Devotions

when running away is wrong

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 30:15-18

¹⁵ Because the Lord Yahveh, the holy one of Israel, said this: “By returning and resting you will be delivered; your strength will be shown by quietness and by trust.” But you were not willing, ¹⁶ and you said, “No! because we plan to run away by horse!” For this reason, you will run away! And, “We will escape by fast horse!” For this reason, your pursuers will be fast! ¹⁷ One thousand of you will run from the face of one opponent, from the face of five opponents you will flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill. ¹⁸ For this reason, Yahveh waits to show grace to you, and for this reason he will rise up to show you mercy, because Yahveh is a just God; all those who wait for him will be blessed.

when running away is wrong

The inhabitants of Judah had an escape plan. They did not much trust the prophets, who kept telling them that they were doomed to face invading armies because of their rebellion against God. But, just in case the prophets turned out to be right, they had a plan B. They had fast horses tethered up outside their homes, ready for a quick departure. But God knew all about their escape plans. He had invading armies, with equally fast horses, ready to hunt them down. Isaiah tells this people that the only safety they can find is not in running away, but in returning to Yahveh, and resting faithfully in the covenant they had rejected.

Ultimately, judgment will come on this entire planet. What is your escape plan? There is only one way to escape God’s judgment and destruction in hell. The Fast horse is not. The fast car is not it. Being good is not it. Return to God, and his covenant, paid for by the blood of Christ. Wait on God to rescue you.

LORD, we surrender our plans for survival. We have decided to give your plan a go.

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smashed

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 30:12-14

¹²For this reason, the holy one of Israel says this: “Because you sit there rejecting this word and you trust in oppression and wrongdoing and you rely on it, ¹³ for this reason, injustice will come for you like a breach about to fall, bulging out on a high wall whose breaking comes suddenly, just like that. ¹⁴ And he breaks it like a container which its creator breaks, it is crushed; he has no compassion, and nothing usable found among its fragments for the taking away of fire from a fireplace, or for the collecting of water from a well.”

smashed

Isaiah had just given his readers the potter and clay analogy,[1] and he continues to stress the dark side of that metaphor. We are used to hearing the positive side of the metaphor – the fact that we are God’s workmanship. But, here, because we are the creation of a divine creator, Isaiah says he has the right to smash us if we are not serving his purpose. Isaiah inserts this encouraging bit of advice after he had revealed that his listeners are rejecting his words because that are not comfortable with them. They had cried foul when Isaiah dared suggest that their God would judge them instead of the nations around them. Surely, they thought, God would not do that to his own people. But the LORD is not just a God of love, he is also a God of holiness. If his creation does not measure up to his holiness, he is free to smash it and start over.

[1] 29:16.

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speak comfortable things

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 30:6-11

⁶ A parable using the animals of the Negev: From a land of trouble and distress, lioness and lion come, from them snake and flying serpent; they carry their possessions on the male donkeys’ shoulder and their treasures on camels’ hump, to a people who cannot use them. ⁷ And Egypt’s “help” is useless and empty, therefore I have called this one “Rahab — they just sit there.” ⁸ Now go, write it on a tablet for them, and inscribe it on a scroll, and it may be for the distant future. ⁹ Because this is a rebellious people, dishonest children, children not willing to hear the instruction of Yahveh, ¹⁰ who say to those who do see, “You must not see!” and to the seers, “You must not see truth for us; speak comfortable things to us, see illusions, ¹¹ turn aside from that road, turn aside from that path, stop shoving the holy one of Israel in our face.”

speak comfortable things

The inhabitants of Judah wanted desperately to believe that things were going to get better, not worse. They had so convinced themselves that their political solution to their current crisis was going to work, that they issued a gag order to the prophets. The prophets were not allowed to see anything but a loving God who overlooked injustice and sin. They were not allowed to say anything that dared question the political correctness of seeking help from Egypt through a political alliance. Any suggestion that God’s people might be held accountable for their failure to live up to their covenant with Yahveh was strictly censured. Instead, the prophets were expected to speak only the comfortable, positive and encouraging message. So, Isaiah encouraged people to write down his words, because they were God’s words. They might not be accepted for a long time, but someday in the distant future, people would recognize that they were true and proper.

