How not to Walk in the way of a people

Isaiah 8 - 11For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me,
and(R) warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12"Do not call(S)
conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and(T) do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13But the LORD of hosts,(U) him you shall honor as holy.

Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14And he will become a(V) sanctuary and(W) a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15And many(X) shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."

Steps to walk in a different way

1. Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy
2. My take on this particular passage is judgment. Let us be careful of how our judgment lines up with other people's viewing glass. This seems harmless from the outside, but judgments are made on a standard. Having similar judgments compared to other people shows a similar worldview, or a similar standard of truth. E.g. if you lose all your money to a storm and call it a tragedy, then you are showing your standard of good is "with money". In the same way, if you find yourself judging a situation very similar to those around you, then you need to re-evaluate your truth center, and truth priorities.
3. do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread
4. This is more of the negative version of the first point- do not fear what they fear. The simplest one is dying. We need not fear death as the rest of the world does, for we have a saviour, and a wonderful heaven awaiting us, where we will be with our God, our Lord. The only requirement is that we would want to go there. If we don't love God, the God of the bible, how shall we go there? And if we get there and do not love being with him, then what use or bliss is heaven?
5. On another level, we should not fear the world, nore words, nor grades, nor people, nor poverty, nor sickness. Did not the Lord cause us to be born? Did he not cause us to grow into maturity? How can we claim and fear that our lives have started, and no one is watching our paths? If God shall start it, if god shall work it even when were not cognizant as infants, then how shall he not finish it, even we are conscious?
6. One of the more striking aspects of the stories of Jacob, Moses, David, and others is the fact that God interceeded from the beginning. Not only that he interceeded when they were children, and also, if any of these men were equipped with power, he also interceeded then. How shall God NOT be able to influence these silly capitalistic eyes?
7. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread
8. It is a strange comparison to compare worldy fear to God. I fear being hungry tomorrow. Instead, i should fear God somehow? How? That I shall die? Even unbelievers fear that moment by moment. We can fear death without fearing God! Sickness, death, famine, all these things we can fear without fearing the Lord. How does fearing the Lord, and letting him be our dread replace all the commonplace fears that clog most people today?
9. Suggestion: perhaps fearing the lord is the standard and the power. For instance, my fear is that I am hungry now, but perhaps my fear should be that i might cross my God in some evil way. Or that later today i shall find myself very close to a sinful vice. Is it him that we fear to displease? One who has given so much, one who has destined so much of our life from Good? How shall we leave and walk away from such a God?
10. Do we fear the Lord?

Nebuccanzzer, am I?

30"The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the ^(BE)great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'

31"While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you,

32and ^(BF)you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and ^(BG)seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the ^(BH)Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'

33"Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was ^(BI)driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

34"But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the ^(BJ)Most High and praised and honored ^(BK)Him who lives forever;
For His dominion is an ^(BL)everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35"^(BM)All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But ^(BN)He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And ^(BO)no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, '^(BP)What have You done?'

Most times, I imagine Nebuchadnezzar in a small column called "bad guys", I of course am found in the "good guy column". It's an humanly display of pride, we always hope the best for ourselves. But what has made Nebuchadnezzar good/bad?

30"The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the ^(BE)great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'

An innocent statement? Maybe, but how often have I also made the same claim. Last night I spent some time meeting a friend's cousin. It was fun, but was it because of the work of my hands? No, it was a gift from God, in almost every aspect. But here's the sneaky question; was i thinking that at the time? At the time i will admit, my ego powered up and took the throne. My jokes, my words, my stories, my doing. Is there any hope to train us towards what is right?

And even more than that, when I think of school, how my priorities rapidly change. A good grade, and it becomes a recognition that always SHOULd have been there: I am awesome. But when i get a bad grade, I assume some sort of fluke. How fervent and repeated my heart is to exalt itself. Everything should be accredited to God.

Considering these things. It is only a matter of time, till i too will find my place in the fields, my senses gone from me, and living like a wild animal. Assist me oh lord, to kill, well, me! I do fear thy hand, and the sting of instruction, but if the doctor's knife does bleed, let it be in your hands more than any, for you are gentle, wise and powerful.

Fancy Parties

Isaiah 5

11Woe to those who(O) rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink,who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!12(P) They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,(Q) but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.

In all honesty, I may be taking this out of context. Literally i do not know if this applies to me. Still it is quite frightening. This passage is describing, as i interpret it, men that are pleasure seekers. "who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink".

Though I am not a drunkard, nor a pursuer of all things hemp, I do remember my earlier days and video games. I would wake up, play my brains out, then go and crash to sleep. Man, what a life. Strangely I remember those days fondly, but now as i think about it, I almost sickens me. I think its the thought of just sitting there for an extended period of time. Still, most likely have not learned my lesson. Within the last two years i bought World of Warcraft and played my brains out for a year or so off and on. I guess old habits die hard. Either that or I'm just not used to the real world.

that hobbie has come and gone like many things. The next phrase is interesting - They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,(Q) but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.

