From Eternity to Eternity

 

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf.  Gather the nations together!  Assemble the peoples of the world!  Which of their idols has ever foretold such things?  Which can predict what will happen tomorrow?  Where are the witnesses of such predictions?  Who can verify that they spoke the truth?  “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.  “You are my servant.  You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God.  There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be.  I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior.  First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.  No foreign god has ever done this.  You are witnesses that I am the only God,” says the Lord.  “From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.  No one can undo what I have done.”  Isaiah 43:8-13

The prophet is taking his beloved kinsman to task (as most prophets did!).  Their history was unmistakably orchestrated by the sovereign will of Jehovah, Creator of the universe and all it holds.  Yet, they had somehow forgotten that, and taken the seemingly more convenient approach of accepting their neighbors’ gods.  It was “convenient” in the sense of going along, to get along.  It is easier, in the short run, to  surrender truth to those who only believe what denies the facts.  But, in the long run, you eventually run into….God, specifically, the one, true, living God.  Everything else is an idol. 

Isaiah reminded Israel they were supposed to be faith-believing witnesses of the God Who stretches from eternity past through eternity present and future.  There is no time when God did not exist or rule the universe, and that includes forever, as well as today.

So, the question for Israel, for us, for anyone, is:

When does it ever make sense to trust in anyone but God?

Consider this picture; a 7-year-old boy was delivered from his mother’s womb.  She and the dad fed, diapered, and loved him.  They trained him to walk and talk.  They taught him to act like a human…sort of.

One day the dad took his son to work with him at the nuclear reactor energy plant.  He showed him all the dials, levers, gauges, and control panels that ran the place.  He showed the boy how, when he flipped a switch, things buzzed, moved, and either turned on or off.  He even let his son get in on the fun, allowing him to flip one switch that returned electricity to a neighborhood that had been powerless due to a storm.  The emergency crew had finished their repairs, and the boy was permitted to flip the switch, and voilà, there was light!  

Well, as 7-year-olds are wont, the young man decided he wanted more of a good thing.  If it was fun to press one switch that turned on thousands of lights, there must be plenty more where that came from!  So, in his newfound joy of turning dials, switches, handles and control panel buttons, he began running around touching everything. 

I do not need to carry this imagined scenario any further.  A seven-year-old, turned loose near the controls of a nuclear reactor is a tragedy just waiting to be written (assuming, of course, anyone lives through the day).

Imagine Israel as the little boy; favored by their Father, Jehovah, and heir to the power of the universe, far superseding anything manmade, such as a little nuclear energy plant.  This is what Isaiah saw, an heir of universal greatness, running around in juvenile playtime, instead of growing up to boldly proclaim the name of Yahweh to the nations.  Like the little boy in the imaginary tale of going to work with daddy, Israel had grown bored with just pushing buttons as instructed.  I can just hear the words:  OK, dad.  I got it from here.

That is the condition of our world today.  God is largely ignored, and we, human children are pressing as many buttons as our pudgy little fingers can reach.  Some day we will press the wrong button – not the nuclear annihilation one connected to all those bombs – but the one that crosses the line of God’s patience.

For You Today

If Yahweh was God before the beginning, and He will be God after whatever ending we humans engineer, it is safe to assume He is God right now.  What further call do we need to worship Him at this (and every) moment?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com ∞  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Isaiah 43 see Eyes that Do Not See; Ears that Do Not Hear and No Other God

 

Creation & Awe

 

Monday, June 1, 2020

Psalm 104:24-34

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!  In wisdom you have made them all.  The earth is full of your creatures.  Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.  See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.  They all depend on you to give them food as they need it.  When you supply it, they gather it.  You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.  But if you turn away from them, they panic.  When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.  When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.  May the glory of the Lord continue forever!  The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!  The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains smoke at his touch.  I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.  I will praise my God to my last breath!  May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.

This passage moves from the general to specific.  The Psalmist begins with the vast diversity of God’s creation (what a variety of things you have made) to the prayer of a specific man for what God has done.  It is nothing more or less than the fundamental essence of worship; we see what God has done, and awe pours forth!

Click picture to view on Youtube

Whales are monstrously huge.  I’ve never been up close enough to touch one, but you can’t watch the nature channel without getting that perspective.  Sooner or later you’ll see someone swimming alongside Leviathan (literally, the sea monster).  Even on a TV screen you get the sense of being next to a wall that’s breathing.  And yet, says the Psalmist, this moving skyscraper is made to play in the sea.  Frankly, when I think of whales, my mind immediately goes to Moby Dick, harpoons, and ships full of blubber and oil; I don’t easily associate playfulness with whales.  But God has put that in all his creatures, even the scariest of them (to us).

The Psalmist’s reaction to the awe he obviously felt while considering God’s creative power and majesty is a reminder of the slippery slope to which we can fall victim, if we are not prudently watchful over our emotions and senses.  It is a small leap (but a very costly one) to begin to worship creation itself, rather than be in awe of the creation and maintain the focus on Creator. 

The Apostle Paul shows us that God considers that sinful, a break with trust in God, and leading to all sorts of mayhem to the soul and spirit of man, for which God had much different, and better plans.

