skipping feet and tinkling bells

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

February 2015 (3)

Isaiah 3:13-17

13 Yahveh takes his stand to conduct a legal case and takes his stand to judge peoples. 14 Yahveh enters into judgment with the elders of his people and its princes. “And you! You have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor in your houses! 15 Why are you crushing my people and grinding the poor face?” – This is a declaration of the Lord Yahveh of armies. 16 And Yahveh said: “The reason for this is that the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and they walk with outstretched neck, and they give flirting glances with their eyes, they go walking and skipping along and they tinkle with bells on their feet.” 17 The Lord will make the head of these daughters of Zion scabby, and Yahveh will lay their foreheads bare.”

skipping feet and tinkling bells

Isaiah describes the elders and leaders of Judah as arrogant daughters who flirt about with skipping feet, bells on them to ring as they skip, drawing attention to themselves. Yahveh says that he will turn their beauty into ugliness, and stop their flirting. Partly, the flirting was with other nations and their gods. God is jealous over a people who claim to be his but are always flirting with the gods of other lands. But the leaders are also drawing attention away from Yahveh and onto themselves – as if they are a reason to be proud, or a solution to the society’s problems.

God’s leaders must lead in humility. We must dare to draw attention away from ourselves, and toward God. We must avoid the temptation to flaunt and flirt.

LORD, forgive us for our failed leadership. Teach us how to show others the way to you without stealing the show ourselves.

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The look on their faces

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

February 2015 (2)

Isaiah 3:8-12

8 Because Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen because of what they say and what they do against Yahveh, defying the eyes of his glory. 9 The look on their faces testifies against them and they reveal their sin like Sodom; they do not hide. Woe to their soul! Because they have dealt out evil to themselves. 10 Tell a righteous one “Good!, because they are eating the fruit of their actions. 11 Warn a wicked one “Bad! because what his hands do will be done to him. 12 My people–children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, your leaders are misleading, and they confuse the course of your paths.

The look on their faces

Isaiah’s society was breaking down before his eyes. He could see the sin and defiance on the faces of the people, but they refused to accept it. They had produced a land full of oppression, greed and violence but no one was telling them that there would be judgment upon them for it. The leaders were all filling them with positive and encouraging words. The paths of the people were all twisted and confused, but nobody dared to say that.

Look at the faces of the people around you. Is there remorse? Is there a feeling of impending danger because of the sin and sorrow we are causing?

LORD, we see the looks on the faces of those around us. We fear for our generation. Give us the courage to lead this generation away from sin and back to you.

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when the stuff goes

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

February 2015 (1)

Isaiah 3:1-7

1 Because, see the Lord Yahveh of armies, removing supplies and more supplies from Jerusalem and from Judah: all supplies of bread and all supplies of water, 2 warrior and man of war, judge and prophet, and diviner and elder, 3 captain of fifty and dignitary, and counselor and skillful magicians and skillful enchanter. 4 And I will make boys their princes, and children shall rule over them. 5 And the people will be oppressed man by man, and a man by his neighbor. The boy will storm against the elder, and the dishonorable toward the honorable. 6 Because a man will seize his brother at the house of his father: “Here’s a cloak for you, so you will be a leader for us, and this heap of ruins is under your hand!” 7 He will lift up his voice on that day, saying, “I will not be a restorer; in my house there is no bread and there is no cloak. You can not make me leader of any people!”

when the stuff goes

A society based on the accumulation of stuff will decidedly unravel when the stuff starts to disappear. Isaiah’s Jerusalem had built its leadership on the accumulation of wealth, and Yahveh decided to begin removing the stuff. One of the immediate results would be the loss of leadership. There would be no more ambition to lead because once the motivation of personal gain is gone, potential leaders make themselves scarce. Respect breaks down, and depression and chaos ensues.

LORD, wean us of our dependence upon personal gain. Make us leaders based on our relationship with you, and motivate us with your approval alone.

