Devotions

here’s your sign

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 7:10-17

¹⁰ And Yahveh continued to speak to Ahaz, saying, ¹¹ “Ask for a sign for yourself from Yahveh God; make its difficulty deep like Sheol or make its difficulty high as the sky above.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put Yahveh to the test.” ¹³ Then he said, “Hear, house of David! Is it too little for you to tire men out, will you also tire my God out? ¹⁴ For this reason the Lord himself will give all of you a sign. See! the virgin, about to get pregnant and give birth a son, and she will call his name ‘God with us.’ ¹⁵ He will eat curds and honey until he knows to reject the wrong and to choose the right. ¹⁶ Because before the boy knows to reject the wrong and to choose the right, the ground which you are fearing will be abandoned by the faces of her two kings” ¹⁷ “Yahveh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father days that have not happened since the day Ephraim defected from Judah: the king of Assyria.”

here’s your sign

Perhaps Ahaz thought he was being noble when he refused to ask God for a sign. Yahveh thought differently. He said that he was getting tired of Ahaz and all of Judah trying to figure things out on their own. So, he decided to give them a sign anyway. Ahaz and Judah, here’s your sign. Imagine the virgin, a constellation in the night sky. She is about to give birth to her son, and he will be called Immanuel: God with us. But before this young man is even weaned, a threat is going to come upon you that makes the current threat of Israel and Aram seem like a walk in the park. The world-shattering invasion of Assyria is coming.

One of the important messages in this passage is this: Ahaz was too busy fighting his personal fears that he did not take time to stop and ask God for help. That was a big mistake. If Ahaz were wise, he would have been spending more time in the prayer room than in the war room. He would have been bothering Isaiah for signs from God all the time. But Ahaz was not wise. He failed to keep in touch with his God, so he was not prepared to deal with the real threat to him and his people.

Another message in this passage is that the virgin that the stars proclaimed would – and did give birth to Immanuel. God walked among the people of Judah just a few centuries after Isaiah predicted it. And, just like Ahaz, the mighty and powerful ignored that too.

LORD, thank you for the sign. We see you caring enough about us to send your son, and you walked among us in him. Give us the wisdom to follow him, and stop trying to fight your battle in our strength alone.

Posted in Christmas, dependence upon God, Jesus Christ, trust | Tagged Isaiah 7 | Leave a comment

two stumps of smoldering residue

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 7:1-9

¹ This happened in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against her. But he was not able to fight against her. ² When it was reported to the house of David, saying “Aram stands by Ephraim,” his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the forest trees because of wind. ³ Then Yahveh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the channel of the upper pool on washer’s field highway. ⁴ And you must say to him, ‘Be guarded and be quiet! You must not fear, and your heart must not be weak because of these two stumps of smoldering residue, because of the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Aram has plotted evil against you with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, and let us break through her for ourselves and let us install the son of Tabeel king in her midst.” ⁷ Thus says the Lord Yahveh, “The plan will not stand, and it will not happen. ⁸ Because the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be too broken apart to be a people. ⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe this, you will not endure to see it.”

two stumps of smoldering residue

What Ahaz and the rest of the nation of Judah saw was different than what God saw. They saw neighboring nations plotting an unstoppable attack that would destroy Judah entirely. God saw two stumps smoking, but not enflamed, because they were going out. Isaiah encouraged his king to trust in what God sees, because what God sees is what is going to happen.

It is very easy to be paralyzed by what we think is going to happen. Sometimes our fears are appropriate, but even when that is the case, we should trust that God will bring us through the worst, and not allow us to be overcome by it.

LORD, forgive us for only seeing the worst, and not choosing to trust you. Give us a vision of your reality that sees all the way to eternity. Help us to trust you during the hard times, because we can see them as temporary, you want to bring us through them, taking us into the time of permanent joy.

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a futile mission

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 6:9-13

⁹ And he said, “Go and say to this people, ‘Keep on listening and do not comprehend! And keep on looking and do not understand!’ ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and its mind comprehend and turn back, so it may be restored to him.” ¹¹ Then I asked, “Until when, Lord?” And he said, “Until cities lie ruined without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a destroyed wasteland, ¹² and Yahveh sends the people far away, and the desertion is great in the midst of the land. ¹³ And when a tenth is still in her, then she will leave again and she will be to burn like terebinth or like oak, which although felled, a tree stump is left among them. Her stump is a holy seed.

a futile mission

When we were first ordained as missionaries with Advent Christian General Conference, Penny and I were sent to teach at Oro Bible College in the Philippines. We knew about the school, and we had every reason to believe that we could make a difference in that context. Thirteen years later, we left with the realization that we did make a difference, and that now there are hundreds of believers who are established in their Christian lives and ministries as a result of our following the call.

Isaiah would have a tremendous impact on the world. His written words would reverberate throughout history, proclaiming God’s truth, and calling on the world to see God’s holiness as he did, and accept his coming Messiah. But Isaiah’s mission was a bust from the beginning. God did not just warn Isaiah that he would have setbacks. God told him up front, during his mission orientation, that the whole mission would be a failure. Judah and Jerusalem would not listen to him.

Naturally, Isaiah wanted to know how long he would have to wait until he started seeing results. The Lord responded with predictions of disaster, exile, and the land being reduced to a deserted wasteland. He told Isaiah that the whole tree would be chopped down, and that he was going to bring new holy life out of the stump. It would be the words of Isaiah and the other writing prophets which would sustain the new life of that stump.

LORD, we accept your call, and agree to your terms. We leave the results to you. We trust that what we do for you will make a difference in the lives of others. But we choose to trust your call instead of seeking evidence of our own fruitfulness.

Posted in faithfulness, missions, obedience, trust | Tagged Isaiah 6 | Leave a comment

eyes and lips

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 6:1-8

¹ In the year of the death of the king Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and elevated throne, and the train of his robe filling the temple. ² Seraphs standing above him: six wings — six wings for each. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And this one called to that one and said, “Holy, holy, holy, Yahveh of armies! His glory is the fullness of all the land. ⁴ And every cubit of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house was full of smoke. ⁵ And I said, “I am doomed! Because I am going to be silenced, because I, a man unclean of lips and I, living in the very heart and midst of a people unclean of lips … because my eyes have seen the king, Yahveh of armies!” ⁶ Then he flew to me — one of the seraphs, and in his hand a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ And he touched my mouth, and he said, “See! This has touched your lips and has removed your guilt, and your sin is atoned for.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom should I send? And who will go for us?” And I am saying, “See me! Send me!”

eyes and lips

The story of Isaiah’s dramatic life-change is told with reference to his eyes and his lips. His eyes see Yahveh in all his glory, a glory which Isaiah recognizes is the fullness of the land – it is everything. Isaiah’s eyes see the temple house shaking, and smoke everywhere. His natural response to all this display of power is to presume that his number is up . He assumes that all this is to announce that he is going to be killed.

I think that Isaiah had already been a professional prophet, but he had been a false one. He had spent his life up to that point saying what he thought people wanted to hear. Now, he sees Yahveh of armies and in contrast to that pure holiness he sees the ugliness of his lips. He is overwhelmed not just with his unworthiness, but with the rightness of his own death. He pronounces his first true prophetic utterance: a woe upon himself, for his hypocrisy.

Then, everything changes. An angelic being takes a coal from the fire (the cause of the smoke) and touches Isaiah’s lips with it, pronouncing his sin as atoned for. The LORD was not visiting Isaiah in judgment, but in forgiveness. Isaiah experiences purity for the first time. His lips are now clean, and he hears himself volunteering to go on a mission! That is how the process works.

LORD, come to our unclean lips. Show us your holiness, cleanse us by the blood of Christ, and send us on our mission for you. See us! Send us!

Posted in forgiveness, hypocrisy, missions, sanctification | Tagged Isaiah 6 | Leave a comment

It comes quickly, swiftly!

