Quietness and Confidence: The Strength of Trusting God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 30: 18-22 NLT

18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
    so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
    Blessed are those who wait for his help.
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,
    you will weep no more.
He will be gracious if you ask for help.
    He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.
20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food
    and suffering for drink,
he will still be with you to teach you.
    You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
21 Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left.
22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols
    and your precious gold images.
You will throw them out like filthy rags,
    saying to them, “Good riddance!”

The people of Judah had rejected the Lord, preferring to organise national protection through a defensive pact with Egypt. The process cost them much national treasure, which then had to be transported across the Negev desert on donkeys and camels, braving the perils that lived there. Isaiah warned them that the alliance with Egypt would be unprofitable and that the Egyptian army wouldn’t raise a finger to help the unfortunate Judeans. He even called them “Rahab the Do-Nothing“, making up a derisive name to describe their uselessness. But the Judeans had gone further than that, saying to the prophets and seers that they didn’t want to hear anything more about their visions and prophetic messages from the Lord. Incredibly, they wanted to be told lies and illusions, finally ordering them to “stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel”. Isaiah warned them that when the attack came the Judean army would be put to flight, the Egyptians would be missing, and the people in Judah would be left “like a lonely flagpole on a hill, or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop”. Isaiah’s message to them was one that they had rejected. He wrote down what the Lord had told him to say, a message to the Judeans, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it”” (Isaiah 30:15). A poignant verse where the people threw back in God’s face the remedy to their impending distress.

But God said He would wait for them to return to Him. He always had done and still does today. The Judeans would have been aware of Deuteronomy 31:8, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you“. God was with them as they crossed into the promised land, and He would still be with them in the crisis they were facing, the coming invasion by the Assyrian army. Back in Isaiah 30:18, we read, “So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help“. The trouble was that the Judeans were an impatient lot, and they wanted to see boots on the ground rather than a rather vague promise from the Lord that He would be there for them. They followed in the steps of Abraham who, although the Lord had promised him that he would have many descendants (“Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”” Genesis 15:5), he instead trying to hurry God along by doing something. We read his human solution to the problem of old age and childlessness: “So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal” (Genesis 16:2). Reading on to the end of the chapter, we find that “Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born”. But God had given Abraham a promise, and the fruition of that came when Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was 90. God said to Abraham, ” … Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:19). And the outcome we read in Genesis 21:1-3, “The LORD kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac”.

But Abraham and the Judeans were no different to us pilgrims really. In recent years church growth, mainly in the US, has been achieved using the wrong methods. Some big churches have relied on corporate business models and marketing strategies instead of prayer and biblical discipleship to grow the church. Of course, while using modern tools is not inherently wrong, theologians, pastors, and Christian authors frequently warn against trying to build “God’s kingdom” using worldly metrics and human effort, effectively working in human strength rather than relying on the Holy Spirit. And we have seen the results where such churches experience severe leadership burnout, moral failures in celebrity pastors, and a “shallow” faith among congregants who leave when the excitement fades. Far better to follow the path nearer to my home, where the Hebridean revival in 1949 commenced with two senior citizens, Peggy and Christine Smith, who lived in Barvas, a village located on the north-west coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Peggy (84 and blind) and Christine (82 and crippled with arthritis) grew deeply burdened because no young people were attending public worship, so beginning in November 1949, they prayed twice a week in their humble cottage from 10:00 p.m. until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., pleading a biblical promise to pour water on the thirsty land. What happened? Well, Duncan Campbell, a prominent evangelist of that time, was invited to lead meetings in Barvas. When he arrived, he found that the spiritual awakening was already underway through the groundwork of local prayer. The movement quickly spread across the Isle of Lewis and neighbouring islands, characterised by massive spontaneous gatherings, deep repentance, and community transformation. It is hard work trying to do God’s work in our human strength alone. But when God moves, nothing will stop Him, and the effects of the Hebridean revival are still with us today.

When in trouble, we must turn to the Lord “so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help”. What are we pilgrims facing into today? Illness? Poverty? Pain? All of the above? But turning to the Lord, we find that, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Dear Heavenly Father. You must shake Your head in disbelief sometimes, when You see Your children gyrate through hoops rather than trust You “in quietness and confidence”, when troubles come our way. Please forgive us for our lack of faith, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“In Quietness and Confidence” – A Devotion on Isaiah 30:12‑17

Posted on by Adrian Clark
A single bare flagpole standing on top of a bleak, windswept hill. Dramatic artistic style — dark stormy sky with heavy clouds, muted earth tones, desolate landscape stretching to the horizon with no people, no buildings, no flags. Painterly, moody, cinematic. No text or lettering anywhere in the image.

Isaiah 30:12-17 NLT

12 This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you
    and trust instead in oppression and lies,
13 calamity will come upon you suddenly—
    like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will collapse
    and come crashing down.
14 You will be smashed like a piece of pottery—
    shattered so completely that
there won’t be a piece big enough
    to carry coals from a fireplace
    or a little water from the well.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
    and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
    But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
    They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
    is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
17 One of them will chase a thousand of you.
    Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
    or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

Again, another passage of Scripture from Isaiah with very descriptive language. Bulging walls, broken pots, fireplaces and wells all describe a scenario where the choices the Judeans had made regarding their national security would come to grief. The problem was that the people had chosen to neglect the Lord’s offer of protection, preferring instead to buy their security from the Egyptians. But verse 15 in our verses today describes the offer the Lord had placed on the table. We read, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it”. Egyptian horses were to be the Judeans salvation, or so they thought, not realising that their army would flee from the Assyrians, leaving the nation exposed “like a lonely flagpole on a hill”.

