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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let God hurry; let Him hasten His work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel—let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.”
Isaiah 5:18-19
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Woe to the greedy.
Woe to those who abuse alcohol.
These are the first two of six woes for the Israelites (and anyone who might choose to follow in their footsteps) found in Isaiah, Chapter 5. You’ll recall that the Israelites chose to live in a way that disrespected and disregarded the Lord in the way they lived. And if you want to find a common thread between the first two woes, you’ll have to look no further than woe number 3. Look again at our scriptures for today:
Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, “Let God hurry; let Him hasten His work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel—let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.” vv 18-19
The woe here is obvious and unfortunately was pervasive in Israelite society as it is today, more than 2,000 years later. People, for whatever reason, know of God and yet still choose to stay married to sinfulness in plain sight of Him. They are unwilling to repent and do a U-turn away from iniquity and evil toward righteousness, instead drawing sin and wickedness along with cords or cart ropes, always holding onto transgression and taking it with them wherever they go. And in their obstinate disobedience and insolence toward the King of kings and Lord of lords, they dare Him to act on their actions, daring Him to show Himself and “hasten His work” so they might see it.
In regard to this, all I can say is, “Be careful what you ask for.”
Israel sinned openly with complete disdain and indifference for God’s commandments and warnings. They challenged him to do something about it and so He did, laying all they had to waste and sending them out of the holy land they had disgraced into exile, left to fare for themselves under oppression in a foreign land. There, they would cry out to God and wish for relief from captivity but their cries would fall on deaf ears. They had asked for the Lord to act and act He did, not in blessing but rather in consequences.
Friends, we had better pay attention to this word of the Lord and the story of the Israelite people and where they went wrong. We had better choose to not challenge God when it comes to sin and fully divorce ourselves from it, repenting, and turning our attention back to the One who will always guide us the right way so that every thought, word, and deed will be pleasing in His sight.
Don’t challenge God by partnering with iniquity unless you want to experience the woes that come through His judgment.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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