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HEBREWS, Part 1

Published August 30, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: eternal glory, Hebrews, Incarnation, Son of God

The letter to the Hebrews is different from all other New Testament letters. For one thing, it is anonymous. With respect to the KJV, the apostle Paul almost certainly did not write it. The simple fact is, we have no idea who is responsible for writing this most remarkable letter. However, as we read it, we realize that while the human agent may be unknown, the Holy Spirit is clearly behind each and every sentence.

We also don’t know who the intended recipient or recipients were. The salutation is non-existent. Based on the content of this letter, we can be sure that the author is writing to Hebrew Christians; but beyond that, we don’t where they lived, when the lived, or where they went to church. However, given the nature of this letter, it could easily have been written to any group of believers, in any location, at any time in history. Hebrews transcends time and space. This is the dynamic, spiritual quality of the Word of God.

The first four verses constitute a powerful introduction of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The author points to Jesus as being superior to all heavenly beings. In the Greek, these four verses are one, single, powerful sentence designed to show the difference between the old, partial revelation from God through His prophets and the new, complete revelation through His Son.

1. The God who spoke, 1:1-2a

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways…

It is significant that the subject of the very first verb is “God.” In this letter, God is continually on the mind of its author. He uses the word 68 times in throughout the letter, which is an average of about once in ever 73 words. No other book in the New Testament mentions God as often.

As was mentioned, the author dispenses with the usual greetings and salutations and dives right into his subject. With this first phrase, the inspired writer refers, not to a general revelation to all people, like God revealing Himself through nature or man’s conscience, but to a special revelation, given to specific men (prophets) of the nation of the Hebrews.

In Genesis, the first thing God is seen doing is creating the material universe. Here in Hebrews, the first thing God is acknowledged as doing is speaking in a variety of ways. How did God communicate to His people? Consider:

Moses and the burning bush, Exodus 3;

Elijah in a still, small vice, 1 Kings 19;

Isaiah in a vision in the Temple, Isaiah 6;

Hosea in his family circumstances, Hosea 1;

Amos in a basket of fruit, Amos 8

In the Old Testament, in the days before Christ, God spoke in a variety of ways to individuals. He may have spoken in dreams and visions, through angelic visitors in the night, through the Urim and Thummin, through symbols, or through nature. There seemed to be no end to the variety of ways God used to get His message through to certain individuals so they in turn could give it to the nation of God’s people.

When the author uses the term “prophets,” he isn’t necessarily referring to only to those who preached and prophesied, but also to those who wrote the books of the Old Testament and those who read them. Moses, David, Ezra, and Nehemiah would be included, along with the likes of Jeremiah and Malachi. What God said through Moses to the Israelites in the desert, He also spoke to Ezra and Nehemiah and their people through the Books of Moses as they were read aloud.

God spoke in the past, then, through what the Old Testament writers recorded in written form as history, psalm, proverb, and prophecy. As far as the writer to the Hebrews was concerned, the “prophets” were simply all those saints, called by God and anointed with His Spirit to speak and write the Word as a progressive revelation that pointed toward the coming of Christ, thousands of years later, as God’s final and complete Word to all mankind. Peter echoed a similar sentiment over in the New Testament:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… (verse 2a)

“In these last days” is a striking contrast with “In the past,” signifying that though the days or times may have changed, God has continued to speak to His people. God’s revelation, in other words, cannot be disassociated from the history of the world. In fact, the opposite is true: the events of history served to buttress the truth of God’s Word.

And even though “in these last days” God has effectively stopped speaking the way He did “in the past,” both parts of God’s revelation–the old, fragmented part and the new completed part–constitute one, single unit of revelation because there is but one Revealer. There is ONE God, therefore there is ONE revelation. The Word spoken by God to the forefathers in the past does not differ in essence from the Word spoken to us by His Son. There is a continuity between the Old Testament and New.

There is, however, a difference. Jesus Christ is seen throughout Hebrews as the complete and culminating revelation of God to man. He is God’s full and final Word to all men. Everything prior to Christ is partial and preparatory. Every word after Christ is merely the restatement or clarification of what God spoke through His Son.

But it wasn’t just through the verbal teachings of Jesus that God spoke; it was through all the remarkable events of our Lord’s life and ministry: His virgin birth, His sinless life, His work of redemption, His death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus Christ’s whole existence, His whole reason for being, was to deliver, personally, the full revelation of God to man.

