Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Taken from Matthew Henry’s “Method of Prayer”

We must lament and confess over our sins..

Oh Lord, I confess and weep over my omissions of duty, my neglect of it and trifling in it, and that I have done so little since I came into the world of the great work I was sent into the world about, so very little to answer the end of my creation or of my redemption, of my birth and of my baptism; and that I have profited no more by the means of grace.  I have been as a fig tree planted in the vineyard, and you have come many years seeking fruit from me but have found none; and therefore I might justly be cut down and thrown into the fire Matthew 3:10(ESV) for using up the ground: Luke 13:6-7(ESV) - But Lord, You have exercised grace and patience!

You have come looking for grapes, but beheld wild grapes; Isaiah 5:4(ESV) for I have been an empty vine bringing forth fruit to myself. Hosea 10:1(ESV), but again Lord, Your eyes were patient , look to that One Who came in my stead. Lord, I have time and again known the right thing to do, but have failed to do it. James 4:17(ESV) I have hid my Master’s money, so to speak, Matthew 25:18(ESV) and therefore, like the wicked and slothful servant deserve the doom of my Master. Matthew 25:26(ESV) but once again Lord, Your eyes are not on me, but on the crucified One. I have been an unfaithful steward who has wasted my Lord’s possessions; Luke 16:1(ESV) for as You Word says: "one sinner destroys much good". Ecclesiastes 9:18(ESV) Lord, often there has been money in my hand to buy wisdom, yet I have had no sense to, Proverbs 17:16(ESV) or like the fool my heart has been inclined to the left. Ecclesiastes 10:2(ESV)

My youth and dawn of life were vanity, Ecclesiastes 11:10(ESV) and I have brought my years to an end like a sigh. Psalm 90:9(ESV) I have not known or improved the day of my visitation; Luke 19:44(ESV) I haven't prepared bread in summer nor gathered food in harvest, though I have given much... Proverbs 6:7-8(ESV) I am slow of heart to understand and believe; Luke 24:25(ESV) Lord, I have much yet to learn the basic principles of the oracles of God: I have much need of milk, and there is much evidence that I cannot bear solid food. Hebrews 5:12(ESV)

Lord, It is frequently true that I have done away with the fear of God and hindered meditation before God; Job 15:4(ESV) I often do not called upon your name, or roused myself to take hold of you. Isaiah 64:7(ESV) To my shame I have come to you as your people come, and have sat before you as your people sit, and have heard what you have said, when my heart at the same time has been set after gain. Ezekiel 33:31(ESV) And thus have I brought the torn and the lame and the sick for sacrifice, have presented to my God that which I would not have presented to my governor; Malachi 1:8(ESV) and have vowed and sacrificed to the Lord what is blemished, when I had better in my flock. Malachi 1:14(ESV) But all of this Lord, all of it is under Your torn flesh and Your shed blood…

And thanks be to God, for apart from that truth there would be not hope, I would have not hope at all. How could I hope to make amends for even one offense, let alone for the enormity of all of my offense together? Oh Lord - thanks be to Your mercy and to Your grace - given before the world ever began...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Worshipping God As Creator - Along With Isaiah (Part 2)

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ (Is 45:5-7).

O Lord - what glorious words - they are high and lifted up - how can we even begin to appreciate them? Surely Lord you do those things that we cannot and would not do ourselves! You made the earth, You created man on it. You—Your hands—stretched out the heavens, and all their host You have commanded. (Isaiah 45:12) It is You Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited.

You have proclaimed time and again: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’. 

I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right (Isaiah 45:18-19). Indeed Lord, Your hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and Your right hand has stretched out the heavens. When You call to those heavens, they stand up together. (Isaiah 48:13)

Time and again we heard the preacher say those words from Isaiah’s mouth: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.” Truly we understand the what was said to David; “Where is the house that you will build Me? Where is the place of My rest?” We remember that Stephen cited this passage before the Sanhedrin in reminding them that You do not in stone and Golden palaces. “For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” You say O Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. O Lord it is our desire to be that people! Give us a that poor and contrite heart and let us tremble, truly tremble and the sound of Your voice this morning! For Lord, we know that that is where godliness lay…

Meet with us and let us know that we have met with You…

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Worshipping God As Creator - Along With Isaiah

We stand alone Lord. We stand as Your people among the peoples of the earth. You have placed us as Your beacon among nations and asked us to shine among them. Hear, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. (Isaiah 37:16-17a) For they raise their voices and their fists against you. Hear all the words of the unredeemed, which have raised up a reproach the living God. (Isaiah 37:b).

How can they stand against You O Lord? Who of them has measured the waters in the hollow of Your hand or measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Which of them has weighed the mountains in scales or the hills in a balance?

Their pride drives their mouths to striking blasphemies Father, but yet, Who has directed the You, or as You counselor has taught You? With which of them did You ask opinion in any matter, and who instructed You and taught You in the path of what is just? Who has knowledge of anything that You do not already have and can show You the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales. You lift up the very islands as a very little thing! The entire forests of Lebanon are not sufficient to burn, nor are its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. Lord, all nations before You are as nothing. In truth, they are counted as less than nothing and worthless compared to Your worth. (Isaiah 40:12-17).

Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number. Lord, You call them all by name, by the greatness of Your might and the strength of His power, not one of the called are missing. (Isaiah 40:26)

We hear what Isaiah says and we wonder at its’ beauty Lord!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Praying Along With Psalm 100

1Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

I want to make a joyful shout Lord, I truly wish it was all lands! I truly wish it was all peoples - it grieves my heart that men dishonor and forget you and treat you as it you were not there. I am not certain sometimes what keeps me from shouting, but for my own pride and my own flesh, my own desire to not appear foolish in the eyes of those same peoples. Lord, show me how I can shout, let me lift my voice and show your glory to all me without reservation and without thought for my own reputation!

2Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.

Pride is a horror to me. Let it not be found in me. Let me be glad to serve and let me be ever seeking to humbly and without thought for self bowing my knee to you. Lord, I give myself to you and let you and your service my all in all. I am nothing and my future is nothing but yours to use. When I in your presence, let that the happiest time there is for me!

3Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

I do know it Lord. Let me now live it in every thing and every thought. Let it rule my every breath and every waking moment. God, I want to be about nothing but the serving of you and your church, at large and at the Church because I know that it you who made me and not I. I know that I am yours and the sheep of your pasture.

4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Oh Lord, when I enter your presence, let it not be with a petition on my lips, but with thankful praise in my heart. Let me not come wanting something. But let me come simply because you are my Father and I want to be with you and praise you and thank you for what you have done for me. I don't mean to be trite and meaningless - but Lord, how tiring it must be for you to hear a list of shopping requests all the time. God let me be faithful to pray and to ask for you command me to do so. But let me also be faithful to simply be thankful and full of praise as well! For you are surely a God who deserves both!

5For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Oh God how can a man even begin to express how good you truly are? How can good, a human word say what God is? We are men and we think in human terms, but you are God. We long for eternity so that we can, at last, see you as you are and have tongues that praise you as you deserve to be praised! O Lord - bring that day quickly. Until then - give us hearts to worship and praise you and tongues that never tire of worshipping and praising.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Scriptural Prayer Of Praise for God as Creator (Part 5)

Oh Lord, You are great and greatly to be praised; You are to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the You made the heavens. They are for nothing but dishonor while honor and majesty are before You and strength and beauty are in His sanctuary (Ps 96:4-6). And so I will bless the Lord, and all His works, in all places of His dominion. I will say with David: Bless the Lord, O my soul! (Ps 103:22).

