8/21/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Isaiah 29:11-19 is a hard passage. In verse 14 God says he will “confound” the people. He will work wonders they cannot understand. This doesn’t seem like the normal action of the God who wants all to hear and believe. Yet we ask ourselves what leads up to this action on God’s part. In verse 11 the people have rejected God’s Word because it is not theirs. In verse 12 the people have rejected it because they don’t think they understand. In verse 13 they engage in God talk but without a heart for God. They replace God and His Word with their own reasoning.
These people have deliberately rejected God! They have turned away from Him. They are determined only to trust themselves. Finally God confounds them by acting like himself, the God of all, but allowing them to trust themselves. They have been told the way of life but they chose their own way instead.
What a sad situation this is. The very people the Lord created and called to himself so they could have life and joy have abandoned God, preferring death and despair. Yet they have determined that God’s revealed will is not for them. God and His prophet are moved to sorrow. We should be as well.
Rather than be a cause for sorrow, may we be those who trust and receive the Lord’s care with joy. May the Lord bless His people.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Isaiah 29:11-19 is a hard passage. In verse 14 God says he will “confound” the people. He will work wonders they cannot understand. This doesn’t seem like the normal action of the God who wants all to hear and believe. Yet we ask ourselves what leads up to this action on God’s part. In verse 11 the people have rejected God’s Word because it is not theirs. In verse 12 the people have rejected it because they don’t think they understand. In verse 13 they engage in God talk but without a heart for God. They replace God and His Word with their own reasoning.
These people have deliberately rejected God! They have turned away from Him. They are determined only to trust themselves. Finally God confounds them by acting like himself, the God of all, but allowing them to trust themselves. They have been told the way of life but they chose their own way instead.
What a sad situation this is. The very people the Lord created and called to himself so they could have life and joy have abandoned God, preferring death and despair. Yet they have determined that God’s revealed will is not for them. God and His prophet are moved to sorrow. We should be as well.
Rather than be a cause for sorrow, may we be those who trust and receive the Lord’s care with joy. May the Lord bless His people.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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