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.  Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature.  So they have no excuse for not knowing God.  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks.  And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.  As a result, their minds became dark and confused.  Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.  And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.  So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.  As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  They traded the truth about God for a lie.  So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.  Romans 1:18-25

Let’s Pray Together

Father, God, our hearts, minds, soul, and spirit are always touched by the majesty of what You have created.  Help us to keep our very beings focused on the Who of creation, more than the What of creation.

For You Today

Creation invokes awe, but our Creator is the source of both the created realm and the awe it inspires.  Don’t make an idol of what you can see; God, after all, is Who created even your eyes!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Psalm 104:24-34 see Reason to Rejoice and for “Worship” as a theme see gods or God?                             See the whale video HERE

Giving Thanks

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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Praise the Lord, all you nations.  Praise him, all you people of the earth.  For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.  Praise the Lord!  Psalm 117:1-2^(NLT)

“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.  This is what the Lord says:  “Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”  Long ago the Lord said to Israel:  “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.  I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.  You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.  Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.  The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God.’”   Jeremiah 31:1-6^(NLT)

Jeremiah’s Israel was decimated by conquering enemies.  His prophetic message was one of looking forward to the future with hope that God would once again bring blessing to His covenant people.  The Psalmist hits this hopefulness in the center of the target by encouraging the whole earth to thank God for his unfailing love.  That love is powerful and never-ending. 

How different are these two thoughts than a Thursday off so you can gather for a killer-meal with friends so you’ll have stamina to last through the Black Friday sales.

I have enough love for America that I want to pray for our country like Jeremiah and praise God for his goodness like the Psalmist. 

But sometimes, as we make comparisons of ancient Israel with current-day America, we come dangerously close to reading-into Scripture’s metaphors and analogies our American pessimism or pride; either one shows our arrogance, assuming we are the center of the universe, and, yes, even the center of God’s attention. 

We take for ourselves too much.

And, taking too much for us is truly the rub.

A gluttonous day of feasting without so much as a nod in the direction of heaven serves as a stark reminder how we miss the mark when it comes to giving thanks to God.  I’ve been warned before to keep the prayer short because everyone’s hungry.

But here, on the verge of Advent, when we celebrate how God brought the centerpiece of his lovingkindness to earth, isn’t it rather fitting (in a Bohemian sort of style) to satisfy every appetite at the table while keeping the giving of thanks to God Spartan and short? 

That’s sort of what happens around the Christmas tree next month, isn’t it?  Got a baby Jesus in the manger to keep Christ in Christmas, but the real deal is how high the presents pile is piled.

But, now on Thanksgiving Eve, allow me a moment of preacher-madness.  What if, while the turkey, veggies and stuffing are being consumed the conversation around the table this year is a little less on which team will win the Super bowl, and more around how God’s goodness and everlasting kindness have made the feast we enjoy a reality.  What if we turned our hearts towards God instead of the stores?

Just a little madness from the back of my mind.

For You Today

I wouldn’t spring all that on the family just as you’re sitting down to the table tomorrow.  That would only bring indigestion and a possible lynching – yours! 

Talk about it tonight.  Prepare to give thanks.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

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[i] Title image: By Ben+Sam (The famous Macy's Turkey), via Wikimedia Commons

The Humiliation of a King

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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

“But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar.  Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon.  As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon!  By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’  “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you!  You are no longer ruler of this kingdom.  You will be driven from human society.  You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow.  Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’  “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society.  He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven.  He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.  “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven.  My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.  His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal.  All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him.  He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth.  No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’  “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom.  My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before.  “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven.  All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”  Daniel 4:28-37 (NLT)

King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world – and he was not ashamed to say so!  That pride drove him crazy. 

God humbled the most powerful king Babylon and the world had ever seen; for seven years the one who was surrounded by his subordinates bowing and scraping to his power now ate grass, walked on all fours and probably howled at the moon.

When his sanity returned he realized the foolishness of believing his own press reports about how he was supreme ruler; he now knew glory belongs to God alone.

At times the pride of Washington D.C. strikes me as something of a Nebuchadnezzar profile.  It’s a nationalistic pride fever; we are the most powerful nation on earth, and we are probably as hated around the globe as the ancient king who threw around the weight of his power.

Why the hatred when we try to do so much good, feeding people, policing the terrorists and the like?  It’s pride; who genuinely loves someone who pats himself on the back?

In a way I think we are howling at the moon these days – Nebuchadnezzar style.  We’ve become brutish and animal-like in this country.  Our sexual displays are worse than that of animals, and our lack of respect for human life is more brutal than the culture that God destroyed in Noah’s day.

We’ve been driven crazy by our pride in the blessings God has showered on this nation; the land that has been a blessing to the world in generations-past has forgotten our responsibility to come humbly before God as servants. 

We are ripe for a harsher judgment than Nebuchadnezzar’s! 

There is a need for prayer intercessors today in our nation, more, perhaps than at any other time in our history. 

Like Mordecai said to his niece, Esther when the nation was threatened with destruction, who knows, maybe you’re where you are for such a time as this.

God always has a remnant of his people who are willing to risk everything to be obedient.  Could it be that this is the time (before it is too late for America) to stop dabbling in prayer – instead start living in prayer for God to destroy our pride and return us to holy worship of holy God?

For You Today

The song “God bless America” made a comeback after 911.  We sing stand beside her, and guide her. 

Will you pray that the Nebuchadnezzars of this land will remember our national pledge is not “beside” God, but one nation UNDER God?

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[1] Title Image: William Blake [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons