Lessons from Isaiah

May 29, 2007

Lar,

So I was reading Isaiah 29 today and came across these words,

“Astonish yourselves and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with win;
stagger, but not with strong drink!
For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).

And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot read’” (Isaiah 29:9-12).

Those are some intense words huh? But there they are in sacred Scripture. The first thing we should point out is that Isaiah was clearly prophesying of a coming judgment upon Jerusalem in this passage. He spoke about the coming judgment quite a bit. Israel had grown wicked and the enemy was coming as the agency of God’s judgment. Jerusalem would soon be destroyed and the Jewish people taken into Babylonian captivity.

Yet Isaiah also notes a behind the scenes work here–another aspect of the Lord’s judgment upon His people. The work? Verse 10 says that the Lord Himself has closed the eyes and covered the heads of the people. And the parathenses make it plain that He has done so through the raising up of false prophets and poor leaders. Verse 11 and 12 then point out that because of the presence of these false prophets no one can understand Isaiah’s prophesy. They all look around and think he is mad. They have spent so much time sitting under false prophets and poor leaders that when a good word comes along, they have no ability to understand it. Whoever has, to him more will be given, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

A few lessons to point out. 1) When the Lord is going to judge a religious people, we should expect a great growth in the number of both poor and false teachers. In this age, it means we should expect teachers who barely speak of Christ while calling themselves Christians. It also means that leaders will be raised up in our churches who might not even be Christians. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we have eyes to see, we can’t help but look around and see the possibility of coming judgment.

2) The more people listen to either poor or false teachers, the less capable they will be of understanding faithful, God-centered teachers. Sadly, we see this in the church all the time. People who have sat in church for years under pathetic teaching (maybe not even false, but barely surviving at least), all the sudden hear the good news with clarity and they think the guy preaching (or sharing) it is nuts. We have probably experienced this from various fronts, family, friends, and audiences of all kinds. People have their religion. They have heard the prophets before. They have heard the Word preached–or so they think. All the sudden the real thing comes along and it is as a book that is sealed. Their hearts have been hardened by poor teaching. Their capacity for truth has shriveled to the point that they call that which is true false. What a very dangerous and sad thing.

Our only hope brother is for an outpouring of the Spirit of God. New eyes must be given to the thousands who sit in church blind as can be. It’s as if they can’t read–or at least they don’t want to open the scroll. They are comfortable. They are at ease. They have their religion. And they would rather hold onto that which is false (or paltry) instead of rejecting it for richer waters. We need a miracle. We need a work of God. Or else we will have to face up to His work of judgment.

Tough realities, but it seems wise to face up to them and embrace the burden that automatically comes. What other choice do we have as the people of God? Sadly, most seem to refuse to face the facts and instead choose to drown them out with the great noice of the present day. May the Lord grant us repentance soon.

Seeking the Lord for a great work of His Spirit,
Joe

Posted by Joe | Filed Under Scripture Meditation