he is the reason

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (27)Isaiah 52:1-6

1 Get up, get up!; put on your strength, Zion! Put on the clothes that show your beauty, Jerusalem, city of holiness; because the uncircumcised and the unclean will not keep entering you any longer. 2 Shake yourself free from that dust! Rise up; sit, Jerusalem! Free yourselves from the bonds around your neck, captive daughter of Zion! 3 Because this is what Yahveh says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” 4 Because this is what the Lord Yahveh says: “My people went down to Egypt in the beginning, to live as aliens there, and Assyria oppressed him for no reason. 5 And now what do I have here?” Yahveh declares, “because my people are taken for no reason. Its rulers howl,” Yahveh declares–“and my name is being despised continually, all day. 6 For this reason, my people will know my name, for this reason, in that day, that I am the reason. Look at me.

he is the reason

Isaiah’s people could look in their past and see all kinds of events that happened for no apparent reason. He assures them that the LORD was about to do something for a reason, and the LORD is the reason.

Many bad things have happened to you – or are maybe now happening. I cannot promise you that all those things are going to work out for your good unless the LORD is in your life. But if you are a believer in Christ, I can promise you that God wants to do something extraordinary with your life. He is the reason. Surrender to his desire for you.

LORD, come and make a permanent difference in our lives. We need you.

Posted in plan of God, providence, purpose | Tagged | Leave a comment

false hopes replaced

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (26)Isaiah 51:17-23

17 Get yourself up! Get yourself up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have already drunk from the hand of Yahveh the cup of his wrath; you have drunk the glass, the cup of staggering; you have drained it out. 18 There is no one who guides her of all the children she has given birth to, and there is no one who holds her by the hand among of all the children she brought up. 19 Two crises have hit you –who cares about what you experience?– devastation and destruction, scarcity and sword—but who will comfort you? 20 Your children have passed out; they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a snare, those who are full of the wrath of Yahveh, the rebuke of your God. 21 So hear this now, afflicted and drunken one (but not from wine). 22 Thus says your Lord, Yahveh, and your God pleads the cause of his people: “Watch! I have taken from your hand the cup of stumbling. You will not drink again from that glass, the cup of my wrath; no longer. 23 And I will put it in the hand of your tormenters, who have said to your soul ‘Bow down so that we may walk all over you!’ And you have made your back flat like the ground, and like the street for those who wanted to walk all over you.”

false hopes replaced

Isaiah’s Jerusalem had trusted in two false hopes, which have led to disaster for them. First, they had assumed that if they did what the neighbouring nations did, it would lead to peace. No, peace does not come from that kind of unity. Peer pressure leads to sin, and sin leads to judgment. Secondly, they had assumed that no matter how corrupt this generation becomes, there would always be strength to recue them in the next generation. Wrong again. Jerusalem ended up bereft of an entire generation of would-be rescuers.

Isaiah tells this beaten down people to look up. There is still a true hope to replace those false hopes. It is God himself. He will rescue his people from the consequences of their own sin and short-sightedness.

LORD, we see all around us evidence of the devastation caused by our assumptions. Forgive us, and rescue us. We choose to trust in you.

Posted in dependence upon God, sin, slavery, suffering, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

four looks at God

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (25)Isaiah 51:12-16

12 I — I am He — your encourager, Who are you — and you are afraid of man? he dies! And of Adam’s son — he is made of grass! 13 And you forget Yahveh your maker, who stretches out the skies, and creates the land, And you are continually afraid all day long, because of the fury of your oppressor, because he has gotten ready to destroy you. But where is the fury of that oppressor? 14 The exile is in a hurry to be set free, and he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking. 15 And I am Yahveh your God, calming the sea, when its billows roar, Yahveh of Armies is his name. 16 And I put my words in your mouth, and with the shadow of my hand have covered you, to plant the skies, and to establish the land, and to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’

four looks at God

Isaiah sees a cowering, discouraged people, and urges them to look at their LORD. Yahveh is their encourager, their maker, their God, and the mover of armies. If he can just get his people to concentrate on who God is instead of seeing only the things they are choosing to fear, he knows that they can be released from the paralysis of fear.

