Isaiah 28 — Judgement on Ephraim and Jerusalem, Cornerstone in Zion
Isaiah 29 — The Siege of Jerusalem
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Today we read 3 of 6 “woes.” The six include five for the unfaithful in Israel and one targets Assyria with a contrasting blessing for God’s people (ch. 33).
Isaiah 28: Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah. “Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast…so this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation…” (Isaiah 28:14-16). Isaiah provides a parable that speak to simple truths for those that know anything about farming (I’m not included in that group), but makes it relevant to all by stating the obvious, “does he plow continually?” (28:24) and “so one does not go on threshing it forever” (28:28). “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.” (28:29). The good news here: even though God will thresh you, he will not keep on forever, there is a time for punishment to cease, God’s timing of course. God’s plan is indeed wonderful, even if it’s difficult to see.
Isaiah 29: Woe to Jerusalem (Ariel). “The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'” (29:13). I pray this will not be spoken of us, our church, our people. We are not a people making rules to follow mindlessly, heartlessly. Our faith is strengthened when our hearts are committed. Nothing significant ever happens without the heart. Perhaps that’s why we revel in great victories on the sporting fields (pick your favorite sport) or with art, music, etc. Those that pour their heart into something are ultimately honored for their work. We don’t read stories about those who absentmindedly walk through life, these are not of any interest. I pray my heart will burn with passion for God’s mission here, to reach the lost, to show those who don’t know they’re lost the truth. “You turn things upside down…Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’?” (29:16). Lord help us to keep things right-side up!