Bringing Up Children
Opening Prayer
Lord, by Your Word and Spirit, enlighten my understanding, purify my desires and strengthen every right purpose in me.
Read ISAIAH 1:1–20
The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood!
16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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.
Meditate
My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child” (Heb. 12:5b-6, TLB).
Think Further
Does God interfere in our lives today? Does he chastise us like he did Judah? Many people hesitate to attribute national disasters (earthquakes, acts of terrorism) or personal tragedies to God—and rightly so. Stories such as the book of Job and Jesus’ comment on the collapse of the tower in Siloam suggest reasons other than sin for many tragic events (Luke 13:4,5). We might dismiss discipline too quickly because we see ourselves as living under grace—yet Israel too was God’s chosen people, loved and redeemed for no virtue of her own and disciplined nonetheless (Deut. 7:7,8; 9:4,5). Indeed, Hebrews 12:4–11 confirms that all of God’s children can expect this.
Discipline can take many forms: correction or guidance through God’s word, prayer, circumstances or friends. For Judah, it came in extreme ways, in the Assyrian devastation of the land (7–9). Like the prodigal son, who hit rock bottom before he came to his senses, so God’s rebellious people no longer responded to gentle rebuke or guidance. At heart they had forgotten that their relationship with God was not that of a slave with a taskmaster but of children with a Father (2,3). They no longer believed that God could be trusted to care for them, so they became estranged from him. Neither did they understand their responsibility to show moral integrity and look after those in need (16,17). Paradoxically, they continued to offer acts of worship (10–15).
As human parents discipline their children to equip them for adult life, so God’s discipline is for Israel to live well and thrive. Even now, God comes with the offer of forgiveness and a new start (18–20) if only his people would repent!
Apply
God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness” (Heb. 12:10).What times in your life did you sense that God was disciplining you? What were the results in your life?
Closing prayer
Lord, I pray: “But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me” (Psa. 19:12,13).
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