LORD, forgive us for seeking to isolate only the “good parts” of your message. Teach us how to read your word with maturity, and accept it all for our good, and discipline ourselves to live according to the whole truth of it.

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listening to the relics

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 30:1-5

¹ “Oh rebellious children!” (a declaration of Yahveh), “making a plan, but not from me, and pouring out a libation, but not to my Spirit, for the sake of adding sin to sin… ²going to go down to Egypt, but they do not enquire of my mouth, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt. ³ Then the protection of Pharaoh will cause shame to you, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, humiliation. ⁴ Because his officials are at Zoan, and his envoys reach to Hanes. ⁵ Everyone will start to stink because of a people who cannot profit them, not for help and not for profiting, but for shame and also for disgrace.”

listening to the relics

The politicians and strategists in Judah had determined that an alliance with Egypt would help to stabilize the insecure situation. So, they made plans to procure diplomatic relations with that foreign power. But they failed to enquire of the prophets of Yahveh. They assumed that the prophets of Yahveh were relics, religious old timers, who had no real practical advice to give. But Isaiah, one of those relics, told them that the plan was a mistake. Nobody listened, but he was right.

Our generation is just like that. They have a number of prophets who are speaking God’s word, but they have their own plans, and refuse to listen to the relics. Some of those new plans will lead to shame and humiliation for whole societies.

LORD, give us the wisdom to listen to those who are warning us against ignoring or rejecting your word.

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Jacob rolling over in his grave

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 29:20-24

²⁰ Because there will be no more tyrant, and the unbelieving critic will come to an end. And all those lying in wait for evil will be cut off; ²¹ those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the defender in the gate and lead astray the innocent by hypocrisy. ²² For this reason, Yahveh, who redeemed Abraham, says this to the house of Jacob: “Jacob will be ashamed no more, and his face will turn pale no more. ²³Because when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will treat my name as holy, and they will treat the holy one of Jacob as holy, and they will stand fear the God of Israel. ²⁴And those who err spiritually will come to know understanding, and those who complain will learn instruction.

Jacob rolling over in his grave

I come from a Christian tradition that sees death as a period of unconsciousness from which everyone will be awakened at Christ’s return.[1] So, I do not believe that my ancestors are watching me, or are effected by what I say or do. However, that does not stop me from using the expression that “grandpa is rolling over in his grave.” It’s a colorful way of saying that someone’s actions or words are an embarrassment to his or her progenitors. That’s the way Isaiah is speaking here. He’s saying that if Jacob could see what his family has become, he would be extremely ashamed. But if he could see what was going to happen to Israel ultimately, he would be proud.

What is going to happen to stop Jacob from rolling over in his grave? A spiritual revival is going to happen. Tyrants will stop abusing their power for personal gain. Unbelieving critics will stop condemning the faith and the faithful. Those who live for violence will be no more. Those who use their legal or political or religious authority to promote sin and error and take advantage of others will be a thing of the past.

So, the real message Isaiah is teaching is not that people are alive after they die. It is the hope that people can revive spiritually after their society falls deep into sin and shame.

LORD, may this generation see a revival of true faith and holiness, which honors the faith of those who came before us.

[1] for an explanation of this view, see “Did you say ‘sleep’?”

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thinking backwards

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 29:15-19

¹⁵ Oy! Those who make a secret plan, to hide from Yahveh, and what they do is in a dark place. And they say, “Who sees us? And who knows us?” ¹⁶ You have it backwards! As if a pot’s creator is as dumb as the clay he uses! That product says about its maker, “He did not make me,” and a thing made into shape says of its creator “He does not know me.” ¹⁷ In a very short time, will not Lebanon change into a fruitful farmland, and the present fruitful farmland be regarded as forest? ¹⁸ And on that day, those now deaf will hear words from a scroll, and blind eyes will see out of gloom and darkness. ¹⁹ And those who are meek will experience joy in Yahveh, and needy people will celebrate the holy one of Israel.

thinking backwards

Isaiah was addressing a people who currently could pay their own bills, and solve their own problems, so they figured that they could ignore God. Their lives appeared to be under sufficient control that they could imagine a world without a creator. So, they decided to recreate God in their own minds. They imagined a God very much like the gods of the nations around them – a god who is fashioned from wood or stone, incapable of seeing or knowing them. Yes, that will do – a god I can manipulate to accomplish my will, and who cannot see what I do or hear what I think in secret.

