August 4 - Isaiah 57:1-13

August 4 – Isaiah 57:1-13

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

“But you—come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars? You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags. The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; they, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things, should I relent? You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices. Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness.

You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave itself! You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.  “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?

I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you. When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”

Even today, we have a difficult time understanding the early/untimely death of a good person – someone who loved God and lived their lives serving Him. 

Isaiah was writing to condemn the leaders of Israel who had so corrupted their people that when these righteous and devout people died, no one paid any attention – the only peace that these good people could find was in death.

This was written following the return of the exiles.  The leaders weren’t much better than they ever had been, yet now it fell on a larger group of people than just a King.  They are dealing with the same sin – idolatry.  They give up their children, they give up offerings to these idols, they hang symbols of the idols in their homes. 

It occurs to me that we take this idea of idolatry too lightly and don’t actually apply it to our own lives.  This was one of the greatest sins of the Old Testament, people’s lives were filled with finding ways to worship something other than God. 

While we might not put an actual idol / symbol of another religion up in our homes, we fill our homes with things that we worship.  I grew up with posters of actors and musicians on the walls of my room.  I couldn’t wait for my favorite television shows to be on and would make choices of what to do based on whether or not I needed to be home to watch one of them (yah, ok – long before DVR). 

I have a relative whose idols are her possessions.  She lives by herself in an immense home filled with stuff she will never use and her family doesn’t want, but she can’t give it up and constantly buys more.  Things remind her of her wealth and that brings her comfort.

We idolize friends and family – making them worth more to us than our relationship with Jesus.  We lose ourselves in our work and our hobbies, in drinking and partying … making all of these things of greater importance than God.

He tells us that all of these things will be carried off by the wind. 

God is our refuge, He will give us an inheritance and ownership of His holy mountain.  This is what He offers – a home and all we can ever desire, if only we place Him above all else.