want to abandon the wicked road we are on; we want to stop thinking our sinful thoughts. This is us, turning back to you, while you are still close enough to welcome us back.

[1] Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9, 11.

[2] Romans 13:12; James 5:8; 1 Peter 4:7.

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a permanent covenant

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (6)Isaiah 55:1-5

1 “Hoy! Everyone thirsty, come to the water! And whoever has no silver, come, buy food so you can eat, and come, buy it without silver, wine and milk for nothing in exchange! 2 Why are you weighing out silver for non-bread, and wasting your income on what does not satisfy? Listen obediently to me, and eat the good stuff, and let your soul take pleasure in fulfilling food. 3 Point your ear toward me, and come to me! Listen and your soul will live, and I will cut for you a permanent covenant, which will endure as long as my covenant loyalty to David. 4 Watch! I gave him as a witness to peoples, a prince and a commander of peoples. 5 Watch! You will call a nation that you do not know, and  that nation who does not know you will run to you, because of Yahveh your God, and the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.”

a permanent covenant

The LORD appeals to his people through Isaiah to stop seeking the things that do not ultimately satisfy, and to stop wasting their time and money on them. Instead, he encourages them to direct their ears toward him and listen obediently. He tells them to watch in their mind’s eye something he did for David. He established a permanent covenant with David, making him a witness of his God’s covenant loyalty. Now, the LORD challenges his people to watch again. Now he plans to set up a covenant just as enduring with all his people who pay attention to his words!

This promise of a permanent covenant with the LORD is ours in Christ. When he initiated the Lord’s Supper, he told his disciples that the cup symbolised a new covenant, ratified with his own blood.[1] The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews speaks of that new covenant being set up in his generation, and the old Mosaic covenant having been made obsolete, and vanishing away.[2] There is a way to God, and an eternal life in his grace. That way is Christ.

LORD, give us the wisdom to spend our time and our money on that which really satisfies: your permanent covenant.

[1] Luke 22:20.

[2] Hebrews 8:8,13.

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permanently right

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (5)Isaiah 54:14-17

14 “You will be set permanently right, keeping far from oppression, because you will not fear it, and from terror, because it will not come near you. 15 If someone does attack, it will not be from me; whoever attacks you will fall because of you. 16 Watch! I myself have created a craftsman who is bellowing on the coal fire, and who is producing a weapon for his work; and I myself have created the destroyer to destroy. 17 Every weapon formed against you will not be successful, and you will declare guilty every tongue rising against you in judgment. This is the legacy of the servants of Yahveh, and their justice will come from me,” – a declaration of Yahveh.

permanently right

The LORD had promised a restoration to his permanent love, and permanent peace. But that peace would be from the strength and value of the people’s new foundation, not because they would never again be in conflict. No, attacks will come to the new covenant community, but those attacks would fail, because of the permanent rightness (righteousness) of the people of God. There would be weapons aimed at these righteous people, but God has created a way to win against each of those weapons. For each opponent, God has created a destroyer. For each argument in court, God has devised a counter-argument which declares the adversary guilty. There will be justice, and that justice will come from God.

LORD, inspire us with the confidence that comes from being set permanently right by your grace.

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permanent peace

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (4)Isaiah 54:9-13

9 “This is like the water of Noah to me, because when I promised to keep the water of Noah from the passing again over the land, so I promised not to get angry at you and rebuke you. 10 Because the mountains may withdraw, and the hills may shake loose, but my covenant loyalty will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not shake loose,” says Yahveh, who feels compassion for you, 11 “O needy, storm-driven one, not given rest. Watch! I am setting your gems in a permanent setting, and I am laying your foundation with sapphires. 12 And I will set your fortifications with ruby, and your stone gates with beryl, and all your wall with valuable stones. 13 And all your children will be students of Yahveh, and there will be intense peace upon your children.”

permanent peace

After Noah’s flood, God set his rainbow in the sky as a promise to never again disturb the peace of his planet with an overwhelming act of judgment. He reminds his people of that promise when he now promises to re-establish Israel as a nation at peace with their husband-Lord. That peace will be permanent this time because of what he is going to do in Israel, not just for them. He is resetting their value system. The foundation stones of the new Israel will be valuable gems, set in permanent settings. Their children will learn from Yahveh himself, and will experience rav shalom – intense peace. Like the planet after the flood, Israel will be over its catastrophe, and ready to start anew.

This is a promise for believers in Christ as well. Jesus gave his peace to us, a peace not affected by the trouble we will face before his return.[1] It is a peace that comes from strength to endure those troubles. Like precious stones set in a permanent setting, we will not be moved by the troubles around us. We will experience permanent peace as each generation learns from him.

LORD, we accept your promise of permanent peace through the strength that only you can give.

[1] John 14:27.

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permanent love

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

July 2015 (3)Isaiah 54:6-8

6 Because Yahveh called you when you were an abandoned wife and still grieving spiritually, like a wife pledged in childhood when she is rejected, says your God. 7 I did abandon you for a tiny moment, but I will gather you with enormous feelings of compassion. 8 In a temporary fit of wrath, I hid my face from you, but I will have compassion on you with permanent covenant loyalty says your redeemer, Yahveh.

permanent love

Marital Love is a beautiful thing, and it is just as alive today as it always has been, but many marriages in our generation do seem to have missed the idea of permanence. We are not the first generation to suffer this loss. Isaiah’s people knew of many women who had been abandoned by the one who had been pledged to them from childhood. They faced a life of shame and insecurity, made even more difficult by a society which would brand them as discards.

The LORD speaks through Isaiah to that generation and uses that social reality to explain something about himself. He admits being the kind of husband who for a tiny moment ignored the bride he was promised to. But he goes on to promise a restoration gathering that proves his enormous compassion on his people. His wrath against their sin was a temporary fit, but the restoration will be a permanent act of faithful love to those who covenant with him.

Maybe you feel abandoned by God today. You might be experiencing his brief fit of wrath against you for your sin and transgressions. You may feel like he has hidden his face from you, and maybe he has. But the choice is now yours. Will you pursue this permanent love he promised, or will you walk away, and consign yourself to a loveless life. On the other side of God’s wrath against your sin is God’s permanent love for you as his bride. Seek him until he finds you.

LORD, we do not deserve your permanent love, but we want it. Restore us to yourself because of who you are.

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