Isaiah tells these powerful people that they are idiots. They have it totally backwards. In reality, we human beings are the clay, and God created, and is creating – us. Isaiah reminds the people who have their lives under control that God is the one who is really in control. If there is any changing or manipulating of this world, the LORD is the one who is going to do it. To illustrate that, Isaiah reminds them how quickly God can change a forest into farmland, and vice-versa. This is the same sovereign God who is now being trusted to make a difference in the lives of his true believers. They may be meek, and blind and deaf now, but they are trusting God is going to change them. These are the ones who are thinking in the right direction.

LORD, we know who you are and how you want to transform us. Keep us from the arrogance of thinking backwards about you.

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theological illiteracy

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 28:10-14

¹⁰ Because Yahveh has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and he has shut your eyes (the prophets) and he has covered your heads(the seers). ¹¹ And this whole vision has become for you like words in a sealed document. When they give it to one who can read a document, saying, “Recite this!” He says, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² And when the document is given to someone who cannot read, saying, “Recite this now!” he says, “I cannot read a document! ¹³ And the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with its mouth, and with its lips it honors me, and its heart is far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught, ¹⁴ for this reason, see, I am again doing something spectacular and a spectacle with this spectacular people. And the wisdom of its wise men will disappear, and the discernment of its discerning ones will keep itself hidden.”

theological illiteracy

Penny and I recently had a meeting with a missions consultant, who was bringing us up to speed on what was happening in an Asian country he had just visited. While there, he had been in a planning meeting with a mission, who had printed out a detailed budget for their organization, and went over each line with him. But he was in need of a translator, who could read each line, and tell him what each line said. Then, he wrote that English translation in the margins beside each line, so he could report it with us. Without those translated notes, the document would have been meaningless to us.

That was essentially the role of prophets in Isaiah’s day. They were the translators, serving as the eyes and ears of God’s people, explaining what God wanted, and letting the people know when they were straying from God’s standards. But, since the society had rebelled, their prophets had ceased to do that. God’s word and will had become an unreadable document. God was about to do something amazing, but Judah would be oblivious to it, because they could not read him. Their sin had made them theologically illiterate.

LORD, restore our sight and hearing. We confess that our sinful lives have made us incapable of understanding your word, and discerning your will. Restore us, so that we can bring our societies back from the darkness.

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judgment from the other side

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 29:6-10

⁶You will be punished by Yahveh of armies with thunder and earthquake and great sound, storm wind and hurricane and a flame of a devouring fire. ⁷ And the accumulation of all the nations who fight against Ariel, all those who fight her and her stronghold, and those who inflict her will be like a dream, a night time vision. ⁸ And it will be like when the hungry person dreams—see him eating! Then he wakes up and his insides are empty. Or like when the thirsty person dreams—see him drinking! And he wakes up and see him parched, and his insides are longing for water. So will be the accumulation of all the nations who fight against Mount Zion. ⁹ Be incredulous and be amazed! Blind yourselves and be blinded! They are drunk but it is not wine; they stagger but it is not strong drink.

judgment from the other side

Isaiah’s audience had heard his ranting so much that they had tuned him out. They did not take his words seriously any more than their own nightmares. They might be frightened by a bad dream, but then when they woke up and everything was OK, the dream would be quickly forgotten. Likewise, they had learned to pretty much ignore Isaiah’s words. They were scary sometimes, but they would not amount to anything.

So, Isaiah tells the people what is going on in the minds of their coming invaders. The mass of invaders will soon attack and overpower them. Their campaign to overcome and enslave Judah will run so smoothly, it will be like a dream. Then, one day, they themselves will be conquered, and Judah will be free again. The whole invasion will be like a sudden hurricane, which does massive damage, but that damage will be repaired, and it will be like the storm never happened. Their whole invasion will be reflected on as if it were a bad dream.

There are two things that Isaiah is trying to get across to this insensitive people. God’s judgment is going to happen because his people deserve it. God is faithful to his word. But God’s faithfulness to his word also means that he will restore them. There will be a people left who will see that judgment from the other side, the restoration side.

