“I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion. Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?”
Isaiah 8:18-19 NLT
The Jews today, looking back to the days of Isaiah, must thank God or him and his family, because they stayed strong in their faith in a time when most had turned away from God. And more, Isaiah kept writing down his prophecies about the disasters that would fall upon a sinful and rebellious people. We know from Isaiah 6:13b that, “… as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed”. There would be a remnant of the people who, like Isaiah and his family, would not have succumbed to the pressures of the sinful lifestyles of those around them; instead, they would ensure the continuation of the nation of the “descendants of Jacob”. Though the people of his generation would not respond to his preaching, the hope of Isaiah’s messages rested in this “holy seed”, pointing to the coming Messiah who would, as we know, bring salvation to the world. Isaiah’s mandate, first given to him after his vision of the Lord “high and lifted up” in the Temple, was to “serve as signs and warnings to Israel”, a mandate given to him by the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in His Temple on Mount Zion”. Did God really live there? Isaiah thought so, and he knew that was the case because he saw the Lord there.
It appears that, in their concern about what was happening in their nation, the people of Judah were given to asking the mediums “and those who consult the spirits of the dead”. And they really expected that this would result in instructions as to what actions they should follow. Quite rightly, Isaiah asked, “But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?” I came across a headline in a newspaper the other day that said, “ChatGPT convinced me to quit my job. I wish I hadn’t listened”. I’m not saying that ChatGPT is the same as a medium or a dead spirit, but the principle is the same. There is only one person who sees the end from the beginning, and that is God Himself. Why would someone ask a piece of computer software, even if it is supported by a huge dataset and very clever algorithms, a potentially life-changing question about their employment and believe it would be acting in their best interests? As I say to people today, artificial intelligence is a helpful servant but a terrible master.
But people today still consult sources of data that are not from God. Take horoscopes, for example. Or the palm readers and others who frequent fairs and other similar events. God specifically told the Israelites, “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31). It was so sad that the Jews had forgotten the basics of their faith. God Himself continually reached out to His people. Through Isaiah, He said, “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it” (Isaiah 8:6a). There was a remedy from the distress to come, but God, their Source, was ignored.
The Bible bulges with helpful verses that explain God’s relationship with His people. Even before they crossed into the promised land, God warned the people. “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him” (Deuteronomy 7:9-10). Ever since, God has been reaching out to His people, even to the point of sending His Son, Jesus, to die for them. The Apostle John wrote, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. … Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him” (1 John 3:1, 4-5).
Such love! God made a covenant, and he has never broken it. And because of Jesus, we have a remedy for our sin and can be assured of our future, regardless of the storm clouds that might be massing on our personal or national borders. Whatever we are facing today, we know that God is there just waiting for us to reach out to Him for more of His love and grace. There may of course be hard times ahead of us in our lives, but we know the One who is with us and who will support and encourage us every step of the way.
Father God. We don’t have to concern ourselves about the future because we know that You know what is ahead and have the resources to help us reach our ultimate destination. And so we look to You today and every day, assured of our salvation and Your love and grace. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 