walk in the flame

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (22)Isaiah 50:6-11

6 I surrendered my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from their insults and spitting. 7 The Lord Yahveh will help me; so I have not been disgraced; so I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8 The One who vindicates me is near. Who will oppose me? Let us stand up together. Who are my enemies? Let them challenge me. 9 It is the Lord Yahveh who will help me; who will convict me of guilt? They will all wear out like a garment; the moth will consume them. 10 Who is among you, fearing Yahveh, listening to the voice of his servant, who has walked in dark places, and there is no light for him? Let him trust in the name of Yahveh, and lean upon his God. 11 Watch out all of you fire starters, lighters of torches. Go ahead, walk in the flame of your fire, and among the torches that you have lighted! This is what you will get from my hand: you will lie down in torment.

walk in the flame

Isaiah describes those who condemn his prophecies as fire starters, lighters of torches. They do not have time for God’s words, and offer this great prophet nothing but abuse and insult. But Isaiah sets his face like flint, determined and resolute. He will stay true to his mission in spite of their rejection. God will vindicate him, and those opponents will be humbled and lie down (die) in torment. These words are also recognised as foretelling the suffering and humiliation Jesus experienced. Both Isaiah and Jesus could suffer in this life, knowing that they would be eventually vindicated by God.

When we face unfair treatment – when people choose to ignore or misrepresent our message – when we are abused and humiliated – we need only remember that those who choose to walk by their own flame will one day regret it. On that day those flames will consume them. Only those who walk by God’s light will avoid judgment and death in hell.

LORD, give us the wisdom to walk by your truth, even when others despise and persecute us for it.

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teacher’s tongues

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (21)Isaiah 50:1-5

1 This is what Yahveh says: “Where is your mother’s divorce document with which I divorced her? Or to which of my buyers did I sell you? Pay attention; you were sold because of your sins; because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. 2 Why does no one challenge me when I visit? Why does no one respond when I call on you? Is my hand really too weak to deliver you? Do I lack the power to rescue you? Watch; with a mere shout I can dry up the sea; I can turn streams into a desert, so the fish rot away and die from lack of water. 3 I can dress the skies in darkness, and cover them with black mourning clothes.” 4 The Lord Yahveh has given me the a teacher’s tongue, so that I may know how to help the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakes me up– wakes my ear to listen attentively like disciples do. 5 The Lord Yahveh opened my ear for me, so I did not rebel — I did not turn back.

teacher’s tongues

Isaiah was not like some other “prophets” of his day. They considered themselves prophets because they said what people wanted them to say. The people wanted to complain about how God had arbitrarily divorced their mother, and sold them into slavery. But God had some other words he wanted to say. He looked for a prophet who would speak those words. Isaiah was willing to pay attention to what God wanted to say. God gave him a teacher’s tongue because he had opened his ear to the truth.

Today the LORD is looking for people who dare to pay attention to his words as well. If we take the time to regularly listen to what he has said in his word, the Bible, he will give us teacher’s tongues. We have no guarantee that our generation will listen to us. But we will know that those who do listen will find rescue and rest.

LORD, give us ears to listen to your words, and tongues to speak them.

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the warrior who fights for Jacob

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (20)Isaiah 49:19-26

19 Now you have been laid waste and made desolate and your land ruined, but soon you will be crowded again, and those who had devoured you will be gone far away. 20 You will hear again your sons which you had lost, saying “this place is too crowded; I need more room to live!” 21 Then you will say in your heart, “Who has given birth to these for me? I had lost my children and was barren, exiled and put away– so who has brought up these? I was abandoned– so where did these come from?” 22 This is what Yahveh promises: “Watch, I am going to raise my hand, signalling the nations, and they will bring your sons back to hug, and your daughters to carry on your shoulders.” 23 Kings will have provided for them like fathers, and princesses nursed them like mothers. These will bow down to you and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will understand that I am Yahveh, and that those putting their hope in me will not regret it. 24 Who dares to steal the prey from the warrior, or rescue captives from a tyrant? 25 Because Yahveh promises this: “Even the warrior’s captive I will take; and the tyrant’s plunder will be rescued. I will fight those who fought you, and I will rescue your sons. 26 I will make your oppressors turn on each other, devouring their own bodies and drinking their own blood. Then everybody will understand that I am Yahveh, your Saviour and rescuer; I am the warrior who fights for Jacob!