This generation has tuned out the prophets of coming judgment. They do not want to hear about God’s wrath against sin. They want to erase hell. They never consider God as a God of armies who might even use war to get his people’s attention. Their god is all about peace and prosperity. To this generation, Isaiah declares that the nightmare is coming. See you on the other side.

LORD, forgive us for ignoring the message throughout most of your word. Teach us to take you seriously – not just the God of grace, but also the God of judgment.

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a ghost’s whisper

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 29:1-5

¹ Oy! Ariel, Ariel, city where David encamped! Keep on, year after year, let your festivals recur. ² But I will keep inflicting Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation, and I will consider it like a bloody altar.[1] ³And I will encamp like a sphere against you, and I will lay siege to you with a tower, and I will raise up siege works against you. ⁴Then you will be low; you will speak from ground level, and your word will be low, from dust. And your voice will be from the ground, like a ghost, and your word will be a whisper from dust. ⁵ And the mass of your invading foreigners residing in you will be like fine dust, and the mass of tyrants ruling over you like chaff that blows by. And this will happen in an instant, suddenly.

a ghost’s whisper

The inhabitants of Isaiah’s Jerusalem prided themselves on the importance of their city. It was the mighty city where David had encamped. They celebrated their importance regularly with festivals. When a politician from Jerusalem spoke, people listened, because it was always considered a message from a higher-up. But Isaiah broke the spell of their arrogance and self-importance. He told them that God considered that great city an altar for a bloody sacrifice. He told them that he was going to surround them and bring them down. Their mighty voice would be reduced to a ghost’s whisper. It would be a voice from the ground; people will say “Did I hear something?” And the foreign invaders will overwhelm that great city and be everywhere, like the dust, or like the chaff blowing around at harvest.

Why would God treat his own city like that? Because he abhors pride and pretense. Our generation needs to understand this, because we honor the celebrities who think they are better than everyone else. We feed on their words as if they are coming from a higher place. Is it any wonder that so many of those celebrities turn out to be dirt bags? We need leaders who dare to speak God’s words to the needy world around them. We need to follow those who are humbly following Christ.

LORD, give us wisdom to listen to the voices who speak for you. Keep us from the pride and pretense that was Jerusalem’s undoing.

[1] “A bloody altar” is another possible meaning of the name “Ariel.”

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the right way

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 28:23-29

²³ Pay attention, and listen to my voice! Listen alertly, and hear my word! ²⁴ Does the plowman plow all day at planting time – while the land is open to sow seed, does he still harrow his ground? ²⁵Once he has flattened the ground’s face does he not scatter dill, and sow cumin seed, and put wheat in a planted row, and barley in an appointed place, and spelt grain for its border? ²⁶ And his God instructs him, teaching him about the right way to do this. ²⁷Because dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a wheel of a utility cart turned over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. ²⁸ Grain is crushed fine, but definitely one does not thresh it forever; and one drives the wheel of his cart, but his horses do not crush it. ²⁹This also comes forth from Yahveh of armies. He gives wonderful advice; he produces much wisdom.

the right way

Isaiah had been called to share the word of God to a stubborn people who would not accept it. He had just told them that the very foundation stone of God’s way to deliverance would be rejected by his people. Now, hoping against hope, he pleads with them not to do this. He uses the analogy of a farmer, plowing all through planting season. It is work, but it is not the right work to accomplish the task. If you keep plowing and never plant, you will never have a harvest. If you harvest with the wrong tools, you ruin your crop. Isaiah pleaded with his generation to trust that God knows the means of his own plan for deliverance.

Ultimately, many in Isaiah’s nation chose to reject Christ, the son of the virgin, when he appeared centuries later. A remnant recognized who this man, Jesus, was. He is God’s plan “A” for delivering his people, and there is no plan “B.” Even today, all over this planet, there are people busy plowing who do not realize it is planting time. Their souls can never produce the righteousness and peace they seek. They have rejected the one way – the right way. Perhaps they think their way is more logical, or more practical, but it is neither. Only God’s way brings results.

LORD, forgive us for trusting in ourselves. Show us how to trust in Jesus, your way to bring righteousness and peace to this planet.

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