Isaiah 51:17-23
Earlier the prophet was
asking God to awake, but now it seems he has gone full circle and is asking the
people to wake-up. What are they to
awaken to, the realization of God’s judgment for they have chased other gods,
gods with no power or authority? When a
church, a family, or a nation goes after it’s desires, taking our eyes off
God’s commandments, and seeking our own wishes, it is drinking from the dregs
in the bowl, the cup of staggering. And
Isaiah tells us in a very clear way that we have no one to lead us, we have
entered into God’s judgment. Drinking
the cup of God’s wrath is seen in Isaiah 19:14, and it was aimed at the leaders
of Egypt.
It seems it was the custom
for an older child in the ancient Near East, to care for a drunk parent, and
Isaiah is telling the children of Jerusalem that they did not take the hand of
a drunken Jerusalem after God’s wrath was poured out on her. And in verse 19, we are reminded of the two
things that happened to Jerusalem, devastation and destruction, famine and the
sword. But it’s the questions in verse
19, we must consider; “Who will grieve for you?
How can I comfort you?”
Our Father in heaven is grieved when we try to live independently from
His plan and will for each of us, and we are told that as a follower of Christ
we grieve the Holy Spirit when we follow our own desires. How often do we tie the hands of God, by our
pride and arrogant living, and only in repentance can our LORD bring comfort
into our lives.
Verse 20, is so descriptive
of many in the Church in 2015, when Isaiah uses the term children, it is in
regard to God’s chosen people, and like Israel, we who have bowed our knee to
Jesus are the chosen of God. So pay
attention to verse 20; “Your
sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a
net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.” Is this not saying they have been
taken captive, but they are as useless as an antelope in a net; what good is a
follower of Christ who is drunk on the world’s vision of life?
But
God, when all seems lost we have the “But God” who knows every aspect of our
being, and cares for each of us, and this is the message to the children or
people of Jerusalem and to you and me who follow Christ; “Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who
pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of
staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it
into the hand of your tormentors, …” We can be assured Babylon is
going to become the target of God’s wrath, but we the followers of Christ must
not overlook this fact, it was only after Jerusalem experienced the full force
of God’s judgment did He bring judgment on Babylon. We would be wise to put to memory 1 Peter
4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the
household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those
who do not obey the gospel of God?”
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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