2. The Incarnate Son, 1:2b-3

a. His mission, verse 3d

…he had provided purification for sins…

Note how the author states what Christ’s mission was: He provided purification for sins. Jesus Christ did it; He did not attempt it. The mission of Christ is an accomplished fact. The word “purification” comes from the Greek katharismos, and usually means “ritual cleansing,” but here it refers to the complete and absolute removal of sin. Not only that, the idea of cleansing cannot be ignored. Sin stains. Sin corrupts the sinner. Christ’s work of cleansing not only removes the sin from the sinner, but it cleans the sinner! As if that’s not enough, the verb “provided” is in the aorist tense. The cleansing done for every repentant sinner is based on a past action: Christ’s action, once and for all.

b. His Person, verses 2b-3

These Hebrew believers needed to understand that the humiliation of our Lord was but a brief interlude between His preexistent glory and its resumption after the Ascension. While these Hebrews were undoubtedly Christian converts, they were in danger of drifting back into their old way of thinking. Remember, to the Jew, the Cross was an offence; it was a sign of weakness and defeat instead of victory and power. These Hebrew believers needed to be reminded of what the Cross really meant in terms of Jesus Christ. So, just who is the Son of God?

First, He is seen as the agent of God’s awesome power, verse 2.

…through whom also he made the universe…

As “the heir of all things,” Jesus Christ is the lawful owner of every created thing in the universe. The power and significance of this thought cannot be overstated. As the lawful owner of all creation, Jesus did not come to negotiate with Satan, but to defeat him.

While God may be the Creator, it was through His Son that He created all things. The word translated as “universe” is tous aionas, means literally “the ages.” What a staggering thought. Jesus Christ, the originator of time, and all the things that fill it. Jesus Christ, the eternal Logos–the eternal Word–that proceeded from the mind of God.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10, 11)

Second, the Son is the expression of God’s Person, verse 3a

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…

The word “radiance” is useful word and may be translated in different ways. Perhaps a better way to understand it is “reflection.” Jesus Christ is the very reflection of God’s glory. The moon receives its light from the sun and we see that reflected light here on earth. The moon itself doesn’t generate light, it has no light apart from the sun. Similarly, we may picture Jesus Christ as the radiant light coming from the Father as sunlight comes from the sun. In other words, we see the glory of God in the Son of God.

But even more than that, Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. This is much more than the image of God in which man was created. The word for “exact representation” is an rare and unusual Greek word, charakter, and it refers to the image stamped on a coin, for example. The RSV translates charakter in such a way as to bring this out:

The Son…bears the very stamp of his nature…

The Amplified Bible renders the phrase:

He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature…

Third, Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Sustainer of all creation, verse 3c

…sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Not only is Christ the great Architect of the ages, He literally holds it all together; He is the superglue that keeps all the atoms from blowing apart! The word “sustaining” really means “to carry forward.” In other words, the Son of God holds the universe together and is carrying it to its designated end. What’s truly remarkable is that Jesus does this work simply with a mere utterance. The mighty Son of God, ruler of the universe, says one word and all things listen in obedience to His voice.

As awesome as that thought may be, the final phrase speaks of the the greatest work of the Son:

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The redemptive work of Christ is the main theme of this letter. It is through this work that the Son of God has made God’s nature known to man. Through the ministry of Jesus, we see God’s unparalleled love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness and righteousness. Thanks to the work of Christ on the Cross, all sin is purged from all creation; our personal sins and all creation is purged from sin. This amazing work was done once, for all. Our Lord accomplished it by Himself.

The last phrase of verse 3 affirms the Son’s Lordship. “Sitting at God’s right hand” signifies far more than rest. It is a way to illustrate enthronement. Jesus took the seat of honor and authority after His work was finished. Having completed the work of revelation and redemption, He assumed His rightful place of honor and authority that was His from all eternity.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:5)

Today, there is a lot of “God talk.” North Americans are obsessed with a kind of pseudo-spirituality and a “generic faith” in God. But believing in God is not sufficient. Anybody can believe in God. If belief in God was enough to get you into heaven, then Jesus wasted His time. The fact is, the measure of anybody’s faith in God is their response to Jesus Christ. The burning question of this age is one that Jesus asked over 2,000 years ago:

What do you think about the Christ? (Matthew 22:42)

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

GOD’S GREATEST CREATION, Part 2

Published August 25, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: church in the wilderness, faith and belief, lord and savior, spiritual israel, unwavering faith.

