Isaiah

Isaiah 5-6, 1 Peter 2

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Faithful Obedience.

Isaiah 5-6, 1 Peter 2

…you yourselves like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:5 ESV

Isaiah’s calling by God was a remarkable event. He was given an up-close and personal glimpse of God Himself. The vision he received left no doubt in his mind as to the holiness and transcendence of God. In fact, Isaiah was so blown away by the experience, that he could only cry out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5 ESV). The overwhelming reality of God’s holiness exposed Isaiah’s own sinfulness. He recognized immediately that he had no right to be standing in the presence of a holy, righteous God. When Isaiah referred to God as “the Lord of Hosts,” he was essentially calling Him the the Lord of heaven’s armies. Not only was God holy, righteous and just, He was the King of the universe who had power to go along with His position. This awareness on the part of Isaiah gives the sins of the people of Judah outlined in chapters 1-5 a sobering perspective. Isaiah recognized the perilous position of the nation as they stood before God. He was their King and they had been living in open rebellion to Him. Isaiah knew that he was no less guilty than the people. He had no right to stand before God Almighty. His sinfulness separated Him from God. But God took care of that problem. He had one of the seraphim take a burning coal from the altar and touch it to Isaiah’s “unclean lips,” pronouncing, “your guilt is taken away, and you sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7 ESV). Isaiah’s confession led to cleansing. In spite of Isaiah’s guilt, God extended undeserved grace. And what was Isaiah’s response to this unexpected and undeserved gift? He answered God’s call for someone to act as His messenger, saying, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

Isaiah was to be God’s emissary, bringing His message of warning and call to repentance to the people of Judah. God, in His mercy, was going to give the people of Judah fair warning. He would provide them with ample opportunity to repent and return to Him. They would not be caught off guard or unawares. Isaiah’s God-given message would be clear and concise, leaving them with no excuse when God’s judgment came. In chapter five, God had pronounced six woes or laments on the people of Judah, based on their sins. He accused them of greed, seeking after pleasure, willfully committing unrepentant sin, perversity, pride and conceit, and of having lopsided values. As a result, God would be forced to bring judgment on them. He would humble them. “Man in humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought now. But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (Isaiah 5:15-16 ESV). God would be proven completely just and right in bringing judgment against His people. He would simply be giving them what their actions deserved. That He would even bother to warn them speaks of His grace and mercy. That He would not completely destroy them reminds us of His faithfulness. God had made a promise to Abraham generations earlier, and He was not going to break that promise. In spite of the people, He would still bless them. But He needed a faithful messenger to speak on His behalf.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Like so many before Him, Isaiah was not chosen because he was perfect of sinless. There was nothing about Isaiah that made him the perfect candidate for this assignment. All he brought to the table was an awareness of his own sin and a willingness to confess it before God. Isaiah knew he was unworthy of even standing before a holy God. He was just as guilty as anyone else. But unlike his fellow Jews, Isaiah was willing to admit his guilt and confess his sins before God. His contemporaries were guilty of calling “evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:5:20 ESV). In other words, they had turned morality and ethics upside down. Their behavior revealed that they lived completely opposite of what God had intended for them. They had become “wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21 ESV). They were unrepentant. They were unashamed. But Isaiah stood before a holy God and was immediately struck by his own sinfulness. And when God extended grace, mercy and forgiveness to him, Isaiah’s gratitude was expressed in willing submission to God’s will. He volunteered to act as God’s spokesman.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

What Isaiah willingly offered to do was going to be far more difficult than he could have ever imagined. God told him that his message would fall on deaf ears. They people of Judah would refuse to listen to his words of warning. He would preach, but no one would respond. He would call, but no one would listen. And when Isaiah asked God how long he would have to do this, God essentially told him, “As long as it takes.” He would have to remain faithful until the end. He would have to keep speaking until God’s judgment came in full. Isaiah had been chosen for a difficult task. He was God’s hand-picked man for a very difficult assignment. And in so many ways, we stand in a similar place as Isaiah. Peter reminds us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV). God has chosen us. He has given us an assignment and commissioned us to act as His ambassadors and emissaries to a lost and dying world. Like Isaiah, we have been extended mercy and forgiveness. At one time we stood before a holy God as sinful and deserving of His judgment. But He cleansed us through the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ. And as a result, we should willingly offer ourselves for His service. Like Isaiah, we should say, “Here I am! Send me!” But if we dare to make that offer, we must realize that it will entail difficulty. It will not be easy. He will call us to “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11 ESV). We will be required to “live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16 ESV). We will be expected to “endure sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Peter 2:19 ESV). Why? Because it is “to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example” (1 Peter 2:21 ESV). Isaiah’s assignment was not going to be easy. But he would prove to be faithful. He would remain obedient to God’s call. What about us? Will we live as God’s chosen people, declaring His praises and living in willful obedience to His call on our lives? 