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ultra-light packs

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (31)

Isaiah 2:17-22

17 And the haughtiness of Adam will be humbled, and the pride of humanity will be brought low, and Yahveh alone will be exalted on that day. 18 And the idols will pass away entirely, 19 and they will enter into caves of rocks and into holes in dirt from the presence of the terror of Yahveh and from the glory of his greatness as he rises to terrify the land. 20 On that day Adam will throw away his idols of silver and its idols of gold, which they made for him to worship, to the rats and to the bats—21 to enter into the crevices of the rocks and into the clefts of the crags from the presence of the terror of Yahveh and from the glory of his greatness as he rises to terrify the land. 22 Stop following Adam, who is only the breath in his nose. What good is he?

ultra-light packs

The more that Penny and I venture out into the wilderness trails, the lighter our packs get. It takes a lot of effort to lug a backpack full of stuff up and down mountains and valleys. So, we have started making tough decisions about what we bring with us. Some of the things we once felt were essential to life are now being left behind. The weight is just not worth it.

Isaiah was trying to get his people to pack for a new day. They had to throw away those things that were part of their Adam existence, but were essentially worthless for the trip into eternity. Idols were top on his leave behind list.

Most of us are not into idol worship today, at least not the statue kind. But we all know that there are some life essentials that we cling to which are not really getting us any closer to God. Time to repack.

LORD, give us the courage to give up those things which are weighting down our packs.

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divine terrorism

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (30)

Isaiah 2:10-16

10 Enter into the cave and hide yourself in the dirt from the presence of the terror of Yahveh and from the glory of his greatness. 11 The eyes of the pride of Adam will be brought low, and the pride of humanity will be humbled, and Yahveh alone will be exalted on that day. 12 Because it will be a day for Yahveh of armies against all proud and lofty and against all that is lifted up and humbled. 13 and against all the lofty and lifted up cedars of Lebanon, and against all the tall trees of Bashan, 14 and against all the mega mountains, and against all the high hills, 15 and against every kind of tall tower, and against every kind of fortified fence, 16 and against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the desirable images.

divine terrorism

The terrorists who destroyed the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York had been taught that they were doing God’s work. The picture of God destroying the high and haughty work of prideful man goes back to passages like this – in fact, back to Babel itself. But Isaiah was not depicting the work of brainwashed religious zealots. He was warning the religious and secular alike that every nation has built mega mountains and tall towers, and he, himself, will tear them down. In the day of God’s vengeance, the high and lofty will look for caves and holes to hide in. Only God will be exalted in that day.

LORD, we humble ourselves before you now, seeking the safety of your will, knowing that no other form of safety is truly safe from your wrath.

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mirror image

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (29)

Isaiah 2:5-9

5 House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Yahveh. 6 Because you have forsaken your people, house of Jacob, because they are full of diviners from east, and soothsayers like the Philistines, and they clap hands with the offspring of foreigners. 7 And its land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to its treasures; and its land is full of horses, and no end is seen of its chariots. 8 Its land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of his hands, to what his fingers have made. 9 And Adam bows down; humanity is enslaved, and you must not lift them up.

mirror image

Isaiah’s people thought of themselves as a lonely island of purity in a sea of pagan filth. Isaiah said. “Really? Have you looked at yourself lately? You are just like the pagans. They are full of witch doctors and animistic practitioners of the magic arts; so are you. They are all about amassing wealth for themselves; look at your piles of silver and gold. They are all about building a war machine so they can kill and enslave other humans; ditto. Look in the mirror.”

We will never know true repentance until we stop believing that we are different from all those evil people out there. Really looking into the mirror means coming to grip with our own depravity and repulsiveness.

LORD, show us our true ugliness, and cleanse us so that we reflect your image, not that of the world around us.

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when these days are past

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (28)

Isaiah 2:1-4

1 What Isaiah son of Amoz saw and wrote concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 And it shall happen when these days are past, when the mountain of the house of Yahveh is established; it will be over the head of the mountains, and it will be raised out of hills. All the Gentiles will travel to him; 3 many peoples will come. And they will say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahveh, to the house of the God of Jacob, and may he teach us from his ways, and let us walk in his paths.” Because instruction will go out from Zion, and the word of Yahveh from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and he will arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plough blades and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation will not lift up a sword against another nation, and they will not learn war again.

when these days are past

Isaiah saw his nation stuck in a society filled with oppression, pride, violence and slavery. He encouraged them to envision future days when God will be put back in his proper place again. His mountain will be the highest, and his teachings will be on everyone’s minds. The oppression and pride of the rich and powerful will be brought down, the violence of warfare will be a thing of the past, and the slavery of fellow human beings a forgotten memory.

