Simply Obey - Isaiah 29-33

Isaiah 30:23-26 (ESV)

And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

The contrast in Isaiah between God’s discipline and God’s forgiveness and blessing over Israel is so strong.  As we read each of these chapters we are told of God’s great wrath on the nation for their disobedience, and then, suddenly, we come across verses like those above.   In one stroke of the pen, Isaiah writes about doom, and in the next, about blessing.   Such is the life of Israel.  Their disobedience toward God’s word is met with certain peril.  Their obedience to God’s word is met with promised prosperity.  

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon asks 23 questions about life.   He ponders all the riches and the wonders of the world and then asks questions about the real meaning of life and the purpose of life.  In the end, this richest man of all times, concludes with the following.  His last words in Ecclesiastes seem to sum up the very theme of Isaiah’s prophecy:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

At the end of the matter is obedience to God’s word and will.   That is the summary from Solomon. It is the conclusion from Isaiah.   It is the main theme of Jesus’ teaching:

Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV)

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Proverbs of Ashes - Job 12-13

Job 13:6-12 (ESV)

Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

Will you speak falsely for God

and speak deceitfully for him?

Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you plead the case for God?

Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

It is too bad we can’t hear tone in a passage of Scripture.  It would be nice to hear Job’s tone in the above words. He is speaking to his three friends who came to console him.    In verse four of this passage, he refers to them as physicians.   We have no knowledge that they were, but when we read their words spoken to Job, they might be classified as a philosophical theologians.   They have a philosophy about pain and suffering.  Job calls these ideas they present to him as maxims.  He is calling them out for their thoughts and beliefs and if examined by God these maxims would prove to be proverbs of ashes.    They are defenses of clay to Job.   This is the world’s mindset and thoughts about innocent suffering.  Remember, we can NEVER read a passage in Job without reading the beginning and then end of the book:

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Job 42:7 (ESV)

The LORD Rebukes Job’s Friends

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

These men came, armed with ideas.  They end up leaving as idiots.   Their philosophy did not meet the moment.  Their theology was mis-guided; often true but applied wrong.   Like the Pharisees, they twisted doctrine to meet their dogma:

Matthew 23:16-22 (ESV)

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Man’s dogma is simply proverbs of ashes.  

Our Speech Matters to God - Psalms 15-17

Psalms 15:3 (ESV)

who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

A command of God is that we use our tongue and speech to glorify Him.  We do this in the way we treat and speak about others.   Note:

Proverbs 11:9 (ESV)

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

Proverbs 11:12 (ESV)

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

Colossians 3:8 (ESV)

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Ephesians 4:25-32 (ESV)

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting TALK come out of your mouths, BUT ONLY SUCH IS GOOD FOR BUILDING UP, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

(You can also read Romans 15:1-7)

Our speech matters to God!  

Sing After Victory - Judges 1-5

Judges 5:1-5 (ESV)

The Song of Deborah and Barak

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that the people offered themselves willingly,

bless the LORD!

“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the LORD I will sing;

I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.

“LORD, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked before the LORD,

even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.

After a great victory we should sing praises to God.   That is the point of the above verses.   Barak, through the prophetess Deborah, had just had a great victory over their oppressor, Jabin, King of Canaan.  Jabin’s commander, Sisera, had been killed by a woman who drove a tent peg through his temple, as he sought refuge from her.  Jabin had oppressed the people of Israel for 20 years.  The narrative reads that he oppressed them cruelly for 20 years.   This is what made Deborah and Barak break out in song.    This is not the first time we have such a response to victory.  Note:

• Moses and Miriam broke out in song following the destruction of the Egyptians after the crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-21)

• King Jehoshaphat broke out in song as they faced a large army (2 Chronicles 20:21-22)

• Women broke out in song after David’s victory (1 Samuel 18:7) 

• David himself broke out in song after victories (2 Samual 22 and Psalm 18)

We ought to have a play list we play when God gives us victory over something.  God has intended song as a way to praise Him.  

Psalms 40:3 (ESV)

He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the LORD.

Psalms 42:8 (ESV)

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 95:1-2 (ESV)

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Sing a song of praise today! 

God Maintains History - Genesis 20-23

Genesis 23:17-20 (ESV)

So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

In the above verses we have the final consummation of the purchase of a field by Abraham from the Hittites.   To bury Sarah, his deceased wife, Abraham purchased this cave for an agreed upon price with the owner of the cave.   This was all sealed in front of the leaders of the land, at the city gate:

Genesis 23:16 (ESV)

Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

This became a binding contract and the cave now was owned by Abraham.   In this cave Sarah would be buried.  But through the years, not just Sarah, but others.   Note:

Genesis 25:9-10 (ESV)

Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.

Genesis 35:27 (ESV)

And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

Genesis 49:29-30 (ESV)

Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

Today Jews, Muslims and Christians all wish to visit this cave.    This has become a significant historical location for the credibility of the Bible and the story of Abraham and his descendants.   All recorded here, in Genesis.  God watches over the scared places His deems important to His story of the ages.  

The Kindness of God Draws us To Himself - Romans 9-11

Romans 11:22-24 (ESV)

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

It is God’s kindness that leads us to our salvation. In this section of Romans, Paul is outlining what happened to the nation of Israel.  They were given the Law and Prophets and yet rejected their Messiah.  Because of their rejection of Jesus, salvation was given to the Gentiles.   The above passage is about two things regarding this salvation:

1. The source of it: God’s kindness

2. The obtaining of it: By continued faith in the grace of God. 

Make now mistake, our salvation (Jew or Gentile) is solely based upon God’s kindness toward us. A kindness we do not deserve:

Romans 2:4 (ESV)

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?’

We need God’s kindness to draw us to Himself because:

Romans 3:12 (ESV)

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

It is God’s kindness that leads us to Him.   We must then continue in faith.   Those who temporally believe have no hope in Christ.   Faith is a continued act.   We have been grafted  into the vine of salvation.  That being grafted in means we abide in Him.   The is the theme of John 15.    

God draws us by His kindness and keeps us secure by our abiding continuously in Him.   

Turn From Something - But Turn Toward Someone Else! Matthew 11-13

Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV)

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

The context for this section in Matthew is Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God.  He is in the midst of giving parables and stories to illustrate how the Kingdom of God is received and operates.  The above passage is one more of those examples.  

The scene is set by describing an unclean spirit who departed from living inside a man. We have no idea why this unclean spirit left, only that he did leave.  He left looking for another place to dwell.  We can assume that the man he previously occupied, had done some spiritual work.  When the unclean spirit returns, he finds the man’s house empty, swept and put in order.  There was some spiritual experience for this man.   However, the house (the inside of the man) was still empty.   He did not fill it with anything, or, in this case, anyone.   He may have had reformation but he did not have regeneration.   He became moral by getting rid of something, but he did not become holy be inviting the Savior into his life.   We can often have a religious experience and not have the presence of the Savior.  A moral change of heart is a good thing.  But if does not come with the inward dwelling of the Son, through the Spirit of God, it is only empty, swept and put in order.  The man had a worse experience at the end.  Seven more evil spirits entered his life (his home).   Repentance is not just turning away from something or someone.  It is also turning toward someone.  If we turn from something we must turn to someone, or the last will be worse than the first: 

Acts 3:19-21 (ESV)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (ESV)

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Acts 26:20 (ESV)

but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.