The Sealed Book: Understanding Isaiah 29

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Quill resting on handwritten parchment beside ink and a candle

“For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries. All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.””
Isaiah 29:10-12 NLT

Reading is a fundamental, even ubiquitous, skill in Western countries. The school system soon teaches children to read, sometimes as early as their primary years. For many, like my daughter, a love of books has been with them ever since. Fellow pilgrims will be using their reading ability this morning to read this blog. But it was a tragedy to read a recent news report that primary school teachers are having to visit secondary schools here in the UK to help some children with their reading. A growing cohort of children do not seem to want to learn, and they do what they can to disrupt their own and their fellow students’ opportunities. Very few sanctions seem to work. Thankfully, our schools still seem able to turn out children with at least the ability to read.

Words communicate so much, and there are many different ways this communication can happen. We have books, journals, newspapers, letters, and so on, all printed on paper. Increasingly, the screens on our phones, tablets, or computers have become the visual medium. But in all cases, the written words form the basis for the ideas and information that need to be communicated. 

In our verses today, Isaiah sees a time coming when the ideas God is communicating cannot be read. A “spirit of deep sleep” will prevent the “prophets and visionaries” from “seeing” what He wants to communicate. As a result, the rest of Isaiah’s vision is to be “like a sealed book”. Imagine we are given a book covered in fabric or film that keeps us from opening it. We might have access to the title on the front cover, or a few words about the author on the back. But what is written inside is totally invisible and cannot be read. Isaiah wrote that some of the “prophets and visionaries” could read. Give them a book of their day, for example, a scroll or tablet, and they could read what was written on it, but the vision that Isaiah had was sealed from their gaze, and they were unable to read its contents. But then there were some who couldn’t read anything, it seems, and, sealed or not, the vision written down was invisible to them. Just a few squiggles of ink written on a parchment or scroll, incomprehensible and useless.

Jeremiah was instructed by God to write for a specific purpose: “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings” (Jeremiah 36:2-3). These were not messages to be sealed up, but warnings about what would happen to the people if they failed to obey the messages he had written. We are very grateful to Luke, who “decided to write an accurate account for you, most honourable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught” (Luke 1:3-4). Because of his diligence in documenting everything that happened in those days concerning Jesus and the Way, we have the Gospel of Luke, the Book of Acts, and probably his help in some of the Epistles. 

But the Books that really matter are referred to in Revelation 20. In verse 12 we read, “I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books”. Everything a person has done throughout their life will be written down, and one day the books recording it will be opened for all to see. In human terms, that would be a huge book. There used to be a television programme called “This Is Your Life”, and the presenter had a red book containing highlights, the good bits, from the person’s life, which were later played in front of an audience and the television cameras, with the help of family members or friends. But God’s book for that person will contain not only the highlights but also the lowlights. The contents will be painful to relive. Memories long forgotten will be revived. Sinful actions will be exposed. And all this will take place before a vast crowd of witnesses, “the dead, both great and small“.

Thankfully for us pilgrims, another book will be opened: the Lamb’s Book of Life, and we find that “ ... anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). In the previous verse, we find that the “lake of fire” is the second death for those who have refused to believe in Jesus. It makes me shudder to think that after someone has passed away and crossed the Great Divide, only to find themselves in the Place of the Dead, Sheol, or Hades, they will remain there until they stand before the Judge sitting on the Great White Throne, as He replays their life before countless witnesses. After this, they will be “thrown into the lake of fire“. I have sometimes reflected on the word “thrown“. Why did that have to happen? Because the “lake of fire” was a place they didn’t want to go; no amount of struggling or pleading would be allowed to prevent their incarceration in hell.