Do you dare look into your own future? If you do, you will see that some of the days of Isaiah are still with you. God encourages us to dream about future days, when all those evil things about us are gone, wiped away by his power.

LORD, teach us how to live in our future, when we have been stripped of the things which keep us from your heart.

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ashamed of oaks

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (27)

Isaiah 1:27-31

27 “Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those of her who repent, by righteousness. 28 But rebels and sinners will be destroyed together, and those who forsake Yahveh will perish. 29 Because they will be ashamed of oaks, which you were so pleased with, and you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen. 30 Because you will be like an oak shedding its leaves, and like a garden where there is no water for her. 31 And the strong one will become like kindling, and his work like a spark. And both of them shall burn together, and there is not one to put them out.”

ashamed of oaks

Because the majestic oak trees were prominent in the worship of pagan deities, the LORD through Isaiah predicted that Judah would become ashamed of those oak trees. In fact, they would become like the oaks, who shed their leaves during the Fall season. A season of shedding would come to Judah. The leaves would fall and be gathered to be burned up. The fire would not be put out until it destroyed all those destined for destruction.

The hell that is coming to this world is going to destroy many of the things that the world now glories in. All the sins and sinners that this world has flaunted will be gathered, and there will be no power in the universe which can put that fire out, until it does what it is meant to do. Isaiah encourages us to be ashamed of our sin. If we refuse to come clean with God now, he will come clean of us then.

LORD, we are ashamed of those things in which we have gloried. Forgive us, and cleanse us.

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I will purify your dross

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (26)

Isaiah 1:21-26

21 How did a faithful city become like a whore? She was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. 22 Your silver has become dross; Your wine diluted with water. 23 Your princes rebel and take up with thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after hand-outs. They do not defend an orphan and legally protecting a widow does not occur to them. 24 Therefore, here is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh of armies, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes. 25 And I will turn my hand against you; I will purify your dross like lye cleans, and I will remove all your tin. 26 And I will restore your judges, as at the first, and your counselors, as at the beginning. After this it will be called for you the city of righteousness, faithful city.”

I will purify your dross

The LORD asks “how did this happen?” The once faithful bride has now become an adulterous whore. It is not too hard to see the picture. The question then is, what is God going to do about it. He had already given his city a chance to repent and become clean of her bloody hands. Now, he promises that if she does not get clean that way, he will do it for her. He will purify her dross. The picture there is one of smelting ore, removing all its extraneous dross. That is done in a hot furnace. It is a picture of a painful procedure for the city. People will die, devastation and danger will occur. God is serious about restoration.

Ultimately, this is the reason for judgment and hell. God does not turn his back on sin. All the rebellious and sinful must be destroyed. God is going to get rid of the dross. Eternity will not consist of both the good and the evil. Evil will end.

LORD, clean us now by the blood of Christ. We know that hell will put an end to all who are not fit for eternity with you.

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hashing it out with God

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

January 2015 (25)

Isaiah 1:15b-20

15b Your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash up! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your actions from before my eyes! Stop doing evil! 17 Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue an oppressed one! Defend an orphan! Plead for a widow! 18 “Come now, and let us hash this out,” says Yahveh. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they can be white like snow; even though they are red like crimson, they can become like wool. 19 If you are willing and you are obedient, you can eat the good of the land. 20 But if you refuse and you rebel, you will be devoured by a sword. Because the mouth of Yahveh has spoken.”

hashing it out with God

We Christians like to quote verse 18 out of its context a lot. The context in which Isaiah said it is this: Judah had become responsible for the deaths of many people by their corruption and failure to protect the weak ones among them. The poor and widows and orphans were being exploited, and nobody cared. Isaiah told them to look at their bloody hands. God caught them red handed in sinful neglect of justice. They had considered themselves good people. God said, “let’s hash this out. I’ll show you how good you are.”

He wants to do the same thing for us as well. He wants to uncover the nakedness of our own neglect. He wants to show us our red hands. Then, he wants to help us clean up.

LORD, forgive us for neglecting our neglect. Wash us with your redemption, and make us people who love people, and bring the oppressed justice.

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