An early American church, somewhere in the mid-west.

THE CHURCH, Part 2

In Part 1 of our study of God’s Greatest Creation, we discussed the various terms used in the New Testament to describe what we call “the church.” We discovered, among other things, that “the church” is a “called out” and “separated” group of people; called out from and separate from the rest of the world. What separates “the church” is what distinguishes it from all other groups or associations: a faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and a desire to abide by His teachings, and in fact all the teachings, in the Word of God.

You will recall that in Acts 7:37, 38 Stephen referred to Israel as being “the church in the wilderness” (KJV). Of course, Israel wasn’t a “church” in the way we think of what a “church” is; Stephen was describing the nation of Israel as a “church” in the non-technical sense as a nation that had been “called out” and “separated” from all other nations in the world at that time, specifically Israel had been “called out” of Egypt. In fact, the Church as we know it is not seen anywhere in the Old Testament at all. Paul wrote that “the church” was a mystery, a hidden thing to people in the Old Testament, not revealed until the New Testament. The Church is not “spiritual Israel” or Judaism re-worked. The Church is a special creation of God, separate and distinct from Israel.

We also looked words used in the New Testament to describe members of the church; Christians. From these words we discovered that members of the church are like a family, bound together by their unwavering faith and belief in Jesus Christ.

Lastly, we looked at how the New Testament used metaphors to describe the Church. It is “the Body of Christ” with Christ as its head. It is “the Bride of Christ,” with Christ having that kind of intimate, compassionate, living relationship with it. And the Church is also referred to “the temple of God” or “the temple of the Holy Ghost,” indicating a location where the presence of God dwells.

1. A special place

That the Church is a very special creation of God is born out by these facts:

Christ loved the Church so much, He gave Himself for it, Ephesians 5:25

The primary purpose of God in this present age is the building of the Church, Matthew 16:18; Acts 15:14

Paul’s greatest sin was his persecution of the Church, 1 Corinthians 15:19; Galatians 1:13

Paul suffered greatly for the sake of the Church, Colossians 1:24.

2. The Founding of the Church

Prophetically

As stated previously, the nation of Israel is described as a “church” in the Old Testament because it was a nation “called out” from all other nations by God to serve Him (Acts 7:38). In the LXX, the Greek version of the Old Testament, the word for “congregation of Israel” was translated from the original Hebrew into Greek as ekklesia, which we know means “church.” In the non-technical sense, the whole nation of Israel is an ekklesia, a congregation or “church” of Yahweh.

When Israel failed to recognize Jesus Christ as their true Messiah, He predicted the founding of a “new congregation” or “church,” a whole new group of believers that would continue His work of Earth.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. (Matthew 18:18)

Contrary to what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, Peter was NOT the rock upon which the church was to be built. According to Paul, Christ is clearly the foundation of the building of God (1 Corinthians 3:11) and He is the Chief corner stone (Ephesians 2:20-22). Theories abound as to what Jesus meant in Matthew 18, but perhaps a clue is found in the following verse:

I will give you (Peter) the keys of the kingdom of heaven…

Of note in this phrase is that Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom, not the keys to the church. Jesus gave Peter the keys to “Christianity,” a way of saying that because Peter was the first person to confess who and what Jesus was, he was given the privilege of unlocking the door of faith to all would hear and respond to his confession. In other words, the church was to be built upon Christ as the Son of God, which Peter proclaimed.

When we consider the church prophetically, we don’t mean that it was prophesied in the Old Testament. In fact, the church was hidden from the prophets of the Old Testament. According to Ephesians 3:1-6, we learn this. Nobody, not even the godliest prophet of the Old Testament was given so much as a glimpse of a congregation of believers made up of both Jews and Gentiles, the group we call “the church.” Jesus Himself spoke of founding a church, but the nature of this new congregation was not revealed until it started to grow and spread among all people.

B. Historically

Just when did the church start? While Jesus mentioned it during His earthly ministry, it wasn’t founded until the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit not only descended upon and filled the 150 believers gathered in that Upper Room, He consecrated that relatively small group of people.