But let’s think for a moment about the Lamb’s Book of Life. This is a divine register in which the names of all who are redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are written. It emphasises that those whose names are recorded in this book are granted eternal life and need not fear judgement. At the moment we believed in Jesus, our redemption was followed by a Heavenly pen making an entry in the Book of Life. Our names will be written there. But can they be removed? Revelation 3:5, “All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine“. The implication of this verse is that those who are not victorious are in danger of seeing God take His Heavenly eraser and remove their name. This conclusion does not sit easily with those who believe “Once Saved Always Saved”, but if someone turns their back on God and renounces their salvation and the redeeming work of Jesus, would God not have to grant them the consequences of their choice? But we blood-bought pilgrims, believers and overcomers through our faith in Jesus, have nothing to fear. Our names are indelibly written in a place that matters.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that our favourite Book is not sealed away from our gaze and understanding. Within it we find Your gracious words of salvation and eternal life through Your Son, Jesus. Keep us close to You, we pray, this day and every day. Amen.

Understanding Dreams and Visions in Faith

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Glowing blue and orange energy ribbons swirling through ancient arched ruins

“All the nations fighting against Jerusalem will vanish like a dream! Those who are attacking her walls will vanish like a vision in the night. A hungry person dreams of eating but wakes up still hungry. A thirsty person dreams of drinking but is still faint from thirst when morning comes. So it will be with your enemies, with those who attack Mount Zion.” Are you amazed and incredulous? Don’t you believe it? Then go ahead and be blind. You are stupid, but not from wine! You stagger, but not from liquor!”
Isaiah 29:7-9 NLT

Visions or dreams? What goes on in our minds when we sleep at night? Sometimes we wake up with no recollection of a nighttime event. At other times, we wake up exhausted by the imaginary events that took place. Sometimes our dreams connect to something that happened the day before. But mostly, our subconscious mind sorts itself out. According to experts, dreams are mental, emotional, or sensory experiences that occur primarily during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when brain activity is nearly as high as when awake, but the body is temporarily paralysed to prevent us from acting out our dreams. They help integrate recent experiences with past memories, strengthening learning and skill retention. Sometimes they allow the brain to process emotions, reduce stress, and work through unresolved feelings, which may explain why nightmares often reflect anxiety or trauma. But whatever, dreams are part of our sleeping experiences and often the subject of conversation the next day, starting with “I had a funny/scary/strange dream last night. I was in a …”. I’m sure we can all add our own experiences.

But would we recognise it if we had a vision? After Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, we read what happened next. “Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied” (Acts 9:10). Many years before “ … the boy Samuel served the LORD by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon”. Reading on, “Suddenly the LORD called out, “Samuel!” “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?”” (two verses from 1 Samuel 3). Even earlier, we read, “Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great ‘” (Genesis 15:1). My favourite visionary account has to be in Isaiah 6:1, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple“. To these people, three men and a boy, God appeared, visually or audibly, in a clear and indisputable way. There was no doubt that it was God speaking. But what else must have been present in these lives? There was present a close relationship with God. Otherwise, the vision would have been missed, or ignored or even denied. Perhaps the portion of cheese eaten for supper the night before would have been blamed. Or our minds would have rationalised the experience away. Where would Paul have been if Ananias hadn’t been obedient to the vision? What would have happened with Isaiah’s ministry if he shut his eyes to the amazing vision of God unfolding before him in the Temple?

In his Day of Pentecost sermon Peter quoted the prophet Joel when he said, “‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams'” (Acts 2:17). We note three things from this verse. Firstly, in these last days, God’s Spirit will be poured out on everyone. The Holy Spirit is no longer limited to prophets, priests, or kings. Instead, it is poured out on all people, meaning every believer, regardless of age, gender, or social status, can experience God’s presence and empowerment. There would not just be occasional and rare visitations on particular men for a particular purpose. All of us pilgrims have had an experience of God’s Spirit being poured out becaise we have been Baptised in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, “Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptised with water, but in just a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit”“). Secondly, God communicates with His people in three ways: by prophesy, through visions and through dreams. These gifts symbolise a deeper spiritual awakening, hope, and purpose in believers’ lives. Thirdly, Acts 2:17 emphasizes that the Spirit’s outpouring is an invitation for believers to participate in God’s plan. It encourages faith, boldness, and active engagement in spreading the gospel, reflecting a shift from selective Spirit-giving to universal access. We pilgrims today are called to seek the Holy Spirit for guidance, empowerment, and spiritual gifts, and to continually pray for an infilling with the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). And in all this, we remember, Acts 2:17 reminds Christians that spiritual gifts are meant for service, encouragement, and building God’s kingdom, not personal gain.