Indeed! Bless the Lord, O my soul! For You are very great O Lord my God! You are clothed with honor and majesty and cover Yourself with light as with a garment; stretching out the heavens like a curtain. You lay the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, You make the clouds His chariot, You walk on the wings of the wind, You make Your angels spirits and Your ministers a flame of fire. (Ps 104:1-4).

O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions—This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about; and there is that Leviathan; which You have made to play there. Lord, these all wait for You in Your greatness and majesty; that You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in. You open Your hand, they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created. May Your great glory endure forever. May You rejoice in Your works. (Ps 104:24-32).

Oh Lord help me to see that Your Word and Your creation stand together. For forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven and Your faithfulness endures to all generations. And You established the earth, and it abides. They both continue this day according to Your ordinances, according to the faithfulness, the trustworthiness and power of Your Word; for all are Your servants. (Ps 119:89-91).

Lord, David proclaimed that all we know of our trust in You rests in that You made heaven and earth; even the truth that our help comes from the Lord. He said "I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help?" And he knew, and we know as well, that that help comes from You for He who made the hills can certainly help ones such as we! (Ps 121:1-2). Our help is in the name of the Lord, The One Who made heaven and earth. (Ps 124:8).

You condescend to us in mercy and that mercy endures for ever Lord! To You Lord give abundant thanks! For You are good! You are the God of gods!; The Lord of lords! You, by wisdom made the heavens; You laid out the earth above the waters, You made great lights, the sun to rule by day, the moon and stars to rule by night. (Ps 136:5-9). Truly Lord - You are worthy of our Thanks and of our Praise!

Well and truly David said: "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever…" (Ps 146:5-6).

Ah Lord - We shout with Your Word:

1   Praise the Lord!
     Praise the Lord from the heavens;
     Praise Him in the heights!
2   Praise Him, all His angels;
     Praise Him, all His hosts!
3   Praise Him, sun and moon;
     Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4   Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
     And you waters above the heavens!
5   Let them praise the name of the Lord,
     For He commanded and they were created.
6   He also established them forever and ever;
     He made a decree which shall not pass away. (Ps 148:1-6).

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Scriptural Prayer Of Praise for God as Creator (Part 4)

Ah Lord God, You have been my dwelling place, and not mine alone, You have been our dwelling place, the dwelling place of Your people for all generations. There is no doubt that You are God and that You are sovereign for before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, as David proclaimed, You are God. (Ps 90:2). In Your hand are the deep places of the earth; places I've never seen or even thought of. The heights of the hills are Yours also. Likewise the sea is Yours, for You made it; and Your hands formed the dry land. How can I help but fall down and worship, but bow down and worship a God such as this. How can I not kneel before the Lord my Maker? For He is My God, and I am, we are the people of His pasture. Moreover, we are sheep cared for and protected by His own good, right hand (Ps 95:4-7).

Lord, I long to see the face of He Who, of old, laid the foundations of the earth. It is my heart's desire to come and to dwell with Him whose work is the heavens above. I know I will come to You, all of Your children will. The heavens and the earth will perish, but You will endure; they will all grow old like a garment and like a cloak You will change them and behold!; they will be changed. Ah! But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.” (Ps 102:26-28). Lord, I long for that day - the longer I live the great that longing becomes!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Scriptural Prayer Of Praise for God as Creator (Part 3)

Lord, You are greater even that the greatest strength in Your world! "You established the mountains by Your strength, Being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples."(Ps 65:6-7). Oh Lord, to make such majesty and such great strength You must be all the more strong and majestic. Greatness can only come from that is the more great!

Lord, even the great concepts and guiding precepts of our creations are Yours, you put them in place! They didn't just happen - they were your idea! They didn't just evolve! "The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have set all the borders of the earth; You have made summer and winter." (Ps 74:16-17). It is God who set the boundaries of the world in place and the rotations and the orbits of the planets in their cycles. They didn't just happen or evolve over millions of years. Oh Lord, they are the product of your design!

Lord, you designed the skies, the heavens to declare Your glory and to draw our attention to You and focus our hearts on Your glory! "And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever." (Ps 78:69). Lord, let it do so! Help me to see the skies and the heavens and worship and to praise You! Let me not walk under that canopy and do so without thinking of Your power and Your glory! Teach me more…There is never a time when I know all there is to know about the God of Creation Lord. Show me what a great God you and impress on me more of Who You are by showing me more of Your Creation!

You know them and can reveal them to me for... "The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them...(Ps 89:11-12a). Tell me of them Lord, show them to me, teach me of You as you show them to me.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Scriptural Prayer Of Praise for God as Creation (Part 2)

My God, I affirm with Nehemiah that You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, Lord - No being that is was not made but by Your hand! The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them is because of Your strong right arm and because Your great mind. You preserve them all. For this I and all of the host of heaven worships You. (Neh. 9:6).

As Job said, You alone spread out the heavens, and You alone have tread on the waves of the sea (Job 9:8). You made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades and You made the chambers of the south. You do great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number. (Job 9:8-10). I will ask the beasts, and they will teach me; and the birds of the air, and they will tell me Lord; I will speak to the earth, and it will teach me; and to the fish of the sea will explain to me. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in His hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?. (Job 12:7-9)

O Lord, You stretch out the north over empty space; You hang the earth on nothing, You bind up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. You cover the face of Your throne, and spread your cloud over it. You drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at Your rebuke. You stir up the sea with Your power and by Your understanding You break up the storm. Lord, by Your Spirit You adorned the heavens. These are only the mere edges of Your ways. And how small a whisper we hear of You! But the thunder of Your power who can understand?". (Job 26:7-14) Truly Father we understand what You allow us to understand but who can understand You in your greatness?

Oh Lord - I worship You as David worshipped you as Creator. David knew You as the Creator God and knew the implications of what that meant: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,  The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor." (Psalm 8:3-5) He understood, I do Lord, that You have created a wonderful world and stood us, stood me at the top of it. O Lord how wonderful are your works!

Everywhere I look, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork". (Ps 19:1). There can be no question but that there is a God and that You are powerful and that You are in charge of all things. My knee bows before you. "The earth is Yours and all that is in it, You do with it as You will. The earth is Yours, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For You have founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters" (Psalm 24:1-2).

"By Your Word the heavens were made oh Lord, and all the host of them by the breath of Your mouth! You gather the waters of the sea together as a heap; You lay up the deep in storehouses. Oh Lord, let all the earth fear the Lord, Let me fear You rightly!; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of You. For You spoke, and it was done; You commanded, and it stood fast". (Psalm 33:6-9) Lord, what other is there of Whom this can be said? Where else can we look to see a Being that controls all and holds all in the palm of His hand?

Rights Group Assailed for Analyst’s Nazi Collection - NYTimes.com

"Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him"[1].