The church didn’t evolve or grow up, it quite literally sprang up in a moment, in the simplest of ways. In the very earliest days of the church’s existence, there was virtually no organization, only a bond of love, fellowship, and a common destiny. Because it grew so rapidly, that loose organization didn’t last very long. It was superseded by a very structured organization of leadership. That structure was definitely man-made, necessitated by the needs of the congregation, Acts 5 and 6.

In the beginning, there was only one local church, the one in Jerusalem, even though they seemed to have met in a number homes. The initial membership numbered 150, then 3,000 joined, then 5,000 more joined but the historical account (Acts 2:47) indicates that new people were joining the church every day.

As the Gospel spread and the believers left Jerusalem due to persecution, new local congregations were founded every place the displaced believers found themselves, in Judea and Samaria at first. Just how these new local congregations came about is not known. Paul writing to Titus gives him this piece of advice:

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I instructed you. (Titus 1:5)

So it seems, then, as soon as a group of believers had been formed in a community, elders were appointed to lead them. In the verses that follow, Paul gives Titus the qualifications of the kind of men that could be appointed.

3. Membership in the Church

In simplest of terms, the Church of Jesus Christ is made up of believers in Christ, called out from the world of sin, separated unto God, be they Jews or Gentiles.

However, the New Testament does, in fact, lay down certain conditions for membership in a local congregation.

a. Faith in Jesus Christ and the Word of Gods

b. An understanding that Jesus Christ is the only Savior

c. Submission to water baptism as a public testimony to faith in Christ

d. A verbal confession of faith

The earliest days of the Church must surely be considered its “golden age.” The entire membership of the church was truly born again:

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47)

Becoming a member of the church didn’t involve filling out forms or taking classes; it was a matter of confessing faith in Christ. With the passage of time, however, as the church grew and became more popular, bureaucratic, and institutionalized, water baptism became a condition of salvation and catechizing took the place of conversion. The result was a congregation made up of a “mixed multitude,” an influx of people who were not Christians at heart. This has been the condition of the church for centuries: true, possessing Christians in the midst of confessing Christians.

4. State of the Church today

There is the “church invisible,” which is made up of true Christians from all denominations from all time, and the “church visible,” which consists of all those profess to be Christians. The “church invisible” is made up of members whose names are written in heaven, while members of the “church visible” have their names on the church books.

The distinction between these two versions of the church is taught in Matthew 13, made up of a series of parables, often referred to as the “mystery parables.” All of these parables deal with mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which we know corresponds to the present state of Christianity. These “mystery parables” accurately describe the state of Christianity between the First and Second Comings of Christ. There is a strange mixture of good and bad, believers and unbelievers, in the church until the Lord returns, at which time He will purify the Church by separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the weeds, the real from the false. The apostle Paul taught a similar thing in 2 Timothy 2:19-21:

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for disposal of refuse. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

This is the present state of Christianity, as manifested in the church.

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

ISAIAH, Part 10

Published August 25, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Intercessors Needed!

Isaiah, 59:1—16

This is a stirring chapter. In it, Isaiah God’s faithful prophet, exposes the sins of his people. Isaiah, the man who could preach incredible words of comfort and encouragement, could also confront his people and take them to task for the sins they allowed to continue in their lives. He forced them to face the ugliness of sin unapologetically.

To put this chapter in context, Isaiah had previously dealt with Israel’s paganism in chapter 57; then in chapter 58 he dealt with their hypocritical approach to their faith, using fasting as an example. And here in chapter 59, Isaiah confronts the corruption of the nation. Each of the three chapters (57, 58, and 59) also deal with prayer. In chapter 57, prayers went unanswered because the people weren’t praying to God; in 58 God turned a deaf ear to their prayers because they were hypocrites; and here, it is because of their sins.

This chapter brings to mind a handful of verses written by Jesus’ half-brother in the New Testament:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13—14)

The people of Judah were wondering why God had forsaken them. They wondered if God was impotent or just indifferent. But, if this chapter teaches us anything, it’s that the problems believers face have nothing to do with a lack of concern or ability on God’s part, but rather their own sins. Given their skewed perspective on things, the prophet asked a serious question in verse one:

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

In other words, God was ready to step in and help, but the people hadn’t bothered to approach Him in the proper fashion:

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene… (verse 16)

Imagine: not one person could take the time to intercede.

