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For this years Christmas message I thought to go a little deeper, to unpack some ancient text’s that speak to our inherent desire for God to intervene in our lives.
In this current world climate of economic instability; political upheaval: war, and recovery from the Pandemic can certainly leave many wondering, if God exists, where is He?
We read of struggles, not dissimilar to the magnitude of today in the Book of Isaiah. The Prophet Isaiah addresses the Israelite people, in their struggles for a better life and their desire for divine intervention. The peril of the world around them was leaving them in doubt about God’s existence, let alone his interest and care for all of mankind. Given that God is a God of order, not chaos, it lends itself to intentional plans for intervention rather than a whatever goes scenario.
The outworking of this plan required divine intervention, at a specific time and place to fulfil the promises of God…hence a divine appointment was required.
To personally understand this concept of a divine appointment deeper, you need to ask yourself who Jesus is to you?
- A baby in a manger:
- A Man on a Cross; or
- A Risen Saviour.
Isaiah 64 outlines a request for God to come down from heaven to dwell with His people. Written centuries before Jesus Christ was born, this was a prayer of penitence. Verse 1-2 reads:
“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence –
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil –
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence.”
The style of writing used in chapter 64 is written in three distinct sections:
- Firstly a Petition:
- Secondly a Contradiction; and
- Thirdly the petition is repeated.
Isaiah is calling on God to come down from his isolation in heaven to be with the people (verse 1-5). The nations may know the name of God, but they wanted to know exactly who God is, the sole Sovereign of the Universe. However, it is only when they see God blessing and defending a transformed people, that they will recognise him appropriately. God’s action in the past has demonstrated to the people that this petition is not based on fantasy. Whenever God manifested himself in the past, dramatic things occurred, from the parting of the Red Sea (see Exodus 14), to the stopping of rain for three years (see 1 Kings 17).
These were not just divine fireworks either. Unlike any other so-called god’s, the LORD performed his miracles on behalf of His people. They weren’t just to show how powerful he was – but to challenge and benefit His believers too.
Isaiah knows that God can act, but that there are also conditions. God acts on behalf of those who wait on Him – that is they put their trust in him, not their own devices. To remember His ways is not merely an intellectual assent to those matters. The Book of Deuteronomy shows that it is to live according to those ways that God has shown his people.
But God was about to tear open the heavens and come down, not as the people expected but as a baby who had a divine appointment to change to old covenant ways described throughout the Old Testament, in-particular the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
This need to do more than just understand is shown in verse 5, where Isaiah reiterates that God meets those who gladly do right, those who remember God’s ways. But we know more than this, that he is willing to meet us wherever we are at in our lives, when we call upon His name.
There is a contradiction in Isaiah’s petition at the end of verse 5, which is expanded in verse 6-7. If the people tended to blame God for their hard heartedness, at least they did not minimise the reality of their condition. They, like us today, could not have a relationship with God and fulfil their mandate of being a light to the nations as long as they continued to live lives that were a reproach to his holy character. They were considered unclean, even the righteous things they do are defiled and contaminated. This also underlines the Old Testament understanding that sin is not first of all a behavioural dysfunction, but rather an offence against the very nature of life, which finally must end in decay and death. Note the imagery used of a dead leaf being blown away in the wind (verse 6).
So, is a life with God to be one of only discipline and commitment? No, it must be in a vital relationship of dependence and self-renunciation. When this is so, right behaviour will follow. However, if right behaviour becomes the focus, it will soon become self-serving and is reduced to nothing more than filthy rages. God’s face then becomes hidden whilst we are left to decay in our sins.
Isaiah then calls out to God again; the petition is repeated (verses 8-12). Surely God can break this cycle and restore his people unto himself. These final verses of the lament reiterate this petition. Once again, Isaiah reiterates that the nation, the people, that we exist only because of God:
- The Father, who brought us into existence, (Genesis 1)
- The potter who formed the clay on his wheel (Jeremiah 18).
He should not allow his people’s sins to make Him forget they are His creation, nor should He overlook the fact that all the sacred spaces that He presumably resides in are in ruins. The closing verse picks up the plea from chapter 63:15, the LORD must not hold himself back and ignore His people, he must not be silent whilst his people continue to sin.
In fact, He didn’t.
As the Prophet Isaiah continues his writings, whether God be trusted to answer to the petitions raised. Can God be trusted to fulfil the words of Isaiah 40:10:
“See, the LORD GOD comes with might,
and His arm rules for Him,
His reward is with Him and
His recompense before Him.”
Is it a question that you ask often? How much do you trust God?
There are also other question remaining these include:
- What will motivate the people of God to actually trust Him and become the servants they are called to be?
- How will it be possible for a sinful nation to become God’s servants at all?
- What is to be done with the sins that continue to alienate the people from God?
