Cords of Falsehood

Isaiah 5:18-21

When God speaks do you listen?  If so you are a very wise person, but history tells us most have not, and today we will look at the third “Woe’” that has been most ignored by those God has spoken to.  It may be of help to each of us to understand that the Scriptures are living, and when reading them, or hearing them, you and I are accountable to apply what we read and hear to our lives.

The first of the three “Woe’s” is found in verses 18-19, “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”  Do you ask questions when reading the Scriptures, I do, and the first one is what are cords of falsehood?  If you read Proverbs 5:22, you will find the answer, it tells us that sin is like a cord and the iniquities of the wicked ensnare them.  As their sin added up, it was like pulling a cart with ropes behind them.  It seems as if they are challenging God to act, in that they have been sinning and have not seen the judgment of God.

Remember the best of commentary is the Bible, and this is what God had to say to the prophet Ezekiel about 100 years after Isaiah when Judea is in Babylon.   ^“And the word of the Lord came to me: ²² “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’?  ²³ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am the Lord; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 12:22-25) 

In Peter’s second letter to the church, chapter three, verses 1-4, he addressed this unbelief; “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

“In all unbelief there are these two things: a good opinion of one's self, and a bad opinion of God.” (Horatius Bonar)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It seems slow - wait for it

Isaiah 5:14-17

“Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her. Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.  But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.  Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture, and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.” (Isaiah 5:14-17, ESV)

Isaiah has given a warning about what the deception of excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages can do to a person, a family, or a nation.  And in verse 14, he states that it will be the nobility of Jerusalem who will go down to Sheol.  Sheol is making reference to the grave, and even the after life. This group of people was consumed with acquiring more stuff, better stuff, and food and drink were high on the list of the more, and yet they could not get enough drink, food, houses, horses; stuff.

The prophet Habakkuk, who came along as God spokes person some 90 years after the death of Isaiah, had this message to both Judea and to the church, that is, if you will accept it.  “And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so one may easily read it.  For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; It will surely come; it will not delay.  “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.  “Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.” (Habakkuk 2:2-5, ESV)
The Church is called to walk by faith, to live life as if Jesus tells the truth, and yet many of us were taught like a bird dog to live by rules.  Rules are the dos and don’ts and when we are doing them we get upset when others are not, and we become arrogant and prideful, but that’s not what a follower of Jesus does.  A follower of Jesus follows, listens to, and obeys Jesus, and they are free to do as Jesus does.  A follower of Jesus follows! 
 From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice

The need for More and More

Isaiah 5:8-10

Not far from our home is a very large an extremely beautiful house sitting on the very top of a large hill, its view from the front is the high school and it makes one wonder why would someone spend that kind of money to look down on a high school?  The hill the house sits on is landscaped and the wrought iron fence and gates would far exceed the cost of my home, and yet it was only lived in for a little over a year, then it went up for sale.  I do not know if someone has purchased the house and hopefully made it a home, but the question comes to mind, did the original owner build it to be seen by all, with no regard for the view?

The woes in the Scripture listed above have to do with houses, but before going there, do you recall that Isaiah was not the only prophet speaking to Judea and Jerusalem at this time, so was Micah.  Now the Spirit speaking through Micah had this to say to the oppressors; “They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.  Therefore, thus says the Lord: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster.” (Micah 2:2-3, ESV)

You may be wondering why is God so upset with a man acquiring more houses and land, and the answer is; God in His great love for the Jewish people had provided the land so that all of His people had some, and so the buying up of land and houses was always done at the cost of another person.  When God said “Woe,” a person of understanding should woe.  But these people were arrogant, and they became reliant on self and not on God, and have we not seen that to be a recipe for disaster, both for nations and families.