Rights Group Assailed for Analyst’s Nazi Collection - NYTimes.com:

"A leading human rights group has suspended its senior military analyst following revelations that he is an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia." What never fails to amaze me is that there is never a connection between the hatred that men feel for the Jews and the Biblical record of that hatred in the Scripture. Any time I read this kind article I always see it as one more example of the hatred that men have for the people that God has chosen and called His own. Ultimately that hatred is also a demonstration of hatred for Him as well.

Now, it is not my purpose here to develop a theological argument defending the premise, but I believe that this is the root of anti-semitism. Ultimately, it has little to do with the Jews themselves. It is another expression of rebellion against the God of the Scripture. He is not permitted to do and be as He chooses. He cannt select a people and blesses them, giving to them a land and what blessings He desires. He must give those belssings to my nation and under my gods name as well, or to my nation and my religion's banner exclusively as the case may be. The rebellion is framed in whatever language I can muster, in whatever language and verbiage I can put together, that is acceptable to me and to my social group; but it rebellion none-the-less. Just as Cain brought his own offering and was insulted when God refused it, and then, in anger struck down Abel; so also the unredeemed of the world are simply insulted and angry (an oversimplification I know)that God has refused their offering and they are seeking to strike down the one whom they can see God has blessed. It is an attemt to strike back at the One against Whom they cannot strike.

Of course, this is met with virulent denials. For this antisemitism is most often couched itself in relgious overtones. But then, that is the nature of false religion. Rebellion against God is, by its nature, a religion in an of itself. It is the religion of "self-agrandizement" and "self-satisfaction". I will do what I want, the way I want, and no, and I mean no one (including God) will tell me any differently. Oh, these folks are religious alright, but their religion is the religon of Cain.

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[1] The New King James Version. 1982 (Ge 4:8). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Scriptural Prayer Of Praise for God as Creator

O Lord you created the heavens and the earth...and all the host of them, were finished…And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done…and it was good! Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. You are the Creator God and your strong arm created all that is! Nothing exists hat You did bring to pass. The processes you set in motion either directly or indirectly are responsible for all that is.

You formed me of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and I became a living being and I praise you for it. I am made in the likeness of God, fearfully and wonderfully - show me what that means! How glorious that is!

How marvelous is it that "in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Surely you are God and no man could do anything like that!

David said you are a God "Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them." When I consider the abundance and the variety of all that is there Lord it boggle my mind - but then when I consider the God of the heavens - I am not amazed because I know you are who you are!

Samuel said that “the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them". The picture of you that this draws for us is a God so mighty that it comforts and encourages us to trust you without question.

On the day David brought the Tabernacle to Jerusalem and put it in Tabernacle he praised you saying: "For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens." Of a truth, Lord - I look around and that is the case today as well - all of the gods of our world are but idols as well. They are dumb pieces of stone, figments of the depraved imagination of men. Only you are God - only you are the Creator, only You are to be worshipped.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Wine as a Symbol in the Intertestamental Period and in the NT - Isaiah 1:8

The vine remained an important symbol in Intertestamental Judaism (e.g., 2 Esdr. 5:23). An abounding vineyard was the symbol of the goodness of the eschaton or Day of the Lord (2Apoc. Bar. 29:5). In Sirach wisdom is described as a vine glorious with abundant fruit (Sir. 24:17–22).

In the Roman period even Herod the Great’s rebuilt temple adopted the image. Between the porch and the holy place was a golden gate on which was affixed a gold vine. Clusters of gold grapes hung from it, and wealthy families would give gold tendrils, berries, and leaves as gifts so the vine might always grow larger (Josephus BJ v.5.4 [120]; Mishnah Mid. iii.8).

It comes as no surprise that Jesus would imply the symbolism of the vine in his ministry. In two parables he uses the well-known context of vineyard labor to illustrate God’s grace to all who are sent into the “vineyard” (Matt. 20:1–16) and to explain the nature of true obedience (21:28–32). His most important parable is found at Mark 12:1–11, where he sweeps up the prophetic rebuke and criticizes the Jewish leadership as unrighteous tenants of God’s vineyard. Here, however, the tenants (rather than the vineyard) will be destroyed and the vineyard passed on to others.[1]

Jesus further alluded to His relationship with His followers by referring to Himself as the vine and to them as the branches (John 15:5-8).

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

The fruit of the vine symbolized Jesus’ shed blood (Matt. 26:27–29).

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

He also used the vineyard in many of His parables (Matt. 9:17; 20:1–6; 21:28–32; Luke 13:6–9).[2]

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[1] Myers, A. C. (1987). The Eerdmans Bible dictionary. Rev., augm. translation of: Bijbelse encyclopedie. Rev. ed. 1975. (1038). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.

[2] Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wine as a Symbol in the OT

In the Old Testament the vine was a rich symbol for national Israel (as opposed to individual believers). Yahweh planted, cultivated, and protected his people, and in return he expected fruit from them. Ps. 80:8–13 typically developed this metaphor, emphasizing how Israel was a transplanted vine rescued from Egypt and relocated in good soil:

You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. 9 You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. 11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. 12 Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? 13 The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it.

According to Isa. 27:2–3, the Lord protects and rejoices over his vineyard, Israel.

2 In that day sing to her, “A vineyard of red wine! 3 I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.

But most often the vineyard metaphor depicts the shortcomings of Israel. Its vineyard walls have been broken and its crop ravaged (Ps. 80:12).

12 Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?

The prophets repeat the theme again and again. Jeremiah asks how the vine has become a “wild vine” (Jer. 2:21; cf. 5:10; 12:10–11).

21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? 10 “Go up on her walls and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, For they are not the Lord’s. 10 “Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart.

Later in Isaiah, he speaks with utter dismay about the Lord’s disappointing harvest of wild grapes despite God’s care and nurture (Isa. 5:1–4; cf. Hos. 9:10).

1Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?

This means that the vineyard must be judged. Its wall will be broken, his protection removed, and its vines no longer weeded or hoed; even the rain upon it shall cease (Isa. 5:5–7).

5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Its wood will be burned like useless timber (Ezek. 15; cf. Rev. 14:19–20).

We’ll continue with a further look at how it was used in the Intertestamental period next time…

Friday, September 11, 2009

The Precious in the Midst of the Abominable (Isa. 1:8 - Part 3)

Isaiah now moves on the describe in vivid terms the condition of Israel as she is left by the Lord. He chooses imagery that would be very familiar to the Israelites, that of the vineyard.

So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city

The “vineyard” is, of course, a cultivated and tended plot of land for the growing and harvesting of grapes. Grapes in the Bible were a luscious fruit cultivated on vines. Large clusters of grapes weighing about five kilograms (12 pounds) each (Num. 13:23) have been reported in Palestine. This is yet another reminded to Israel of how far their land had fallen.

Grapes were used in a variety of ways. They were eaten fresh or dried and were made into wine or vinegar. Dried grapes were (and are) called raisins. The first suggestion of grapes in Scripture was in connection with Noah’s vineyard (Gen. 9:20) where, after the flood Noah “…began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.”.

The soil and climate of Palestine was well suited for vineyards, where grapes were grown. They were cultivated here long before the Israelites occupied the land. Gen. 14:18 tells us that Melchizedek used bread and “wine” to bless Abram. When the spies went into the land, they reported that the vineyards of Palestine produced immense clusters of grapes (Num. 13:20, 23–24)

20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. 23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there.