To answer these questions, the prophet projects himself out into the future where these questions can be seen in the full light of the coming Babylonian exile. He addresses the questions that he knows the Israelites will be prompted to ask by the crisis.
Chapters 40 – 55 answer these questions, in two subdivisions,
- Chapters 40 – 48 address the Israelites captivity in Babylon. If they are to be the redeemed servants of the LORD, they need to be free in order to worship God in the land of the promises. These chapters speak of God’s capacity to deliver, and His desire to do so.
- Chapters 49 – 55 address the prior issue of what needs to be done about the sin that got the people in their dilemma in the first place.
Isaiah recognises that the exile will bring up questions about these issues. Although the questions are never specifically stated, answers are given again and again to implied questions.
- The first answer is “I am God, and there is no other, I am God and there is no one like me” (46:9).
- The second is “So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God” (41:10).
So what are the questions?
- “Has not God been defeated by the Babylonian god’s?”
- “Has not our sin separated us from God forever?”
To both of these, Isaiah answers with a resounding “NO!”
God was not defeated by the Babylonian god’s; nor did the sins of the people separate them from him forever.
In fact God will use the evidence of their lives to demonstrate his sole Godhood. That He is the one and only true God. Far from being cast off, the people will actually be used as his witnesses against the idols of the land.
Reflection Questions:
Have you been asking similar questions to understand why your relationship with God does not exist, is superficial or not deepening?
Are you so distracted by the current economic climate, war, political unrest, and recovery from the pandemic that you find yourself in a blame game with God?
Are these issues causing you to miss your divine appointment with God for a greater relationship with Him?
Isaiah chapter 40 echoes chapter 12, where this even is anticipated; God speaks not of judgement, but of comfort.
Do you know someone who is always judgemental or critical? It may be a reflection of their upbringing or culture; they may quickly go on the defensive every-time someone speaks to them of a situation in their lives.
When this happens, you may be coming with an offering of comfort and peace, but have the mud thrown at you, becoming reluctant to develop a relationship with them because of the grief that it causes – both you and them.
However, God did not come to the Israelites in judgement, which is probably what they were expecting – He came with comfort (40:1). He will deliver them, and they will be in a position to tell the world of their deliverance.
The second part of chapter 40 speaks of Gods ability and desire to deliver his people. With all that had gone on, you’d be forgiven for thinking that just as we can miss our appointments, God may have turned up and the Israelites were too busy to see Him; forgot they were expecting Him, or had the wrong week marked in the calendar?
God didn’t stop turning up. For God is incomparable, there is no other like Him.
The nations on earth are not insignificant to him; fear of abandonment is not from God. They need only to wait in hope for the time to come. Remember the appointment is God’s intervention into our lives, He is waiting for our RSVP, our acceptance of His forgiveness, mercy, love, grace….all these qualities of God that endure forever.
There is a theme of God’s unmerited and undeserved grace weaving through this story. This is what will motivate the people to trust in Him, (chapter 12). When God delivers His undeserving people from their past, they are at last willing to cast themselves down on Him without reservation.
- Chapters 7-39 of Isaiah was about trust as the basis for servanthood,
- Chapters 40-55 are about grace as the motives for serving others.
Reflection Question:
What motivates you towards servanthood?
- Is it the knowledge that God will continue to forgive you when your choices contradict His love and plans for your life?
- Or is it a realisation of who He is?
Is it an acceptance that that baby that was born in the manger had a divine appointment – an appointment with a cross at Calvary to replace the need for the people to live under the old covenant laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and other LAW codes of the Old Testament. He came to fulfil the LAW, to set us free from these bonds, to open the eyes of your heart. He came that we may have life in all its fullness.
Chapter 40 is one that doesn’t speak of the horrors of judgement, or the gross cruelty that Christ was to suffer on Calvary, but of the comfort that this selfless act would bring to us, and to our lives. It may remind us of how frail our lives are, and for some people they need to be reminded of that fact, but the WORD of the LORD remains forever.
In Isaiah 61 we are introduced once again to the means by which God’s people will be enabled to live righteous lives, which will in turn draw the nations unto God. The means of the Anointed One, the Messiah, then follows a list of benefits that the Messiah’s people will receive. God speaks, making it explicit that the covenant righteousness is what He desires and that he is the One who makes that righteousness possible. Finally, verse 10-11 bursts forth joy, the people break forth into a Psalms of praise to God, who makes the righteous people in the sight of all the nations.
“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
my whole being shall exalt in my God;
for He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has covered me with righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the LORD GOD will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.”
There has been arguments amongst scholars who this ‘the One’ is referring to. To make all those arguments brief, whilst there is no direct wording to suggest which nation the servant has a mission to. The Servant does have a mission, for as God intervenes in the lives of the peoples, they are freed from the bondage of sin, they are enabled to live in righteousness before the nations. It is when this happens that the Servants mission becomes possible.
