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Amen to begin.
One big seashell of teaching from Isaiah 5. First remember that God spoke through the prophets to teach reach.
Prophet Isaiah said Israel was in the midst of sour grapes – well, they never got to taste any pruned grapes that they thought they were growing, it was wild grapes they got instead of choice premium grapes. In other words, Israel, in the time of Isaiah, was going nowhere fast. Sour grapes.
God planted a GOOD grape vine, but because of the action of rebellion, they got whine instead of wine. Over and over again from rebuking God and His appointed leaders, judges, kings, the Israel people fell apart, landed themselves in exile (again).
Yet what warning was God continually warning throughout the Old Testament? Don’t rely or exonerate or show your need for kings – but be a people who listen to God. Plain and simple is how Samuel explained it to the people back before Saul was chosen then unchosen as king – Samuel explained that God just wanted people to listen to Him – live as He commanded. When the people were left to their own devices, they made a system that only broke their backs, caused false worship, spoiled the crops of goodness that could have come out of them. Yet there was already in the Plan an ability to bring us back – and as we all know, this world was broken from the beginning after Adam was born and rebelled. God saw and acknowledged the brokenness before anyone could, and He pointed it out again and again as a warning to others and to us…
God sent Jesus and Jesus “wrote” Himself into the world to right the wrong – crush evil and collect the remnants into the tapesty of them and us into His Kingdom. He takes mercy on those whom lived and cried out to Him. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
In otherwords, they need Him – we need Him – we all should have and will need to rely on Him. We have LOTS of examples – and these days are also a mixture of good things and bad things – and lots of confusing things – but in all we must remember that God will use ALL things – ALL people – good and bad – to bring about His completion and His corraling and His punishment and His righteousness – and especially HIS GOOD WINE from His Vinyard.
The punishment of Israel came from enemies God let linger – “in that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea.” – maybe we need to hear crashing waves to to respect God’s corrective power.
We are reminded that we must acknowledge the world gone crazy but that is not to be used as our excuse. We KNOW better, can learn better, to shine the Light. We must remember that God is the depositor of our Light – the Holy Spirit in us is Jesus shining thru. We are to be the embers still on fire, to remember that we are people of a different kind of captivity now but we do KNOW our KING over all things – and we must keep going – listening to God.
Israel sees this pain in exiled Babylon – but is told thru the prophets to keep looking towards the LIGHT – and get out of Babylon too. Isaiah will keep teaching and teaching – SOME will listen and understand. Some will hope to. Isaiah will promise that the Savior IS coming. Let us listen now and always to how God fights the evil with LIGHT – we do have this knowledge: Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
Let us KNOW this Light in Jesus and KNOW His Calling in our lives.
Keep the Light shinning forth!
Amen Amen
Amen
Debbie Upper 