Lent 2017 - Day 8 - Isaiah 17:17-18 - Look

"In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.  He will not look to the altars, the work of his hand, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made." Isaiah 17:17-18

Do I have to wait for that day? Can I accept the caution and start looking now - directing my attention to my Maker, fixing my eyes on the Holy One? To do this I have to turn my gaze away from other things - things I worship, things I have made, things I have done.  Are these things I take pride in or would be tempted to boast about?

Altars.  That's the one I have the hardest time identifying with.  Things I've placed on a pedestal.  Things I've put on a higher plane than they ought to occupy.  Things or people I've placed before God. What does this look like in the 21st century? Is it the things or people I look to for satisfaction, fulfillment or to feel good? Hmmm, like my marriage, my husband, my friendships, my children.  It could be a job. It could be a hobby or other pursuit.  In micro moments it could be facebook when I'm tired and lonely, Netflix when I want to forget the world.  These things and people aren't wrong in themselves just like the work of my hands is not a bad thing.  The wrong comes in what I am looking to those things or people to provide.

Another way to ask this is who or what is my source of contentment, love, peace, well-being?

Who is God?

After chapter 13, I leap at the first words of chapter 14! "The Lord will have compassion ... and will choose." Me! I'm reading this with my name substituted for Jacob's.  Never forget that no matter how great God's wrath and anger appear when He is punishing for sin and wickedness, His compassion for His children is equally as great.  

It's somewhat unique that much of this chapter is written as a taunt that reveals attitudes as well as events.  I find verses 13-14 most revealing.

"But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God... I will make myself like the Most High."

Matthew Henry says the following: "It is a gracious ambition to covet to be like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be you holy, for I am holy; but it is a sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for he has said, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and the devil drew our first parents in to eat forbidden fruit by promising them that they should be as gods."

We should strive to be holy as God is holy, but we must never strive or put ourself in a position to try to be God.  This may seem obvious, but I'm not confident I'm in the clear.  Does my pride ever lead me to judge what God does as faulty?  Do I ever think I have a better plan than what I see God doing? Do I ever reject God's ways?

I don't think I'm likely to raise a throne or a banner to myself or consciously proclaim myself to be like God.  But I feel I need to be watchful of the heart attitudes that creep in and lead me to consider myself the sole authority and the one with the best ideas.  When I grumble about what God is doing, perhaps I need to check my heart and make sure I'm not acting as the clay berating the potter.

I more frequently fall into this when I see things happening around me that I conclude can't possibly be the will of God.  But look at verses 24 and 27.

"Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand."

"For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?"

The times that I doubt God's plans are the times I must be careful not to think of myself as God or more highly than God.  When I think I could run things better.  When I suspect God is impotent. When I doubt God's goodness as I look at circumstances.  

This is hard!  Divorce, illness, death, financial devastation, floods (literally!), fire, job loss.  How do I reconcile the plans of God with the things that from my perspective seem solely destructive, negative or full of evil?

I believe that this is why knowing the character of God is crucial.  When we can't see the goodness of God, we need to be able to remember who He is.  From our study so far in Isaiah, here is what I have gleaned about God's character:

-God always has a plan for redemption.

-God is for the poor, the widow, and the orphan.

-God is for justice and righteousness.

-God invites us to walk with Him.

-The Lord alone will be exalted.

-The Lord is holy.

-God is with us.

-God is light, salvation, strength, song.

He planned it.  It will stand.  He is good.  

That's all I have to stand on.

Who will I lean on?

It’s easy for me to condemn the pride of the King of Assyria expressed in chapter 10 verse 13:

"By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, for I have understanding.”

How arrogant!  But really, am I guilty of the same? How often do I pat myself of the back for how well I handled something?  Am I wise in my own eyes? Do I rely on my own understanding, even being unwilling to step out in faith where God has prompted because I don’t see or understand how it’s all going to work out?  Am I clinging to my own understanding rather than trusting in the Lord?

 

“In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.”

Isaiah 10:20 ESV

When we were trying to teach my daughter to swim, she was calm on the steps and calm when holding precariously onto the side.  If her Daddy walked with her into the deeper water she cried and wrapped both arms and legs around him.  He'd peel her off so he could teach her to kick, and she was terrified.  She was so sure she was safer alone on the steps or clinging by her little fingers to the side than in the strong arms of her daddy.  She wanted to feel in control even though letting go and trusting her daddy was a much safer place to be.