Visions or dreams? Manifestations to the young or old? In faith, we ask God for more of His Spirit in our lives because we need Him and His perspective as we navigate this bad and sad world in which we live.

Dear Heavenly Father. Fill us afresh with Your Spirit today, not for our gain but for Your glory. Empowered we can realise what Paul 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”. Help us to think and act outside the “box” so that we can accomplish great things for You. Amen.


Understanding Isaiah: Voices from the Grave

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Golden wispy light rising from a cracked rocky landscape beneath dark clouds

“Then deep from the earth you will speak; from low in the dust your words will come. Your voice will whisper from the ground like a ghost conjured up from the grave. But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust. Your many attackers will be driven away like chaff before the wind. Suddenly, in an instant, I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.”
Isaiah 29:4-6 NLT

I love Isaiah’s very descriptive language. The first verse of our reading this morning speaks to me of a people destroyed by the armies that surrounded them and realising at last the extent of their sin. Their bodies destroyed, but their spirits living on and crying out to God to save them. They cry out from the “dust”, their voices sounding like the ghostly whispers from another world. But to be true, that is where they are, their souls wandering around in the afterlife somewhere. Hebrew thought about the afterlife was complex, initially being that all departed souls ended up in Sheol, good and bad alike. But during the time of the exile, a new thought emerged: that perhaps there was a resurrection of the dead coming. But there were one or two Scriptural hints in the Old Testament before then. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end”. Moses’ thoughts after the death of Abraham can be found in Genesis 25:7-8, “Abraham lived for 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death”. But clarity emerged with Jesus when He said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am”. But before He said that, we know so clearly His explanation to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. From Sheol to Heaven took the Hebrews on quite a journey. But why should they be surprised? “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). God is eternal, so is it too much of an extrapolation to think that His original intention was to make man eternal as well? 

Luke 16 tells the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus, and He narrated it to a group of Pharisees. Some translations call it a parable, but it is unlike the rest, and some biblical scholars believe the story Jesus told them was more fact than a story made up to make a point. The thrust of the story was that the poor man, Lazarus, “ … died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side”. This was consistent with what Jesus said to Nicodemus, “that whoever believes in [Jesus] should not perish but have everlasting life”. There is a clear distinction between eternal life with Jesus and eternal life perishing. So, Jesus blew away any doubts about the afterlife and set the choice of which of the two places available firmly in the hands of mankind.

In the Rich Man and Lazarus story, the Rich Man in hell was able to communicate with Abraham in Heaven. Why Abraham? Because Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees, that they believed their ancestry, grounded right back in Abraham, would lead to their salvation, assuring them a place in Heaven. So back in our verses from Isaiah today we read about the whispers calling out to God from the grave. And the amazing thing is that God heard them, despite their rejection of Him in their lives before the Great Divide. He answered their prayers and as we read on we find that God’s reply was that “your ruthless enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust. Your many attackers will be driven away like chaff before the wind”. 

As we pilgrims reflect on the words of Jesus, we have an assurance that our souls will be with Him in Heaven one day. What will our new home be like, we wonder? What will it be like, joining the beggar and Abraham at the Heavenly banquet? We don’t know, of course, but can we feel a rise in our spirits at the thought of what is to come? Or are we unsure, fearful of the place where the Rich Man is in torment, but unsure as to our worthiness for eternal life with Jesus? Through faith in Jesus’ promises, we know where our eternal home will be; one thing is certain: we will not be calling out to God from the dust of the grave, bitterly regretful that we missed the eternal life Jesus promised. There will be many calling out, like the Rich Man, from the place of torment, finding that it is too late to change their minds.