But this is a familiar theme from the oracles of Isaiah. God’s wayward people make wrong choices, suffer the consequences, and then find themselves with nowhere to turn except God Himself. Instead of being the first place to run to in a time of trouble, they make Him the last when it is usually too late. Time and time again we read this in the Old Testament, and not just in Isaiah. Prophet after prophet brought the same message. Jeremiah 1:16, “I will pronounce judgment on my people for all their evil— for deserting me and burning incense to other gods. Yes, they worship idols made with their own hands!” Ezekiel 2:3-4, ““Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says!’” Amos 1:3, “This is what the LORD says: “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges“. Need I go on? Why did the Jews fail to turn to God to protect them in times of trouble? But before we go down the path of saying we would not behave that way, we should stop, pause, and reflect on our own life experiences. As we look back at decisions we have made, with the benefit of hindsight, what do we see? A smooth journey with the right decisions made at the right times, or do we see disasters narrowly averted in ways not immediately clear? I look back and see God’s hand occasionally giving me a gentle push away from making a wrong choice like a parent gently leading a small child away from a cliff edge. In life we pilgrims suffer from the same affliction that the Jews suffered from – sin and rebellion. There is something within people everywhere that I call the Sinatra syndrome (“I’ll do it my way”). Selfishness and pride replace humility and dependence on God. But aren’t we so grateful that He, compassionately and graciously, leads us back to a place of safety even at times when we don’t know He is doing it.

God reminded the Judeans that “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength”. These verses seem to describe a door in an otherwise impenetrable wall erected between two kingdoms, the world’s and God’s. Applying the scene to ourselves, we are in the kingdom of the world facing a situation far beyond what we can deal with. There is a door before us, marked “Return and Rest”. We only have to push it open and enter. It’s not locked. And to make it even more attractive, God is there beckoning to us, inviting us to enter. But the Judeans, and God’s people everywhere, even us pilgrims, instead prefer to sort out our problems ourselves, facing our battles, taking the consequences, shunning the door, God’s invitation.

There is an important lesson here for us pilgrims. Faith does not always mean doing more. Sometimes it means stopping, becoming still before God, and trusting Him to do what we cannot do ourselves. “Returning to me” speaks of repentance and renewed fellowship. When we have wandered, God invites us back. “Resting in me” speaks of dependence. We do not have to carry every burden ourselves. God is sufficient. “In quietness” speaks of a heart that has ceased striving. In the stillness, we learn to hear God’s voice above the noise of our circumstances. “In confidence is your strength” means that our strength comes from trusting God’s character and promises rather than our own ability to control events. But the tragedy of the passage is found in the final words: “But you would have none of it.” God offered them peace, but they preferred their own plans. How often can we do the same?

In another place, the Psalmist “got it”. We read in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world“. The previous two verses describe what happens when God acts: “Come, see the glorious works of the LORD: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire”. A picture builds here of God’s people looking on as He brings about the solution to an otherwise insoluble problem. We all experience problems in life. Some are so big that they almost drive us to distraction. Others are almost laughable in their triviality. But God cares about them all because He cares about us, His children. Faced with a crisis on the banks of the Red Sea, ” … Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm” (Exodus 14:13-14). Just stay calm. Great advice for worried pilgrims.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that You care for us in the little things and the big things. Thank You for the security and protection that only comes from You. We are so grateful for all the ways in which You have provided what we need. And we thank You for the times when the load has been too heavy to carry, and You have carried us through. We worship You today. Amen.

Why We Don’t Want to Hear God’s Word—and Why We Must

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 30:8-11 NLT

8 Now go and write down these words.
    Write them in a book.
They will stand until the end of time
    as a witness
9 that these people are stubborn rebels
    who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
10 They tell the seers,
    “Stop seeing visions!”
They tell the prophets,
    “Don’t tell us what is right.
Tell us nice things.
    Tell us lies.
11 Forget all this gloom.
    Get off your narrow path.
Stop telling us about your
    ‘Holy One of Israel.’”

It is a human trait to avoid bad news, especially about ourselves. We want to hear compliments and kind things that boost our self-worth and make us feel good. In my working life, as a manager, I can remember two people who were opposites in this respect. With one, I had great difficulty in bringing a different idea or alternative method, even gently, because at the slightest hint that they were not doing things the right way, they would dissolve into floods of tears. The other was so thick-skinned that no amount of correction would change their thinking. A manager can only do so much to change their team members’ thinking. Good news can boost productivity and build the right work environment, but bad news is hard to deliver because people don’t want to hear it.

