WONDERFUL PLANS, MAGNIFICENT WISDOM

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley—to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot. That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest—as soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them.

In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His people. He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer:

Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.

“Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast?”

For it is:

“Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.”

Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”—but they would not listen.

So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:

Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there—so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.

Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one that relies on it will never be stricken with panic. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.”

The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you. The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task.

Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land. Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain.

All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.

Isaiah 28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Starting in Isaiah, Chapter 28, we find the prophet Isaiah sending stern words of admonition and direction to the people of Israel and specifically the people of the tribe of Ephraim and the Israelites in Judah. The chapter’s title centers on woes communicated to these two communities of believers, woes that would come upon them because they chose wickedness over righteousness, the ways and understanding of the world over the magnificent plans and wisdom the Lord offered.

What did they do that led them out of God’s favor?

The first thing we see is their inclination toward abusing alcohol. We find words and phrases used such as drunkards and those laid low by wine. How bad was the alcohol issue? So bad that even the priests and prophets were staggered and befuddled with wine, reeling from beer and left seeing visions however those visions were not visions from the Lord God Almighty. It’s hard to know what they were seeing but we can be assured they weren’t seeing any straighter than they were walking. In the end, they left themselves in no condition to be able to truly carry out the Lord’s will, their teachings and vision left clouded and confused by the alcohol they overindulged in.

Friends, how many people today are allowing alcohol to rule their lives instead of the Lord who is their Master and Creator, even those appointed to roles of leadership in the church? I’m afraid in too many cases, we’re no better today than in the times of Isaiah, and maybe worse than they were. When will we wake up and not allow our judgment and discernment be tainted by drinking? When will we choose to always remain clear minded so we can receive the Lord wonderful plans and magnificent wisdom?

The second thing our attention is called to is that people were mocking the Lord in the way they lived and in their life attitude. They were unafraid of death, not taking seriously God’s threats of judgment through the prophet. The people of God adopted a non-fearing attitude toward the One they should have feared the most, the One who possessed unlimited power to do all things include wipe out a disrespectful nation of people. To these people, God sends assurance that they will find their world rocked by His judgment and that they would experience what real terror, a terror that only comes from finding yourself on the wrong side, the side of sin and wickedness, when God’s consequences are levied.

Friends, how many people today are living as if they have no need for God or, in many instances, living as if God doesn’t even exist. These people live with no fear of death because they falsely believe they can go to heaven by being good people, by doing things they see or the world sees as right. These people foolishly place their salvation trust in good works and, in doing so place themselves firmly on the path to destruction. It’s really sad to me that so many think they are living when they are in fact perishing. If only they would embrace God’s magnificent wisdom and surrender themselves to His wonderful plan of salvation through His Son Jesus, the only true way to eternal life (John 3:16, John 14:6).

So many Christians today think the Old Testament is irrelevant, asserting that we should only focus on the New Testament but look what we would miss in doing so. We would overlook the mistakes that men and women like us made more than 2,000 years ago, and place ourselves at risk for repeating the mistakes of the past, mistakes that angered God and brought terrible consequences on His people.

This is not the life the Lord intends for us. Not even close. But before we can experience the blessings of living to the fullest extent, to the extent that the Lord wills for us to, we must turn from the ways of the world, shun its temptations and enticements, and relinquish our hearts, minds, and souls to the Lord and to Him alone, ready to receive His wonderful plans for our life and to impart His magnificent wisdom upon us.

Trust me when I say that once you experience what the Lord has to offer, you’ll never settle for anything else. I speak from experience and I pray you either can say or soon will be able to say the same.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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