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 5:25-30

²⁵ For this reason the anger of Yahveh became hot against his people, and he stretched out his hand against it and struck it and the mountains quaked, and their corpse became like refuse in the middle of the streets. ²⁶ And he will raise a signal among nations from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly! ²⁷None is weary, and none among him stumbles; none slumbers and none sleeps. And no loincloth on his waist is opened, and no thong of his sandals is drawn away. ²⁸ Whose arrows are sharp, and all of his bows are bent. The hoofs of his horses are strong as flint, and his wheels roar like the storm wind. ²⁹His roaring like the lion, and he roars like young lions. And he growls and seizes his prey, and he carries off, and not one can rescue. ³⁰ And he will roar over him on that day like sea roaring, and when one looks to the land, see! Darkness! Distress! And light is growing dark with its clouds.

It comes quickly, swiftly!

The picture that Isaiah paints with his words is of an advancing army that is so strong and unified that nothing is going to stop it. Not one soldier is lagging back. Not one soldier has to stop to tie his shoe, or take a leak. The sound of this coming onslaught is like the roar of a storm wind, and also like the roar of a hungry lion. The invading army is so dense that all one can see when they look in their direction is a dark cloud, and that darkness is getting nearer and nearer.

Sinner, you need to see God’s judgment like that. If you have not made your peace with God in this life, he is not going to meet you as a glowing light, but as a growing darkness. Your destiny will not be eternal life, but eternal death. Hell is real, and it awaits all those whose name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is Jesus, and he know who is his.

Isaiah warned his people that God’s judgment was coming swiftly and quickly. That judgment could not be escaped. But the good news of the gospel for you is that hell can be escaped. Jesus is the way to the Father, and the way out of his judgment.

LORD, lead us all to trust in Christ, your way of deliverance and protection from the second death in Hell.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment, repentance | Tagged Isaiah 5 | Leave a comment

“let him hurry his work”

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 5:18-24

¹⁸Oy! Those who drag iniquity along with the cords made of lies and sin as with rope of the cart, ¹⁹ those who say, “Let him be quick; let him hurry his work so that we may see it and let it draw near and let the plan of the holy one of Israel come so that we may know you are right!” ²⁰Oy! Those who call evil good and good evil, those who exchange darkness for light and light for darkness, those who exchange bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! ²¹Oy! wise in their own eyes and have understanding before their own faces. ²² Oy! Heroes at drinking wine, and experts at mixing strong drink! ²³Those who acquit the guilty because of a bribe and remove justice from an innocent one. ²⁴For this reason as the fire’s tongue devours the stubble, and dry grass disintegrates in flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom be blown away like dust. Because they have rejected the instruction of Yahveh of armies, and they have treated the word of the holy one of Israel with contempt.

“let him hurry his work”

The arrogance of Isaiah’s audience is seen in this statement from their mouths. In essence, they were demanding that the LORD prove his power by going ahead and doing all the terrible things he said he was about to do. They were telling God to give them his best shot.

Sometimes the sinner consoles himself with thoughts like this. He thinks that if there is any truth to all this God stuff, he’ll believe it when he sees it. God should go ahead and commence smiting.

Oh, sinner, you do not want that. If you are well today, you do not want that loving fence of protection from the Almighty to be turned off and removed. Untold horrors await those who refuse his love, and will experience only his wrath.

Come to Christ today. Seek his forgiveness and his holiness. The fact is, the LORD has already hurried his work of judgment, and he placed all that judgment upon Christ. Christ has taken that judgment so you and I can be spared, but that blessing is only for those who seek refuge in Christ.

LORD, hurry your work of forgiveness and grace in our lives. We do not have to see hell in order to know that we do not want to experience it.