We have been told by so many people with good intentions that theology does not matter. When we are in bondage to fear, theology matters. What we know about God, and how we view God makes a vital difference in our ability to rise above our problems and have hope for a different future. Study theology. See who God really is, and it will make a difference.

LORD, give us the wisdom to look closely at who you are, so that we can overcome our discouragement and fear.

Posted in fear, hope, theology | Tagged | Leave a comment

the really permanent things

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (24)Isaiah 51:6-11

6 Lift your eyes to the skies and stare at the ground under you; because those skies will disappear like smoke, and that ground will wear out like clothing, and those who live on it will die just like that; but my deliverance will be permanent, and my righteous ones will never have to worry. 7 Listen to me, you who are aware of that righteousness, you people who have my instruction in your heart; don’t be afraid of those human critics, and don’t worry about their disrespectful words. 8 Because a moth will devour them like clothing; a worm will devour them like wool, but my righteous ones will be permanent, and my deliverance will last through all generations. 9 Wake up! wake up; get strong, arm of Yahveh! wake up like you did in the old days, those generations a long time back! Are you not the same one who cut Rahab in pieces, the one who pierced the sea-dragon? 10 Are you not the one who dried up a sea, huge deep waters, the one who turned the deep sea into a road for those you rescued to cross over? 11 In the same way, the Yahveh’s rescued ones will return, and they will come to Zion with singing, and with permanent joy resting on top of them. Joy and gladness will reach them, and sorrow and depression will run away!

the really permanent things

Isaiah’s countrymen thought there were three things that were permanent: skies above, the ground below, and the disrespect of the nations around them. But he told them to look again. The skies will not last. The ground will wear out, and those powerful nations will some day have to take back their criticism. Because God is going to rescue his people, once again – the way he rescued them from Egypt. One day the rescued will return to Zion singing and with their joy restored – permanently.

Isaiah’s challenge is for us as well. The Lord wants us to take another look at all the things we think are permanent in this age. The really permanent things are God’s word and his will. Some day everyone will know that. But you and I are challenged to live it today.

LORD, we wait for your permanent rescue, and we refuse to believe in all these temporary things. We choose to trust you and your word.

Posted in deliverance, restoration, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

look to that rock

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

June 2015 (23)Isaiah 51:1-5

1 “Listen to me, you who are pursuing righteousness, who are seeking Yahveh. Look to that rock from whom you were hewn, and to that deep pit from whom you were quarried. 2 Pay close attention to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. Because I called him when he was one but I blessed him and made him numerous.” 3 Because Yahveh will comfort Zion; he will comfort all its sites of ruins. And he will remake its wilderness like Eden, and its desert like the garden of Yahveh. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and a sound of song. 4 “Listen attentively to me, my people, and my nation, listen to me! Because an instruction will go out from me, and I will cause my justice to rest for a light on peoples. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge peoples. Coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they wait.

look to that rock

In the Ben Affleck movie Paycheck, the hero of the film wakes to find his memories erased, and people are out to get him. His only help is found in a package he has sent to himself, with a bunch of odd trinkets and clues. But these clues are his way out of his problems. I could not help but think of that when I read today’s text. The Israelites are in terrible danger of defeat and destruction. Isaiah tells them that their only hope is the one thing they have left – a relationship with God. Their heavenly Father brought them up from one man, whom he called to himself and made into a numerous nation. Now, he is asking them to trust in him. He is asking us to do the same thing.

LORD, give us the wisdom to use the one thing we have that cannot be taken from us, to pursue your righteousness and deliverance.

Posted in dependence upon God, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in commitment, persecution, perseverance, suffering, wisdom | Tagged | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in obedience, witness | Tagged | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in deliverance, dependence upon God, hope | Tagged | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in atonement, faithfulness, Jesus Christ, restoration | Tagged | Leave a comment

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.

Posted in commitment, obedience, plan of God | Tagged | Leave a comment