Judgments and Promises
“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations, to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick, sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls. They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, both for your iniquities and those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”
This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants: I will not destroy them all. And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there. Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.
But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune(Hebrew Gad, the Babylonian god of fortune) and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, (Hebrew Meni, the Babylonian god of fate ) I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.
You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you, but to His servants He will give another name. Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.
A New Heaven and a New Earth (Revelation 21:1-8)
For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man not live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will do no harm nor destruction on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Things have almost reached the point of no return spiritually in Jerusalem. Elders who claim to be observant Jews are indulging in all kinds of depraved practices. Just look at this list: sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick, sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls… setting a table for Fortune (Hebrew Gad, the Babylonian god of fortune) and filling bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, (Hebrew Meni, the Babylonian god of fate ). Evidently, these people have decided that the One True Living God is blind, deaf, and stupid.
Later, St. Paul would describe such people quite accurately. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:21-24)
But God is all – knowing and all – seeing and God knows exactly what these people have been doing. God describes these people as having continually provoked Him, being as irritating as smoke in one’s face, and He promises that the day of reckoning is coming. ““Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.” God is about to draw a sharp line between the faithful and unfaithful. God promises to take great care of those who have kept the faith, leaving those who have been playing religious games to go hungry, thirsty, and to suffer. The very names of the unfaithful will eventually be used as curse words because of their evil.
God goes on to promise that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, one untouched by the ravages of sin. Even the animals will be touched so that they will revert to the behavior they exhibited before the fall of man. All creation will be renewed. Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration (futility), not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Man sinned; the rest of creation was innocent but God subjected it to the results of sin. But the day of restoration is coming and it will be glorious!
APPLICATION: Reading the list of abhorrent practices into which the citizens of Judah have descended is shocking. What happened to these people who claimed to be people of God? They forgot who God was and stopped worshiping Him “in spirit and in truth.” Once worship at the temple became merely a set of boring expensive rituals, it was easy to wander off into idolatry.
Reports from the Asbury revival stress the fact that the Holy Spirit is the One directing the meetings. The organizing team meet for prayer several times a day. When God selects new singers and musicians, they are taken to a Consecration Room, where the team prays over them, invoking the Holy Spirit to empower them. The results are earth – shaking and life – changing. People are streaming in from across the globe, drawn by their hunger for real spiritual refreshing. What years of formal church services have not accomplished, God is accomplishing in hours. What has made the difference?
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, he told her that God is a spirit and they who worship Him must worship in “spirit and in truth.” The problem in Isaiah’s Jerusalem is the same problem believers have faced repeatedly: unless we remember Who God is, His majesty, His greatness, His authority, His wisdom, and His might, we will only be repeating religious rituals. Am I saying that church services are unnecessary? Far from it! Hebrews 10:25 advises us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. There is great power and encouragement when we worship together with other believers. Many times, someone brings a testimony that blesses others and gives them new hope and wisdom for their own situations. It’s when worship deteriorates into performance and sermons are used as opportunities for speakers to demonstrate their ability to play on people’s emotions that we lose sight of God.
The Holy Spirit will come to anyone who truly seeks Him and begs for His presence. But we must be careful. One Sunday we were worshiping and the service had reached the point where there was a holy hush throughout the congregation. My husband and I stood poised, knowing that God wanted to do something magnificent and new. But just as God might have moved, the pianist suddenly chose to begin a bouncy worship song that totally destroyed God’s peace in the congregation. I could literally feel the Holy Spirit as He rushed out of the church, and I actually jumped out of my pew and ran outside as if I could catch the Holy Spirit. (I couldn’t!)
Look closely at God’s promise: “Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” God does not play favorites. This promise is for you just as it is for all other believers. When you call on God and mean it, He will always answer in some form.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, thank You that when we call, You DO hear and that You will answer, even before we call and even while we are still speaking. Please speak to the hearts of all who read these words so that they will step out in faith and call on You, their Heavenly Father. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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