What is more significant in this passage than identifying whom this One is, is what the One is called to do. Isaiah 61 points out that He has been anointed by the Spirit of God, both
- To preach the good news to the oppressed:
- To provide beauty out of ashes:
- To gladness instead of mourning:
- To bring praising spirit instead of faint spirit; and
- So that God’s people will be oaks of righteousness.
This is not the work of a human or a prophet, rather it is the work of the Messiah, the Anointed One, who is prophesied of throughout the Book of Isaiah. The Messiah will make of his people what they cannot make of themselves.
The work of the Messiah is outlined from verse 3 onwards, “the people will become the oaks of righteousness.” Oak trees are known to be solid, strong with good foundation. This is the opposite of what was said in Isaiah 1:27-31, where they are described as being oaks with fading leaves, because of the unrighteousness and injustices practised amongst them. Even so still God promised that Jerusalem would one day “be called the “City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.” (Isaiah 1:26).
Now He reveals the means by which this will take place – that baby born in the manger, whose divine appointment with the cross of Calvary was that means. For the Servant/Messiahs work will not only deliver, but also transform. For this Messiah had many divine appointments during his time on the earth,
- Preaching the good news of deliverance:
- Turning ashes into beauty:
- Mourning into gladness; and
- Lifting the faint spirits.
This deliverance and transformation is expressed in the language of rebuilding (v4) and freedom (v5).
The need for deliverance and transformation may date back many generations:
- don’t allow your family history stifle your relationship with God,
- don’t let your family experience cause others grief and anxiety through your negativity.
If this is your story:
- allow the baby born in the manger to comfort you, as a baby needs comforting:
- allow the Saviour who bled and died on that cross of Calvary wash away your pain and resentment, releasing forgiveness into those situations; and
- allow the truth and the victory of the resurrection to rebuild your life.
Many people today have their favourite social justice issue, homelessness, global warming, child exploitation. The Bible (Psalms 11:7) tells us that “The LORD loves justice’ too. For these words underline the central point of this closing section of Isaiah. Why will the people of God enjoy the inheritance of the firstborn son? Because “FOR I THE LORD LOVE JUSTICE.” (Isaiah 61:8)
What is the logic of this here, is it merely that the oppression of the Israelites by the nations is unjust and God is not going to allow it to continue indefinitely? Robbery and iniquity suggest that this is not the case. Rather it is that God loves justice and hates robbery and iniquity in his people, and one of the effects of the everlasting covenant he will make with them is that they will be able to live the life of God’s true children. “All who see” Him will recognised this fact.
As these writing of Isaiah happened long before the work of the Servant/Messiah is presented – the response is a paean of praise.
- Israel sees herself as a bride, whom the Groom has dressed in beautiful wedding garments of Salvation and Righteousness.
- verse 11, where she now sees herself as a fruitful field in God has planted the seeds of the flowers of Righteousness and Praise.
There can be no doubt about the importance of these words in the context of Isaiah 56-66. For God will give his people the righteous behaviour they had been unable to produce in themselves. He will do this for His own praise and glory before the nations as a witness to his almighty power.
This chapter speaks of the goodness that comes from a relationship with God, which can only be made possible on a personal level by the acceptance that that baby that was born in the manger had a divine appointment – an appointment with a cross at Calvary to replace:
- the need for the people to live under the old covenant laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and other LAW codes of the Old Testament, as Jesus Christs mission fulfilled the LAW:
- lives of bitterness, anger, resentment and unforgiveness to a clean heart, forgiven and restored:
- hardened hearts with hearts of flesh; and
- those things robbed and cheated from us, to live a life in all its fullness.
Accepting these truths for your own life will give you a new perspective on life.
It may not cause an instant end to economic challenges or an end to the war and pandemic hangover, for God is not a genie who responds to our wish lists.
As a father only gives his children good gifts, God only wants the best for you. You perspective will change, and the blessings God wants to bestow on your life might just be those that you need.
Don’t do the journey of life without Him, invite Him on your journey, however long and challenging it may be. For the journey is more enjoyable with His company.
- If the baby is left in the manger, you have a lovely story of a miraculous birth that attracted a lot of attention.
- If you have only taken the baby out of the manger, read about his growth into a man who performed miracles and told challenging stories, then you have a story that has a bizarre ending with an alleged innocent man being tortured to death, and a missing body.
- If that same baby that grew into a man who performed miracles and told challenging stories, was crucified and then rose from the grave, you have a victorious story where so many prophetic messages of old, especially from the Prophet Isaiah come to fruition.
Whilst the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah gets a lot of air time in December, don’t discard the other parts of His life story.
More important than making an appointment for professional services, or booking a trades person to attend your home, take the opportunity to ask God to intervene in your life, He has an appointment open for you!
Click here if you are wanting to confirm this appointment.