Vineyards were almost always hedged or fenced as protection from wild animals (Song 2:15). In each vineyard a tower was also erected and a guard placed to protect the vines from robbers (Matt. 21:33).

Vinedressers (often traveling groups, unless the landowner had a lot of property) were hired to care for the vines and prune them yearly (Lev. 25:3; Is. 61:5). The grapes were gathered in baskets in September and October with much festivity (Judg. 9:27; Is. 16:10). Provision was made for the poor to glean the fields (Lev. 19:10; Deut. 24:21). The choicest grapes were dried (raisins) or eaten fresh and the rest were placed in presses to extract the juice (Is. 61:5; Hos. 9:2–4). This was drunk fresh or fermented (wine).

There were a number of uses in the Bible for this wine, and we’ll get to those uses next time!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Precious in the Midst of the Abominable (Isa. 1:8 - part 2)

So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

The beginning of Isaiah 1:8 says that the daughter of Zion was “left”.  We talked about that last time and concluded that she was left, but not completely, but that a remnant was left to her.  We noted that the introduction of the term “daughter” into the text suggested a much more personal note to the conversation that was somewhat in contrast with foregoing verses.

Nevertheless, she was left.  We pick up here with a picture of a desperate city under siege.

A Desperate City Under Siege

As a cottage - literally, “a shade,” or “shelter”, a temporary habitation erected in vineyards to give shelter to the grape gatherers, and to those who were appointed to watch the vineyard to guard it from depredations; compare the note at Matt. 21:33.

“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

The “tower” that the landowner built was for those who would attend the vineyard to take shelter in while they watched the vineyard in case there was a storm. It was not meant to be a permanent shelter, but only a temporary, emergency one. In Matthew, the intention was likely different than the intention here. There, the intention of the landowner was more of a fortress kind of an idea, a defense of the vineyard against those who would steal from him. Here, it was the shelter of the attendants from storm.

The word is translated variously as booth, hut, even tent. It can refer to everything from an open sided tent that barely provides any cover at all, just from sun, to a small, makeshift cottage designed for occasional and seasonal habitation, shelter from the weather and the like.

As such it is a powerful image of desolation: a rude hut used in late summer by watchmen who kept the birds away from the crops, but abandoned in every other season. This, as opposed to the land of milk and honey that was promised and entered into by the people of God as they emerged from bondage in Egypt. The contrast between plenty, abundance and ease is startling.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The Precious in the Midst of the Abominable

So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city.

Isaiah to this Point      “And” – A simple coordinating conjunction used to connect on thought to another. Here it connects the thought of the ravished city in the verse before with the idea of the daughter of Zion that follows. In this instance it is quite useful as it personalizes the passage and causes us to think, not in terms of the nation, but takes our thoughts and with the introduction of the term “daughter” next, to much more personal and intimate level where we will not detached, but will be more apt to take to heart what Isaiah will be saying. It is actually quite a good bit of writing.

     The word might also be translated “So” as it is in the NKJV. This implies some contrasting or otherwise joining event that is coupled with the foregoing events. Here we would see that, in spite of what was said in the prior verses, there was a remnant, a “daughter of Zion” that remained.

    “She was Left” - The word used here denotes left as a part or remnant is left - not left entirely, or complete, but in a weakened or divided state. In the particular form it is in here it means to be spared or preserved[1]. It is as if Isaiah is saying that the Daughter of Zion has escaped the punishment in the sense that God preserved her from the entire effect of it. It is used, for instance, in this form in Joshua 11:11:

     And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.

     The normal effect of such judgment would be to wipe out the entire group, but that was not the case here, this group “escaped” the full effect. The idea is further developed by the use of the passive voice. She did not escape, she was “escaped”, the implication is by the only force that could do that, namely God Himself.

     The clear statement of Isaiah here is that God was judging Israel and that the condition of the nation was only indirectly the result of the result of the attacking nations. More directly it was the result of God’s actions in bringing chastisement. But even in the midst of that judgment, a remnant had “remained” or be “spared” that judgment and been allowed by God to remain in Israel, in Jerusalem. That remnant is described as “The Daughter of Zion”.

     In these words Isaiah introduces the doctrine of the remnant for the first time. Even this remnant, as Herntrich well points out, is itself a witness to the frightful character of the destruction.[2] It is interesting that even in the midst of the prophecy of destruction, God holds out the branch of good news to His people! He will not leave the comfortless!

     “The daughter of Zion” - Zion, or Sion, was the name of one of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. On this hill formerly stood the city of the Jebusites, and when David took it from them he transferred to it his court, and it was called the city of David, or the holy hill. It was in the southern part of the city. As Zion became the residence of the court, and was the most important part of the city, the name was often used to denote the city itself, and is often applied to the whole of Jerusalem.

     The phrase appears in some 36 verses in the Bible, 34 of them in the OT. It seems to mean Zion itself, or Jerusalem. It is a personification of Jerusalem, standing in this case for all of Judah.[3] The name daughter is given to it by a personification in accordance with a common custom in Eastern writers, by which beautiful towns and cities are likened to young females. The name mother is also applied in the same way. Perhaps the custom arose from the fact that when a city was built, towns and villages would spring up round it - and the first would be called the mother-city (hence, the word metropolis). The expression was also employed as an image of beauty, from a fancied resemblance between a beautiful town and a beautiful and well-dressed woman. Thus Ps. 45:13, the phrase daughter of Tyre, means Tyre itself; Ps. 137:8, daughter of Babylon, that is, Babylon; Isa. 37:22, ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion;’ Jer. 46:2; Isa. 23:12; Jer. 14:17; Num. 21:23, 32, (Hebrew); Judg. 11:26.

     Aside from 2 uses (Ps. 9:14; SoS 3:11) which are centered on worship; and 10 other uses by Isaiah himself (including the present one) which follow the same general sense as the current verse; we are left with 22 occurrences of the phrase that are all, generally speaking, either apocalyptic or Messianic in nature. They are all fairly clear in that they are direct references to Jerusalem as a representative of the nation of Israel as a unit. We could add to those the two occurrences in the NT as they as simply quote of OT passages (Matt. 21:5 and John 12:15).

     And so, the “Daughter of Zion”, this one that was the apple of God’s eye has been judged, but a remnant has been left. Isaiah now goes on characterize the quality of just how they have been “left”.

     Before we go on and consider that idea we need to think a moment about the choice of the word “daughter”. A “daughter” here uses a Hebrew word referring to any female, usually, in this context, of marrying age (not a pre-adolescent young girl). Daughters of pre-adolescent age were referred to as children. Actually, the of in this phrase is somewhat misleading. “Daughter of Zion” seems to indicate that Zion has a daughter. In fact, Zion is the daughter—the daughter of the Lord.[4]

     The word bath, “daughter,” is a feminine singular collective noun with neuter force, signifying the aggregate of the inhabitants of a city or country personified as a female. This phrase means not Zion’s daughter, but the daughter who is in Zion. Zion refers to the entire city rather than to the hill Ophel alone, and is thus a synonym for Jerusalem.[5] In the Old Testament cities are frequently designated in poetical fashion as women (cf. 2 Sam. 20:19; Ps. 87:5; Isa. 47:1; and Amos 5:2).[6] It seems likely, given the rest of the OT narrative concerning the love of God for Israel, that the expression “daughter of Zion” also implies some sense of tenderness, and characterizes Jerusalem as the beautiful city which was a delight to the Israelites as well as to God Himself. That city remains, but it remains alone, as both a witness to the fearfulness of the judgment and to the faithfulness and fullness of God’s power and ability to preserve Israel through that judgment. This would surely not be out of character when we consider the sentiments of our Lord Jesus Christ Who came and preached, taught, pled and wept over that same Jerusalem 7 centuries later!