I want to trust in what I understand too.  I'm uncomfortable letting go of the precarious hold I have and relying on something I can't see.  I'd rather depend on my own strength, my own wisdom, my own understanding that have to let go of control and understanding and trust God to provide.  Maybe verse 20 will become a prayer, that I will no more lean on (myself, my husband, the latest book, my job, well-meaning advice), but I will lean on the Lord, the Holy One, in truth.

Light in the Darkness

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”  Isaiah 9:2

I always hated in school when we were asked to describe the theme of a book or a poem.  I love to read, but I’m just not good at seeing themes and symbols.  However, Isaiah is making some obvious to me, light and darkness being one of them.

The word used here for darkness means literal darkness, but can also mean misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorry or wickedness. The root word it is taken from means to darken as in withholding light.  Even more interesting to me is that the phrase ‘dark land’ means shade of death, the grave or shadow of death. 

I’ve felt like I’ve been in darkness. Darkness by definition means seeing is not possible, and there have been times I haven’t been able to see the way forward.  Depression has been my darkness.  Sin and anger have been my darkness.  Unforgiveness has been my darkness.

Darkness is overcome by light.  Light is the hope in the darkness, the cure of darkness.  Here the word for light means illumination, luminary in every sense, happiness, morning, sun. In Revelation Jesus refers to himself as the Bright Morning Star.  John calls Jesus the Light.  It sounds trite and cliché to say Jesus is the light in darkness, but it is also truth.

The darkness of wickedness (my unforgiveness for example) is overcome by the light of Christ who forgave ALL my sins and asks me to forgive others.  As I submit and repent, light shines in my darkness.

The darkness of hopelessness is lightened by the presence of Christ.  Even when or especially when physical death is immanent, Christ is the reminder of eternal life, that this world is just a shadow of eternity.

The people of Isaiah’s time faced a darkness of distress and anguish, a darkness of very real fears of a very real enemy, and a darkness of ignorance through rejecting God, His ways and His prophets and looking to man for solutions.  Isaiah prophesied that these people in darkness would see a great light.  We read with the knowledge that he is foretelling Christ, but to the people light symbolized hope, help, even deliverance.

When we say Jesus is the light, we are saying He is what overcomes darkness. Whatever the darkness we walk in, Christ has the answer.  Christ is the answer.  Not the answer that we have decided will fix everything, but the presence that changes everything.  “Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”

Isaiah 5 – Woes of Today

Woe to you who focus on accumulating stuff yet ignore the people around you with real needs.  You miss out on the blessings that accompany following God’s priorities.

Woe to you who focus on indulgence and instant gratification, choosing immediate pleasure over lasting joy and hope.  You miss out on the blessing of seeing God at work; He’s working, you’re just too distracted to see it.

Woe to you who have concluded the end justifies the means, living by lies, trampling over others and promoting sin to get what you want.  You miss out on the blessings that come from waiting on the Lord and seeing His plans fulfilled.

Woe to you who turn evil on its head, calling darkness light and wickedness good, all in an effort to downplay sin.  You miss out on the blessings that accompany truth and light.

Woe to you who focus on your own intelligence, depending on your wits to help you succeed and placing all your hope in clever plots.  You miss out on the blessings of humility and dependence.

Woe to you who look to man’s provision and man’s capabilities looking only for results while ignoring character and integrity.  You miss out on what is lasting – the growth of a soul that lives for eternity.

The Light of the Lord

“Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5

I’m a pretty practical person, so abstract image like this can frustrate me.  I want to know what this looks like TODAY, for me.  Clearly this is an invitation, but what is the Lord inviting me to do?  How do I walk in the light? 

Light can only be understood in terms of darkness.  The word used here is the same word used in Genesis 1 when God said, “Let there be light.”  It is translated light, morning, day, or my personal favorite, illumination.

If the Lord desires for me to walk in the light, I should AVOID walking in the darkness.  Throughout scripture, light and darkness are used as illustrations or analogies for good and evil.  In John paints a vivid picture for us in his gospel:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:4-5

“There was the true light which, coming into the work, enlightens every man.” V 9

“And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  John 3:19-21

“I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

Light is grouped with life, truth, and deeds ‘wrought in God.’ Darkness is associated with evil.  I still wanted a little ‘light’ shed on this for me ;-), so I went to The Message.

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

Oh, how this resonates!! Living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so I can see God at work!  Walking in the light is very much walking in the truth.  It is not always easy or pleasant to seek the truth.  Many times our natural response is to hide, to avoid exposure especially of things that are painful.  But the longer I follow Jesus, the more convinced I am that Satan is the one who is behind hiding and secrets.  I think the Lord is always for bringing things into the light, for in the light is LIFE.