June 8, 2025 -- Isaiah 1:2-3 -- Heed the holy warning
/People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children I have brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
Isaiah 1:2-3 ESV
Isaiah the prophet ministered during the reigns of four kings. The first king, Uzziah, was a strong king but towards the end of his reign he faltered in his obedience to the LORD. His son Jotham became co-king. Jotham was faithful to God, but it is noted “The people still sacrificed and made offerings in the high places” (II Kings 15:35). Hezekiah, the last one of the four, was rich and dedicated to God; again, at the end of his reign he faltered in his obedience to the very God who’d proved so faithful to him through-out his reign. Why mention this? It is a warning for us, who live in the time of the reign of Jesus.
The people of God who lived in Judah, the two remaining tribes of what once was a nation of twelve tribes, had kings who followed the LORD, while they strayed. Isaiah, inspired by the faithful, Covenant-Keeping God, declares this people were not even as smart as dumb oxen or braying donkeys. The people, who should have known better, kept wandering from the LORD their God. It is so shocking.
Jeremiah picks up this same theme asking “Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 2:11-12 ESV). Imagine the nation of China one day saying, we are wrong. We should stop following Buddhism and Taoism and take up the cross of Jesus Christ. Yet Christians, who have the greatest King in Jesus, Who have the flawless writings of Scripture and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit are dumber than oxen and exchange the glory of Jesus for paganism. Look how empty churches are on Sundays. Consider how many young people wander away, flirting with the wickedness of the world. Men and women who should know better, book up their Sundays so that going to church is crowded out with shopping, with visiting, with sports and all things which cause them to change their God for those things which are no gods.
Beloved people of God today is Sunday. Stir up your heart. Confess your sins. Leave the sinful ways that you’ve been traveling down and return to the Father who has called you His children through the work of Jesus. Take the warning from the word of God and renew your vows by going to the house of the LORD.
Why?
Because God is your Father.
Because Jesus is the prize of your life greater than any other.
Because the Spirit of God unites you to God so that you can read Scripture, understand the circumstances of your life from the perspective of heaven.
Because anything less than whole-hearted devotion to God proves you are rebellious against the God who created you, who by His mighty power gives you breath in your lungs and stimulates your heart to beat.
Because we know enough not to put any confidence in our own flesh or mind, for we are the people who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus.
If these words are offensive to you, ask yourself whether you are really a Christian at all. Have you drifted so far from the glory of God that you are exchanging the glory of God for things that do not profit you. If you take the warning, and feel conviction then God is at work in you. The Father is repairing the damage of your rebelliousness by drawing you close to Himself through the reconciling work of Jesus, where the Spirit bring to you deep healing of mind, refreshment of heart, and a soul zealous for Jesus.
Father of all glory and splendour, cause me to be humble enough to hear Your words of warning You put into the mouth of your prophet, Isaiah. By Your Spirit smarten-me-up to see the rebelliousness that still lingers in my soul. Faithful Father, thank You for the work of Christ Jesus, through whom I am reconciled to you, and by whose rule I am led in the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake. Spirit of God, renew in me a zeal to meet with the people of God and worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, until that day of wondrous rapture and blessedness when I see Him face to face. Amen.
https://youtu.be/slQ6MTJLU4I?si=dVSA5Xw75yldou-w Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
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