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 3855, #2). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Young, E. (1965). The Book of Isaiah: Volume 1, Chapters 1-18 (55). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[3] MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Is 1:8). Nashville: Word Pub.

[4] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson study Bible : New King James Version. Includes index. (Is 1:8). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

[5] Op. Cit., Young.

[6] Ibid.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Strangers Devour Your Land

     Isaiah finishes out his discussion of verse 7 by speaking of the horrible result of Israel’s unfaithfulness and the resulting judgment of God upon them.  “Strangers” have descended upon them and overtaken their land, devouring it right in front of them!

Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. (Isaiah 1:7)

     “Devour” means “to consume its provisions”. The verb is a simple one, but it is a participle and is pictured in the active sense and we are meant to see it as active. As with any participle, there is a picture being drawn here. It is not so much that we are meant to see the voracious hordes descending on the land so much as we are to picture the provision of the land, meant for the Israelites and intended by God for their sustaining and upholding, instead sustain and uphold foreigners. These provisions were meant by God to be consumed by the Israelites themselves, but are here being consumed by their enemies! Once again we are brought back to the idea that these are peoples in the land that shouldn’t have been there, consuming things that they shouldn’t have been consuming!

     Note the use of “Your land” as a metaphor for all that God had given to the Israelites. Because of their disobedience, all that they had was coming unraveled before their eyes! God does not deal in partialities when all is said and done. This is particularly true when we remember that “Israel” was no novice at the things of God. At the time we are talking about she had held the Law in her hands for some 800 hundred or so years. God spoke to Moses @ the year 1500 BC or so. Isaiah @700 or so (we are speaking in grave generalities here). If we go back to Abram, we are talking about a nation that had known the things of God for headed for 1750 years! They were not novices! God had sent them prophets and priests. They had had the Tabernacle and the Temple, and experience without end. They ought to have known better.

     And yet…

     “In your presence” – The word is a noun that comes from a primary root that means “in front of” or “to stand out”. The verb form means to announce or to manifest, to expose, explain, even to praise. The idea is that action was conspicuous and obvious, certainly very noticeable and the implication is that this is a circumstance that greatly heightens the calamity, that they were compelled to look on and witness the desolation, without being able to prevent it.

     “And it is overthrown by strangers” – From the Hebrew word to turn, to overturn, to destroy as a city; (Gen. 19:21-25; Deut. 29:22). It refers to the changes which an invading foe produces in a nation, where everything is subverted; where cities are destroyed, walls are thrown down, and fields and vineyards laid waste.

     It is a ruin, a waste, i.e., a state of utter ruin, often relating to uninhabitable land as a sparsely populated area[1]. The same word is used in Ex 23:29:

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

     Note that God says that He will NOT drive the people of the land out before the Israelites just so that the land will not fall into this state! Now, because of the sin that Israel has indulged, the land has come fully into this state of disrepair. The land was as if an invading army had passed through it, and completely overturned everything. One writer proposes to read this, ‘as if destroyed by an inundation;’ but without authority. The desolation caused by the ravages of foreigners, at a time when the nations were barbarous, was the highest possible image of distress, and the prophet dwells on it, though with some appearance of repetition.

     What if a preacher today talked like this in a congregation of Christians? “Hellfire and brimstone” preaching has just about disappeared. Yet Isaiah was one of the most educated men of his time. He was a member of the nobility, traveling in the highest circles of Israel. There is some evidence that he was of the royal house, though this inference is contested by some scholars. When Isaiah spoke his fiery words he was not a crazy preacher standing on a street corner with a sign. His words carried weight. We can learn from Isaiah that there is indeed a time and a place for wise, educated preachers to talk straight to their congregations about sin.

     Isaiah called them “Sodom and Gomorrah” (Isa 1:10). He told them that God was sick and tired of their religious activities, their sacrifices and festivals, because they were ignoring true social justice (Isa 1:11, 12, 13, 14, 15). He advised them to start defending the good, seeking justice, reproving the ruthless, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow. He did not tell them to take the easy way, to set up a political bureaucracy to do these things. Rather, he told them that each of them needed to stand up publicly and be counted on the side of justice for the oppressed.

     God’s invitation is issued in Isa 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together.” God told the people who had been indicted that, if they would repent, their sins would be washed away, and they would eat the best of the land. He also told them that, if they continued to rebel, it was they who would be eaten—by the sword. With such options, what was clearly reasonable was heartfelt repentance.

     What Isaiah delivered was part of the “whole counsel of God,” the rest of the story we often prefer not to hear. There are times when pastors must speak the whole counsel.

     Does your church stifle or intimidate your pastor, perhaps unintentionally, so that some subjects about sin are off-limits from the pulpit? Give him the freedom to speak all of God’s Word to you.[2]

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9039, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Sproul, Sr., R. C. Vol. 3: Before the face of God: Book Three: Ligonier Ministries.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility – Cities Burned With Fire (Part 2)

Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

     Strangers is a word meaning to be alienated, or estranged. The verb form of the word is used back in verse 4 where Israel was said to have “turned away backward” or become “estranged” from God. As is normal for most words in Hebrew, it can have several shades of meaning. It can speak of that which is “illegitimate, unauthorized”, i.e., pertaining to that which is not allowed according to a standard, as in a sin or wrongdoing, for instance as in Lev. 10:1:

Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.

     It can also speak of that which is strange, foreign, or alien, i.e., namely pertaining to that which is not of a native group or land, and often with an associated meaning of latent or overt hostility. 2Ki 19:24 uses it in this fashion:

“I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of defense.”

     It can also be translated “other”, i.e., pertaining to that which is of a different class or kind compared to a standard group or class. Ex 29:33 uses it in this fashion:

33 They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy.

     It can also be used to speak of a distant place, formally, foreign place, i.e., a place relatively far from the speaker’s perspective This is the fashion in which it used in Jer 18:14:

Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?

     Finally, it can speak of that which is illegitimate and formally, foreign, i.e., pertaining to a child born of a mixed marriage (a marriage where one is a native and the spouse is an unauthorized foreigner as in Hos. 5:7:[1]

They have dealt treacherously with the Lord,
For they have begotten pagan children.
Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

     It is applied to foreigners, that is, those who were not Israelites, (Ex. 30:33); and is often used to denote an enemy, a foe, a barbarian; (Ps. 109:11):

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, And let the strangers plunder his labor. (Ezek. 11:9; 28:10; 30:12; Hos. 7:9; 8:7).

The word refers here particularly to the Syrians. (Foreigners does, by the way, have a very negative context here. To be a “foreigner” was not a good thing in the way that it is used here). Now, when Israel was being obedient in the land, foreigners were welcome and could live in the land. We’re told that they chiefly consisted of six major elements[2]:

  • The remnant of the mixed multitude who came out of Egypt. (Ex 12:38)

A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.

