Graduate 94: Advent, Day 17
Before the Throne
Isaiah 1:10-20; 6:1-13; 8:11-9:7
Apologies for my neglect the last couple days. In the process of trying to wrap up term papers, I was finally brought to the point where the expediency of that project forced me to set aside the blogging. Now the papers are done (or at least the one remaining is not due for a few weeks) so I can resume. I shall insert the missing entries at a later point. For now, we’ll just continue from day 17. I’ll also post the list of remaining readings in case there are any future lapses (though I doubt there will be).
--
Recall the account of Elijah on Mount Carmel and the challenge that he made to the people. (Since today’s entry is being posted before the entry on Elijah, you’ll have to look back at the passage for the first time—1 Kings 18:17-46) “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (18:21) But Israel continues to waver. Keep in mind that God’s expectation of His people is unusual when set against the backdrop of the general religious atmosphere of the time. Burnt offerings, for instance, were the “meal for the gods” that accompanied petitions as a way of currying favor by meeting a need that only the worshipper could fulfill. (IVP Bible Background Commentary, 585) Such offerings have a decidedly instrumental function; and one will likely offer burnt offerings to different deities in order to obtain blessings from and be on good terms with all. But God is not satisfied with such offerings. He expects the total and undivided commitment of His people, and in the absence of that, offerings and sacrifices and religious rituals are a burdensome and hateful thing.
What God desires is relationship; He will not be content with our using Him just to achieve our own ends and desires. Do we understand what is being offered us in relationship with God? Do we understand what and who it is that we slight when we treat God as just our errand boy or gofer? Isaiah gets a small glimpse of this God and he is all but completely undone. So often we stand, as if in judgment of God; as if expecting him to account for his actions and management of the cosmos to our satisfaction. What would it be like to stand in the presence of this God? Consider, that He is the one who made you, who gave you life, and sustains you. Every breath is a gift from Him. Every good thing you have in life is from Him. Imagine, if you will, what it would be like to stand before a person who has loved you all your life; who has been genuinely concerned for you and actively contributed to your welfare as long as you’ve lived; who has always been open, honest, and transparent with you; who has stood by you through thick and thin; who has sacrificed so much for you and would sacrifice everything for you; imagine standing in the presence of such a person and knowing that you have betrayed him, that you have maligned him, that you have not appreciated him; that you have spoken badly of him. Your (and my) reaction might be very close to Isaiah’s: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips”. And my little imaginative exercise does not begin to capture the complexity of the actual case with God.
Marvel, then, that the same God whom we have so offended is the one who offers and makes possible our forgiveness and atonement. It is nothing that Isaiah does that makes him clean; it is what God does. But instead of relying on God, so many appeal to the wisdom of the world in its various forms. The God who would be our refuge, our sanctuary, is instead seen as a stumbling stone on the way to acquiring satisfaction by our own means. Because it doesn’t fit our expectations; because it isn’t in line with what we want—we are blind and deaf to it.
Lord God, open our eyes to see what You are doing. Open our ears to hear and receive the true good news. Soften our hearts to understand what we cannot understand on our own but only by Your Spirit.
Way back in Genesis we saw the beginning of the brokenness and fallenness of humanity. People have been searching for the solution to that problem ever since. Isaiah speaks of the solution that God offers, in hope that some will hear and receive:
“The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
…
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
--
Day 18 - Jeremiah 1:4-10; 2:4-13; 7:1-15; 8:22-9:11
Day 19 - Habakkuk 1:1-2:1; 3:16-19
Day 20 - Nehemiah 1:1-2:8; 6:15-16; 13:10-12
Day 21 - Luke 1:57-80; 3:1-20; 7:18-30
Day 22 - Luke 1:26-38
Day 23 - Luke 1:39-80
Day 24 (Christmas Eve) - Matthew 1:19-25
Day 25 (Christmas Day) - John 1:1-18; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
Isaiah 1:10-20; 6:1-13; 8:11-9:7
Apologies for my neglect the last couple days. In the process of trying to wrap up term papers, I was finally brought to the point where the expediency of that project forced me to set aside the blogging. Now the papers are done (or at least the one remaining is not due for a few weeks) so I can resume. I shall insert the missing entries at a later point. For now, we’ll just continue from day 17. I’ll also post the list of remaining readings in case there are any future lapses (though I doubt there will be).
