I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Isaiah warns the rulers who think that they have found a way to avoid the troubles that are coming. He tells them that their refuge is built of lies and deceptions. He tells them that God has laid the solid foundation stone of truth for anyone who wishes to build on. Those who rely on it will survive the coming troubles. However, because they have chosen to build their refuge on lies and deceptions, it will be swept away in the coming storm. Those who have made a deal to avoid death and destruction on the basis of lies will find that God has overturned their deal and it is null and void.
I will build my refuge from the troubles of this world on the foundation stone of truth which God has laid. As Paul tells us that foundation stone is Jesus. I know all too many people who have built their lives on lies and deceptions. I will pray to God that He will give me the words to show them how to start over and build their lives on His truth.
Isaiah tells those who refuse to believe the promises that God is making that they are blind. He says that they fall into two classes, those who can read, but refuse to break the seal on the scroll to read what is written inside and those who cannot read. He says that they honor God with their lips, but in their hearts they have no interest in God. Their worship of God is nothing but rote following of man-made rules. Their wisdom will perish and what they know will vanish (the prophet is speaking here of those who have built a refuge on lies and deceptions). They think they can hide their evil plans and actions from God. The prophet tells us it is foolishness for the pot to call the potter stupid. The day is coming when the deaf will hear the words of God and the blind will see. The humble will be exalted and the poor will feast. The scoffers will be gone and the arrogant will disappear. Those who plot evil and use trickery to pervert justice will be killed.
The prophet follows this up by saying:
My people will no longer be ashamed
or turn pale with fear.
We have been made children of God through Christ. As believers and followers of Christ we are no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ. None of us are more, or less, important than others. God has sent His Spirit to live within us leading us to call God by a term of loving affection.
Every time I read this passage I think of how without Christ our relationship is, at best that of a son, or daughter, who called their father, “Father”. A stern figure to be respected and feared, but never approached. But now with Christ our relationship is that of a child, who when they become frightened because the shadows on the wall make them fear the monsters under the bed, cries out, “Daddy!” knowing that their father will come and drive the monsters away and hold them in his arms until the fear subsides. If you do not know God as that kind of father, I pray, with all of my being, that His Spirit will come to you and show you how much He loves you.
Paul asks the Galatians why they would want to return to that formal distant relationship, where they were enslaved to rules and regulations when they have this much closer relationship with a father who loves them? He asks that they remember how they felt when they took him in and cared for him in his sickness when he first came to Galatia. He tells them that those who are teaching that they must obey the letter of the law are zealous to win them over. But they are zealous to win them away from Paul rather than for their own good. They want to lead the believers to distrust Paul so that they will be more loyal and faithful to these new teachers. Paul tells them that zeal is a good thing when it is in a good cause AND when it is all the time. We need to be zealous for the right reasons and we need to be zealous all of the time, not just when it makes us look good.
This psalm fits in so well with what the Spirit said to me from the passage in Isaiah.
I wait quietly before God,
for my victory comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will never be shaken.
I will not try to drive away the threats I face. I will wait quietly for God to come and deal with them. I will cry out to my God when something causes me to fear, then I will quietly wait on Him. He is the rock upon which I will base my security. As long as I stand on Him, I will not be shaken or disturbed. I will rest quietly in His presence, knowing that my enemies cannot harm me there.
If you spend your time partying with drunkards and gluttons you will end up without any money or assets.