Do Not Fear

The prophet Isaiah was God’s messenger to an ungodly king.  He was unlike his father, Jotham.  He did not do right in the eyes of the LORD 2 Chronicles 28:1).  By reading in Isaiah’s prophecy we see God’s promise to avert a tragedy; the tragedy of defeat in this attack which came against Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Judah.

The Northern kingdom of Israel, also known as Ephraim in our text, allies with Syria.  Pekah “son of Remaliah the king of Israel”, and “Rezin the king of Syria” has it in their minds to wage war against Jerusalem, defeat them, take captives, and take home some treasure as well.  Ahaz has no heart for God so he does not ask for God’s help, but the help of surrounding neighbors.  The prophet is called by God to go to Ahaz with his son Shearjashub, and speak to the king.

“In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord GOD: “‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.) “‘And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”  Isaiah 7:1-9 (ESV).

The message of Isaiah is “Do not fear…”.  These are two smoking, smoldering stumps, and they can have no power over you.  What they are devising against you will not stand.  Remember Ahaz has no heart for God, and we see in 2 Chronicles 28 that king Ahaz did not listen to the LORD, and the city of Jerusalem was conquered, the people taken captive, though later restored, and the captives returned to Judah.

The message here is that we must trust the LORD our God in every situation, and even when there are no trying situations of life.  This message, “Do not fear’, ‘Do not be afraid’, ‘fear not’, etc. is found throughout all of Scripture.  It is the message to God’s people – the people who have called on His name through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Isaiah’s son Shearjashub, meaning “A remnant shall return” went with the prophet as a word of assurance that there would always be a remnant of God’s people.  People who were believing and trusting the LORD.  They need not be afraid.

In the United States of America and in many parts of the world, people are trembling in fear over the march of terrorism.  After the assault on the USA in September of 2001 fear has seemed to be in the hearts of many.  Those of us who are children of our King, ie., King Jesus have absolutely nothing to fear.  These terrorists need to fear, because their destiny is set.  They are sending themselves to Hell.  That is the shame of it all.  God, the Father of our Lord Jesus has all these matters under His control.  Terrorism will be defeated.  They are as those ‘two smoldering stumps of firebrands’, they will not prevail, unless we turn our back on God, and give in to the fears that is in the hearts of many.

We as the people of God must stand by faith in every trial and every circumstance of life.  There is nothing that can happen to us which God does not have in His hand.  The nation of the USA must awake to the ways of God, or it will not be terroris which defeats us but our own iniquities.  To stand firm with the LORD of hosts in faith is our call, our life, our all.  If we do not stand by faith in God, we will not stand at all.

“If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.”  (v. 9b  NKJV).

I pray the Lord Jesus will encourage and strengthen your heart.  Be strong in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Trust in Him and you will live.

How Long Lord?

I know the dates I have given for “Isaiah’s Log” are not accurate, I have only been trying to get in a  proximity of his time.  Rather than finishing the chapter with an “Isaiah’s Log”  I will finish with just my simple commentary, and interpretation.

“Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ and He said; ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.  The holy seed is the stump.”  Isaiah 6:11-13 (ESV).

It almost seems crude to my mind to think that God would command a prophet like Isaiah to preach, and tell him, “But no one is going to listen.  Their hearts will grow hard”.  Yet there are times, and I think it is most of the time I fully understand.  We human beings can reach points in our lives where we want our way, and it must be when we want it, and how we want it.  It does not matter if God fits in the equasion or not.

The prophet’s heart must be broken.  To think that he is going to preach his heart out, but there will be no converts, there will be no repentance on the part of the masses of people.  Instead God is promising to remove his people from their land, the cities lying in waste – destroyed, and they will be carried away captive.  They are given the opportunity of repentance, reject it and we know from the history of Judah; they went into the Babylonian captivity approximately 150 years later.  How could Isaiah preach that?  Was he a doomsday prophet?  Not in the least. 

Isaiah was a man of God, proclaiming the truth of God, to the people of God.  They rejected the message, refused repentance, and a return to God.  The last verse of chapter six is a verse which has much hope and promise for God’s people.  “Like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.  The holy seed is the stump.” (v. 13).  Cut a tree down, leave the stump, and it won’t be long and saplings will begin to grow from that stump.  Often, it is not just one sapling, but several.  To say God is finished with this Nation is to say God is finished with the fulfilling of His Word, and I am not yet in Heaven with Him, so that leaves that out.

Thank you for reading.  Stay tuned for more to come.

Isaiah’s Log, 23rd Day Sivan, 747 B.C.

Awesome is the cleansing power of the LORD God.  The coal taken from the altar by the angel was a fierce burning heat, purging my unclean lips of their filth.

The presence of the glory of the LORD is truly something wonderful. He came to me and asked me a question.  Here are His words -

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’  Then I said, ‘Here am I!  Send me.’  And He said, ‘Go, and say to this people:  Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”  Isaiah 6:8-10 (ESV).

One thing I know from God’s calling on my life and that is that He truly loves this people of His.  He is gracious, loving forgiving, and full of mercy.  He has placed a burden on my heart for this rebellious and stubborn people.  There is judgment that is coming because this people has grown so complacent, and apathetic.

When the LORD asked the question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”  I immediately responded, “I will go. Send me.”  I have seen the chaos of my peoples lives.  There are few who are following the LORD, and they are not the elite among us.  There is a family scattered here and there whose heart’s are given to the worship of the LORD of hosts.  They can make very little impact with the immoral leadership of our nation.  People usually  follow the moral direction of their leadership.

We are a prosperous nation.  Their is much wealth among us, and no one sees any danger on the horizon, but it is coming whether they see it or not.  That is the reason I have answered God’s call to go and preach to this people, even with the caveats He has given me concerning their reactions to His Word.

They will keep on hearing, but not understand; keep on seeing, but not perceive.  Their hearts will be made dull.  Their ears made heavy with the preaching of the Word, and simply because it is continually rejected.  O, that my people would hear and obey.  Do they not know that the more they hear and reject the more they will grow lethargic to God and His Word.  They hear themselves into disobedience and rebellion.  They have grown cold and God just seems to be a convenience, rather than the person of devotion and worship  He is truly worthy of.

It is sad that I am to be the instrument of God that will cause the truth of God’s Word to be hidden from their hearts and minds.  It is only because their hearts have grown hard.  When people continue to turn a deaf ear to the Word of God and His way for their lives they will not hear and obey when judgment is imminent, and that is the way of the ministry to which I have been called.  There will be little to no repentance.  Call on the name of the LORD while you have the heart for it.  Do not delay.

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near…”  Isaiah 55:6 (ESV).

The conclusion of chapter six will follow soon.