Posted in atonement, destruction in hell, judgment, repentance | Tagged Isaiah 5 | Leave a comment

what Yahveh is doing

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 5:8-17

⁸Oy! Those who touch house with house, they join field together with field until there is no space left and you are caused to dwell alone in the midst of the land. ⁹Yahveh of hosts said in my ears: This pile of houses is becoming a desolation, large and beautiful but without inhabitant. ¹⁰ Because ten acres of vineyard will yield one bath,[1] and a homer[2] of seed will yield an ephah.[3] ¹¹Oy! Those who rise early in the morning, they chase strong drink. Those who linger in the evening, wine inflames them. ¹² And lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine will be their feasts, but they do not look at what Yahveh is doing, and they do not see the work of his hands. ¹³ For this reason my people will go into exile without being aware of why, their noble class will become men of hunger, and their masses will become parched with thirst. ¹⁴ For this reason Sheol has enlarged its throat, and it has opened wide its mouth without limit, and her dignitary will go down, and her common crowd, her drunken brawler and those who noisily party in her. ¹⁵ And Adam is bowed down, and man is brought low, and proud eyes are humiliated. ¹⁶ But Yahveh of armies is exalted by justice, and the holy God shows himself holy by righteousness. ¹⁷ And then a lamb will be tended like they are in their pasture, and fatlings, kids will eat among the sites of ruins.

what Yahveh is doing

Isaiah describes an industrious, growing and socially dynamic community. But the community has lost sight of what God is doing, and it will be their undoing. Humiliation, exile, devastation, depopulation and death are what God has in store for this people. The noise of continuous parties is going to be replaced by sheep and goats grazing in the ruins of a deserted city. “Surely you exaggerate, Isaiah! That could never happen to us!”

Sinner, look at all the great things that you enjoy. Do you realize how easily and swiftly all those things can be wiped away? In fact, if you look closely, you can probably see — even now — some signs of what the LORD of armies is doing behind the scenes of your life. Some of your hopes are not being met; some of your dreams seem like the are not going to become reality. What if these are not just bad luck. What if God himself is trying to get your attention!

LORD, we will not turn our eyes from what you are doing. Restore us by your grace.

[1] A bath is about 6 gallons or 22 liters of liquid.

[2] A homer is about 6 bushels or 220 liters.

[3] An ephah is about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters.

Posted in destruction in hell, protection, repentance | Tagged Isaiah 5 | Leave a comment

the vineyard of Yahveh of armies

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 5:1-7

¹ Let me sing for my loved one a song of my love concerning his vineyard: A vineyard was for my loved one on a horn[1] full of olive oil. ² And he dug it and cleared it of stones, and he planted it, a choice vine, and he built a watchtower in the middle of it, and he even dug out a wine vat in it, and he waited for grapes to come– but it yielded wild grapes. ³ And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more could I do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I expect grapes to come, and it yielded wild grapes? ⁵ So, now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard: remove its hedge, and it will become a wreckage, break down its wall, and it will become a stomping place. ⁶ And I will make it a wasteland; it will not be pruned and hoed, and it will become overgrown with brier and thorn bush. And I will prevent the clouds from sending rain down upon it. ⁷ Because the vineyard of Yahveh of armies is the house of Israel, and the man from Judah the crop that he enjoys. He waited for justice,[2] but see what came! Bloodshed![3] He waited for righteousness,[4] but see what came! A cry of distress![5]

the vineyard of Yahveh of armies

Isaiah calls God Yahveh of armies 520 times. It is a picture of the LORD as one who commands the armies of both angels and men. It describes God as a mighty warrior. But here Isaiah speaks of this warrior God as if he had a side-job as a gentle farmer. The warrior God planted a vineyard and waited patiently for the fruit to develop on the vines. He used his awesome power to create a hedge around his vineyard, protecting it from intruders and disease, so that its growth would not be hindered.

But then the unthinkable happened. The fruit that developed on the vines was the wrong fruit. So, even though the house of Israel is Yahveh’s vineyard, and the man from Judah is his preferred crop, he will removed his protection and let the vineyard be taken back by the elements and intruders. The farmer will revert to warrior, and this time his warfare will be aimed at his own failed vineyard.

Oh sinner, you have enjoyed the protection of an invisible farmer all your life. But at some point this patient farmer will take a good look at the fruit you have been developing on your vines. He wants to see justice and righteousness. And if he does not, he has another option. He can remove your protection. The farmer is still the warrior. He is still Yahveh of armies. Come to him in repentance while his protective hand is still on you. You do not want to experience his hand of warfare.