Father, I want to be a willing servant. I want to live in submission to Your call, no matter how difficult it may be. Help me to live in accordance with Your calling on my life. Never let me forget that I am Your possession, and that You have given me an assignment to complete while I live on this planet. It is not to be about me and my own pleasure, greed, conceit, comfort, and will. I have been redeemed so that I might declare Your glory and grace to all those I meet. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Isaiah 3-4, 1 Peter 1

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Stay Focused.

Isaiah 3-4, 1 Peter 1

Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned! – Isaiah 3:10 NLT

The opening chapters of the book of Isaiah are filled with God’s stinging condemnation of the people of Israel. Through His prophet, Isaiah, God predicts the judgments He is bringing for their unfaithfulness. He outlines their sins in great detail. “For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence” (Isaiah 3:8 ESV). Their words and actions were so wicked, it was as if they didn’t even believe that God existed. Their behavior seemed to deny the very presence of God. They were marked by pride and a lack of shame. So God was bringing judgment. But in the midst of all of God’s righteous anger and accusations of unfaithfulness, He addresses the righteous or godly. He indicates that there remained a faithful remnant who would continue to honor and worship Him. And He tells them not to worry – that it will be well with them. They will eat the fruit of their deeds. In other words, their faithfulness in the midst of all the unfaithfulness will be rewarded. These people would have to go through the same judgment as everyone else. They would have to endure the same circumstances as the rest of the nation of Judah, but God would be with them. He would somehow reward them for remaining faithful to Him.

What does this passage reveal about God?

Our God is fully aware of what is going on in our hearts – at all times. He knows who is faithful and who is not. While it would be easy to draw the conclusion that everyone in Judah was wicked and apostate, God indicates that there are still a few who have not forsaken Him. There was still a righteous remnant who had remained faithful to God and who were trying to stay morally and religiously pure in the midst of the rampant sin and idolatry that was taking place all around them. God is always right in what He does. He never punished unfairly or causes the innocent to suffer unjustly. One of the indictments He had against the people of Judah was their abuse of the poor and needy. He accused the rulers and elders, saying, “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor. How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” (Isaiah 3:14-15 NLT). God was not blind to the injustices. He was not oblivious to the plight of the poor or the lonely condition of the faithful few who were trying to their belief in God alive while surrounded by runaway sin and moral decay. God was watching. He was fully aware of all that was going on. And the same is true in our day.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God has always preserved a faithful remnant. There have always been a faithful few in all generations who have refused to turn their back on God. The temptation is to believe that we are all alone, that no one else is faithful, but us. The prophet Elijah faced that problem. He reached a point in his life and ministry when he believed he was the last man standing. After having witnessed a powerful miracle by God, and having personally defeated the prophets of Baal, Elijah received a death threat from Queen Jezebel. This bad news caused him to run for his life. Then, when confronted by God, he answered, ““I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10 ESV). He was all alone. He was the only one left who remained faithful to God. Or so he thought. But God corrected his thinking, saying, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18 ESV). Elijah was not alone. There were others who shared his love for God and his desire to serve Him alone. God had preserved a remnant. But Elijah needed to be reminded that, for all his claims of belief and faith in God, for all his efforts on behalf of God, he had stopped placing His hope in God. He had let his circumstances dictate his conclusions about life and about God’s ability to intervene in his situation.

That small remnant of faithful Jews living in Judah had no idea what was going to happen. They could not argue with God regarding His assessment of their nation. They were fully aware of the sins taking place all around them. And they were not completely innocent themselves. While they were comparatively faithful compared to the majority of their peers, they were still sinful. They knew God was just in His pronouncement of judgment. But they didn’t know what the future held for them. They were going to have to continue to trust God.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Peter told the believers living in his day the same thing. They were living in a time of great persecution and difficulty. These relatively new believers found themselves facing all kinds of opposition. But Peter reminds them to keep their eyes focused on their future hope. He wanted them to remain faithful to God in the midst of all their difficulties. They were going to be tempted to take a look at their current conditions and give up. But Peter told them to look up. “Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see” (1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT). Something greater was coming. God was going to preserve them through their current difficulties because He had promised them something better in the future. Peter went on to tell them, “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT). The key to surviving the trials of life was to keep their hope focused on the faithfulness of God. And in the meantime to live their lives according to the reality of their future destiny. Peter told them, “So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as ‘temporary residents’” (1 Peter 1:17 NLT). They were to continue to live holy, set apart lives. Their future hope was to have a present reality to it. Their faith in God’s promise of future glorification was to be the impetus for their present conduct. “Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory” (1 Peter 1:21 NLT). Because Jesus died and was raised again, we can know that our future hope is secure – no matter what we see happening around us. The trials of this life test the purity of our faith. When things get tough, do we give up or do we look up? When difficulties come, do we focus on our circumstances or turn our eyes to our faithful, promise-keeping God?

Father, help me to keep my eyes focused on You. Don’t let me get distracted by the temporary trials of this world. The troubles of this life simply test where my hope and allegiances lie. While this world will constantly disappoint me, You never will. And while You may delay in bringing about Your future reward, help me not to grow weary or to give up. May I live with my eyes firmly focused on the hope that is yet to come. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Isaiah 1-2, James 5

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Dangerously Fat and Happy.