These oppressors had the intent to get rich by seizing the land, “but God” had other plans for their greed.  The houses became empty and the harvests were meager.  Do you remember when Ahab seized Naboth’s vineyard?  We have the account in 1 Kings 21, where Ahab played nice at first and all he wanted was the vineyard of Naboth in that it was next to the palace of King Ahab and he wanted it for a vegetable garden.  One small problem, Naboth understood that it was an inheritance from his father, and from his father’s father, given to them by God.  Do you recall Ahab’s wife, she was one wicked woman, her name was Jezebel, and she was totally into getting what she wanted at all times and at all cost?  This is the plan she devised; “So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.  And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”  And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them.” (1 Kings 21:8-11) God is all knowing, and sent Elijah to confront the king, and what does the king say to Elijah; “Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have caught me, my enemy.” (1 Kings 21:20)  We should never forget that when God’s word is spoken, and it confronts the kings and presidents of this world, they have a choice, to see them as my enemy, or to repent.  King Ahab repented, but you need to read the plans God had for Jezebel.

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What are you expecting from God?

Isaiah 5:1-7

“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.  He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah judge between me and my vineyard.  What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?  When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?  And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.  For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!”

What a profound question God is asking of His people, it is clear the Lord has blessed them, and yet they have rejected his precepts and commandments.  We who live in the West, we have been blessed by our heavenly Father, has He not poured out His blessings on us, and if we are His vineyard what kind of grapes have we become? The song is to the men of Judah, but God’s question to Israel takes on much deeper and prophetic meaning. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Gene A. Getz of Life Essentials Study Bible shares these insights: “In Jesus parable, the landowner “planted a vineyard” and built a hedge around it.  He leased it to tenants, but when the landowner sent some of his servants to harvest the fruit, they were horribly mistreated.  The landowner’s final step was to send his own son.  Sadly, they took his life (Mt 21:33-46).  Clearly, the “landowner” represents God the Father and the “vineyard” is Israel.  Those the tenants rejected were the prophets - certainly including Isaiah, who allegedly was “sawed in two” (Heb 11:37).  The landowner’s son is Jesus Christ, and those that will bear fruit in Israel’s place are the church.

The point of Jesus’ parable was so clear that the Jewish leaders knew He was referring to them.  Had the Pharisees been serious in their search for truth, they could have studied the parable of the vineyard recorded by Isaiah and discerned their hypocrisy.  However, in their pride they rejected the Messiah’s messages and continued in their unbelief.  At the root of all unbelief is pride and arrogance, as Paul made clear in his metaphor about the vine and the branches (Romans 11:17-21) Gene ask this question: “In what ways can the church avoid the same sins of pride and unbelief that plagued the nation of Israel?”  (page  914, footnote #5)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Future Day

Isaiah 4:2-6

“In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” (Isaiah 4:2-6, ESV)  What a powerful picture of a future day, a day of salvation.

This writer is so far over his understanding when it comes to Isaiah, for one thing Isaiah is well written, it is a combination of both prose and poetry.  He writes hymns and poetry and we are told Isaiah has a rich vocabulary, in using over 2,200 different words.  It seems that his goal is to draw people to the Holy One of Israel, and when the people do so they receive blessing, and when they chase after foreign gods, he was there to condemn them.  God used all Isaiah’s skills and gave him vision of what would come to pass in what we call future, though for God it is all present, for God is not limited by time.  With that said; Dear Lord thank you for sending each of us Your Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth, open our eyes to Isaiah so that we may apply these truths to our daily living.
Beginning with the branch, if we turn to the prophet Jeremiah who prophesied after Isaiah 626-584 B.C. we see him telling about a time still in the future when God will fulfill the promise of the branch.  These are Jeremiah’s words in chapter 23:5-6, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.”  This branch is referring to the coming of Jesus, do you recall the priest and leaders being so upset when the crowd began to cry out on Jesus’ entering Jerusalem, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!”  (Matthew 21:9)
You will find 15 times in the book of Jeremiah the days are coming pointing to messianic times, the Branch of David refers to the Messiah.  We will also find this in each of the four Gospels.  When referring to the fruit as the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel, it could be referring to the riches of the land and the blessing of God on them.  If we turn to Isaiah 27:6, “In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.”  The promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 has happened, the whole world has been blessed by Israel, all a person needs to do is look at what great blessings God has provided through His chosen people.  I’ve seen with my own eyes a land filled with rocks, producing fruit at this time for the world.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice

Pride blinds a person to Truth

Isaiah 3:15-4:1

In my family, growing up to be prideful was not a good thing, and as we got older and had children we would hear mother say to the grandchildren how proud she was of them.  If we questioned her statement, her reply was that it was good pride, but that is not what the Lord was addressing in these verses.  Isaiah refers to the proud daughters of Zion, but if you will turn back to Isaiah 1:8, it is clear he is addressing the city and the people of Jerusalem and even the snobbish women of that city.  Many a wise person has shared insights on what pride will produce in the life of a person, look at these quotes from C. S. Lewis, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”  And, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man... It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.”― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Lewis was such a great thinker, and yet one wiser and smarter than Lewis is King Solomon whom Scripture tells us is the wisest of men.  Look with me at Proverbs 16:5, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5, ESV)  Proverbs 16:18, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Shall we look at one more verse from Proverbs, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Proverbs 26:12, ESV)

As stated above, these proud women of Jerusalem are representatives of the city and it’s people, and these Isaiah is addressing will suffer great loss in appearance, in wealth; for a military siege is coming.  It sure seems that the war will reduce the number of men, and there will not be enough men to go around for the women.  So they will agree to have one single man to make seven of them his wives, and he does not even have to provide for them.

What was happening is best summed up in Psalm 10:4, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”  Pride blinds a person to truth, and they begin to believe the voice in their mind, that voice comes often from the one who has come to destroy.  It is channel One, the deceptive channel; it will lead a person and a nation to live independent from the authority of God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Where is your hidding Place

Isaiah 3:13-15

In whom or what do you take refuge as a follower of Christ?  Would you proclaim to your neighbors, as did Alamoth in Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”  If our Creator is our refuge and strength, and everything around us, job, family, friends are taken away; will you absolutely fear not? 

But that is not what the Jewish nation has done, and Isaiah 13 states the following; “The Lord has taken his place to contend; he stands to judge people.”  Do you believe that God who is unchangeable will not judge His Church?  This writer believes in absolute truth, God is truth, and Jesus came to testify to that fact and did so in front of Pilate when he ask Jesus if He was a King.  We find the account in John 19:37, “You say that I am a king.  For that purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”   Church listen to Pilate’s reply, for it is the response of 2014, both in and out of the Church, and this is Pilate’s reply; “What is truth?”

But this writer is not in the majority, in or outside of the church, look at what Lindy Keffer, of Focus on the Family has written; “Whatever happened to the truth?" In our world, the idea of ultimate truth — something that is true at all times in all places and has relevance for our lives — is about as extinct as the dinosaur. In fact, nearly three out of four Americans say there is no such thing as ultimate, or absolute, truth. And the numbers don't look much better among those who claim to follow Jesus.”  It should be worthy to mention that to say there is no absolute truth, is to make an absolute statement, and then it comes down to do you believe God or man?  Josh McDowell gives us these polling facts, “Another study, added McDowell, showed that only six percent of all teenagers in America, including Christians, said there isn’t any truth apart from myself. There was a difference of only five percent between believers and non-believers, he noted. Moreover, less than four percent of evangelical born-again Christians believed the Bible was infallible in every situation, and 63 percent of them believed He is “a” Son of God and not “the” Son of God, he added.”

As you read Isaiah 3:14-15, ponder on these words written by the prophet Hosea who was God’s spokesman in Israel, between 786-746 B.C.  “Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.  There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.  Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” (Hosea 4:1-3, ESV)  Could this be spoken by newspapers of our day?  It will not, for they do not understand truth, they as a whole are the progressives who promote the lie of no absolute truth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is this the repeat of History?

Isaiah 3:8-12

“For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.  For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.  Woe to them!  For they have brought evil on themselves.  Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.  My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them.  O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.”

Is this the repeat of history, and as people who go by the name of Christian are we any different than these Jewish people who are the chosen of God?  I would tell you to open your newspaper and read the current events, but there is a problem with the news of this day, they put the world’s spin on the news, because they are under the authority of the one Jesus refers to as the thief in John 10:10.  So as a reader, it is your decision to discern if these same things are reoccurring in 2014?