But there is a world of a difference between a working environment and the relationship of a nation with the God who created them, and who chose them to be His special people. The Lord asked Isaiah to write a book containing some bad news about the behaviour of the Judeans. And this book was to stand as a witness that they had been told the error of their ways, and had ignored it. So in the event that dire consequences followed, they could never say that they had not been warned and knew nothing about their problems. This list of problems was damning in its scope. The Judeans were “stubborn rebels” who refused “to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions”. In a schoolroom, home, office, or factory, instructions are there for a number of purposes. They could be for safety reasons, with children being told not to do something because if they did it then they were endangering themselves and their fellow students. A worker might be required to use goggles to protect their eyes if they were fabricating a metal object that required the use of a grinder. Workers in an abattoir are required to use metal mesh gloves if cutting meat. In the office, fire regulations are instructions that must be followed. To the Judeans, the Lord’s instructions were clear, and they started with a principle that Jesus explained to a Jewish religious lawyer. The lawyer’s question was, “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” (Matthew 22:36). We then read Jesus’ response: “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). But Jesus didn’t just make up His response; He quoted Scriptures that were available from the Book of Deuteronomy, a Book that was also available to the Judeans. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 reads, “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength“. And Jesus then quoted Leviticus 19:18, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD”. After Jesus answered the religious lawyer, Mark’s account records that the lawyer said, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbour as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law” (Mark 12:32-33). The next verse is interesting. We read, “Realising how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions”. 

Jesus knew what God required of His people, and so did the religious lawyer, but the Judeans in Isaiah’s day apparently didn’t want to know. Whenever the prophets and seers had visions or sayings that were supposed to draw them back to God and His instructions, the people told them “Stop seeing visions!” and “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies“. And they concluded, “Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel’“. Isaiah wrote all this down in his book, and it is still before us today to remind us of a people who were “stubborn rebels”. 

There is a Book today that also records the acts of God towards His created people throughout time. Mankind’s rebellion started in a Garden when sin disrupted and destroyed the relationship between God and His creation. It was a creation that God loved, and we read all about it in Genesis 1:27, 31: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. … Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! … ”. Sin developed, destroyed and corrupted mankind, and human wickedness on the earth became so prevalent that everything human beings thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. In response, one of the saddest verses in the Bible can be found in Genesis 6:6, where we read, “So the LORD was sorry he had ever made [human beings] and put them on the earth. It broke his heart“. In relational terms we hear how the bad behaviour of a spouse destroys a relationship, breaking the other party’s heart, meaning that the wronged person has been deeply affected by the other. But how much more was God’s heart broken by the behaviour of “stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions”? Instructions, I should add, that were there for the people’s benefit, not God’s. 

The Bible is still with us today, and it has become the best-selling book of all time. But as well as being a handbook of God’s love for His people, and containing the instructions that lead to life for those who read it and obey it, it is also a book that I suspect will be opened at the end of time, as a witness in the final trial in a Heavenly court. I love the Bible, and I will keep on loving it until I can read it no longer, instead being with God in a new and wonderful Heavenly home. But it will still be there I suspect, until what Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 is accomplished, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved“. I deeply regret the time when I have disobeyed the instructions contained therein, and pray for God’s grace to hear my prayers of repentance, bringing my redemption. 

We pilgrims neglect reading God’s Word at our peril. We may squirm in discomfort at the words we read, but they are there for a reason, as Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). And so we pray together …

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your Word and all it contains for our lives. The devil may try and confuse us and introduce doubts into our minds about its authenticity, but we stand firm and praise and worship You today and every day, thanking You for all that You have done for us. Please forgive us for all our sins, and lead us in Your ways forevermore. Amen.

From Negev to Europe: Isaiah 30 and Our Modern Spiritual Desert

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 30:6-7 NLT

6 This message came to me concerning the animals in the Negev:
The caravan moves slowly
    across the terrible desert to Egypt—
donkeys weighed down with riches
    and camels loaded with treasure—
    all to pay for Egypt’s protection.
They travel through the wilderness,
    a place of lionesses and lions,
a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live.
All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return.
7     Egypt’s promises are worthless!
Therefore, I call her Rahab—
    the Harmless Dragon.

This is a strange couple of verses. As verse 6 commences, it’s all about the animals in the Negev. The Negev is a hot, dry region in southern Israel that receives less than eight inches of rainfall each year. The Negev Desert is mentioned in the events of Abraham’s life and during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. Today, the Negev is the largest region in the modern state of Israel and covers more territory than it did in ancient times. The total area of the Negev Desert is about 4,700 square miles, occupying almost half of Palestine west of the Jordan River. So it is not a place that is ideal for travelling on donkeys or camels. But it had to be crossed to reach Egypt, and, to buy protection from the Egyptians, the Judeans were sending their wealth there in payment for the services they required. It was a dangerous journey, as the territory was occupied by lions, vipers and poisonous spiders. What was the point? When the Assyrian attack came, the Egyptians failed to get involved, sitting on the sidelines just watching what was happening. But instead of turning to God, Judah turned to Egypt for protection.

