A Rose In A Dumpster Fire - Isaiah 23-28

Isaiah 27:1-3 (ESV)

The Redemption of Israel

In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

In that day,

“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!

I, the LORD, am its keeper;

every moment I water it.

Lest anyone punish it,

I keep it night and day;

To better picture what the above lines are saying and in the context of how they are being said, you have to image a black and grayed out picture of a garbage dump.  But right in the middle of the picture is a super bright red rose.   It is out of place.  This is a garbage dump.  Yet, the rose is the center of the entire scene.  You only see destruction, trash and waste in the greyed out scene, yet, this red rose is shinning like a new day dawning.    

That is what is happening with the above passage.  For the past several chapters Isaiah has been painting the picture of the destruction of the nations, cities and towns that rejected God and persecuted God’s people.  If you could paint the picture of his prophesy, it would be a dumpster fire of smoldering smoke of what was, tremendously active and magnificent cities.   After God judges them other people will say this about them:

Isaiah 24:4-5 (ESV)

The earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

The earth lies defiled

under its inhabitants;

for they have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

Yet, in the midst of this devastation we have the above picture.   Leviathan, the fleeing serpent (a picture of Satan ... see Revelation 20) is destroyed.    But, God’s people are like a pleasant vineyard.  The Lord is its keeper; every moment HE water’s it.  He keeps it night and day.  This is all a picture of what God is going to do for Israel and all mankind.   Like all prophecy there is a here and now and yet later even more feel to this.   God would be bringing Israel back to their land and blessing them (Nehemiah and Ezra).   This is really fulfilled, however, upon Christ’s arrival and His final return.   God is the gardener of our souls.  He watches over us and sustains us and protects us.  We are the rose in the midst of the dumpster fire of this earth.  God is going to completely devastate the world.  Yet, He is standing over us; pampering us; nurturing us.   We are the rose.  We flourish in the midst of destruction.  We shine bright in the midst of despair.   That is the life God has given us and provides to us and empowers us to live.   We ought not to try to look like the garbage dump.  

Understand God’s Plan for Believer’s Blessings - Job 11

Job 11:17 (ESV)

And your life will be brighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

For many years I have written about Job and his friends in a devotional type setting. I have often penned (typed) that Job's friends are "right in their doctrine but wrong in their application." I stand by that statement but in Zophar's case I am not so sure. Zophar does say some things in the excellent chapter about the character of God and reminds Job of some important truths (that are pure in doctrine but disfunctional in direction towards Job's problem). But, in the later part of this chapter Zophar makes the same mistake non-believers do about most believers in their lives. Zophar tries to tell Job that if he only were to act righteous He would find that life would be good and "bright as the noonday sun" (v. 17). He tells Job if it wasn't for his sin "darkness would be like morning." Here is the problem many non-believers have with Christians and our faith: Christians do suffer and are not called to a life with no pain. Too many people think that once you come to Christ your life will be on easy street and each day is a picnic. There is one thing for a non-believer to say that but quite another for believers to believe that; but they do. God did not promise us ease. He promised us forgiveness; freedom; and fellowship. Let's not fall into the trap that non-believers set for us. Christ did say we would suffer in this world, as He suffered. Abraham wandered "as in a alien world" (Hebrews 11). Noah was mocked (Genesis 6). Daniel was imprisoned (Daniel 6). Paul persecuted (Acts). So, the next time we are in suffering, like Job it may not be because of sin. But, the unbelieving world will think that. However, you and I must remember that God uses these circumstances to produce mature followers for Him (James 1).

God Saves The Poor - Psalms 12-14

Psalms 12:7-8 (ESV)

You, O LORD, will keep them;

you will guard us from this generation forever.

On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

The “them” in the above verse is the “poor.”   The context of this psalm is that God will save those who need to be rescued from the evil of this world.   Note what the writer has just stated:

Psalms 12:5 (ESV)

“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the LORD;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

This should not be considered a blanket of truth over all poor.  It is implied that those who call out to Him receive His saving arm.  The thought is that the world is very evil.  The vileness of the world is exalted among the children of man.   We can expect, no matter who is governing the land, that evil will grow.   It happened in Noah’s day:

Genesis 6:5 (ESV)

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

It happened in Solomon’s day:

Proverbs 29:16 (ESV)

When the wicked increase, transgression increases,

but the righteous will look upon their downfall.

