Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Jeremiah: Judgment Falls on the Nation

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

As I said in the last post, Jeremiah's 'desert' verses deal primarily w/ judgment.  So, I kinda went through and divvied up the judgment verses according to the object of the judgement, if that makes sense.

The first group kinda falls under the category of 'the nation/people'...it's pretty vague, and it may overlap with other categories, but I didn't want to try to cover all of them in one post, so work with me here. ;-)

At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse;  a wind too strong for that comes from me.  Now I pronounce my judgements against them."  Jer. 4: 11 - 12

I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its town lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.   - Jer 4:26

I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures.  They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard.  The birds of the air have fled and the animals are gone.  - Jer 9:10

What man is wise enough to understand this?  Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it?  Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.  Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them."  - Jer 9:12-14

"It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares. Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe.  They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.  So bear the shame of your harvest because of the LORD's fierce anger.   - Jer 12:11-13

Amazing.  I didn't pick those verses because they made a narrative; I picked verses that sort of applied to the land/ nation/ people and wrote them in order.

Go back and read them again.  There is a narrative there.

Judgement is proclaimed against the people.

Jeremiah laments the waste that has been laid to the land and asks for explanation.

God replies that it is because the people abandoned his law and began following the stubbornness of their own hearts and false gods; the withering drought that destroyed the harvest, the events that ruined the towns were all part of his devouring sword.  Not just nature responding to unknown conditions, not just turns in history, but events and conditions actually brought about by the judgment of God.

'Desert' is judgment against the collective group of people who rejected God's laws.  Desolation, if you will.

Would such a narrative fly today?  Or do today's high-minded thinkers see such passages in the Bible and say, "Oh, look, how cute...the primitive people are ascribing these events to a deity.  How quaint." 

If God isn't God and the Bible isn't anything remarkable, sure.  But...if God is God, and the Bible is His word, then primitive ol' Jeremiah wasn't just being an ignoramus.  He actually heard the words of God, the judgments and their reasons.  If there is a correlation between various disasters and a moral decline/ rejection of God's law, then maybe we should consider that as a cause for destruction and desolation we see around us?

Just sayin'.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Jeremiah: Defilement

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi     

I counted 22 verses containing the word 'desert' in the book of Jeremiah...and almost ALL of them are pronouncements of judgment against nations.  Mostly against Judah/Israel, with a smattering of pronouncements against Babylon and one or two against other nations.

So...be prepared for some heavy weather comin'.

But the first verse in Jeremiah that mentions desert is 2:2...

"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:  'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD.  -- Jer. 2: 2 - 3

What was.  The way things used to be.  The rest of chapter 2 describes what has happened since that time; the falling away.

What is.

"How can you say, 'I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals'?  See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done.  You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her heat who can restrain her?  Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her."   - Jer. 2:23-24

"You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD:  'Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness?  Why do my people say, 'We are free to roam; we will come to you no more'? " - Jer 2:31

"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again?  Would not the land be completely defiled?  But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers -- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.  "Look up to the barren heights and see.  Is there any place where you have not been ravished?  By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert.  You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness."  - Jer. 3:1 - 2

It is kinda...creepy...that the rebellion of Israel is described in sexual terms. A she-donkey in heat... a prostitute looking for business.  And it is also interesting that such rebellion is described as defiling the very land on which the nation exists..

Jeremiah's reaction is to want to run away, get away, be done with them

Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. - Jer. 9:2 

If you read through the first few chapters of Jeremiah, there's  a lot more detail given in all the verses that DON'T mention the desert.  But...how interesting is it that the verses that mention the desert kind of provide a synopsis of the situation?  Israel once followed God and were protected by Him; they deserted him and went after what satisfied their appetites, defiling even the land and filling God's prophet with grief and abhorrence.

Consequences will follow.

And that'll preach today, y'all.  That'll preach today. And the people today would listen about as well as the people of Jeremiah's day listened to him.

Will we face the same sort of consequences? 

The one thing that doesn't turn up in the verses about 'desert' is the call to repentance; the people were implored to return to God and repent and prevent the judgement. But they would not, and the judgment came.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Isaiah:Restoration

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The last group of  'Desert' verses in Isaiah is also the largest...six verses/passages that encourage the people that, even though there is exile, restoration is coming.

The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted;  citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.  Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.  My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.  -- Is. 32: 14 - 18

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.  The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution  he will come to save you."  Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  Then will the lame leap like a deer; and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.   Is. 35:1 - 6

"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst.  But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.  I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys.  I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.  I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.  I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it."  -- Is. 41:17 - 20

Let the desert and its towns raise their voices;let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.  Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.  Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.  The LORD will march out like a mighty man, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies. -- Is. 42:11 - 13

"See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.  The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland,  to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."  -  Is. 43: 18 - 21

This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inherintances, to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'  They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.  They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.  He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water."  -- Is. 49:8 - 10

Oh, there is so much more about restoration in those chapters that I really had a hard time limiting the selections to the context around the 'desert' verses.  You can go read them yourself, if you choose.  

And, of course, it's possible to assign these verses to different timelines...anything from the return of the captives from Babylon, to the coming of Messiah, to the return of the Jews and recreation of the nation after the diaspora to the final triumph of God over all evil. And they can also be applied to the literal desert or a spiritual desert. But the immediate audience was the Jews in exile in Babylon, so whatever other applications these verses have, that one is the first and foremost for them: God had not forgotten his people and he would bring them back.  Indeed, he was still with them even when they went through the judgment and the exile.  

It is no different now; his ultimate design is always restoration, and the ultimate destiny of the desert is to blossom into fertile green fruitfulness.

 

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.