I read this passage and think something along the lines of - we may have all the fancy of things, even the best of the best, games, people, food, entertainment, and great parties. But do we regard the deeds of the LORD? Can we see the work of his hands? It could be that this passage is referring to the pleasure seeking in the world as a replacement for God's creation. It could also be a simple recognition problem on our part, that we do not recognize God's part in our enjoyment?

the Phrase seems to imply that the deeds are separate from the other things. See the works of his hands are also separated ideas meaning they are unrelated. The later passage gives some hints-

24Therefore,(AH) as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,so(AI) their root will be(AJ) as rottenness, and their blossom go up like dust;for they have(AK) rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have(AL) despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.25Therefore(AM) the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and(AN) the mountains quaked;and their corpses were(AO) as refuse in the midst of the streets.

They have "rejected" the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy one of Israel. This rejection is not a emotion rejection for it, but a general disregard for it. There are two types of rejection, mental and emotional, and also physical. There is "I would really like to go to your party, but i cannot make it," rejection, and also "I would never ever be found in your house, or at your party, rejection."

It is of hte first we find ourselves most guilty. How often we have smiled on the bible, and commended its precepts, and re-written its commands. And Yet, do we actually do them ? it is an overlooked blight that we do not actually do what we love, for our heart goes to something else. Usually, our own pleasure takes the cake, literally.

Materialism

Isaiah 2:6For you have rejected your
people, the house of Jacob,because they are full of things(I)
from the east and(J)
of fortune-tellers(K)
like the Philistines, and they(L)
strike hands with the children of foreigners.7Their land is(M)
filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their
treasures;their land is(N)
filled with horses, and there is no end to their
chariots.8Their land is(O)
filled with idols; they bow down to(P)
the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.

I feel rather guilty for my warehouse of dreams. One of the benefits of looking for a new apartment is observing other people's arrangements. Walk into a tightly packed and organized studio, and one might guess the tenant to be a shrewd haggling dealing man. Find a large flat screen TV with neo-modern sofas that break your spine, and the owner is likely a high powered executive. Still across the board, the larger the volume of items found in an apt, it is assumed a larger income.

For all the things in our household, what do we have ot show? I remember the Piper quote well, "at the end of your life, do you want to go to God and say ' look at my shell collection God! Look at my Golf swing! Or do you want to be known for something more?"

And look how Isaiah speaks of israel:
"they are full of things from the east"
I don't know exactly what that means, but if we look at the following list, we can get a good feeling for what he is talking about. Silver, God, "no end to their treasures", horses, chariots, idols. And in short, it is all summarized by this one line:

"their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands,"
I believe some of this meaning may not translate to us, the beneficiaries of a market economy. It seems that most of the items we obtain or get are made for us by some factory in a far off land. Back then many things are hand made. Other riches are pillaged or captured from conquering other countries. The spoils of hard work were much more tangible.

Perhaps an exercise will help. Though we don't make or conquer our treasures, we work for them. If you, kind reader, have a job, or a occupation, or a specialty which you are compensated for, what is your heart's desire? What object is at the forefront of your eyes, and in the sensitive part of your ear? When work's gears grind you to despair, what image keeps you toiling? Is it another shiny object? Is it a person? Is it your house? Is it your future? Then consider then, are we bowing ourselves before idols? That we press on for some fancy car, or fancy toy? Perhaps that we endure all things for a secure future on this earth?

Of all Creation we are Evil

I remember his tone most of all.

Erik was always a calm man, especially around the word. Even more so around people who were curious about God's teachings. One time I eavesdropped couch counseling, and the quote has always stuck with me.

"All creation obey God. All creatures, all the seas, the storms, and the earth. Of all these things, humans are the only ones that do not obey. Of all creation, WE do not obey the creator"

When spoken like that, I have a flash of just how much of a rebel I am. To think, there be a nation, no, a great sovereignty, and I am but a foot soldier waving a stump of a fist at my orders. How am I to be looked on with any favor? Can I be considered with any courage? No, my purple heart should be made of thorns, and my gold necklace into iron shackles. Even in a progressive society like today, if you rebel against authority, you will be punished severly.

And not only do I find myself stopping in the midst of a battle, but i find myself stopping others also, encouraging or enticing them not to fight. Not to raise arms, but to sit and eat our rations!

In Isaiah 1 it says:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O(H) earth; for the LORD has spoken:"Children[a](I) have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.3The ox(J) knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib,but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."

Though i fully understand this is speaking of Israel as a nation in the old days, my heart still resonates, and my conscience accuses me, I am of the very similar behavior. I do not know, I do not understand.

5Why will you still be(O) struck down? Why will you(P) continue to rebel?The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.6(Q) From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it,but bruises and sores and raw wounds;they are(R) not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

This is not literally happening to me, but why should i be surprised when various afflications come about? Why am I surprised that my books do not satisfy, and my games leave me empty?
Why am i surpised that through all the excitement I have found through the years, i find myself still wanting more?