It will happen in our day:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

God rescues us from all this.   God saves those from the oppressors of the world and the evil that wants to consume us.   God is highly aware of this:

Psalms 14:4-6 (ESV)

Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread

and do not call upon the LORD?

There they are in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

You would shame the plans of the poor,

but the LORD is his refuge.

We are rescued from evil because God is our refuge.  

Formula For Success - Joshua 21-24

Joshua 23:16 (ESV)

if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

Paul stated the same principle as above in his letter to the churches of Galatia: 

Galatians 6:7-10 (ESV)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

The law of the harvest is a real thing in God’s word.   When we obey God’s word we have blessings:

Psalms 1:1-3 (ESV)

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

In the end of the book of Joshua, the leader is giving the nation one last warning.   He is about to die and wants to remind them about the key to success in following their God.   It is actually rather simple.  We only have to obey God and we can receive blessings from God.  It does not mean there won’t be hardships and wars.  The nation would still have to fight the evil around them.   These other gods around them were to be resisted. That would take a fight.   However, Joshua wants them to know that success for the future is based upon their obedience to God’s commands.  The nations will not obey these words, as we read in the next book, Judges.   But the formula for success is true.  It was then and it is now.   

Intercessory Prayer - Genesis 16-19

Genesis 18:27-33 (ESV)

27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

The above passage is a great example of prayer to God.  Abraham has been told by God that He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lives there with his wife and two daughters.   Here we have a family member praying to God to spare another family member from great harm.  It is a beautiful intercessory prayer.  We have to understand the depth of wickedness in Sodom to fully grasps God’s plan.   These are wicked people and God is about to rain down fire and hail.   The prayer gives us some things to consider in our own intercessory prayer:

1.  Humility - In verse 27 we that Abraham recognizes he has no standing to come to God in any prayer, especially about this.  To be a great prayer warrior you have to admit that you are not and that you come in complete humility for what you really are; nothing but dust and ashes. 

2.  Justice - In verses 28-32 we see Abraham appeal to God’s justice.  In verse 23 he had appealed to God’s justice by praying: Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”   Abraham had thought his nephew Lot was righteous and thus the request.  But Abraham begins to continue to ask God, how many righteous would it take to spare the city?   God is a God of justice and we should come to Him based upon that attribute of His character. 

3. Mercy - In verses 28-32 we also read about God’s mercy.  Abraham knows that God is a merciful God.   He attempts t ask God for that mercy.  He goes all the way to ten people before God cuts it off and simply leaves.  Yet. Lot’s family is only four!   Abraham wants mercy for those four. 

4. Awe - In verses 28-32 we can sense the awe (Fear of the Lord) Abraham has for God.  He is not being arrogant.  He is being fearful of God, to continue enter His presence with the same request.   

5. Impudence - In verses 28-32 we read that Abraham continues to be impudent to God.  He is persistent.  We might think that would bother God.  But notice what Jesus told us during His earthly ministry:

Luke 11:5-12 (ESV)

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

God desires that we come to Him over and over again to fellowship in prayer and to ask for Him mercy on those we love.  

Jesus Took Our Sin Away - Romans 7-8

Romans 8:2-4 (ESV)

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Before we can really understand the magnitude of what Paul wrote in the above passage, we have to really go back and look at what he just wrote about sin in chapter seven.  In the above passage we read that God sent Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the might be fulfilled in us ..!   This is truly amazing.   Look what he wrote about sin:

Romans 7:8 (ESV)

But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

Romans 7:11 (ESV)

For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

Romans 7:13 (ESV)

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

Romans 7:17 (ESV)

17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh to defeat sin in our lives and to give us righteousness that was not our, but His, and He took our sin. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the Gospel.  This is our victory over sin and death.  