  • The remnant of the nations of the land. (1Ki 9:20; 2Ch 8:7)

9:20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel

8:7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel

  • Captives taken in war. (De 21:10 )

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

  • Foreign servants. (Le 25:44,45)

44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.

  • Persons who sought employment among the Jews. (1Ki 7:13; 9:27)

7:13 Now King Solomon sent and brought Huram from Tyre.

9:27 Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon.

  • Persons who came into Israel for the sake of religious privileges. (1Ki 8:41)

“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake

     But this is assuredly not the sense in which it is used here. The “stranger” here is in not any of those classes, nor is he, properly in the class of the invader. He is almost in the class of the invited guest. One who has been allowed in and is ransacking the nation and consuming those provisions intended and laid in store for God’s children.  We’ll look further in our next post…

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 2424, #5). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Torrey, R. (1995, c1897). The new topical text book : A scriptural text book for the use of ministers, teachers, and all Christian workers. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos research Systems, Inc.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility – Cities Burned With Fire

     Having spoken of the desolation of this land of milk and honey brought on by the disobedience of the people of Israel, Isaiah goes on and speaks of their cities, cities God had promised to bless and protect, being burned with fire.

Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. (Isaiah 1:7)

     “Cities” is a common word that can refer to anything from a population center ranging from a small un-walled hamlet to a large, walled city.[1] There is no inherent size reference.

     “Burned with Fire” obviously speaks of the act of burning objects by fire. It is a verb and in the passive and so speaks means to consume objects by fire. Ex 29:34 uses the word in conjunction with the fire used to consume the left over portions of offerings from the Tabernacle: [2]

34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

     We ought to note that the OT can use this word in this fashion, however, to refer to giving a sacrifice or offering to any deity by fire.[3] That makes this use significant. It is as if God is saying that the land itself has been offered on a foreign alter as a burnt offering! It is worth noting, in conjunction with this idea, that one of uses of this very word can also refer to burning as a form of execution, killing by fire in conjunction with the offering of children to a foreign God that was strictly forbidden to Israel (not to mean a horror!) This could be an oblique reference to that practice coming into use in Israel as well, as we know it did. (Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 17:17; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 33:6)[4] We should not miss the irony in this phrase. The use of the word and mention of an act that should have been a sacred one, in the face of rampant idolatry and abominable practices that were going on, boldfaced in the land, blandly being called acceptable with the people and their leadership acting as if all was well.

     The parallel to today is both staggering and unmistakable. Our own land, while professing to still be “godly” and to maintain some semblance of a connection with God and with His Spirit, and to reaping His blessing; we see more abomination than at any other time in our nation’s history and we see horrible things happening and treated as if they were non-events.

     The only thing missing is as truly frightening as it is needful to mention. The truth of the matter is that when there is this kind of false profession, there is no real spiritual connection with God present! In Israel’s life they had a covenantal relationship with Him, but no generational one. God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and had reiterated that promise time and again. But over the years, the nation had left the Lord and moved over to the pursuit, not of holiness and Him, but of idols and false gods. For this, God judged them.  How can we but not believe that He will judge us?

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9039, #2). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 8596, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility – A Desolate Land (Part 2)

Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. (Isaiah 1:7)

     We considered the first part of verse 7 yesterday and want to finish up this idea today.  It is a fairly full and unpleasant idea, but very definite in the Scripture. 

     “Is desolation” is a Hebrew mode of emphatic expression, denoting that the desolation was so universal that the land might be said to be entirely in ruins. This is in line with the prior picture drawn of the human body being so badly beaten that was unrecognizable. The picture here is that of being entirely empty of anything valuable or desirable. This is especially significant since just some 700 years before Israel had been given a “good” land “flowing with milk and honey”!

     In Exodus 3:8 we read:

So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

     Exodus 3:17 & Exodus 13:5 say God will bring them:

…up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.

     Leviticus 20:24, quite naturally, puts it in terms of Law when it says:

But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

     Numbers 13:27 records the report of the spies who went into the land who indeed said that the land was all that God said it would be and provided examples of its fruit:

27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

     Deuteronomy 1:25 is the reminder to Israel after the punishment of their wanderings that this was so:

25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’

     Deuteronomy 1:35 reminds them of the words of the sentence of God in Numbers 14:21-23 as He condemned that entire generation to wander in the wilderness for 40 years while at the same time reminding them that it was, indeed, a good land that they were missing!:

35 ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,

     Deuteronomy 4:21 speaks of Moses being forbidden from entering “that good land” because of his lapse at Meribah (Numbers 20:11-12)

21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

     Deuteronomy 6:3 and Deuteronomy 11:8-9 both urge Israel to be sure that do, indeed see to it that they obey the command of God and follow after Him that they are blessed and inherit the land “flowing with milk and honey” that He has promised them:

Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you— ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

“Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

     Deuteronomy 26:9 tells the nation that they are at brink of that inheritance:

He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”;

     In his prayer in Deuteronomy 26:15, Moses acknowledges that God has done His part and brought them to that land, a:

“ ‘…land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

     A part of this charge is a bit further in the book, in Deuteronomy 27:3 where Moses goes on and says:

You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you.

     The lands was indeed all that God had promised! But Moses knew that they would turn away. Through him, God warns them in Deuteronomy 31:20:

When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.

     And that is the record of the rest of the Old Testament. Joshua 5:6 tells us that the generation that sinned in the wilderness was consumed as God had said. They did not enter that “good land”, the land “flowing with milk and honey”.

     For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

     700 years later, the great prophet Jeremiah spoke for God, warning of the coming judgment on the Southern Kingdom, in Jeremiah 11:1-5:

     The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them,

‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.” ’ ” And I answered and said, “So be it, Lord.”

     The nation, whom God desired to bless by causing to dwell in a good land, a land of milk and honey, are reminded that cursing follows disobedience (just as Moses had told them)!

     Later in Jeremiah 32:21-23 this same prophet tells them that the calamity that has befallen them (the Babylonian captivity) is because of their own disobedience. It was small wonder that Jeremiah was not the most popular guy on the block!

21 You have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them— “a land flowing with milk and honey.” 23 And they came in and took possession of it, but they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

     Ezekiel in Ezekiel 20:6 and 20:15 makes references of similar vein, which in context, end up being like condemnations.

On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands.

So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands,

     The point of all of this is that God had brought His people into a land flowing with milk and honey, a good land, plentiful provision and abundant supply. The clear implication is that this land was different that lands around it. God was giving them as land that was special and would see that it remained special.

     All of that stands, therefore in stark contrast to the statement in Isaiah 1:7a:

Your country is desolate…

     The land that was good is now not good. The land that flowed with milk and honey now flows with nothing! The land that would have support the lives of millions will now barely support the lives a remnant. The contrast is striking, as it is intended to be!