Fast-forward to 21st-century Europe, and we find a modern equivalent of Assyria rattling sabres on its eastern borders, threatening to attack Western nations. Russia is increasingly engaging in a “hybrid” war, probing defences and responses to gauge how successful a campaign against Western nations would be. Yes, a defensive alliance exists, but its members are woefully unprepared for such a conflict. Government messages instead encourage people to stock up on tinned food, candles and bottled water. But instead of turning to God, nations turn to their “Egypts” for help. They turn to each other for protection but lack the leadership and commitment to be united, politically or defensively. And they place an over-reliance further west on an unpredictable US president. An “Egypt” too far?

But let us now consider any spiritual significance in our reading today. It is true that here in the West, there is a spiritual desert. References to God in society are rare and usually appear as expletives. Instead of turning to God, people look for personal “Egypts” that can provide some assurance in times of trouble. The irony is that Judah was willing to endure considerable danger and expense to obtain Egypt’s help, while neglecting the God who had already promised to protect His people. The people in our land can work extremely hard to obtain security from human sources while neglecting the security God offers. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” That, dear fellow pilgrims, is a promise of God that we should cherish and treasure, and fully embrace through our faith in the One who made it. But it is no good paying lip service to this promise. We need to believe it. God has clearly said through His Word who He is, but if we don’t believe this, then we are deluded. Paul argued with some who believed there was no resurrection of the dead, and we read in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17, “And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.” Our faith is not useless, and we need to find our refuge in Him in times of trouble, whatever they are. But this faith is an active faith, not one in which we passively hunker down, waiting for help from an “Egypt” somewhere. Help will only come from God, and through our faith in Him we need to tell everyone else about it.

We may despair about the godless society in which we apparently live, but there are encouraging signs that God is on the move, bringing something new. A new report recently published and referenced by the Evangelical Alliance has estimated that around 8% of the population, 5.5 million people, are evangelical Christians who both identify as an evangelical and share evangelical beliefs. In particular, it shows that the evangelical church is far younger and more diverse than people have previously thought. Is revival coming to this land? We must pray, and keep praying, that God will once again bring a spiritual move that will lead to the UK once again becoming a Christian nation. God has done it before, but do we dare to believe that he will do it again? 

In Genesis 18, we find the remarkable passage in which Abraham intercedes for Sodom, arguing directly with God. Abraham asks, “Would God destroy Sodom if there were any righteous people to be found there?” In the subsequent conversation, we read, “Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten’” (Genesis 18:32). At that time, Sodom was estimated to have up to 3000 inhabitants, so God would not have destroyed it if He had found even a small pocket of righteous people, a small percentage comparable to the 8% of the population who are Christians here in the UK. But that does not mean we must be complacent. Instead, we must pray for God to move in this nation and across the world, that He will bring peace and security where there is nothing but uncertainty and efforts to replace Him with yet another “Egypt”.

Dear Heavenly Father. Bring revival once again to this land, when people will call upon the name of the Lord. If there was ever a time in history when Your protection is required, it is today. Lead us, we pray, in Your ways, this day and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Egypt or Eternal Treasure? Finding True Security in God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 30:1-5 NLT

30 “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,”
    says the Lord.
“You make plans that are contrary to mine.
    You make alliances not directed by my Spirit,
    thus piling up your sins.
2 For without consulting me,
    you have gone down to Egypt for help.
You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection.
    You have tried to hide in his shade.
3 But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated,
    and by depending on him, you will be disgraced.
4 For though his power extends to Zoan
    and his officials have arrived in Hanes,
5 all who trust in him will be ashamed.
    He will not help you.
    Instead, he will disgrace you.”

We now move on to the next chapter in Isaiah. The heading in my Bible is “Judah’s Worthless Treaty with Egypt”, and that sums up quite precisely the theme in this chapter. As usual for Isaiah, it is rich in descriptive language, and is a joy to read. But the chapter begins with a warning that Judah’s rebellion will lead to their sorrow. The Lord sets out before them the scale of the problem, and He said to them, “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins”. Judah had a strategy. They had identified a powerful ally and acted upon it by requesting a defensive alliance. But God had not been consulted. Was this a unique problem affecting just the Jewish people, or can we find an application elsewhere? There is an important difference between asking God to bless our plans and asking God what His plans are. Straight away, we are back to the same problems experienced by God’s people we have found before in Isaiah, the remedy for which we find in Proverbs 3:5-7,“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil”. There is another proverb that amplifies their problem, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (Proverbs 14:12). I look back over my life, and I’m sure other pilgrims can as well, and review those times when I took a wrong turning. Thankfully, death was never the outcome, but sometimes the way back on to the right path, God’s path that He had set out for me, was painful. There are consequences to making wrong choices, and there have been many times, not for me, I should add, when people have languished in prison cells, or hospital beds, ruing the day when they have made “plans that are contrary to [God’s]”. Thankfully prisons and hospitals haven’t been my lot in life, but I have found myself in the wrong church or the wrong job, albeit briefly, and God in His grace has helped me back to the path I should take.