LORD, forgive us for producing the wrong fruit. Cleans us with the atoning blood of Christ, and make us fruitful for his kingdom.

[1] a symbol for a hill, the word horn sounds like the word vineyard in Hebrew.

[2] Hebrew: mishpat.

[3] Hebrew: mishpach.

[4] Hebrew: tsedaqah.

[5] Hebrew: tsa`aqah.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment, protection, repentance | Tagged Isaiah 5 | Leave a comment

seven brides for one brother

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 4:1-6

¹ And seven women will clutch onto one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own clothing; only let your name be called upon us. Remove our disgrace!” ² On that day the branch of Yahveh will become beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of what remains of Israel. ³ And this will happen: He who is left in Zion and he who remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone prescribed for life in Jerusalem, ⁴when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by a breath of judgment and by a breath of burning. ⁵ Then Yahveh will create over all of the mountain of Zion and over her assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the brightness of flaming fire at night. Indeed, over everything glorious he will create a canopy, ⁶ and it will be a shelter for shade from heat by day, and a refuge and a hiding place from rainstorm and from rain.

seven brides for one brother

Isaiah had predicted a great judgment that would fall on Jerusalem. But in this short chapter, he provides a glimpse of God’s protecting grace in the midst of that firestorm. The imagery shows that even while the burning heat and the engulfing rain are still doing their destruction, the glorious thing which remains will be preserved miraculously by a canopy of cloud and smoke and fire. This harkens back to God’s guiding column of cloud and fire in the wilderness on the way to the promised land. That column had also once served as a barrier, protecting the Israelites from the charging Egyptians.[1] The LORD is promising protection for the righteous that survive, even while he is predicting destruction of those who will not. There will be a terrible judgment, and it will deplete the male population such that seven women will pursue one man, seeking a polygamous relationship because there are so few men left. They will have become widowed presumably due to war.

Both the horror and the comfort of this text are from God. He sends the firestorm, and only he will send the protection for those who make it through it. Such is the case in the world we live in as well. Our God is the author of hell, and the one who promises escaping it in eternal life.

LORD, rescue us with your delivering power, and make us the glorious thing that remains, protected from your righteous judgment to come.

{for another interesting take on this passage, see http://growinggodlyseed.com/eating-bread/}

[1] Exodus 14:19-20.

Posted in destruction in hell, glory, holiness, protection | Tagged Isaiah 4 | Leave a comment

a stink instead of perfume

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 3:18-26

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the fine clothes: the anklets and the headbands and the crescent necklaces, ¹⁹ the pendants and the bracelets and the veils, ²⁰ the headdresses and the armlets and the sashes, and the boxes of fresh breath[1] and the amulets, ²¹ the signet rings and the nose rings, ²² the festal robes and the mantles, and the cloaks and the handbags, ²³ and the mirrors and the linen garments, and the turbans and the wraps. ²⁴ And the result will be: There will be a stink instead of perfume, and a rope instead of a sash, and baldness instead of a well-set hairdo, and a clothing wrap of sackcloth instead of a rich robe, branding instead of beauty. ²⁵ Your men will fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle. ²⁶ And her gates will lament and mourn, and she will be banished; she will sit on the ground.

a stink instead of perfume

Isaiah is talking about the city of Jerusalem and describing her as a woman, fully decked out in all the finery of his day. But God is going to take it all away, and substitute the baldness of disease, the branding of slavery, the sackcloth of poverty, and the stink of neglect. All of that extraneous stuff was a gift from God. But when God is ignored, he sometimes has to strip us of those blessings before we can realize what we have done.

If you are blessed today, praise God for it. But remember that all that stuff is from him, and he is free to remove it. What is left when the stuff goes?

LORD, make our lives virtuous, and a sweet smelling, even when all the extraneous stuff is taken away.

[1] i.e. perfume.

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