1. There was a desperate need for intercessors

The people of Judah were in a sad state. God seemed far away from His people, but there was a good reason for that feeling. Their sin had separated them from Him. Sin does that; it builds a wall of separation between the two. One Bible scholar noted:

Sin-dwarfed men lack the capacity to discern God’s presence.

God was still there, but the people had lost the ability to sense His presence. God was just as powerful and just as able as ever to deliver His people as He always had been in the past.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (verse 2)

What is particularly sad is that the people actually anticipated some kind of divine intervention, they prayed for it after a fashion, but their sinful lifestyle precluded any kind of help. They prayed selfishly; their desires were selfish; their whole way of living was one big rebellion against God’s will. These were people who knew God, they knew all about God, but continued to live under the delusion that they could serve God their way, not His way.

Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. (verse 10)

Just like the person who turns his back on the sun stands facing his own shadow, so the people had no perception that God was there, at the ready. The blindness was self-inflicted. These people were living quite literally in their own Twilight Zone, a world of their own creation; miserable and separated from God, yet pitifully trying to win His favor their own way.

2. There should have been intercessors

Verse 1 made it perfectly clear; the Lord had not changed; He was more than able to deliver His people. This was something the apostle Paul believed with all his heart, and he based his whole ministry around it:

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us… (2 Corinthians 1:10)

Here was a man—a great servant of God—who faced peril after peril, yet his unwavering faith in God was rooted in historical facts! He knew what God had done in the past and as far as Paul was concerned, God would do it again. He never doubted that.

Faithful Christians make the best intercessors; when your heart is right with God, there is no reason for your prayer, prayed in faith, to go unanswered.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

What an encouragement to believers today! There is no reason not to be an intercessor. Some believers have a difficult time praying for a more than a few minutes at a stretch because they run out of things to pray for. That’s hard to imagine, given all the misery surrounding us, but assuming that’s the case, the Lord has taken care of that problem, too:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26)

The Lord wants intercessors so badly, that He makes a way for them intercede even when they think they think they can’t.

I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest… (Isaiah 62:6)

When should you be an intercessor? Any time is a good time to pray for others! Those who would call on the Lord should not cease to call on the Lord. He’s always listening, so why aren’t believers always praying?

3. The possibilities are endless in prayer

Isaiah’s world was a mess. Assuming Isaiah was writing to his contemporaries, then he was writing during the early days of Manasseh. The war was over and a measure of prosperity was returning to the nation. But the people were hardened. They were hardened not only to God but also to their friends and neighbors. The nation had become cold and corrupt because the people refused to repent of their sins, and sin perverts everything; from family relationships to politics to business and commerce: sin ruins everything.

We look around at the state of the world today and it’s tempting to blame the riots in the U.K. on the British welfare state or on poverty, and it’s tempting to blame the flash mob violence in America on unemployment, but the reality is that sin is what causes these problems. Moral depravity and insensitivity to others follow on the heels of living in sin. Deeds and words always reveal a person’s character.

For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. (Isaiah 59:3)

The people were wicked and growing more so. The mystery of iniquity increases. But there is something more powerful than evil: the power of prayer. If the Lord could have found one faithful intercessor, what a difference that would have made! A classic example of the power of one intercessor is Aaron:

So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. (Numbers 16:47-48)

One faithful intercessor can change the course of history. One faithful intercessor can change the destiny of another:

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. (Acts 12:4-7)

To be an effective intercessor, however, means persistence. The faithful intercessor never gives up; he never goes by he sees. Recall how the widow got justice from the unjust judge. She never stopped; she persisted:

So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. (Luke 18:6, MSG)

Never stop praying. Never give up on that particular need, whatever it may be. No matter what it looks like, keep praying; keep interceding because Christians walk by faith, not by sight. We cannot see into the spirit-world, but when our hearts are right and we are praying as we ought, things are happening.

Another classic example of a godly intercessor is the prophet Habakkuk. He was praying for his people and his nation, but his prayers seemed to go unanswered:

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? (Habakkuk 1:2)

Here was a prophet, an undeniable man of God, who was getting frustrated. God had called him to pray and intercede for his people, but nothing was happening. He prayed and prayed, but things stayed the same. Any Christian would get frustrated! But here is what God said to his prophet:

“Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.” (Habakkuk 1:5-7)

Habakkuk had no way of knowing what was going on. God in His sovereignty and grace explained His plans to the prophet, to give him reassurance.