Dear Father God. The grave is a terrible place to be for those who don’t know Jesus. But we know that You want no one to perish there in a place of torment. Please help us to plant Gospel seeds in the hearts of those who don’t know You, so that they will find salvation. Please enlarge our vision so that we can see the people around us through Your eyes. Please grant us words of knowledge so that we can speak out words of faith. And we pray all this for Your sake. Amen.

Ariel, the Altar of Blood

Posted on by Adrian Clark

What sorrow awaits Ariel, the City of David. Year after year you celebrate your feasts. Yet I will bring disaster upon you, and there will be much weeping and sorrow. For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means— an altar covered with blood. I will be your enemy, surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls. I will build siege towers and destroy it.”
Isaiah 29:1-3 NLT

An unusual name appears in our reading today. “Ariel”. It is a name more associated with a washing powder in the UK today, but in Isaiah’s day it meant “an altar covered with blood”, a definition usefully supplied in verse 2. But in other translations it means “lion of God” or “altar hearth”, probably referring to the Temple in Jerusalem. 

Chapters 28-33 in Isaiah all start with “What sorrow awaits”, or “Woe to”, five “woes” in all. “Woe” is an exclamation of grief for the terrible judgment that is yet to come. In this chapter, the Lord describes judgment coming on Jerusalem. But as we journey through Isaiah, we find that much of his writing is connected with warnings, prophecies or oracles of doom yet to come on a people, nation, or even empire. And he was very accurate in what he wrote, as history has confirmed. So chapter 29 contains “woes” directed against Jerusalem. If I were living in those days and had heard what he said, I would like to think I would take notice and change my ways, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, and at the time the people paid very little attention to him.

The people of Judah had a very strong foundation in God, with religious leaders and a wealth of God-breathed literature underpinning what God desired of them. They knew that if they followed His ways, they would be blessed and protected; if they didn’t, they would be cursed and unprotected. They could read all about this in Deuteronomy, just as we can, although people in Isaiah’s day were largely uneducated and relied on priests and other religious leaders to disseminate God’s Word. But it is a human condition that sin is a preferred way of life, and because God was, and is, slow to anger, they wrongly felt that He didn’t much care about how they behaved. Perhaps their logic ran along the line that it was all very well for their early ancestors, but they were much more sophisticated. And that is perhaps our first thought this morning. I have heard arguments today from people who have rejected God and His Word because they think that it applies to a people, unsophisticated and uneducated, who used to live many years ago. After all, they say, we now have all this knowledge and scientific data, and have no further need for God and His ways. To such a people, we can point to the experiences of God’s people in the 8th Century BC and suggest they take note and seriously consider what happened to them. Hebrews 13:8-9: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them”. 

Here is another thought, based on the judgment coming for the behaviour of God’s people. Perhaps we need to remember that being close to God does not make us immune from correction. Jerusalem had the temple. It had the priesthood. It had the sacrifices and religious festivals. It had a long history of God’s dealings with His people. Yet none of these things could protect the people if their hearts had turned away from God. This offers a significant lesson for Christians. We can be surrounded by Christian things—church attendance, worship, Bible reading, Christian fellowship—and still have hearts spiritually distant from God. We also need to remember that religious activity is not the same as spiritual obedience. Jesus later warned of people who would honour God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him, quoting a later verse in Isaiah 29. We remember the story of Samuel selecting a king to replace Saul, and watching as Jesse’s sons were paraded before him. He took one look at the son called Eliab and thought “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed”, but the next verse reads, “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”” (1 Samuel 16:7). The question we must ask ourselves today is “What is the state of our hearts?” Are we devoted to God and His ways, following Jesus wholeheartedly, or are we just paying lip service to our liturgies, while our minds dwell on other things, such as what was on television last night, or our favourite football team’s prowess in yesterday’s match? Through Isaiah, God was very critical of the way the Israelites were behaving. He wrote, “When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings” (Isaiah 1:12-13). James too wrote on this theme, and we read, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25).

The people in Judea probably thought that if they continued to go through the motions in their religion, then they would be alright. Isaiah wrote, “Year after year you celebrate your feasts” but God added another word “Yet”. We pilgrims have to beware of this word, because it confirms that any assumptions we might like to make about our faith could be followed by a “yet”. Those two verses at the end of Psalm 139 must be on the lips of every pilgrim frequently: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. We must remember that God loves us, and because of that, He won’t leave us in a life of complacency or sin without discipline. 