It is important to ponder on these words: “For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.  It is God who is offended, and does the Creator not have the right to do to His creation whatever He desires?  If you need understanding of what kind of speech God is upset with, go to Psalm 73:8-11, and you will see a prideful people who scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.  And like today, the chosen people of God kept their mouths shut, and did not stand against or speak out against sin.  And you may ask who is God’s glorious presence, it is the Hebrew people, and His church, and anyone who has a personal relationship by faith with Jesus Christ.

What does God tell us about Sodom; “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” (Genesis 13:13) These men were sinning against God, but I’m sure in the newspaper of their day they were progressive.  What was their sin, unnatural affection for another man, and the name Sodomite originated from these men: Sodomite, a person who has anal sex with another person: someone who practices sodomy.   As a nation we have turned our hearts from what God says to what the progressives and sinful people want, but the question must me asked, has God changed?  If you believe the Scripture we are told the following; “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind”  (1 Samuel 15:29) These words were spoken by Samuel to king Saul who did not take God’s Word seriously, and it cost him his kingdom.  So if God cannot lie or change His mind, where does a society go with same sex marriages, with changing the name to Gay, does that change God’s thoughts on the matter?  The answer is no, it is unnatural, it is evil and sinful to our Father, and our Nation is experiencing judgment.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Heap of Ruins

Isaiah 3:1-7

“For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms.  And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.  And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable.” For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: “You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule”; in that day he will speak out, saying: “I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people.”

So shall we go back to a time when a large city had more than one newspaper and the reporter that worked for them were out looking for a new story, if it was a big story they would stop the presses’ and out would come a new edition, sometime the front page would be replaced and when the story hit the street newsboys would cry out “Extra, Extra read all about it” to draw attention to the story.

Is that not what these prophets of God like Isaiah were doing, the Holy Spirit was showing them the latest news of what God was up to, and yet it seemed most turned a deaf ear to the new edition that was hitting the streets of Judah and Jerusalem.  As I read these five verses, this thought came to mind, my Dad often said, “In that we do not learn from history, we are destined to repeat it.”  Is that what we the American Church and the United States of America is doing?

Is not Isaiah proclaiming this headline; when you as a people trust in man rather than in God, He will remove all that you hope in, all that you trust.  And that is in your military, your leaders, and even in the staples of bread and water.  Always when a void comes in leadership, someone is going to fill it and Isaiah tells the people it will be the younger, the inexperienced, and it will lead to social chaos and loss of freedom. 

In such a time of such social unrest it does not take much to be a leader among men, and in verses 6-7, we get a grasp of the unwilling and the unfit who are talked into leadership roles because they had a cloak.  In our time it would be for their looks and ability to speak or con the people.  But Isaiah makes the statement what will they have left to lead, but a heap of ruins.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Be Forewarned

Isaiah 2:12-22

The Church in the United States of America and maybe in your nation, has little fear of God, they preach about the God of love; and ignore the God who is just who will bring judgment on His own first, and then the non-believer.  This should not surprise us, for in 2 Timothy 4:3, we were given this word: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”  This I’m sure of, in my life time we are moving as a nation to teachers and preachers who are great orators, people enjoy hearing them, but the message has no conviction, it’s man word to man, void of the power of the living Christ.

Isaiah was shown this in a vision, a time when God has set “a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up – and it shall be brought low.” (Isaiah 2:12) 

As you read Isaiah 2:12-17, it is clear that man becomes arrogant and prideful when experiencing God’s blessing, as did the people of Judah, and God’s people were the object of His anger in these verses.  It is without any doubt that “The Day of the Lord” ultimately is the finial judgment, but God’s temporal judgment or punishment of His people is to bring them back under His authority.  So was the case of Lebanon and Bashan, whose lands were very fertile with impressive trees, and they began to trust in the blessing more than in the One who blesses.  Has anything like this happened in your life, has God gifted you in such a way, and you have become prideful and arrogant? 