God will give you reassurance, too. If your heart is right. If you pray in faith. If you walk in repentance, then God will come through for you and your prayers will get results.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James :16)

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

ISAIAH, Part 9

Published August 17, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: answered prayer, fasting, injustice, Isaiah

How to NOT get your prayers answered

Isaiah 58:1—9

Isaiah 58 begins the final section of Isaiah’s book. In chapters 49-57, the prophet presented us with the spiritual agent of our salvation; now he will show us the spiritual conditions of our salvation.

The prophets were not only predictors of the future, they were preachers of righteousness. They were not only “seers,” they were “doers of the Word.” That’s not always an easy thing to do, and faithful servants of God are hard to find for that reason. Isaiah was faithful because he wasn’t timid; he wasn’t afraid to “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.” Isaiah was being asked by God to preach a stern message of rebuke and reproof to his people. His message was meant to correct the people’s false way of thinking in how to receive the favor and even salvation of the Lord.

Isaiah’s message was not meant to be deep, theological treatise, but rather an intensely practical one:

Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. (verse 1)

1. Their sinful condition, verses 2—5

For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. (verse 2)

Back in chapter 1, Isaiah dealt with the empty ritualism of the people and here he picks up that theme again. What must have made Isaiah’s task particularly difficult was that he was not preaching to completely godless people. In fact, this message was addressed to people who looked faithful; they appeared to be faithful to the teachings of their Scriptures. They were utterly meticulous in following the forms of worship. They may have actually enjoyed attending worship services. Yet their lives did not reflect the spirit of God’s Law in any way.

The people to whom this message was addressed had drifted into a formal observance of faith, but at heart it was a practical ungodliness. Reading these verses puts us in mind of what Samuel said to King Saul:

Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)

People like King Saul and Isaiah’s listeners were the kind of people who, like many Christians, think they can “live like the Devil” all week long, assuming their weekly attendance at church and their periodic religious feasts were enough to atone for their gluttony and insincerity.

Verse 3 drips with arrogance and reveals the people’s true motives in their rigid adherence to the Law:

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ (verse 3a)

Although Isaiah focuses on fasting, this petulant attitude probably extended to all their observances. What makes the fasting issue particularly interesting is that the people seemed to have made regular days of fasting part of their religious observances, but God never gave the people of Israel “fast days.” In fact, God gave His people “feast days.” It is true that from time to time the people were to fast in connection with their sins, and in particular with the Day of Atonement, but the people had made fasting a form of worship which ministered more to themselves than it did to God. So of course, their fasting did nothing to move God.

In effect, these people were cheating God. Instead of giving God what HE required of them, they gave God what THEY wanted to give Him, because it was easy and convenient. And they had deluded themselves into believing they were “OK.”

What the people failed to realize, and what Isaiah was desperately trying to convince them of, is that true religion is a personal relationship with God. For the Christian it is no different; true faith is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that intimate relationship we have with Christ is precious, personal, and private. Of course, we witness for Him, we share our faith with others, but just like in a marriage, we don’t brag about our intimate time with our Savior. Yet this is what Isaiah’s people were doing; bragging about what they were doing, fasting, for God.

In fact, they fasted and they observed these fast days and so-called holy days, but they’re hearts were miles away from God, as evidenced by their behavior. They fasted, but turned right around and took advantage of people, they argued, they fought, and they generally treated other people badly. What more proof is needed to show that these people, in spite of outward appearances, were nowhere near God.

God’s response to their so-called demonstrations of worship is stern:

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. (verse 4b)

Proper fasting, done for the right reasons, can produce all kinds of good things in a persons life or in the life of a congregation. But when fasting is done as a duty, for the wrong reasons, it produces bad things, like irritability and anger and jealousy. Prayers offered against that kind of backdrop would never reach God’s ears.

God must be approached HIS way, never OURS. The Bible proves this time and time and time again, yet even to this day, Christians think they make up their own rules; they can invent “new and improved” ways to approach God, but it doesn’t work like that. When we make up ways to worship God so as to make it convenient for us or easy for us, and if those ways are contrary to Scripture, God cannot and will not be moved no matter how many tears we may shed or songs we may sing.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12, KJV)

The only way to approach God is His way, and there is no mystery about it; you find the right way in the Bible.