But in all the negatives of our verses today, there is hope. Our faith in God is alive and well, I’m sure, and He is quick to respond to a repentant heart. He loves us as a father loves His children and will go to extraordinary lengths to nurture us and educate us in His ways. 

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your love and care. We know it is easy to go through spiritual motions and delude ourselves about their reality. We pray David’s prayer, that You would search our hearts and keep us close to You, this day and for all time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding God’s Preparation: Lessons from Farming

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Green wheat seedlings growing in soil before a golden wheat field at sunset

“Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention. Does a farmer always plough and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat— each in its proper way, and each in its proper place? The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail. Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverise it. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.“
Isaiah 28:23-29 NLT

Isaiah used the practical and well-known process of farming to make a spiritual point. The farmer, he wrote, always starts with the ploughing, because, without it, seeds will have a difficult time growing. This image of ploughing could easily appear destructive if applied to a person’s heart. Just as a farmer breaks up the ground with a plough, he knows he has to do this because he wants the soil to become productive. The same is true of our hearts, because over time the stresses, strains, and sins we acquire through living can build a hard “skin” that stops us from hearing and responding to God’s message. Sometimes God allows circumstances to unsettle us. Something we relied upon may be removed. An ambition may be frustrated. A door may close. We may be forced to reconsider attitudes or priorities. It is tempting to ask, “Why is God doing this to me?” But Isaiah encourages us to ask a different question: “What might God be preparing me for?” James wrote, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” (James 1:2-4). What he was saying was that through “troubles of any kind” and great joy (ploughing the ground), the testing of faith (sowing the seeds), the growing of endurance (tending the crop) and, finally, perfection (harvest time), a person would proceed through a season of God’s blessings, making their way towards Glory land.

Isaiah makes an interesting observation: the farmer does not treat every crop in exactly the same way. Different seeds require different methods or harvesting, and different crops require different forms of threshing. Threshing is the agricultural process of loosening and separating edible grain or seeds from the scaly chaff, husks, and straw that surround them. Some seeds need a threshing wheel while others are “beaten lightly with a flail”. Some grain is “easily crushed”, so care is required. All of this is an important human and spiritual lesson. God does not deal with every person in exactly the same way. One person may need encouragement; another may need correction. One may need patience; another may need a challenge. Any manager responsible for his staff knows he has to be careful when dealing with people. I remember in one department, there was a young woman who dissolved into floods of tears at the slightest provocation, but there was also someone else who would not accept that he was doing anything wrong and robust exchanges followed. It was exhausting sometimes, trying to hold a team together to produce the right outcomes! 

When it comes to the world in which we live, there are seasons for ploughing and sowing, with others for growing and tending. And of course there is then the season of harvest and processing, so that the crop makes the transition from the field to the plate in a way that has supported life on this planet for many years. The same is true of our spiritual lives. One season may require waiting, while another requires action. So, in summary, we should be careful not to assume that because God has worked in one particular way in our lives, He must work in precisely the same way in someone else’s. In one person, God may be preparing the “soil”, ploughing up the hard “ground” so that it will be ready for receipt of the “seeds” that He knows will follow. In another’s, He may be sowing seeds, carefully choosing the right “crop” to suit that particular person’s needs. In yet another, He may be caring for the “crop”, keeping away the “weeds” and “pests” that will otherwise spoil or even destroy. Finally, there is a “harvest” to come. Paul wrote, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10). We should not forget that God knows the soil, the seed, and the harvest.

A farmer does not keep ploughing forever. There comes a point when preparation is complete, and the seed must be planted. In a spiritual sense, this is a particularly encouraging truth because God knows when a difficult season has accomplished its purpose. He is our loving Heavenly Father, and He does not crush us for the sake of crushing us. Isaiah even says that the farmer does not thresh every crop in the same way or indefinitely. There is proportion and restraint in his work. Again, using this analogy in a spiritual sense, this reveals something about God’s character. His discipline is purposeful, not arbitrary, and His correction is measured, not cruel. In Lamentations 3:31-33 we read, “For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow“. This principle is also behind James’ words: “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18).