12"When you come to(AB)
appear before me, who has required of
you this
trampling of my courts?13Bring no more vain
offerings; incense
is an abomination to me.(AC)
New moon and Sabbath and the(AD)
calling of convocations— I cannot endure(AE)
iniquity and(AF)
solemn assembly.14Your(AG)
new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates;they have
become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.15When
you(AH)
spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you;(AI)
even though you make many prayers, I will not
listen; (AJ)
your hands are full of blood.16(AK)
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of
your
deeds from before my eyes;(AL)
cease to do evil, 17learn to do good;(AM)
seek justice, correct oppression;(AN)
bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

How I don't pay attention to how i come to the lord! How true harrison is, coming to the lord is a cleansing thing, a precious thing. Let us take a good assessment of ourselves before we come ot the lord! We just walk right in an pray, which is ablessing, but where has our reverance gone? We are so very very very lucky that we may enter in an have an audience with the Most High, yet we walk in and presume on Jesus' covering to cast about feeble requests like a babbling child.

Deep Deep?

Every sunday I walk through double glass doors and slouch in line for a donut. It's usually a twistee, accompanied by a friendly conversation. I launch my bible in the middle of a large sections of seats; it really doesn't matter who I sit next to. This is the sunday routine.

A regular part of church service is announcements. The token well-suited Seminary student slips a few jokes, and proceeds to dish out the weekly dosage of events and info. The phone numbers and times are ho-hum, but if the announcement concerns a missionary, preaching, or a church service a whole different attitude blooms. Vibrant eyes, lots of teeth in a smile, a proud timbre, a slight tilt of the head, with increased blinking; it's like he just ate a 100 dollar meal.

He just really believes in what Mr.Visiting Speaker, or Special church service; no big deal right? Well, one encouragement is great. But as in many things, if all the announcements have the same enthusiam, then no announcement really stands over another. If everything is important, then nothing is important. Important is a class of priority over another, which means something has to be disposable, or neglectable in order for another thing to be essential, to have prominence.

Is it regular to display the same vigor for the lord week by week? I assumed it was fececiousness? There was something about the lips or the eyes; I didn't believe the authenticity.

Perhaps this is subtle part of maturity of Christ. Christ is eternal; he is divine. Why should desires dissipate? Why should affection falter? The object does not tarnish nor change. Some would call this boring, but remember, Christ is perfect. Interest should be due to him. So why does our emotions fly through perpetual mountains and valleys? Probably because our desires are too weak. Well spoken was C.S. Lewis when he diagnosed the human condition. A large part of maturity in God is continued affection for our lord. Not a large vault of information. We are not theological servers to hold information. We are hands, hearts, legs, and bodys for the fruit of the lord. We are as mature as our fruit. Fruit is action. Galatians, 2 peter, all list these things. Maturity is affection!

Poor Jeremiah

Vulnerable to imminent danger, Israel searched for a response. The remnant in Judah ears and minds echoed with the murmurs of the strong Chaldeans; their conquest possibly consuming their city. Very aware of their weakness in military power, two solutions remained. The simplest solution gambled on cat and mouse; Israel would lock in and hope to go unnoticed or bypassed. The second possibility moved the people of Israel under the Protection in Egypt.

Stomaching uncertainty, the leaders sought God's wisdom on the issue. By request, Jeremiah prayed to the Lord for 3 days. At the end he got an answer, and guess what?

The people didn't like the answer.

If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.

And Amazingly enough the people answered:

You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, Do not go to Egypt to live there, 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.

How many times do I find myself in similar situations? Zero. I have no clue what Chaldeans are, or how they look. Chaldeans could be a skunk people with an aversion to humans that shower with excessive amounts of dove lotion. But this is not the point, do I listen and obey God?

Consider the story. Israel ASKED for what God's opinion and then bypassed it. Were they actually looking for instruction? Perhaps they were looking for a divine affirmation to the plans that they already had in mind. Many times Ill have an opinion in mind. I will consult other people, but this "consulting" hides a secret search for affirmation. If I present my opinion to someone that disagrees, I will continue "consulting" until I find someone that agrees. So how humble was I really? Half a rice kernel's worth, I'd say.

A vile part of me has contempt for Israel. They knew it was the word of God! Obey! Duh! It's always easier to fuss from the skybox. Try griping on playing field. For all the people knew, Jeremiah was the forgotten crazy uncle. He wasn't married; he would stand in random places and just start talking. How were they to know? The strategy Jeremiah recommended bunkered the remnant in a spot that offered less protection. Egypt was a long standing nation and military power, who wouldn't want to sit in their lap for a few generations? So, if judgment and frustration comes to mind, pause to think a bit, and a little compassion please. Figuring out the voice of God was not so obvious.

The nights are quiet, and my prayers rarely possess me to beginning conversations with "Thus sayth the lord". I don't hear the voice of God. No writing burns on my bedroom walls. No donkey comes to my window to rebuke me. So in some sense i don't have the same tension as Israel. Though I don't have the enlightenment to the word of God, I do have his word. His word says simple things like sin not, believe, have mercy, search for the lord. What of economics? What about schooling? What about life choices? How can I get this setup or situation in life? These questions are not resolved in the bible. Will i believe simply or make somethign complex about the whole thing? That is my call. The word has spoken well, and thoroughly that I should live simply. Will I do that much? Will i resist formulation for Joy, strategies convenience, or even wisdom for ministry?

"the foolishness of God is stronger than the wisdom of men"