Pay attention
Psalm 90
Isaiah 1:24-31
Luke 11:29-32
I love the book of Isaiah. It's not an easy book at times, but it's all there, the whole scope of the Bible. When you read through the whole book, it becomes very, very clear that God hates sin, but God really loves sinners, and the sin God hates the most is pride. Pride being any shred of an attitude that puts anything in the place of God. We see this right at the beginning of the book, like a thesis statement:
"Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent,
by righteousness.
But rebels and sinners shall be
broken together,
and those who forsake the LORD
shall be consumed." (vv. 27-28)
There will be justice and righteousness. As Moses tells us, "We are consumed with your anger." But it isn't misplaced, though it takes Moses a verse or two to get around to the main point that God's anger is due to our iniquities, our secret sins. None of us is perfect. Even those who try their very hardest to be perfect, perhaps especially those, know that they are not. We are not always kind and loving. We are not always honest. We often put things in the place of God in our lives. We don't like it, but there is some justification there for a holy God's wrath. We try to downplay it, say it isn't so bad, tell ourselves that others are much, much worse, but we are wrong.
The NIV translates v. 27 in the Isaiah passage as delivered. God has an escape plan for those who follow Him, but for those who don't, they will be consumed. Isaiah makes it very clear who will be consumed. Look at vv. 29-31. This is the explanatory passage as to who those rebels and sinners are. They are the ones who will be ashamed of oaks and gardens.
Huh?
I know it sounds as though gardeners and arborists need to start shaking in their boots, but that is not really what this is saying. These verses are actually talking about idolatry. Back in Isaiah's time, it was common to set up idols under oak trees and to build gardens around them. This is talking about the sin of idolatry; the setting up of another in place of God. Few of us have physical idols in the back yard, but that doesn't stop us from worshiping other things. This is where we need to be very careful as this is the root of rebellion and sin. This is what will be consumed.
God wants us to turn to Him. He is the only one with the effective rescue plan. This is what Jesus is telling the crowds, and by extension, us. Jesus is the rescue plan. Ninevah was saved because they listened to what Jonah had to say, though he (Jonah) really gave them no reason to listen to him. He really wasn't giving the message his all. The Queen of Sheba traveled to visit Solomon because she wanted his wisdom, and by extension the wisdom of God who gave it to Solomon, just because she had heard about him. Jesus then tells the crowds that something greater is right before them. The rescue plan is right in front of them, talking to them, yet so many won't listen.
These passages for Advent are telling us to listen. They are like the safety instructions at the beginning of a flight. Here is how we can be saved when the plane goes down, except there is no 'if' about it going down, just a 'when'. Yet like so many air passengers, we have heard it all before and no longer really pay attention.
Advent says to us, amidst the festivities, the songs, the gifts, the parties, pay attention. We celebrate the Savior, but often forget, to be a savior, there needs to be something to be saved from.
Isaiah 1:24-31
Luke 11:29-32
I love the book of Isaiah. It's not an easy book at times, but it's all there, the whole scope of the Bible. When you read through the whole book, it becomes very, very clear that God hates sin, but God really loves sinners, and the sin God hates the most is pride. Pride being any shred of an attitude that puts anything in the place of God. We see this right at the beginning of the book, like a thesis statement:
"Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent,
by righteousness.
But rebels and sinners shall be
broken together,
and those who forsake the LORD
shall be consumed." (vv. 27-28)
There will be justice and righteousness. As Moses tells us, "We are consumed with your anger." But it isn't misplaced, though it takes Moses a verse or two to get around to the main point that God's anger is due to our iniquities, our secret sins. None of us is perfect. Even those who try their very hardest to be perfect, perhaps especially those, know that they are not. We are not always kind and loving. We are not always honest. We often put things in the place of God in our lives. We don't like it, but there is some justification there for a holy God's wrath. We try to downplay it, say it isn't so bad, tell ourselves that others are much, much worse, but we are wrong.
The NIV translates v. 27 in the Isaiah passage as delivered. God has an escape plan for those who follow Him, but for those who don't, they will be consumed. Isaiah makes it very clear who will be consumed. Look at vv. 29-31. This is the explanatory passage as to who those rebels and sinners are. They are the ones who will be ashamed of oaks and gardens.
Huh?
I know it sounds as though gardeners and arborists need to start shaking in their boots, but that is not really what this is saying. These verses are actually talking about idolatry. Back in Isaiah's time, it was common to set up idols under oak trees and to build gardens around them. This is talking about the sin of idolatry; the setting up of another in place of God. Few of us have physical idols in the back yard, but that doesn't stop us from worshiping other things. This is where we need to be very careful as this is the root of rebellion and sin. This is what will be consumed.
God wants us to turn to Him. He is the only one with the effective rescue plan. This is what Jesus is telling the crowds, and by extension, us. Jesus is the rescue plan. Ninevah was saved because they listened to what Jonah had to say, though he (Jonah) really gave them no reason to listen to him. He really wasn't giving the message his all. The Queen of Sheba traveled to visit Solomon because she wanted his wisdom, and by extension the wisdom of God who gave it to Solomon, just because she had heard about him. Jesus then tells the crowds that something greater is right before them. The rescue plan is right in front of them, talking to them, yet so many won't listen.
These passages for Advent are telling us to listen. They are like the safety instructions at the beginning of a flight. Here is how we can be saved when the plane goes down, except there is no 'if' about it going down, just a 'when'. Yet like so many air passengers, we have heard it all before and no longer really pay attention.
Advent says to us, amidst the festivities, the songs, the gifts, the parties, pay attention. We celebrate the Savior, but often forget, to be a savior, there needs to be something to be saved from.
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