In our lives, we naturally gravitate towards “Egypts“, places or times of strength where we think we have found, or can find, security. These “Egypts” could be money, possessions, relationships, intelligence, and more, but, in the end, they are all man-made and subject to destruction. Someone can lose their savings through a scam or in some other way. A house can be subject to subsidence and have to be demolished, as some unfortunate home owners have recently found out in a village a few miles away from where I live. Regarding our possessions, Jesus said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Relationships can founder, shipwrecked on the rocks of unfaithfulness, and quickly dissipate in the unforgiving atmosphere of a divorce court. Regarding intelligence, a neighbour died recently of a dementia-related condition, his mind lost, his intelligence gone without trace (he had been a teacher for all of his working life). And anyway, in all temporally human conditions, everything is without any eternal consequence. Solomon wrote, ““Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? … So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind”(Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 17). But life doesn’t have to be like that, because, as Jesus said, “Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be”(Matthew 6:20-21). As we seek God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, then our paths won’t lead to Egypt. Instead, as we follow His paths, they will lead to Glory.

Our reading today concludes with Judah discovering that Egypt cannot save them. We read in verse 5, “He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you” . This is perhaps the most searching part of the passage. Whatever we place our ultimate trust in eventually proves unable to carry the weight we have placed upon it. God was not condemning Judah merely because they sought help. The problem was that they sought ultimate security somewhere other than Him. Sometimes God allows us to discover the weakness of our substitutes for Him. We may lean on our own wisdom, another person’s strength, financial security or carefully constructed plans. For a while, everything may appear satisfactory. Then circumstances expose the limitations of what we trusted. God does not merely want to be included in our plans; He wants to be trusted with our lives. Psalm 118:8-9, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes“. Earlier we read the verse, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding”. Are we pilgrims currently at a crossroad in our lives? We pause, wondering which way to go. We may not know the right way, but I know Someone who does. Do you?

Dear Heavenly Father. There are many paths in life which we could take, but only one is Your way, the right way. Please lead and guide us, we pray, this day and every day. Amen.

From Wayward to Wise: Discovering God’s Limitless Blessings

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 29:21-24

21 Those who convict the innocent
    by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
    and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
22 That is why the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,
“My people will no longer be ashamed
    or turn pale with fear.
23 For when they see their many children
    and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognise the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob.
    They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Then the wayward will gain understanding,
    and complainers will accept instruction.

We have now reached the end of Isaiah 29 with our verses today. To summarise, this chapter warns of judgment and promises restoration for Jerusalem, addressed poetically as “Ariel”. Because of the city’s pride and religious hypocrisy—honouring God with their lips while their hearts remain far away—God will humble them through an enemy siege. However, He will suddenly scatter these foreign attackers like a fading dream. The chapter condemns the people’s spiritual blindness and their foolish attempt to hide plans from their Creator, like clay questioning the potter. Ultimately, God promises a miraculous reversal where the blind see, the deaf hear, and the humble rejoice in total restoration. But in the process, those who pervert the course of justice and who tell lies “will disappear”. In summary, this chapter reads almost like a fairy story, where good prevails over evil in the last act, and everyone lives happily ever after. 

However, in our verses today, the “people of Israel” were frightened and worried about what would happen, even to the extent of turning “pale with fear”, but they would be ashamed of their behaviour no more, because they would “recognise the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob” in the day when the Lord brought salvation to His people. How would this be confirmed to them? Through their many children and the blessings the Lord had given them. At last, they would recognise God for who He is, after a period of apostasy and neglect of their special relationship. Finally, we find that those who had rejected God, the “wayward” and the “complainers”, would humbly accept that they were wrong, gaining understanding and instruction in the process. 

Perhaps we pilgrims can take a step back today and think once more of the many blessings God has poured out upon us. Paul starts his Ephesian epistle with, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ“. The next verses continue, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:3-8). Our salvation through Jesus is the ultimate blessing, surpassing anything we can find in this world. We appropriate it by faith, as did the saints of old who died before they could see this blessing in reality. Hebrews 11:13, 39, “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. … All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised“. We will not necessarily experience the reality of our salvation in this life, but we certainly will in the life to come. 

But God has provided many other blessings for us in our lives now. In Philippians 4:19 we read Paul’s words, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”. Are we finding ourselves in a place of need today? Then we have the opportunity to reach out to God because He promised to supply all our needs (not wants). Jesus had previously said, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33). And perhaps we need to look at what we have and remember what James wrote, “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession” (James 1:17-18). 

Today, we pilgrims stand with the Israelites, recognising “the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob“. And more, we “will stand in awe of the God of Israel“. Where are we standing today? On shifting sand? Or on the Rock that is never shaken. World systems will come and go, and people will rise and fall with them. With the Psalmist, David, we declare, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken” (Psalm 62:2). 

Dear Loving Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your many and limitless blessings. Forgive us for the times when we have failed to acknowledge Your goodness to us. We worship You today. Amen.

Living “In This Day” in Light of “In That Day”

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Mother and child beside a lake beneath a giant tree and starry sky

Isaiah 29:18-21 NLT

18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
    and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
    The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The scoffer will be gone,
    the arrogant will disappear,
    and those who plot evil will be killed.
21 Those who convict the innocent
    by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
    and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.