Just Touch His Garment, In Faith - Matthew 8-10

Matthew 9:19-22 (ESV)

And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

It is hard to imagine all the movement of Jesus.   In this section of chapters 8-10 he has already healed eight people and there are two comments of Him healing many people.   He had mobs follow Him just to see a miracle.   In the above section we read about something that happened as Jesus was summoned by a ruler (we don’t know if it was a Jewish ruler or a Gentile ruler) to come to his home to heal a daughter (who actually was reported as dead, before Jesus gets there).   As He is making His way through the crowd to the girl’s home the above event took place.  Matthew gives us a very brief description of the event.  Notice what Mark adds to our story:

Mark 5:30-33 (ESV)

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

The part that is the most intriguing is that this woman had watched, observed, reasoned and came to faith.   We have no knowledge of anyone preaching to her or teaching her about faith.  She simply came, in baby like faith, to the Savior for healing.   Our first response in sickness is typically not turning toward Jesus in faith to be healed.  Most, today, do not believe Jesus heals in this manner anymore.   But all healing is from Jesus.  The method used today may be different than when Jesus was on the earth, but all healing is in His hands.  This woman had the faith to simply want to touch the hem of His garment to be made whole.   Such amazing faith.   No theologian.   No preacher.   No deacon or elder or bishop.  She was just a woman with a twelve-year history of infirmity.  She heard and saw Jesus’ healings and came to Him in humility and by faith touched His trailing, probably dragging in the dust, garment.  That healed and changed her life.   She had way less knowledge than we have today.  Yet, she touched Him and was made whole.  We need, in faith, to come to Jesus for wholeness, wellness and healing.  Reach out and touch His garment.  

God’s Burden On The Wicked - Isaiah 18-22

Isaiah 19:1 (ESV)

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

An oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud

and comes to Egypt;

and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,

and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

Isaiah was a traditional prophet.  He had the responsibility to carry the doom and gloom prophetic utterances from God to peoples of the world.   In the above passage we read the first lines of his oracle toward Egypt.  The Hebrew word, oracle, means a burden.  Isaiah’s message was a burden to all who heard it.  It would weigh on their hearts and minds and backs like a heaviness of doom and gloom.  As God arrives in Egypt to destroy it, the above text reads that the idols of Egypt will tremble.  This is a reflection back to the days of the Exodus.   That was a time when Moses was the leader and through the power of God, he destroyed all their gods with the miracles performed as he rose the staff God gave him.   As Isaiah prophecies the gods of Egypt trembled because God once again will be destroying them.   The heart of the people will melt as well.   Once you have suffered a defeat by someone you are susceptible to defeat again.   They remembered what God did before.  That would only be a precursor to what God was about to do again.  Isaiah was speaking truth over them and that brought anxiety to them.   That was God’s intent.   Those who reject God and do not fear the Lord in awe, will eventually be defeated by God and will fear the Lord in despair.     

Does God Really “Get Us?” - Job 8-10

Job 10:4-7 (ESV)

Have you eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

Are your days as the days of man,

or your years as a man’s years,

that you seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

Job is in great pain and suffering.  As such he is free with his tongue.  His mind is on survival not submission.   He dares to open his mouth in these moments, as we all would.  When in these moments of despair, do we really want to tell God what is on our mind?   Of course, He is God, so He knows what is on our mind.  Job’s friends have told him to quit justifying himself and confess his sins.  But Job knows that he is innocent.   Since we read chapters one and two, we know he is innocent.  Yet, in pain we often open our mounts and insert our feet.   In the above lines we read Job’s complaint about God.  He in essence is asking, “God, do you even know what it is like to be a human being?”    Job is accusing God of:

1. Not having the eyes of flesh - seeing the world like Job sees it. 

2. Being limited in life like humans - there is a date for all of us and God does not experience that. 

3. God has too much time on His hands and just looks for the iniquity and sin in our lives - God does not know the pressure of sin on us. 

4. Man is doomed since we have sin in our lives and no one can save us - God does not walk around with that pressure. 

Of course, Job is not technically wrong in these things.   God is God and man is man.   But this is why God sent His Son.  Job does not know, this but we later learn:

John 1:14 (ESV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus came to respond to Job’s compliant.  Job was suffering and confronted God.  God responds by sending His Son to answer all of Job’s complaints.    We have a God who knows exactly what we suffer with.  By His grace He saves us through it.