Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Isaiah: The King is Coming

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Of course, the OT prophetic books specifically mention the One Who Is To Come ... and a couple of the messianic passages in Isaiah also mention the desert.

Let's have a look.

See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.  Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. -- Is. 32:1-2

 This isn't a verse that's commonly cited in messianic discussions, but according to my Scofield notes this is a reference to the reign of the Messiah.  Because, we all know, he is the only king who will truly reign in righteousness.  But it is interesting that the passage doesn't just refer to the righteousness of the reigning Messiah...but of those delegated as rulers under him, who will rule with justice.  The actual verse referencing 'desert' could be read two different ways...one, that the men who were rulers would be of such quality that they would be a shelter and a refreshing to those in their care OR...that every man (or,possibly, human) in the kingdom would be a protector and refresher to those around them.  Either way, it's an interesting thought that the reign of the Messiah isn't just about the reign of the king  but of the quality of the people in the kingdom. The whole nature of the place will be different than it is now...where folks who truly care about and protect others are the exception rather than the rule.

A voice of one calling in the desert: "Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  -- Is. 40:3-5 

This passage is well-known in the discussion of messianic prophecy and is, in fact, stated in the New Testament to have been fulfilled by John the Baptist (Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3-4, Luke 3: 2 -6; in John 1:23, John the Baptist specifically claims that he is fulfilling the prophecy).

40:3, above, is actually the marginal reading as listed in my NIV 84; the main text is punctuated differently...

'A voice of one calling:  "In the desert, prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God." '

That changes the emphasis slightly; in the first example, the one calling is in the desert; in the second, he is calling for the way to be prepared in the desert.  John, of course, said that he was the one calling in the desert, which gives more weight to the marginal reading. Either way, though, it's clear that this verse indicates that it is God Himself who is coming...not a king coming in his name, or a prophet or a teacher.

And John, on the banks of the Jordan at the edge of the desert, clearly identified Jesus as the one he was sent to proclaim.

The prophecy says, Prepare the way for God; John said, I am the one preparing the way...and then he pointed to Jesus and said, 'There he is...the one I was sent to proclaim".

That doesn't leave much doubt that Jesus was God walking among the people.

Heart of David report...

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

 

 

 

 I will post a new Desert musing tomorrow; meant to explain why I missed last week well before tonight, lol.

Back in OCTOBER, we got a notification that Morning Star Ministries was going to have a 25th anniversary conference...commemorating the 1995 Heart of David Worship and Warfare conference that literally changed the way worship was done in so many ways.  We immediately felt we were to go and signed up.

It was supposed to be in April... the weekend after Easter.  It got rescheduled for last weekend (17th - 19th).

We had a long debate about whether we were actually going to go.  We have tried to be super careful; Hubby is still 100% working from home and we haven't even been back to church yet; still watching from home.  And there were going to be a BUNCH of folks there, although they did split the attendees between two different areas of the conference center that is the Morning Star headquarters. 

But, ultimately we decided we needed to stand on the first call we felt...after all, God knew then that COVID would be an issue and we went.

Drove up in the outskirts of  Sally; we did give ourselves two days so we didn't have to leave early and  that also meant we had time to take a longer southern route to avoid the rain soaked interstate AND the worst of the storm.

If you go to their You-Tube channel, you can see the sessions...at least, the ones that were in the Atrium, so I'm not going to go into detail about those.  I will say the Thursday night session with Jason Upton was really good...he actually talked about The Desert  a little bit, which was cool.  The other session that really spoke to me was the Saturday morning session w/ Stephen Roach, who has an online creative collective with podcasts and such... The Breath and the Clay   It may be that his was the session that I needed to hear...part of me, as always, has been questioning lately if I should really be trying to focus on creative stuff, since what I do create just doesn't seem to go much of anywhere.   What is the point of writing a book if I can only get 12 people to read a blog?  So...I was getting discouraged.

But, no, he reminded me that the creativity is an expression of who God created me to be...and if no one else is inspired by stuff I create, so be it.  Create anyway, he said.

His ministry is sponsoring an online workshop next month and...without any idea of what it might entail, I signed up.  So whatever seeds were sown are going to get some more...watering, lol.

