CONSUMING ONE ANOTHER
Opening Prayer
Teach me Lord, to follow You in faithfulness. I long to praise You with the angels and archangels forever.
Read Isaiah 9:18 – 10:4
18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
they will not spare one another.
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring[a]:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
together they will turn against Judah.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
10 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 9:20 Or arm
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Think back over the blessings you have given, received, and indulged in over Christmas – and thank God for His generosity to you.It is easy to read passages like this (20) and picture evil regimes and primitive, cannibalistic tribes. ‘We would never be like that,’ we think.
We may not actually ‘feed on the flesh of [our] offspring’ (9:20), but there are many other ways in which we ‘consume’ one another. We ignore those who serve us at the supermarket, in the café or on the bus (let alone those who sweep the streets or patrol them for our safety).
We give our business to companies that exploit, mistreat, and underpay their workers. We manipulate opportunities to our own advantage. We consume more than our fair share of the world’s resources.
We may not make the unjust laws or create the poverty in our world, but we are often complicit – albeit unthinkingly. And we rarely do all we can to seek justice or stand up for the oppressed.
What will we do on the day of reckoning (10:3)? What excuses will we give when God asks how we stewarded the resources, voice and opportunities He gave us? These words are hard to hear. It’s difficult to recognize and change our habits of ‘looking out for number one.’
Apply
Can you think of times when you have put yourself before God and His plans? Take some time to reflect and repent.
Closing prayer
Gracious Father, I want to be about Your work. I want to helping to build a society where justice exists as a stable reality and grace seen in many ways and places. Show me Your way Lord.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.