When we see Jesus, He is not returning to this earth as the Lamb, but the great and mighty warrior, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lord’s.  Do you recall the apostle John’s vision of Jesus’ return? “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Revelation 19:11-16, ESV)

Is it any wonder why they cast away their idols, be forewarned, if you are not in Christ, you will also on that day, it will be a day of terror for all who have not bowed their knee to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Those who are on the earth on that day will see the splendor of His majesty, and Isaiah tells us He is coming to terrify the earth.  Isaiah also tells us the people will try to hide in caves.  If you have put your trust in a man, and maybe it is in yourself, please ponder verse 22.  “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Why Study this Book?

Isaiah 2:6-11

Why study this book?  What a great question, is our reason to learn and apply the revelation of our Teacher the Holy Spirit or is it to mark off one more book study?  The caption over these verses is “The Day of the Lord,” and why is that heading being used?  I looked to the Holman Study Bible for help, and this is what it said: “Day of the Lord” does not in itself designate the time perspective of the event, whether it is past, present, or future.  Lamentations 2:2 can speak of the “day of the Lord's anger” in past tense, describing the fall of Jerusalem.  Joel 1:15 could describe a present disaster as the “day of the Lord.”
The Old Testament prophets used a term familiar to their audience, a term by which the audience expected light and salvation (Amos 5:18) but the prophets painted it as a day of darkness and judgment (Isaiah 2:10-22; Isaiah 13:6, 13:9; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-11, 2:31; Joel 3:14-15; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:7-8, 1:14-18; Malachi 4:5).  The Old Testament language of the day of the Lord is thus aimed at warning sinners among God's people of the danger of trust in traditional religion without commitment to God and to His way of life.”  I’m a bottom line kind of guy and this is the bottom line: “The Day of the Lord” is when God reveals His sovereignty over humans. 
We are told often in Scripture our performance based actions are the best we can do for God, they do not require God to do anything, in fact, we are reminded God desires us to come as children seeking Him, and allowing Him to work in and through us.  The sixth verse begins with God no where to be found, and Isaiah tells us why; “Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of divination from the East and of fortune – tellers like the Philistines.”  God is not going to share the stage with evil, no matter what your gods are, family, wife or husband, money, stuff, golf, hunting, or book club.  None of what I’ve listed are evil, unless they become the center of your focus, so examine yourself to see whom you are worshiping.
It seems God has been replaced by wealth, treasures, and the might of the military, and God tells them the land is full of idols, they are bowing down to the work of their hands.  This nation has become proud, and it has produced a people who have no fear of God.  Does any nation come to your mind as you read this?  Do you recall the words God spoke to His people as they were entering into the land of promise?  They are found in the book of Deuteronomy, 17:14-20.  A postage stamp view of those verses; as the people enter the land of promise they would want a king, and God would provide one.  He is going to be one of their brother’s, never will God choose a foreigner to rule over them.  And the king must not acquire many horses, many wives, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive wealth. 
You may be asking why, and the answer is many horses lead to power, and many wives let his heart be turned from God, and the same with wealth, becoming independent from God’s authority.  And in verse eleven Isaiah expands about human pride, and what God will do to humble His people through judgment.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice

  Swarm Time in the Texas Hills

Yesterday I wrote about the Light, and then I had a dream about Humming Birds and the light, let me share it with you.  Back to Isaiah tomorrow.

It is Swarm time for the Humming birds at the Rice’s home; they empty two feeders each day, and our cat Dale enjoys hiding in the few bushes that are in bloom and waiting for the opportunity to grab a play toy.   That cat is patient, she’s cunning, yes, she is crafty and deceitful and she loves to torment her catch.  She will bring the little humming bird into our garage and play with it and then will let it go.  Sounds great, but the cat knows something from experience that you may not know, the bird never flies out the small opening in the door that the cats come in, it flies up to the ceiling, and the ceiling in our garage is 12 feet and the doors to the garage are only 9 feet.

So you have Jan and I, over and over trying to rescue the little humming bird, but even with both doors fully open the bird will not fly to the light of day, it just bumps the ceiling for hours, until it runs out of fuel and comes down to the cats.  The cats then play with it for a while and then one of them bites it head off and leaves the rest for a gift to us.

We have had one in the garage for three days, over and over we try to catch it, but it will not be caught by us, and last night I dreamed about that bird, and in my dream the voice said, is that not just like people, now that got my attention.  How can a bird too foolish to escape through two fully opened garage doors be compared to a person?