2. God’s cure

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? (verse 5a)

God’s cure is to, using Isaiah’s example of fasting, do the right thing for the right reason(s). The true and only reason to fast is not so you can appear humble, but to accomplish a definite purpose: to pray, to meditate, and to repent of sin. One scholar made the very interesting observation that true fasting is not necessarily an enjoyable experience:

A person who enjoys confessing his sins is not coming before God with an honest confession, but rather is giving a performance before men, or perhaps merely before himself, that intended to demonstrate righteousness.

Part of God’s cure for the spiritual malaise of His people included:

“To loose the chains of injustice,” verse 6. This is not a call to some kind of general social action. The “injustice” the prophet is referring to here is the injustice they themselves were causing during the “fast.” What Isaiah was telling the people was simply this: If you are going to fast, don’t walk around looking humble and pious, stop your sinning! Stop taking advantage of other people. Stop gossiping. God’s cry to His people was, and remains, a very simple and direct one. If you call yourself a Christian, live like one; demonstrate your faith in Him by your conduct. When we do that, we will not only treat others exceedingly well, but our own chains of spiritual bondage will be broken.
“Untie the cords of the yoke,” verse 6. Many believers are carrying around burdens that are far too heavy for them. A true believer will help carry another’s burdens. A Christian that spends time in God’s presence will be sensitive to the needs of others; in the practical world, that means he will cut them some slack; exercise patience. In the spiritual realm, it means they will pray for the one in need, exercising spiritual discernment so as to ease their burdens, whatever they may be.
“Break every yoke,” verse 6. This is all part of “setting the oppressed” free. How does a Christian do that for another? One who is “oppressed” is one who set upon by outside pressures. This oppression can take many forms. Some people are oppressed by their work, or their family situation, or by their health. A true believer is one who will do what they can for one who finds themselves “oppressed.” A true believer sees one who is oppressed but can’t merely walk on by them. This is what happens when one spends time in God’s presence: their eyes are open to the needs around them.
Care for the poor, verse 7. The people of Isaiah’s time had figuratively and literally turned their backs on the poor. They refused to show kindness to their own flesh and blood. Their faith had become a cold, formal exercise. Because the people had no heart for others, they had no heart for God. The Christian who can’t show compassion to the genuinely destitute can’t have God dwelling within him (1 John 3:17).

3. The guaranteed result, verses 8, 9

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. (verse 8)

There was no way for God to manifest His blessing and glory to people who practised their religion in such a lazy fashion. The word “then” is emphatic. If the people would re-dedicate their lives to the Lord and start taking their faith seriously, “then” certain things would start happening. These promises are strung together like a beautiful necklace of precious gems.

Your light will break forth like the dawn. “Break forth” indicates speed and suddenness. If the people would focus on obedience to God and His Word in the exercise of their faith, their health, wealth, and access to God in prayer would be restored in an instant. Obedience to God’s will is like spraying window cleaner on a dirty window; once that window is cleaned, the light can shine in…or shine out…and the world becomes clearer.
Your healing will quickly appear. Good health is always viewed in the Old Testament as a sign of God’s blessing. When His children obey, God is quick to bless and show favor.
Your righteousness will go before you. When Christians live in obedience to God, our faith will be evident to all without uttering a word. Righteousness will go before us, and the glory of the Lord will follow us. Obedience has so many rewards; the obedient are literally surrounded by the presence of God.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I (verse 9). There’s that emphatic word again: “then.” When the Lord sees our love for Him manifested in our obedience to Him, He will never fail to answer when we call. Truly, the two greatest needs of mankind are met: the need for a response and for recognition. Those needs can only be fully met by God and then only when we demonstrate our obedience to Him. There is nothing more isolating that unwanted silence and aloneness. And only God can remove them.

Our obedience to God and His Word can never be overstated. No obedience, no fellowship. No obedience, no answered prayers. No obedience, no presence of God. When sin is cleared from the heart, then the way is clear for the Lord to show us favor:

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me… (Psalm 66:18)

The only way for a child of God to receive from God “whatsoever we ask,” it will be:

…because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

Mike's Place on the Web

Archive for August, 2011

HEBREWS, Part 1

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

GOD’S GREATEST CREATION, Part 2

THE CHURCH, Part 2

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

ISAIAH, Part 10

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

ISAIAH, Part 9

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

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