--
Recall the account of Elijah on Mount Carmel and the challenge that he made to the people. (Since today’s entry is being posted before the entry on Elijah, you’ll have to look back at the passage for the first time—1 Kings 18:17-46) “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (18:21) But Israel continues to waver. Keep in mind that God’s expectation of His people is unusual when set against the backdrop of the general religious atmosphere of the time. Burnt offerings, for instance, were the “meal for the gods” that accompanied petitions as a way of currying favor by meeting a need that only the worshipper could fulfill. (IVP Bible Background Commentary, 585) Such offerings have a decidedly instrumental function; and one will likely offer burnt offerings to different deities in order to obtain blessings from and be on good terms with all. But God is not satisfied with such offerings. He expects the total and undivided commitment of His people, and in the absence of that, offerings and sacrifices and religious rituals are a burdensome and hateful thing.
What God desires is relationship; He will not be content with our using Him just to achieve our own ends and desires. Do we understand what is being offered us in relationship with God? Do we understand what and who it is that we slight when we treat God as just our errand boy or gofer? Isaiah gets a small glimpse of this God and he is all but completely undone. So often we stand, as if in judgment of God; as if expecting him to account for his actions and management of the cosmos to our satisfaction. What would it be like to stand in the presence of this God? Consider, that He is the one who made you, who gave you life, and sustains you. Every breath is a gift from Him. Every good thing you have in life is from Him. Imagine, if you will, what it would be like to stand before a person who has loved you all your life; who has been genuinely concerned for you and actively contributed to your welfare as long as you’ve lived; who has always been open, honest, and transparent with you; who has stood by you through thick and thin; who has sacrificed so much for you and would sacrifice everything for you; imagine standing in the presence of such a person and knowing that you have betrayed him, that you have maligned him, that you have not appreciated him; that you have spoken badly of him. Your (and my) reaction might be very close to Isaiah’s: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips”. And my little imaginative exercise does not begin to capture the complexity of the actual case with God.
Marvel, then, that the same God whom we have so offended is the one who offers and makes possible our forgiveness and atonement. It is nothing that Isaiah does that makes him clean; it is what God does. But instead of relying on God, so many appeal to the wisdom of the world in its various forms. The God who would be our refuge, our sanctuary, is instead seen as a stumbling stone on the way to acquiring satisfaction by our own means. Because it doesn’t fit our expectations; because it isn’t in line with what we want—we are blind and deaf to it.
Lord God, open our eyes to see what You are doing. Open our ears to hear and receive the true good news. Soften our hearts to understand what we cannot understand on our own but only by Your Spirit.
Way back in Genesis we saw the beginning of the brokenness and fallenness of humanity. People have been searching for the solution to that problem ever since. Isaiah speaks of the solution that God offers, in hope that some will hear and receive:
“The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
…
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
--
Day 18 - Jeremiah 1:4-10; 2:4-13; 7:1-15; 8:22-9:11
Day 19 - Habakkuk 1:1-2:1; 3:16-19
Day 20 - Nehemiah 1:1-2:8; 6:15-16; 13:10-12
Day 21 - Luke 1:57-80; 3:1-20; 7:18-30
Day 22 - Luke 1:26-38
Day 23 - Luke 1:39-80
Day 24 (Christmas Eve) - Matthew 1:19-25
Day 25 (Christmas Day) - John 1:1-18; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12
--
God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Christ Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.
posted by Metaphysician_delta | 2:00 AM
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