Devotions

the one you all should fear

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 8:11-17

Because Yahveh said this to me with the strength of the hand resting, and he instructed me against walking in the way of this people, saying, ¹² “You must not call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and you must not fear its fear, and you must not live in dread. ¹³ You should regard Yahveh of armies as holy, and he is the one you all should fear, and he is the one you all should dread. ¹⁴ And he will become like a sanctuary and a stumbling-stone, and like a stumbling-rock for the two houses of Israel, like a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble among them, and they shall fall and they shall be broken, and they shall be ensnared and they shall be caught.” ¹⁶ Bind up this testimony; seal this teaching among my disciples. ¹⁷ And I will wait for Yahveh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will await him.

the one you all should fear

During World War II, president Franklin Roosevelt told the U.S.A. that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. That was not true in the strictest sense. It was a terrible time, and everybody had lots to fear. But it was true in the sense that fear of what might happen was to prove to be a greater enemy that the ones we were fighting.

Isaiah saw all of Judah in terror over the might of Assyria, which he had just described as a mighty flooding river. But then he said that Judah needed to put their fear not on that target, but the one they should fear is God. Yes, the king of Assyria can kill you, but God can destroy you entirely, body and soul, in hell.[1] Also, fearing the mighty Assyrian army is not the solution to the problem. Fearing God is, because it leads to national repentance and restoration by his power.

LORD, remove our fear in everyone else but you.

[1] Matthew 10:28.

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the coming flood

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 8:5-10

⁵ And Yahveh continued to speak to me again, saying, ⁶ “Because this people has refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and enjoys Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷therefore see the Lord bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks. ⁸ And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to neck height. He will reach, and the outspreading of his wings will be the fullness of the breadth of your land, oh God with us.” ⁹ Be broken, peoples, and be disappointed. And listen, all you distant land; gird yourselves and be disappointed; gird yourselves and be disappointed! ¹⁰Plan counsel but it will be frustrated! Speak a message, but it will not stand, because God is with us!

the coming flood

When Penny and I are out hiking on the long trails, we don’t often encounter mighty rivers. We most often encounter gentle streams, and those are the most ideal water sources when you are thirsty. A roaring river is great to look at, but it poses problems when you are trying to fill a water container. So, when we come to a stream, we usually take advantage of it, and fill up our empties. We don’t wait for something bigger. Besides, a stream can be easily crossed, but a river – not so much.

Judah was enjoying the fact that they had just outlived the threat of an invasion by Syria and Israel. They patted themselves on the back for their good luck. But Isaiah told his people that Syria and Israel were just a trickle; a mighty river was coming, which they would not be able to negotiate. Assyria would flood the whole land like a mighty river. Judah would prepare themselves for war, but this time the enemy would not be stopped, so they would be disappointed.

It is in this context that Isaiah slips in another reference to Immanuel, God is with us. It does not mean that the flood will not happen. God’s presence does not always divert his judgment on sin, even in this life. In fact, for Judah, God’s presence guaranteed that they would face the mighty waters of Assyria, because that is what God promised. The LORD will not abandon his people, even when they deserve it. He’s there, going through the trial with us.

LORD, teach us how to walk with you. We know you are here walking with us.

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plenty of room

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 8:1-4

¹Then Yahveh said to me, “Take yourself a large tablet and write on it with a regular stylus pen: for Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.[1] ² And I will require reliable witnesses as a witness for me: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” ³ Then I was intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived, and she gave birth to a son. And Yahveh said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ⁴Because before the boy knows to call out ‘my father’ and ‘my mother,’ he will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.”

plenty of room

The name of Isaiah’s newborn was given to him by God before he was conceived. The child was to be a sign that God was going to remove the threat of Samaria and Damascus by having them become somebody else’s prize. Assyria would look upon those nations as its next conquest. This would happen before little Maher would learn to say “Ma.”

There may also be some significance in the fact that Isaiah was told to write the child’s name on a large tablet with a regular stylus pen. This would leave plenty of room for a long list of things that would be promised to the boy. It would be saying that Yahveh promises not only new life, but also a bountiful legacy for that new life.

Disaster and doom looms all around us. In the midst of it, God promises us new life. Then, when we take him up on his promise, we find that that are plenty of other blessings that were part of the package.

LORD, thank you for your glorious deliverance. Thank you also for the many blessings we are already beginning to experience, even as we wait for your return.

[1] quick to the treasure, speedy to the prey.

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barbers and bushes

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 7:18-25

¹⁸ And this will happen: On that day, Yahveh will whistle for the fly at the end of the stream of Egypt and the bee in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And all of them will come and stay in the rivers of the cliffs and in the clefts of the rocks and on all of the thorn bushes and watering places. ²⁰ On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond the river–with the king of Assyria–and it will even remove the beard. ²¹ And this will happen: on that day, a young man will keep a young cow of his herd and two sheep alive. ²² And this will happen: because of the they will produce lots of milk, he will eat curds, because every one that is left in the midst of the land will be eating curds and honey. ²³ And this will happen on that day: Every place where there are a thousand vines for a thousand silver pieces briers will appear, and there will be thorn bushes. ²⁴One will go there with arrows and bow, because all of the land will be a brier and a thorn bush. ²⁵ And all of the hills that they previously hoed with the hoe, you will not go there, for fear of brier and thorn bush. And it will become like cattle pastureland and sheep trampling land.

barbers and bushes

Isaiah continues to tell Ahaz what is really going to happen, as opposed to what Ahaz (king of Judah) is preparing for. Ahaz wants to take care of things himself. Isaiah says it is not going to work that way. God is going to send Assyria as a barber, who will give Judah a shave they will never forget.

Recently I asked a barber to cut my hair for a trip to Africa. She must have thought I meant to cut my hair and shave my beard so that I could walk all across Africa before it grows back, because she really cut me too close.

Isaiah said that Assyria was going to figuratively cut Judah’s hair so close that he would wind up bald and beardless. He said that once Assyria was finished, Judah would be crop-less, a place where one could only raise animals, because all the land formerly hoed for crops would be deserted pastureland. The briers and thorn bushes will have taken over, because the people who had managed the land will have gone into exile.

LORD, give us the wisdom to seek you, and not try to solve all our problems in our own strength. We do not want to have to learn the embarrassing lesson that you had to teach Ahaz. We know you love us, and you want to be the answer that we are seeking.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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“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