Finally there will be a harvest. The farmer’s work makes sense when viewed in the light of the outcome, such as food on a table. That is perhaps the central encouragement of the passage. We often see only today’s ploughing. God sees the harvest that is to come in the lives of us pilgrims. Paul wrote, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9). We may not yet see what God is producing through our prayers, obedience, suffering, patience or service, but the absence of visible fruit does not mean the absence of God’s activity.

So, dear fellow pilgrims, let us hang in there when the going gets tough because, as the old song implied, the tough (in God) get going. No matter what we are facing today, God knows all about it, and He is only a prayer away from the revelation and answers that we need.

Dear Heavenly Father. Once again, on our knees before You, we thank You for Your love and care, as You prepare us for the harvest of righteousness that one day will be found in Your presence. Help us on our journey, we pray, as we remember that “You didn’t bring us this far to leave us”. Thank You for Your presence and Your Spirit, and we pray for a fresh infilling today, re-energising us for all that we are about to face. For all those who are sick or mourning, we pray for healing and compassion, knowing that Your care is limitless. We pray all this in Your precious name. Amen.

The Farmer’s Wisdom: Understanding Spiritual Growth

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Farmer guiding a wooden plow through a freshly tilled field

“Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention. Does a farmer always plough and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat— each in its proper way, and each in its proper place? The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail. Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.”
Isaiah 28:23-29 NLT

A farmer knows what he is doing. Perhaps he learned the art of ploughing from his father, who learnt it from his father before that. He knows that he does it for a purpose, that of preparing the ground for the next part of the process, sowing the seeds. This was a picture that would resonate well with the largely agricultural population in Judah at that time. In those days, the ground was broken up with a sharp device, not like the ploughs of today, which are impressive in their capability to not only break up the ground but turn it over so that anything still growing, usually weeds, becomes buried, unable to grow anymore. Although I live in a city in Scotland, the arable fields around are quickly discovered after a short drive, and at this time of year (September) are being ploughed, getting them ready for the sowing of a winter crop, and the brown and reddish-brown soil compares starkly with the green fields around them.  But although the nature of ploughing has changed, the purpose hasn’t, with the next part of the process being the planting of seeds. Isaiah mentioned five possibilities, “black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat”. Isaiah made the point, however, that no farmer ploughs just for the sake of ploughing. What’s the point? It would just be a waste of effort. And he devotes a whole verse to stating the obvious, “The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding”. And he ends the chapter with, “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom”.

Perhaps Isaiah was pointing out to the religious leaders in Judah that if even a farmer knows how to do his job, why did they find it so difficult to do theirs? They had a wealth of religious literature to lead them in God’s ways. Available to them were the Torah (the first five books of the Bible we know today), the Books of the Psalms and Proverbs, and even some of the early prophets such as Hosea and Amos. But the leaders had become like farmers who had forgotten what to do. Farmers who failed to farm the land would put themselves in danger of starvation. But the analogy extends to the religious leaders, because if they failed to do what God had asked them to do, then they would die spiritually, and in the process eventually take down the whole population. 

The word “ploughing” can be extended to anything that is hard and requires breaking up a bit. In several places in the Bible, we have the analogy of ploughing up hearts that had become hardened. Hosea 10:12, “I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plough up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you’”. Jeremiah wrote,“This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “Plough up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns“” (Jeremiah 4:3). He went on to describe why this was necessary in the next verse, “O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the LORD, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins“. The analogy continues with a picture of spiritual hearts covered in a hard layer (the skin of sin), through which God’s precepts could not penetrate. It is very difficult, if not impossible, for a sinner to do the things that God has asked of them before they first deal with their sins through confession and repentance. 

Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Even to us “townies”, the meaning of this verse is very clear. Early in their school years, children will learn practically what seeds are and if they are placed in soil, are watered and sunlit, then something will grow, first a green shoot and then, after a bit, a plant and even a flower. A wonderful, God-created process that the evolutionists and atheists try to fob off as something that happened by accident. But the same principle applies to our spiritual lives. In the next verse in Galatians, Paul explained this very clearly, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”. Another translation (NLT) puts it this way, “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit“.

The spiritual principle is clear, and we pilgrims must listen and follow it carefully. Human beings naturally lapse into ways that can grow into something that is bad for our spirits, for our “hearts”. James wrote, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death” (James 1:14-15). The death he referred to is spiritual death, which is exclusion from God for eternity. 

It begs the following question, really. “Why would we pilgrims prepare our hearts to receive God’s Word, only to then sow seeds of sin that lead to destruction?” Why indeed.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please help us today to prepare our hearts once again to receive Your Words of eternal life. Please forgive us for our sins, the “weeds” we sow far too often. Please help us walk in Your ways, this day and forever. In Your precious name. Amen.

Overcoming Insomnia: Biblical Insights and Promises

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Cozy bedroom with open window overlooking a rainy mountain valley

“Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away. This message will bring terror to your people. The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you. The Lord will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange thing; he will come to do an unusual deed: For the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater.”
Isaiah 28:19-22 NLT

The oracle Isaiah was writing about Judah places even more pressure on the people. He uses vivid language that capably describes the uncomfortable time to come. Immediately, anyone can picture beds and blankets in their minds and relate to a short bed or inadequate blankets. Once sleep is affected, the next and subsequent days are harder to face, and problems amplify. For the Judeans, what was to come was terrible, much worse than their sleeping arrangements, but Isaiah repeated what the Lord had told him. “The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater”.

Why was such a prophecy being spoken out over Judah? Because they looked to other gods and nations for help instead of trusting in the Lord. As Isaiah reminded them, they would have known about how the Lord defeated the Philistines. We can read the account in 2 Samuel 5:19-20, “So David asked the Lord, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied to David, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly hand them over to you.” So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The Lord did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”)”. The Judeans would also have known about the victory over the Amorites at Gibeon. Joshua 10:7-8, “So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon. “Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you””. So why were the Judeans so blind that they could not see that the Lord would protect them and save them, rather than them having to establish sinful alliances? 

It’s the same question that hangs over the world today. We know that there will be evil present on Planet Earth because the devil was cast here from his previous life in Heaven, and he brought his sin and evil with him. For us pilgrims, we may not be facing wars with other nations, which are inadequately equipped to protect themselves, but we are facing a battle with evil, both in our own lives and the lives of those near and dear to us. We pray the Lord’s Prayer, “and deliver us from evil”. Why? Are these just words that we repeat out loud by rote, as part of our prayer times or church liturgies? Or are they a genuine acknowledgement that we worship a God who has promised to protect us from evil? But as we know, there is a cost to being protected by God, and it is quite simple, as we can read in Psalm 91:1-2, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him“. If we want God’s protection, then we have to trust Him as our Lord and Master, and do what He has told us to do. As the Judeans found out to their cost, to suddenly call upon God only when they were in trouble, ignoring Him the rest of the time, will just not work.

Are we pilgrims finding that the verse, “The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you”, also applies to us? Then we need to get on our knees and ask God to reveal to us what is disturbing our sleep and time of rest. He is faithful and just, and he will forgive our sins as well as deal with our difficulties. Those of us who are older will try to rationalise the situation by claiming that seniors don’t need so much sleep. They will blame the meal they ate too late at night. Or the wind howling around their home. Someone I know treats insomnia with two paracetamols and a glass of sherry. But whatever, we pilgrims will invent all sorts of reasons but fail to mention the only one that matters. Have we forgotten God and His promises? 

We pilgrims can take some steps to help us sleep again. One is to meditate on Scripture and read passages like Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe”, and there is Psalm 3:5, “I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me”. Such verses read before bed will replace racing thoughts with God’s promises of safety. Another is to confess our sins to God and ask Him, as the Psalmist did, to “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24). And then, if God does reveal something, do what Peter wrote, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7). And if God’s revelation involves something we are doing that we shouldn’t, then, “… if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). Then having done all this, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). 