the warrior who fights for Jacob

One of the things I like about this passage is how God shows that he understands the deep hurt that the Babylonian captivity has inflicted on his people. He promises them that their sons and daughters will return, and return in such a surprising way. It will be so sudden that the bereaved parents will look around and ask where all these kids came from. This brazen promise would have been enough for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to conclude that Isaiah had finally lost all sense of logic. Yet it was fulfilled in God’s time. Yahveh proved to be the warrior that Jacob needed to rescue his sons from the foreign oppressor.

Have you thought about God as your warrior? He is, you know. He has both the power and the will to rescue you and your children from the bondage you were born into. I know it does not make sense. You have never known freedom. Why should you expect God to give you freedom? Simply this: it is what he promised. Take a look at all the other things that God has promised his people. His track record is solid. He delivers on his promises. Your loving Father who created you is also a rescuing warrior, standing at attention, ready to go into battle for you. You do not have to stay in bondage.

LORD, come and fight for us. We accept you offer to be our deliverer.

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I do not forget

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (19)Isaiah 49:14-18

14 Nowadays, Zion is saying “Yahveh has given me up,” and “The Lord has forgotten that I exist.” 15 As if a woman could forget her nursing infant — and feel no compassion for the child she held in her uterus! Well, they do sometimes forget, but I do not forget! 16 Watch, I have cut your name on my palms and soles. I see your walls all the time. 17 Your builders are going to hurry back, while those who tried to destroy you and make you desolate will leave you. 18 Focus your eyes all around you, and watch. They are all gathering, coming to you. Yahveh says “As I live, you will wear them all like jewelry, you will put them on like a bride does.

I do not forget

In this amazing passage, Yahveh reminds his people that he cannot forget them or give them up. He invites them to watch, because in the coming generations the exiles will return, the destroyers will leave, and the city will be rebuilt. The descendants of these gripers who complain that God has forgotten them will adorn the city like jewels on a bride.

I chose the term “builders” in verse 17. The Hebrew word banayich could refer to sons, and many versions render it so. But I thought Isaiah was contrasting the future rebuilders to the present destroyers.

I also have a slightly different take on the word kafayim in verse 16. All major versions follow the Septuagint and translate kafayim as palms, adding the words “of the hand.” But the kaf can be either the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot. I reason that Isaiah was referring to both, so he did not add the word yadim (of hands). Perhaps the Holy Spirit is providing readers a sneak-peak at the crucifixion here. Yahveh cannot forget Jerusalem. It is in Jerusalem where his palms and soles are to be cut, providing redemption and atonement for all.

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master plan

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (18)Isaiah 49:6-13

6 And he says, “It is trivial for you to be a servant for me, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will give you as a light for the Gentiles, to be my salvation to the end of the land.” 7 Thus says Yahveh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one, to the one who is despised in life, to the one who abhors the nation, to a slave of rulers: “Kings will see and stand up; princes, and they will bow down, for the sake of Yahveh, who is faithful, the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.” 8 Thus says Yahveh: “I have answered you in a time of favour, and helped you on a day of deliverance, and watched over you, and given you as a covenant for a people, to raise up a land, to give a desolate hereditary property as an inheritance, 9 saying to the captured ones “Come out!” to those who hide in darkness, “Show yourselves!” they will feed along the ways, and their pasturage will be on all barren heights. 10 They will not be hungry or thirsty, and heat and sun will not strike them, for someone who takes pity on them will lead them, and he will guide them to water springs. 11 And I will position all my mountains like a road, and my highways will lead up. 12 Look! These will come from afar, And look! These from the north and from the west and these from the land of Sinim.” 13 Sing for joy, sky, and rejoice, land! Mountains must break forth rejoicing! For Yahveh has comforted his people, and he will take pity on his afflicted ones.

master plan

Isaiah is able to comfort Israel because he, himself, is comforted. He thought that his ministry would be a trivial thing, affecting perhaps only a few of the most committed followers of Yahveh, and ultimately forgotten in time. But Yahveh has helped him to see beyond the barrier of his own generation. He can see all the nations of the Gentiles being brought into this redeemed relationship with Yahveh. And it will all happen because of that coming Servant. But Isaiah can be comforted by the fact that his ministry will fit into that master plan.

