Judgment Deserved
Opening Prayer
Lord, You call me beyond myself; You send me beyond my imagination; You empower me beyond my capacity. I praise You!
Read Isaiah 5:8-21
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Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government” (George Washington, 1732-1799). That’s true, in both the public place and the human heart.
Think Further
Five “woes” and two “therefores” link accusation with punishment. Plenty gives way to hunger, land becomes desolate, and the vineyard produces little. The “woes” name personal, social and spiritual sin. Corrupt, greedy developers will live in abandonment and isolation. The party crowd will be drunk, not with wine, but with the “grapes of wrath,” experiencing exile and death. The grave (14) will swallow all those who receive invitations to Jerusalem’s superficial religious feasts. They will be deceived by a false sense of God’s protection over her. Those who take comfort in God’s promises of blessing and protection are blind to their own injustice and ungodly ways, and their call for God’s judgment will result in their own punishment, exile and death.
As with our church and nation today, the combination of social justice and personal godliness is held up against the perfect standards of the holy and righteous God of Israel. So how do we relate to such promises of punishment? Can we similarly apply God’s judgment of sin to the history of our church and nation? We cannot make a quick equation of national disasters, such as Isaiah foretells, to national apostasy–but the doctrines of the sovereignty of God and of his providence in creation and human history assure us that all humanity is under his judgment. He acts and plans throughout human history, as the Creator, Redeemer and Renewer of all things.
For each of us, turning back to a covenant relationship, and away from sin, is the call of the Gospel. We need to lead lives that reflect, as Walter Brueggemann describes it, a “covenanted self.” Israel here failed to live that out, both personally and corporately, in terms of both social justice and personal righteousness, and God is justified in his judgment. Do we do better today?
Apply
Consider how you and your church reflect your covenant relationship with God. Are there any failings which you need to confess, both personally and corporately?
Closing prayer
Father, it is hard for me to admit, but rebellion and darkness lurk in my heart. Hear my repentance and guide me to a life that is pleasing to You.
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