“In that day“, there are things that will happen for the better. Good prevails and evil will be defeated. The perfect end to the millennial years of oppression by the devil on the people of this world. Sin began with a simple conversation between the “serpent” and Eve about fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God’s command was simple and was the only restriction placed on our ancestors, but they violated it and sin entered the world. Paul wrote, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 5:12). But Jesus came to start a revolution, so that people would not be oppressed by the devil any more. Hebrews 2:14-15: “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying“. Back to Paul again, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him” (Romans 6:6-8). Romans 8:2: “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death“. And so, “in that day”, the fruit of the foundations laid by Jesus will result in life with God, free from evil, from evil both in human terms and in God’s creation. We also know that Jesus has won the battle ” …against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). As His foot soldiers, we declare His name over the situations we encounter, in faith that His Kingdom will prevail over evil.

As we read from our verses from Isaiah this morning, the people who are oppressed through blindness, deafness and poverty will find “”fresh joy from the Lord”. They may never have experienced anything like it before, but through God’s grace, and in all humility, they will know and understand, and “rejoice in the Holy One of Israel“. But as they look around them in the new world of what they are now a part, they find some things are missing. The “scoffers” and the “arrogant” won’t be around anymore. Neither will “those who plot evil”. Truly, “in that day” the environment for God’s people will be a wonderful place. Imagine a world without the evil behaviour that blights our societies. People being kind to each other. No strange ideologies that bring strife and anger. No need for a police force or armed forces. No wars are going on, driven by evil men chasing a devil-inspired and deluded goal, plotting evil on an industrial, or even global, scale. Where will all the scoffers, evil plotters, and arrogant people be? Revelation 21:8, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death”. And over the page we read, “No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4). Truly, life will be beyond good “in that day”. 

But what about us pilgrims “in [this] day”? Are we hunkered down, trying to avoid evil plotters, the arrogant, and the scoffers? Trying to keep our heads below the parapets of life, in case we become tainted by the mayhem around us? Perhaps scared witless by news reports of wars, or prophecies of economic doom, or a world overtaken and destroyed by artificial intelligence? That is no place for a child of God. A day will come when we will enjoy the place Jesus is preparing for us (John 14), but in the meantime, we have work to do. We mustn’t forget that we are on the winning side in the battle against the enemy and all his dark forces. In Romans 6:13 we read, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm“. We are equipped for a battle now. In this life. So that we can hold the line and do our bit to usher in the Kingdom of God. Luke 17:20-21, “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you““. This scripture identifies Jesus as being among us. He is the power of God, active now wherever people let Jesus rule their hearts, love others, and obey His truth. And who else is there to remind the world around us of this fact, if not us pilgrims? Paul wrote to the Philippians, and to us as well by inference, “for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now”(Philippians 1:5). Are we indeed spreading this Good News? It doesn’t mean standing on a corner in the High Street handing out tracts or John’s Gospels, although we may be called to do this. Being “salt and light” among our families and friends will allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin, as ” … we let our good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise our heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16). 

We pilgrims are living in the shadow of “in that day”. We have an enormous opportunity to live in the Kingdom of God day by day now, knowing what is to come. Most of us do not even start to tap into the power available to us in this Kingdom. What did Paul mean when he wrote, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20)? What are we asking or thinking today? Do we let our imaginations run riot, believing we have the power within us to make things happen? This is a good question to ask God in our prayers this morning. He will answer in a way that might surprise us.

Dear Lord Jesus. Resource us for the battle of life, as we proclaim the Good News about You and Your Kingdom. As we raise the standard, declaring victory over the evil one, we pray for protection over ourselves, our family, and our friends. May we find good “soil” in which we can plant Gospel seeds “in this day”, so that “in that day” can be brought ever closer. Lead us and guide us, we pray; in Your precious name we ask. Amen.

Isaiah 29:17-19 Insights: Finding Joy in Spiritual Renewal

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 29:17-19 NLT

17 Soon—and it will not be very long—
    the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
    and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
    and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
    The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Deaf and blind, and poor. Words that describe people who are handicapped in some way by their physical challenges or their circumstances in life. For people living their lives unable to hear what is happening around them, or see the wonders of the world in which we live, it is for them to miss out on God’s plan for His creation. But in verse 18 of today’s reading, the implication is spiritual deafness and blindness. In a previous verse, we read that a spiritual darkness had fallen over the “prophets and visionaries”, stopping their abilities to read from the “book” of Isaiah’s oracles and prophecies. But there is a day coming for the Jewish people, “soon”, when something will change. When the people will be able to see and hear again what God has for them. They will do this with all humility, and “fresh joy from the Lord” will be their reward. And the poor people, who in those ancient times were so suppressed and mistreated, would rejoice once again “in the Holy One of Israel”. 

When will all this happen? Verse 18 records it will be “in that day”. But can we fix the time, past, present or future, a little closer? Some scholars tie the immediate context to the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege under King Hezekiah (around 701 BCE), viewing “that day” as the subsequent relief and spiritual recovery of Judah. Many Christian commentators see the opening of blind eyes and deaf ears in verse 18 as finding its ultimate fulfilment in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and the dawn of the New Covenant. Other traditions view it as a yet-future end-times event when God will finally judge the ruthless, vindicate the humble, and restore Israel. So there we have it, three possibilities. But then, they could all be correct, and the truth will be revealed when history is finally sealed, on the day of a fresh start with the New Heaven and the New Earth. 