Christian, are you discouraged today? Do you wonder if it is all worth it? Do you long to have a more significant role in the lives of others, bringing them into God’s eternal kingdom? Just fit into the master plan. It starts where you are, just like it did for Isaiah. He never saw the end result. He only saw bits and pieces, as they had to do with what he could do, to affect change where he was. But his ministry did fit in, and so can ours.

LORD, show us enough of your master plan so that we can be faithful to our part of it.

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hidden in his quiver

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (17)Isaiah 49:1-6

1 Listen to me, coastlands, and listen attentively, peoples from far away! Yahveh called me in utero; from the inside of my mother he made my name known. 2 And he installed my mouth like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hand, and he positioned me like an sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, through whom I will show my glory.” 4 But I myself said, “I have laboured uselessly; I have used up my strength for nothing and emptiness! Nevertheless, I will get justice from Yahveh, and I will be rewarded by my God.” 5 he says, “Is it too light a task for you to be my servant, to re-establish the tribes of Jacob, and restore the remnant of Israel? Okay, I will make you a light to the nations, so you can also bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the land.”

hidden in his quiver

I love the image that Isaiah uses here to describe the role of Yahveh’s servant. Isaiah was discouraged, thinking that he had wasted his life on the light task of seeking revival among the Israelites. But Yahveh reminded him that he had been called in utero for a much more important task. He would also be a light to the nations, spreading the word of God’s deliverance to the remote regions of the land. He was an arrow hidden in God’s quiver, brought out for a special purpose which had not been guessed by all those around him.

Fast forward in time a few centuries and the world would see that light in Christ.[1] Then those who the Lord called to himself also became a light to the nations around them.[2] Because Yahveh has a quiver full of arrows, hidden and designed for the purpose of revealing his truth and glory to the world that needs him. Strike true with your life. You have a purpose.

LORD, reach into your quiver, and use us to reveal yourself to this godless generation.

[1] John 1:4-9.

[2] Acts 13:47.

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no peace for the wicked

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (16)Isaiah 48:17-22

17 Thus says Yahveh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: “I am Yahveh your God, the one teaching you to profit, leads you in the way you should go. 18 If you had only listened alertly to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 And your offspring would have been like the sand, and the descendants of your insides like its grains. It would not be cut off, and its name would not be destroyed from my presence.” 20 Go out from Babylon! Flee from Chaldea! Announce it with a rejoicing shout; proclaim this! Cause it to go out to the end of the land; say, “Yahveh has redeemed his servant Jacob!” 21 And when he led them through the deserts, they were not thirsty; he made water flow from a rock for them, and he split a rock, and water gushed out. 22 “There is no peace,” says Yahveh, “for the wicked.”

no peace for the wicked

Israelite: “Yeah, Isaiah, I hear you. But will you just wake up and realize that these hated Babylonians have been ruling over us in peace for as long as we can remember? How can you say “There is no peace for the wicked.”?

Isaiah: “I didn’t say it. Yahveh said it. Don’t you think Yahveh knows what we have been experiencing all our lives? But, you have to remember, that no matter how long we have been under this oppression and bondage, it has been like just a moment for the God of creation. He is eternal, and we are not. He sees with a wider perspective than we do. We see decades of bondage and failure. He sees beyond that. He sees from the perspective of permanence. Do you really think our God is going to allow this oppressive pagan empire to be at permanent peace? I didn’t think so. Our peace is coming, theirs is going. Our rescuer has made his promise. Will we dare believe it?

LORD, we believe your promise. We trust in your rescue.

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fall in!

