*image courtesy of www.sxc.hu
Listened to Isaiah 22-33 this morning. There was an interesting couple of verses in Chapter 27.
Ok, so this is one of Isaiah's vineyard songs, another being in chapter 5. In the whole book, the briers and thorns represent destruction of some kind. In 5:5-6, they come up after God removes his care and protection. In 7:23-25, they come up in the literal farmland when the area becomes desolate. In 9:18 they are consumed by fire as a metaphor of the consuming power of wickedness. It seems consistent to me with the parable/song in chapter 5 and the general tenor of the book that these briers and thorns represent the invading armies that will come as God's judgment. At the least, they represent the destruction these armies will bring. Ok, so briers and thorns = bad.
But then, the last time briars and thorns come up in Isaiah is in our passage today.
27:2-5 says:
*image courtesy of www.sxc.hu
"2 In that day—
"Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the LORD, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me."
Did anybody else catch that?
So, it starts out right. God, in his righteousness, marches out against them, and sets them all ablaze. At least, He would hypothetically. (The NASB Study Bible says that God is pointing to Israel's lukewarm state, they aren't briers and thorns confronting God, but they aren't trusting Him either.)
But then, v. 5 happens! Right after saying He would march out against them and set them all ablaze, He says He might just let them into the vineyard and make peace with them, even giving them refuge!
Did I miss something?
The briers and thorns are those enemies of the people of God which will destroy the beautiful vineyard of God! When He removes His protection, they will destroy all that He has built up! They deserve to be consumed by the wickedness they promote! They deserve to burn in the flames, not receive God's peace!
And all God's people said, "Amen!"
Because we don't know our Bible.
This passage is a beautiful illustration of the continuity of God's mercy and love between the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament condemns us all as briers and thorns, reminding us that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" Rom. 5:8. Let me expose this a bit.
We hear "sinners" and just think of good people who do bad things. Try thinking of it this way - traitors against the King of the Universe. We are not good people who do bad things, we are traitors who commit treason against the King of the Universe. We are, in fact, the briers and thorns. If we are those who have come to God through Jesus Christ, then we are the briers and thorns which have been given God's peace and refuge.
In keeping with the theme of my church right now, let's take this truth into our hearts and lives and look in three directions from it.
Upward - we look to God and realize His infinite mercy and justice.
Inward - we look at ourselves, our hears and minds, and realize that we do not deserve the peace and refuge we have in Christ. We are traitors, we are the ones who were desolating God's work.
Outward - we look at others around us and realize that we are not better than any of them. If we shout out for their destruction, we realize that we are briers and thorns like they are, we've just found peace and refuge. We do not condemn briers and thorns for acting like briers and thorns. We do not condone or reward sin, but we humbly remember that we too are sinners whom Christ died for. Instead, we confront them with the truth of God's Word, remembering that Romans 6:23 not only tells us that the wages of sin is death, but also that the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Who knows? I may discover that the thorns I've been condemning were the beginning of God's work to produce something more beautiful than I could have imagined.
"Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the LORD, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me."
Did anybody else catch that?
So, it starts out right. God, in his righteousness, marches out against them, and sets them all ablaze. At least, He would hypothetically. (The NASB Study Bible says that God is pointing to Israel's lukewarm state, they aren't briers and thorns confronting God, but they aren't trusting Him either.)
But then, v. 5 happens! Right after saying He would march out against them and set them all ablaze, He says He might just let them into the vineyard and make peace with them, even giving them refuge!
Did I miss something?
The briers and thorns are those enemies of the people of God which will destroy the beautiful vineyard of God! When He removes His protection, they will destroy all that He has built up! They deserve to be consumed by the wickedness they promote! They deserve to burn in the flames, not receive God's peace!
And all God's people said, "Amen!"
Because we don't know our Bible.
This passage is a beautiful illustration of the continuity of God's mercy and love between the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament condemns us all as briers and thorns, reminding us that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" Rom. 5:8. Let me expose this a bit.
We hear "sinners" and just think of good people who do bad things. Try thinking of it this way - traitors against the King of the Universe. We are not good people who do bad things, we are traitors who commit treason against the King of the Universe. We are, in fact, the briers and thorns. If we are those who have come to God through Jesus Christ, then we are the briers and thorns which have been given God's peace and refuge.
In keeping with the theme of my church right now, let's take this truth into our hearts and lives and look in three directions from it.
Upward - we look to God and realize His infinite mercy and justice.
Inward - we look at ourselves, our hears and minds, and realize that we do not deserve the peace and refuge we have in Christ. We are traitors, we are the ones who were desolating God's work.
Outward - we look at others around us and realize that we are not better than any of them. If we shout out for their destruction, we realize that we are briers and thorns like they are, we've just found peace and refuge. We do not condemn briers and thorns for acting like briers and thorns. We do not condone or reward sin, but we humbly remember that we too are sinners whom Christ died for. Instead, we confront them with the truth of God's Word, remembering that Romans 6:23 not only tells us that the wages of sin is death, but also that the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Who knows? I may discover that the thorns I've been condemning were the beginning of God's work to produce something more beautiful than I could have imagined.
No comments:
Post a Comment