In my dream the voice told me to look at the players, the cat was in the role of the devil, and like the devil, it is patient and cunning, he enjoys the hunt, and like the cat, the devil knows that once in his grasp it will not go to the light, and that is when the play time begins.  The garage is the world, and in the birds case it is the 12’ ceilings, it is out of the reach of the cat, and for the person, often the ceiling is false security, your at the top of your game getting everything you believe will bring peace, but you find no peace.

Jan and I play the role of the messenger opening the doors to the bird and exposing the light, but the frightened bird will not come to the light; he/she will not accept the help or the message of the messenger.  In my seventy plus years, how often I’ve seen this played out in the life of people I care for.

And once more the devil and the cat are waiting for the real game to begin, the total destruction of the bird or the person.  Not sure why I had this dream, maybe two much food to late at night, are maybe the LORD was reminding me that I often am just like that humming bird.  Do you recall Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Authority of the Light

Isaiah 2:5

“O house of Jacob, come, let us “walk in the light of the Lord.”

Please stop and give thought to Isaiah 2:5, and change Jacob to Church, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what “walk in the light of the Lord” would look like, and how the world would be changed? 

First, it was an invitation not a command, they, as well as us, have been invited to something much bigger than we can grasp.  Do you recall Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”  Do not let the evil one tell you the invitation was not for you, for Jesus said it was for “whosoever” in John 3:16.  Do you remember Jesus saying these words; “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  If you are tired, run to Jesus, for He is the rest you are looking for.

Next, let us look at this light we are invited to walk in, Isaiah proclaims the following; “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2, ESV)  And the apostle John proclaimed in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John goes on to share with us the following; “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5, ESV)  Or maybe we need to hear from the apostle Paul, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV)

And when we walk in the light of the Lord we will be walking in truth, King David prayed this prayer, and so should we; “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” (Psalm 86:11)  In John’s second letter to the elder to the elect lady and her children, we find this jewel; “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. ⁵ And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. ⁶ And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” (2 John 4-6)

Some may be asking, how will that change the world?  When you are under the authority of the light, your life will have the same impact of the life of Jesus, for it will not be you but Christ living in you, and all glory will go to the Father.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Not Critter Faith - God Faith

Isaiah 2:1-5

Yesterday, we looked at time and explored what the latter days refer to, and it was not the end of the world, but a time set by God the Father when Jesus would return to rule His earth for one thousand years.  What we did not do was look deeper into verses 2-5, and today we will ask our teacher the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and hearts so that we can gain knowledge and understanding.

The mountain is referring to Zion, where the temple was and is special in that God made His presence known to His people, the Jews.  But Zion was not by far the highest of mountains in that region, but in terms of spiritual importance, Zion stood above all the mountains of the world.  Isaiah tells of a time yet to come when the Lord will prepare a feast for His people on that mountain and on that mountain conquer the evil nations, and death for all the nations.  This is so far beyond a time critters understanding, you must come to it by faith in the Creator who is not controlled by His creation.  On Jesus return, Jerusalem and mount Zion will be the place of total authority and power, and all nations will come there.

When Jesus left planet earth the first time, He told us who have entered into Christ by grace and faith in the finished work of the cross, that we were the light of the world.  But that light has never come from us, but by Christ living His life in and through us.  Do you recall Jesus’ words in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Isaiah predicts a time when the people of all nations will come to see Jesus during His reign on earth.  In Isaiah 2:3-4, “and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”  For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

A world that is free from the power of Satan, for he is bound for this thousand years, but that does not free these people from their flesh, so they go to God to learn how to walk in Jesus, and they are serious.  If we who call ourselves Christian would understand that when we entered into a personal relationship with Christ, the power and control of the evil one stopped, but the flesh must go to Jesus to learn how to walk as Jesus did while on this earth in human form.  One day you and I will see this reign and the nations at peace with each other, but at that time we will not be time critters.  Is it not time to throw off all that hinders us and look to Jesus, and ask Him to teach us to walk victorious in this world?

From the Back Porch,,

Bob Rice