What changed for the people of Isaiah’s day, hearing the words that he had written? The same thing that changed for us pilgrims. We, spiritually blind and deaf people without a future and a hope, one day crossed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, God’s Kingdom. We may have been full of ourselves, proud and arrogant, “self-made”, with enough to live on, when we received a vision of the resurrected Jesus, as His truth penetrated  “through the gloom and darkness” in our souls. “In that day” we were freed from our deafness and blindness, a fertile ground for growth in the Kingdom, rejoicing in all that the Lord has done for us. Pride replaced with humility, poverty of spirit replaced with unlimited riches in God. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven“. We pilgrims are citizens of a new Kingdom where we live to reflect heavenly values rather than worldly customs. We are a countercultural people who value selflessness, purity, and forgiveness over pride, greed, and retaliation. We influence the surrounding culture positively through a distinct commitment to God’s truth. We measure success and security by eternal significance rather than temporary material wealth. But above all, we place Jesus as the Lord of our choices, aligning our personal ambitions with His purpose.

Our new life in God’s Kingdom will change how we live, how we behave, and how we look. The Psalmist David wrote, “So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!” One of the features of a true Christian is the joy that is within them. I can remember some years ago I went for a walk through the Greenwich Tunnel, a walkway under the River Thames in London. I was walking against the flow of the people coming from the Isle of Dogs, but I was struck by the miserable, drawn and hopeless expressions on the faces of the commuters. No joy, not even hidden within them. But it made me think about the expression on my own face. Was it just like everyone else’s, or was it reflecting the joy of the Lord within? Perhaps sometimes we should tell our faces to lighten up and show an expression that makes us different from the misery and hopelessness in the people around us. 

Perhaps today we should pray for the “fresh joy from the Lord” to fill us once again, not “in that day”, but in this day. Right now. Peter wrote, “ … you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light”. With His Spirit within us, are we reflecting “His wonderful light?. Hmmm…

Dear Lord Jesus. You came to this world to save it from the consequences of its sins. Please forgive us, Lord, for the sins we have committed and fill us again with Your Spirit, resourcing us for the day ahead. We know many around us are full of hopelessness and pain, and we pray for opportunities to share Your life-changing, eternal words with them. Please help us today reflect the joy within us, illuminating the lives of those around us, those we meet, and our families and friends. In Your precious name. Amen.

The Potter and Clay: A Spiritual Reflection

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Potter shaping a clay vessel on a wheel in a sunlit studio

Isaiah 29:15-16 NLT

15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
    who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
    “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
16 How foolish can you be?
    He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
    “He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
    “The potter who made me is stupid”?

Are we pilgrims ever guilty of trying to hide what we are doing from the Lord? Perhaps our minds block out thoughts of the Lord when we make decisions or plan a course of action. Perhaps we find ourselves reaping the fruits of evil “seeds” we planted in the past, or living with the results of wrong decisions. There is many a man having to live with the consequences of a child born out of a permanent relationship, for example. But even in small things, are we consulting the Lord about what we should do, or are we going the way of our selfish desires? The decisions we make in life should be influenced by the godly lifestyles that we lead, and we should listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting when we are at a life junction. Perhaps we can imagine a signpost saying “This way will lead to evil” in one direction, and “This way is God’s way” in the other. There is a Proverb that reads, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death”(Proverbs 14:12). Human logic, desires, and cultural norms often make certain choices feel completely correct, safe, or justified, but relying solely on our own understanding can lead us down a destructive path. Human perspective is limited, but God is all-seeing and all-knowing. Proverbs 15:3, “The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good”. The writer of the Hebrews epistle wrote, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable” (Hebrews 4:13). Quite simply, when decisions have to be made, then we must look beyond immediate satisfaction and seek God and His perspective and wisdom rather than trusting only our own instincts. 

In our verses today from Isaiah, it seems that there were people in Judah who tried to hide what they were doing from God, in the hope that He would be looking the other way, or would be ignoring what they were doing. How did they reach that mindset? Probably because God’s judgment is mostly delayed. He doesn’t “zap” us the minute we do something wrong, thankfully, but He instead gently leads us back onto the right path, perhaps through a Bible verse, or a word of encouragement or correction from the minister or pastor, or a trusted friend. But the people in Judah had become deaf to God’s corrections, probably because everyone else had become deaf as well, even the religious leaders. What hope is there for a child of God if their pastor and everyone else is walking in sin, following the path of evil, themselves? But it wasn’t all a hopeless situation because prophets such as Isaiah were crying out the ways of salvation, sharing God’s heart with a people “who do their evil deeds in the dark”. Did some listen? Probably, because we know that God always has a generational remnant who are faithful to Him.