Isaiah 1-2, James 5

Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. – Isaiah 2:7-8 ESV

Isaiah was a prophet of God living in the city of Jerusalem whose ministry spanned the reigns of four different kings of Judah. He had unenviable task of warning the people of Judah about God’s coming judgment if they did not repent of their sin and rebellion against Him. The opening chapters of this book are not an easy read, and do not paint a very flattering picture of the people of Judah. Isaiah pulled no punches in his stinging assessment of God’s rebellious people. Speaking on behalf of God, he called them a “sinful nation” and the “offspring of evildoers.” He accused them of having “despised the Holy One of Israel.” He compared them to a sick body with “no soundness in it.” If God had not mercifully left a few survivors, their fate would have been as devastating as that of Sodom and Gomorrah. God was fed up with their religious rituals that had become nothing but rote exercises lacking in heartfelt conviction or true repentance. According to Isaiah, God had “had enough of burnt offerings or rams and the fat of well-fed beasts” (Isaiah 1:11 ESV). God was sick of their hypocrisy as they stormed into His holy presence all high and mighty, but filled with iniquity. He was done listening to their heartless prayers and gagging on their incense. His recommendation was a simple one: “Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows” (Isaiah 1:16-17 NLT). In other words, change your behavior. Let your actions reflect the true condition of your heart.

What does this passage reveal about God?

It grieved God to look at the Israelites and His holy city, Jerusalem, and witness the blatant unfaithfulness of the city and people that both bore His name. But God was not done with either. Through Isaiah, He foretells the coming day when He would restore His people and the city of Zion. “Zion will be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness” (Isaiah 1:27 ESV). There is a day coming when God will accomplish for the people of Israel what they could not have done for themselves. He will send His Son to rule and reign. He will defeat the enemies of Israel and reestablish the Kingdom of God on earth, with His Son, Jesus Christ, sitting on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem. God will bring peace to the earth. “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4 NLT). But those days are in the distant future. In the meantime, God had more immediate plans for the people of Judah. He had legitimate charges against them that deserved His righteous judgment. These people, whom God had chosen and promised to bless in incredible ways if they would only remain faithful, had proven to be unfaithful time and time again. Their greatest problem was a staggering self-sufficiency that sprang from their pride. Rather than being satisfied with God, they had filled up on anything and everything. They were “full of things from the east, and of furtune-tellers like the Philistines” (Isaiah 2:6 ESV). The land of Judah was “filled” with silver and gold, treasure, horses and chariots, and all kinds of idols they had made with their own hands. During the reign of King Uzziah, the nation of Judah had experienced unprecedented peace and prosperity, and it had gone to the peoples’ heads. They had replaced the worship of God with the worship of trinkets and treasures, idols and idle pleasures. And as a result, they were about to experience what it was like to try and hide from “the terror of the Lord” and “the splendor of His majesty” (Isaiah 2:10 ESV). A holy God would not put up with their sin any longer.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Mankind has always suffered from pride. It is the root of all sin. It was the cause of the original sin of Adam and Eve. They desired to be like God. Their desire for self-worship caused them to take God off the throne of their lives and attempt to take His place. But God warned the people of Judah, “the haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled” (Isaiah 2:11 ESV). In fact, God makes it painfully clear that there is a day coming when “the Lord alone will be exalted” (Isaiah 2:17 ESV). The problem of pride spans the centuries and has plagued the generations of mankind. Even in the day of James, the specter of pride hung over the body of Christ. He had harsh warnings for those who placed their hope in the things of this world. “Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (James 5:1-4 NLT). There were those in the local church who had made a god out of money. They worshiped wealth to such a degree that they were guilty of taking advantage of those around them. Like the people if Isaiah’s day, they were guilty of injustice and oppression. It all reminds me of the words spoken against the church of Laodicea: “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17 NLT). Pride blinds us to the reality of our sin. Jesus Himself goes on to tell the church of Laodicea, “So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference” (Revelation 3:18-19 NLT).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

We must turn to God for help. We are incapable of defeating the pride in our own lives. God reminded the people of Judah, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18 NLT). We must bring our pride to the cross. We must humble ourselves before the Savior and ask Him to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Peter provides us with this encouraging words: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7 ESV). We can never afford to allow the love of money to replace our love for God. We can never be willing to let our dependence on God to be replaced by a reliance upon wealth. Anything we allow to take the place of God in our lives will become an idol. Whatever we turn to for contentment, fulfillment, rescue, self-worth, our value, or confidence, will always fail to deliver what we desire. All idols prove themselves incapable of fulfilling our expectations in them. But if we place our hope and trust in God, we will never be disappointed. We should never place our trust in anything other than God – especially man. “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22 ESV).

Father, never let me get fat and happy in this world. I don’t want to become content and complacent, falling in love with the plastic hopes and dreams of this fleeting world. I want to constantly remember that my treasure lies elsewhere. My hope is not found in the things of this earth, but in You. Forgive me for making idols out of so many things. Open my eyes. Help me to see them for what they are. Give me the strength to turn from anything and everything that tries to capture my affection for You. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org