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (15)Isaiah 48:12-16

12 “Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, “who was called by me” I am he. I am the first; also I am the last. 13 Indeed, my hand founded your land, and my right hand spread out those skies; when I am calling them, they stand at attention together. 14 Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them declared these prophecies? Yahveh loves him; he will do his wish against Babylon and display his arm against Chaldea. 15 I, I myself, I have spoken! Indeed, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will be successful in what he plans. 16 Draw near to me; listen to this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the start; from the time it came to be, there I have been; And now the Lord Yahveh has sent me and his Spirit.

fall in!

Any soldier who has ever heard those words knows what they mean. They are the words a commander or Sergeant belts out when he wants his group to stop what they are doing, come together, stand at attention, and receive their instructions. Isaiah is the voice of the Son of God here. He commands his people to stop what they are doing and saying, gather together at attention, and hear his plans to send a foreign ruler to accomplish his will against Babylon. He reminds them that even the land and the sky do this as soon as he speaks. He gives the word, and they fall in at attention, awaiting their next task.

How much more should we, as creatures of this almighty God, stop what we are doing and listen attentively to our Lord’s instructions. Sadly, we are failing to do this. For some of us who read the Bible often, his words are very familiar. So familiar, in fact, that we have stopped feeling the need to listen carefully to them. For others, his words seem ancient and archaic, and irrelevant, so they, too choose to ignore them. The end result is the same for both groups. The commander summons us to fall in, and we just keep doing what we do.

LORD, give us the discipline of a solid soldier, who jumps to attention at your voice, and who pays careful heed to your commands.

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the furnace of unhappiness

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (14)Isaiah 48:1-11

1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’ and are descended from Judah, who take oaths in the name of Yahveh, and invoke the God of Israel– but not in an honest and just manner. 2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; they trust in the God of Israel, whose name is Yahveh who leads armies. 3 “I announced events beforehand, I issued the decrees and made the predictions; suddenly I acted and they came to pass. 4 I did this because I know how stubborn you are. Your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze. 5 I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you couldn’t say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’ 6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! Will you not admit that what I say is true? From this point on I am announcing to you new events that are undisclosed and you do not know about. 7 Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you couldn’t say, ‘Yes, I know about those things.’ 8 You did not hear, you do not know, you were not told beforehand. Because I know that you are very deceitful; you were labelled a rebel from birth. 9 For the sake of my reputation I hold back my anger; for the sake of my prestige I restrain myself from destroying you. 10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have purified you in the furnace of unhappiness. 11 For my sake alone I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? I will not share my glory with anyone else.

the furnace of unhappiness

Long after Isaiah’s death, all of his predictions came true. What God was doing was for the purpose of refining Israel, ridding his people of their pride and idolatry. In the end, those long centuries of the furnace of unhappiness had a positive result: God alone was glorified. And, to this people, humbled by suffering, God sent his Son, and our Saviour. Everything happens for a reason.

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lies the world tells itself

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (13)Isaiah 47:1-15

1“Get down! Sit in the dirt, virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on your throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! because you will no longer be called delicate and sensitive. 2 Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams! 3 Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,” 4 says our protector– Yahveh who leads armies is his name, the sovereign king of Israel. 5 “Sit still! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’ 6 I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on the old people. 7 You boasted, ‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out. 8 So now, listen to this, you who live so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, ‘I am unique! No one is like me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.’ 9 Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets. 10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 11 Disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to prevent it. Calamity will come upon you suddenly, before you recognize it. 12 Persist in trusting your amulets and your many spells, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful– maybe you will scare away disaster. 13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand– the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions– let them rescue you from the disaster that is coming upon you! 14 Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. 15 They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully utilized since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you.”

lies the world tells itself

Babylon was the epitome of domination by an invincible foe. So much so, that when John described the dominating power of evil, he saw it as the city, Babylon the great.[1] This generation has seen that great city dominate through both religious and political influence. The lies that a dominating power tells itself are revealed in this chapter of Isaiah.

  • “I am special – the queen of kingdoms.”
  • “No one can judge me.”
  • “I am insured – there is no problem I cannot fix.”
  • “I’ve got an answer for everything.”

Nations come and go, but within each society this prideful consistent behaviour reveals itself. Meanwhile, God is watching.

LORD, forgive us for falling for the deception. Show us how to live with integrity, without falling for pride of self or pride of society.

[1] Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2,10,21.

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