Isaiah goes on to use a great analogy of a potter and a lump of clay. The potter sits at his wheel, picks up a lump of clay, and forms it into something useful. Before his creative work, the lump of clay is good for nothing, but with a skilled potter, he can turn it into a beautiful vessel, expressing his artistic gifts in his creation. But the vessel itself has been created and cannot turn round and criticise its creator. If necessary, the potter can look at what he has made, decide it isn’t what he wanted, and crush it back into a lump before trying again. The potter provides a great picture of our Creator God, who uniquely creates every person who has ever been born. The Psalmist, David, wrote, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it” (Psalm 139:13-14). The analogy ends when we compare the wondrous complexity of a human being with a vessel made from clay. Jeremiah wrote, “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand” (Jeremiah 18:6). It was stupid of the created beings, the people of Israel and Judah, to think they could turn around to the One who created them and say that He got it all wrong. And to even deny that God made them at all is surely the greatest sin. It is sad today that evolution is the dominant ideology, one that maintains that human beings have happened by chance. We pilgrims are in the midst of a people who deny that God created them, or anything else in the natural world around them. How will God deal with these people, the created vessels of “clay”, when they stand before Him? In the same way that the potter deals with a vessel that hasn’t become what he wanted it to be. 

Thankfully, our Creator Potter has put a plan in place so imperfect “pots” can be transformed into the very vessels He created them to be in the first place. God has taken flawed human beings and, through Jesus, cleaned up their lives, refining them to be worthy to be called His children. John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13). God is in the recycling business, giving all who believe in Him the opportunity to be transformed into the beautiful people He designed from the start. Sin corrupted the vessels into useless pots unsuitable for any purpose in God’s Kingdom. And so they will end up on the rubbish heap with all the rest of the broken pots. It will be no good for them to say things like, “the potter who made me is stupid” because it will not be in their capability to change themselves into something beautiful. People cannot save themselves. In Paul’s letter to Titus, we read, ” … When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5). God takes the broken pot and makes it into something new and wonderful, a person suitable for being called one of His children. 

So today, fellow pilgrim “pots”, what are we saying to the Master Potter, God Himself? Perhaps a thought to reflect on in the day ahead.

Dear Father God. We declare today that we want to be the vessel that You have designed us to be. With the words of the old hymn, we pray, “Spirit of the Living God / Fall afresh on me / Melt me mould me / Fill me use me / Spirit of the Living God / Fall afresh on me.” Amen.

Understanding the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 29:13-15 NLT

13 And so the Lord says,
    “These people say they are mine.
They honour me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
    is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
    with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
    and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
15 What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
    who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
    “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”

In Mark 7:1, we read, “One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus”. What did they want? Well, they wanted to check Jesus out in His observance of the Jewish laws and rituals, and in this visit, the Pharisees were concerned about the washing of hands before a meal. With some helpful information, Mark described the problem: “The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions”. Tradition was the driving force behind their ritual, not anything to do with hygiene. Jesus used this encounter to point out the words in our reading today concerning “man-made rules learned by rote”. He said to them,  ” … You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition” (Mark 7:6-8). 

Don’t we human beings love tradition? It has the familiarity of an old slipper or favourite jumper. We lapse into behaviours that boost our well-being, like travelling a well-worn groove, and we even say we are in a bit of a rut. But with Jesus around, the status quo was constantly challenged because no one knew what He would do next. The Pharisees certainly didn’t expect Him to rubbish their rules and regulations that had been in place for centuries. I suppose they never bothered to check what they did against God’s Word, just to make sure they were doing what He commanded. But some traditions are important, traditions like going to a Sunday morning meeting in church. Or prioritising a Tuesday evening prayer meeting over something on television. Traditions like reading God’s Word every day and setting aside time for personal prayer. Such traditions are positive, but they can become something done by rote, lacking any spiritual life or connection with God, if we are not careful. I remember a time when I attended a Church of England, going through the motions of the liturgy but failing to find any life within it. It was just something I had done ever since I started going to church as a small boy with my parents. Paul wrote to Timothy, “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. …  They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 3:1-2, 5). And James 1:22: “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves“. 

Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites. They were acting out their Jewish religion, but didn’t really believe it. In the middle of the woes to the Pharisees chapter (Matthew 23), we find, “What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness”(Matthew 23:27-28). ‭‭Did they take Jesus’ accusations to heart? I don’t think they did, because in His trial, the religious leaders, a group that included the Pharisees, called for His death. Jesus rejected their traditions, but He didn’t propose abandoning the Mosaic Law. He said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose” (Matthew 5:17). And a few verses later, He is recorded as saying, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

But we pilgrims need to note that we are not made righteous by Pharisaical devotion and dedication to applying the Law in our lives, right down to tithing from our herb garden. Paul wrote, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24). And to the Corinthians Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is only one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus, as He said, “ … I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). That path was open to the Pharisees if they repented of their hypocrisy and sins, but I suspect not many did, as they preferred their cosy lives in charge of Israel’s religious system rather than face the fury of their peers and loss of their status, should they renounce all to follow Jesus. The path to righteousness in God’s sight is open to all mankind, but most in our Western societies have chosen the broad way that leads to destruction. And so we always look for an opportunity to help the spiritually blind to find the narrow gate that leads to life, eternal life with Jesus.

Dear Lord Jesus. Please lead us to the harvest of souls that are ready and waiting for an introduction to Your Kingdom. Thank You for coming to this world, bringing a “way back to God from the dark paths of sin”. We praise and worship You today. Amen.