     “Desolate” is a ruin, a waste, i.e., a state of utter ruin, often relating to uninhabitable land as a sparsely populated area as in the state that God promised to make the other nations before Israel when He brought them into the land in Exodus 23:27-29[1]:

27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

     Metaphorically it can also speak of being in despair, and formally, being clothed in ruin, i.e., be in an emotional state of worry and anxiety as in (Eze 7:27+), (note: some sources translate “clothed in horror.”)[2]

The king will mourn,
The prince will be clothed with desolation,
And the hands of the common people will tremble.
I will do to them according to their way,
And according to what they deserve I will judge them;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”

     The point is that the land had become the opposite of what God had intended for them. God had promised a land flowing with milk and honey, but it had become a land empty and devastated and unable to support any live at all. All of this because of their sin and the judgment that God had pour out upon them.

     Isaiah uses this language later in the book as well:

And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. (Isaiah 5:5)

     Isaiah 6:9-11

9     And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10     “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
11     Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
And He answered:
“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,

     Isaiah 24:10-12

10     The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.
11 There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12     In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.

     None of this was unexpected. None of it was unexpected by Isaiah himself. He knew that his ministry would be a long one and one that would be largely unfulfilled.

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[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9039, #2). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] Ibid.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility – A Desolate Land

Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. (Isaiah 1:7)

     Isaiah now makes direct application to the national entity that is Israel, just to be clear so that there can be no mistake concerning what he is speaking of (as if there could be!).

    Your country is desolate - This is the literal statement of what he had just affirmed by a figure. In this there was much art. The figure Isa. 1:6 was striking. The resemblance between a man severely beaten, and entirely livid and sore, and a land perfectly desolate, was so impressive as to arrest the attention. This had been threatened as one of the curses which should attend disobedience;

Lev. 26:33:

And I will scatter you among the heathen, And will draw out a sword after you: And your land shall be desolate, And your cities waste.

     Compare Isa. 1:31 where Isaiah speaks of the destruction of “transgressor” and “sinners” saying that

The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.

     No one shall escape, God will destroy all of them and all will be judged despite their seeming strength and ability to resist Him because they have appealed to the “terebinth trees” and they have chosen the “gardens” as Isaiah puts in that passage. They shall all burn up without “quenching”.

     In Deut. 28:49-52 Moses makes direct prophecy (though not by name) to the coming of Assyria:

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

52 “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you.

     God would raise up a nation to act as His own instrument of judgment against His ungrateful people. This foreign nation was described as coming from a far distance from Israel, a nation that would arise quickly and one that would completely devastate the Land. This was fulfilled first by Assyria (Is. 5:26; 7:18–20; 28:11; 37:18; Hos. 8:1) and second, by Babylon (Jer. 5:15; Lam. 4:19; Ezek. 17:3; Hab. 1:6–8).[1] Thus all of Israel was judged, both Northern and southern Kingdoms. The expression “from the end of the earth” is based on how the eye perceives the earth to end where horizon and sky meet; it is equivalent to “from afar”.[2]

    It is not certain, or agreed among expositors, to what time the prophet refers in this passage. Some have supposed that he refers to the time of Ahaz, and to the calamities which came upon the nation during his reign; (2 Chr. 28:5-8). This time was yet future to Isaiah and thus Isaiah would be making a prophecy concerning what was coming under Sennacherib as already having taken place. He would thus be describing the future as if it had already taken place. Enemy invaders have made Judah desolate. Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion, is like a crude, temporary hut, standing gauntly amid the wreckage. But for the grace of God in sparing a very small remnant, the destruction would have been as complete as that of Sodom and Gomorrah.[3]

     But we need not understand it so. When looking back at Scripture from the luxury of the future it is far too easy to make such assumptions. I think far more likely that Isaiah is referring to the time of Uzziah for the reign of Uzziah was indeed prosperous; (2 Chr. 26). But it is to be remembered that the land had been ravaged just before, under the reigns of Joash and Amaziah, by the kings of Syria and Israel; (2 Kings 14:8-14; 2 Chr. 24; 25); and it is by no means probable that it had recovered in the time of Uzziah. It was lying under the effect of the former desolation, and not improbably the enemies of the Jews were even then hovering around it, and possibly still in the very midst of it. The kingdom was going to decay, and the reign of Uzziah gave it only a temporary prosperity. We might add that there is a direct reference to the year King Uzziah died coming shortly, in chapter six of the book, not that this ties this reference definitely to that time, but it surely adds weight to the idea.

     Most would have seen the reference to “your land” as an oblique reference to what the land produced. The land was important because it produced a product. So what was significant here was that foreigners here were to be consuming all that it produces. The land (trees and plants) and the fruitful production of fruit is a major illustration that the Lord uses in the New Testament for the real presence of Spiritual life. If a tree does not bear fruit, our Lord says, it is to be cut down and burned! In Matt 21:19-21 we read the parable of the Fig Tree:

     And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

     He underscores it in different words in Matt 24:32:

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

     We have the same teaching in other Gospels in Mark 11:13; Mark 11:20-21; Mark 13:28; Luke 6:44; Luke 13:6-7; Luke 21:29; & John 1:48-50. This teaching is not unique to the NT. God had put it in place long before in the OT for the nation of the nation of Israel. Really, this was a part of the reason for His chastening of them throughout the OT period. They were, so to speak, His field. He expected them to bear fruit in the world and they failed to do so, despite repeated, time after time, attempts on His part to “plow and fertilize” (the sending of prophets and messengers). Instead, they repeatedly killed those prophets and rebelled and went off into rebellion and idolatry, choosing instead to be like the nations around them, nations that God had mercifully chosen them out of instead of leaving them in and judging them in and destroying as a part of as He was entirely justified in doing.

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[1] MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Dt 28:49). Nashville: Word Pub.

[2] Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). Reformation study Bible, the : Bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture : New King James Version. Includes index. (Dt 28:49). Nashville: T. Nelson.

[3] MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Is 1:7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility - Judah’s Sufferings – God’s Solutions

From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment. (Isaiah 1:6)

     It is interesting to note that Isaiah first mentions Judah’s sufferings in order that she may then hear a statement of the cause of those sufferings, namely, her guilt. Thus he seeks to gain Judah’s ear. She has had no alleviation from her tragic condition and, in speaking of this condition, Isaiah seeks for a sympathetic response.

     What is here for us is the picture is that of a people completely under the rod of punishment, yet receiving no relief from that punishment. There is a real sense of the bewilderment of the nation that would have accompanied that nation’s state. The reference therefore is not primarily to the moral character of the nation, although that moral character is reflected upon, inasmuch as it was the basic reason for the chastisement. The emphasis, however, falls upon the chastisement which, because of that moral character, has come upon Judah.[1]

     They have only wounds and welts and open sores, from which diseased matter continually flows, as if some concealed fountain were supplying endless venom. It is as if, at this point, their condition was feeding itself. By this metaphor he shows that their wound is incurable, since the supply of venom cannot be stopped. All this is greatly heightened by saying that no remedies have been applied. He uses three metaphors that he links together: They have only wounds and welts … not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. Each metaphor has the same meaning: The nation, without any hope of relief, without comfort, without remedy, is reduced to a state of distress, in which the utmost severity of God is openly displayed.[2] He will build this metaphor until, as he will again and again, he will supply the solution in the form of the external Messiah Who will come and rescue them from themselves; being to them what they are unable to be for their own welfare.