But now we're self-quarantining, more or less,  because  you, know, those were faith-not-fear people and we were two of about twelve, maybe, that we saw actually wearing masks.  The rows were spread out but the seats in the rows were side by side.  We sat in the back row...in the Atrium, which was 4 stories high and presumably well ventilated.  But there were people there from all over, so I'm working from home for two weeks.  

So...back to the desert tomorrow!

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Isaiah: Judgement for Judah

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I struggled with this set of verses, to be honest.  Finally I figured out that if I used them in logical, rather than chronological, order, then it could make some sense.

Isaiah, of course, was a prophet in the later years of the divided kingdom, and talks about the coming judgment and the distant restoration, as well as some references to the coming Messiah.  A few of these discussions include references to 'desert', so those are the ones we will look at; today's topic is judgment.  I'll just list them in the order that makes the most sense, then I'll talk about it.

"Because of your sins you were sold;  because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.  When I came, why was there no one?  When I called, why was there no one to answer?  Was my arm too short to ransom you?  Do I lack the strength to rescue you?  By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst."  - Is. 50: 1b - 2

By this, then, will Jacob's guilt be atoned for; and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin:  When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.  The fortified city stands desolate, and abandoned settlement, forsaken like the desert; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.  When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them.  For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.  - Is. 27:9 - 11

"Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever.  Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people.  Your sacred cities have become a desert; even Zion is a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.  Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins."  -- Is. 64:9-11

"You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuse for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.  For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert.  You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled."  --Is. 25: 4-5

I do realize that one can take verses from the Bible and string them together in a script that is totally out of context and completely changes the meaning, but  if you go back and read the verses in their context I think you will agree with me that this sequence works.

The first two verses in this group are, basically, the pronouncement of judgment upon Judah.  I think it's interesting that God points out to them that he, of course, is able to deliver his people...but he didn't do it.  In fact, he invites them in 50:2 to consider why they were in the predicament they were in, because the reason was NOT that he couldn't save them.  The reason was...the people had walked away from following him.  Repeatedly.  And after many warnings from his servants.  A people without understanding.

But, as the other two verses indicate...there were a few who heard, who honored God, who threaded their way through the judgment and exile and prayed for the nation.  Those, God protected in their captivity, as a refuge and a shade.  The nation was not utterly obliterated.  Even in the midst of judgment, there was hope, because God is a refuge for those who will turn to him.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - The First Fall

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

So, there really is only one verse in Isaiah in the the next topic w/ a 'desert' verse, but it's a doozy  and needs a good bit of context....

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the throne of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.  Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,  the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"   -- Is. 14: 12 - 17, NIV 84

Now, in a broader sense, this passage is plopped into a longer passage regarding the fate of the king of Babylon (14:4).  But the phrase 'you have fallen from heaven' and the description 'morning star, son of the dawn'  is generally accepted by Bible scholars as a reference to Lucifer, aka Satan, and his fall from his place.

Not that the King of Babylon is exempt from these verses; no, these verses are also addressing the force or power behind the atrocities committed by the King of Bablyon. Two with one, so to speak.  

This is the attitude of Lucifer, and it also is the temptation that he feeds men...be above God!  Be like the Most High!  Break out of submission to Him!  (see Genesis : 4-5 for the first time he waved that mirage in front of humans).  So Lucifer...and the ones he deceives...all have that in common.  'I will ascend... I will raise my throne (authority)...I will make myself like the Most High.'

Only...it's a false dream, a fake aspiration, a house of cards.  It doesn't work.  No-one can be 'like the Most High', because the Most High is completely other-than anyone or anything else. Lucifer discovered this; his attempt failed and he was cast down to earth.  But he uses that same deception to fool humans...who also suffer a similar fate in the end.   

But I also see a reminder in this passage that there is a bigger narrative running than we see in the immediate now.  The ambitions of humans to aspire to be in control, be exalted, be supreme...is just an echo of that same ambition in the Enemy. His power is limited, so he tries again and again to achieve dominance through human agents.  Sometimes, he appears to succeed for a season, making the world a desert, overthrowing cities and taking captives, but in the end, it all crumbles.

We're in this for the long haul.