     And so Isaiah’s image of Judah as a sick nation, debilitated by injury and disease, raises the question of the relationship between sickness and sin. On the one hand, the two are linked by their impact on our lives. Each weakens us. Each makes it impossible for us to enjoy life as God intended. But Isaiah’s image also mirrors a fact of O.T. covenant life. God promised to keep an obedient people “free from every disease” (Deut. 7:12, 14–15).

12 “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 

14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

     But disobedience made His people vulnerable to “severe and lingering illness” (Deut. 28:58-59).

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.

     Sickness was one of the rods of discipline God used to warn and correct His people. It would surely be an oversimplification to assume that all sickness is punishment. But it is certainly true that sins affect us psychologically and make us vulnerable to physical ills. And also, sickness often leads us to reevaluate the quality of our relationship with the Lord.[3] This is especially true in the circumstance of the covenant relationship that Israel had with God where there where promises of health and welfare made for persistent national obedience. While this does not rule out personal sickness, it does speak to the kind of national calamity that the nation faced in Isaiah’s time. God is faithful to His promises and thus He does what He has said He will do.

     The world is not haphazard. It is not abstract and things are not at the mercy of chance. One can depend upon God and His faithfulness, if one looks to God as more than simply a talisman to be used for one’s personal benefit and at one’s personal convenience. Israel had made that mistake on more than one occasion. They had allowed themselves to slip into the view that God was their God. He was there for them to make use of, for their benefit. They made Him like the other gods all around them. And thus, He did to them what He did to Dagon when the Philistines placed the Ark in Ashdod in 1 Samuel 5:3-8:

3 And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” 8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?”

     God disfigured the idol and beat the people of Ashdod. It is hard not to be cynical about this when we read verse 7-8. The people of Ashdod, unredeemed, ultimately unrepentant idolaters, immediately get the message concerning who they are dealing with and want no part of the “the ark of the God of Israel”. They knew that they were fighting something bigger and stronger than they and that they had to submit to it and were willing to what was needful to do so. The passage following records that submission.

     Yet, Israel, who ought to have known far better than they, knew far less! They take a far worse beating and come up with a more rebellious answer – they would only turn back to their rebellion!

     Really, such is the state of all of our hearts isn’t it? We are rebellious to the core, and given every opportunity, we would turn ourselves to wickedness despite God’s gracious goodness toward us. Thanks be to His graciousness on our behalf!

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[1] Op Cit, Young.

[2] Calvin, J. (2000). Isaiah. The Crossway classic commentaries (18). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

[3] Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (412). Wheaton: Victor Books.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Spiritual Incorrigibility – Bruised & Battered (Part 2)

     We began yesterday talking about the lengths that God had gone to draw Israel to repentance.  He is using the figure of man, bruised and battered almost beyond any recognition. Isaiah continues further:

From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment. (Isaiah 1:6)

     They have not been closed - That is, the lips had not been pressed together, to remove the blood from the wound. The meaning is, that nothing had been done toward healing the wound. It was an unhealed, undressed, all-pervading sore. The art of medicine, in the East, consisted chiefly in external applications; accordingly the prophet’s images in this place are all taken from surgery. The ancient method of treating an infected wound was to squeeze it together (so render, they have not been closed) in order to press out the pus, anoint it with olive oil so that it would continue to drain, and then bind it up with a bandage. None of these things had been done for Judah.[1] Sir John Chardin, in his note on Prov. 3:8, ‘It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones,’ observes, that the comparison is taken from the plasters, ointments, oils, and frictions, which are made use of in the East in most maladies. ‘In Judea,’ says one writer, ‘they have a certain preparation of oil, and melted grease, which they commonly use for the healing of wounds.’ (Compare Isa. 38:21.)

     The nation has been so plagued that there is no part free, and yet the wounds have been completely neglected. The moral condition of Judah had been set forth under the figure of a wounded body; the remedies mentioned are the practices of the ancient world in the healing of diseases. The festering pus has been allowed to remain in the wounds and has not been pressed out to cleanse the wound and to free it of impurities. [2]

     Neither mollified with ointment - Neither made soft, or tender, with ointment. Great use was made, in Eastern nations, of oil, and various kinds of unguents, in medicine. Hence, the good Samaritan is represented as pouring in oil and wine into the wounds of the man that fell among thieves (Luke 10:34); and the apostles were directed to anoint with oil those who were sick; (James 5:14; compare Rev. 3:18).

     So that they would quickly heal. The picture is that of a body which has been neglected as far as healing measures are concerned, but not neglected with respect to continuing chastisement.[3] The contrast is deliberate and profound. This is the wrong kind of attention to be paid! God is paying attention to Israel while the nation itself is ignoring themselves!

     The art of medicine in the East consists chiefly in external applications (Lu 10:34; Jam 5:14).[4] They knew nothing at that time of any real internal medicine and could only apply external ointments. The oil of olives was used commonly for this purpose. This is the reference to “Ointment” or Hebrew oil. It is referring, of course, to olive oil, i.e., vegetable oil extracted from the olive fruit, used as a food, lamp-oil, medicines and perfumes.[5] It can also mean fatness or fertile and was thought to be able to convey that property to a wound and thus make it well if bound up in the wound. It does, in fact, have some of those qualities.

     The whole figure in these two verses relates to their being punished for their sins. As we have said, it is taken from the appearance of a man who is severely, beaten, or scourged for crime; whose wounds had not been dressed, and who was thus a continued bruise, or sore, from his head to his feet. There is no healing occurring and thus his condition is only worsening. The cause of this the prophet states afterward, (Isa. 1:10 ff) is their continued sin and idolatry.

     With great skill he first reminds them of what they saw and knew, that they were severely punished; and then states to them the cause of it. Of the calamities to which the prophet refers, they could have no doubt. They were everywhere visible in all their cities and towns. On these far-spreading desolations, he fixes the eye distinctly first. Had he begun with the statement of their depravity, they would probably have revolted at it. But being presented with a statement of their sufferings, which they all saw and felt, they were prepared for the statement of the cause.

     To find access to the consciences of sinners, and to convince them of their guilt, it is often necessary to remind them first of the calamities in which they are actually involved; and then to search for the cause. This passage, therefore, has no reference to their moral character. It relates solely to their punishment. It is often indeed adduced to prove the doctrine of depravity; but it has no direct reference to it, and it should not be adduced to prove that people are depraved, or applied as referring to the moral condition of man. The account of their moral character, as the cause of their calamities, is given in Isa. 1:10-14 which we will discuss fully later on). That statement will fully account for the many woes which had come on the nation. What is in view here is that their character, as discussed in a moment, has resulted in very real and very extensive damage to them as a people, as a nation before God. All of this is inflicted by God in His attempt to bring them back to faith and back to obedience.

     Michael is refers this to each of the preceding, “none of them is mollified with ointment.” It would seem more suitable, however, to take the phrase independently. Thus, three characteristics of the body were mentioned: wounds, bruises, and fresh sores, and three methods of healing are likewise given: pressed out, bound up, mollified by oil. The only remedy for such God - inflicted wounds is God Himself. Judah is a nation punished by God, and unless He intervenes there is no hope for her.

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[1] Pfeiffer, C. F. (1962). The Wycliffe Bible commentary : Old Testament (Is 1:4). Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Op Cit, Young.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Is 1:6). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[5] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9043, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.