Insomnia is not a condition that should affect us pilgrims. Instead, having done all that God requires of us, then we will find, “The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever” (Psalm 121:5-8).

Dear Heavenly Father. Please forgive us for the times that we fail to look to You when we can’t sleep, and reach for a human remedy instead of the one You have ordained. Thank You that we can trust in You because You are faithful in Your promises. Amen.

Building on the Cornerstone of Christ

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Ancient carved stone monument overlooking desert mountains at sunset

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away. I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground.” 
Isaiah 28:16-18 NLT

We revisit Isaiah 28:16 because the Cornerstone on which our faith depends is Jesus Himself. There is no other Person or thing available in Heaven or on earth who can ever claim to be such a foundation. Isaiah was speaking to a people who were looking for security in the wrong places. Judah had been placing its confidence in political alliances, human wisdom and its own ability to manage the threats around it. God, however, points them away from themselves and towards something—or rather Someone—who can be trusted completely. The striking phrase is “a firm and tested stone.” God does not offer His people a foundation that is merely theoretical. His faithfulness has been tested throughout history. He has proved Himself trustworthy in the lives of Abraham, Moses, David and countless others. This verse in Isaiah does not make the connection with Jesus the Christ, but Peter does in 1 Peter 2:6-8, “As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honour, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Yes, you who trust him recognize the honour God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them”. Paul did as well in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ“. Another verse to refer to is in Romans 9:33.

I suppose the question for us pilgrims has to be, “What foundation are we building on?” It is easy to say that Christ is our Foundation, but instead we quietly build our lives on temporal things such as our money, our family, our jobs, our health, reputation or relationships. The list of alternatives to Christ, our Rock, seems endless. But all of these can be impacted when the storms of life roll against us, stripping them away, one by one, until all that is left is the one and only foundation that really matters – Christ Himself. Look at Job. Read the first chapter. He lost his flocks and herds, his camels, shepherds and servants, and finally his children. All gone. His response? Job 1:21-22, “He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God“. Job knew the One foundation that mattered.

Every one of our worldly and human foundations can shift, but Christ is different. He does not shift when circumstances come against us. The storms of life do not prove that our foundation has failed. Rather, they reveal what our foundation actually is. Jesus expressed the same truth in His parable of the wise and foolish builders. The wise man built his house upon the rock. When the rain came, the floods rose and the winds beat against the house, it remained standing because it had been founded on the Rock (Matthew 7:24–25). 

There is also something wonderfully personal in Isaiah’s statement. God does not merely say that the cornerstone exists. He says that the person who trusts in it “need never be shaken“. Faith does not mean that the believer will never experience difficulty, disappointment or fear. It means that beneath all those things there is something that cannot be moved. Psalm 46:1-2, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea”. The confidence of us pilgrims ultimately rests not in the strength of our own faith, but in the faithfulness of the One in whom we have placed our faith. 

“Dear Lord Jesus , forgive us for the times when we have looked for security in things that cannot ultimately sustain us. Help us to build our lives upon Christ—the tested, precious and dependable Cornerstone. When circumstances are uncertain, remind us that our foundations are not. When we are afraid of what tomorrow may bring, help us to rest in the One who does not change, the One who holds tomorrow in the palm of His hand. May our confidence be found not in what we can control, but in Christ, whom we can completely trust. Amen.”

Lessons from Isaiah: Trusting God’s Protection

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So the Lord will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured. Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem. You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.” Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.”
Isaiah 28:13-16 NLT

Isaiah repeats again the words of a previous verse that made a parody of his attempts to proclaim the Lord’s message, speaking as if he were teaching simple ideas to children. But God would use the Assyrians to teach the childish Israelites a hard lesson. A time was coming when they would be “injured, trapped, and captured”, the surviving people being carried off into exile. Isaiah now turns his attention to “the scoffing rulers of Jerusalem”, the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The warnings were much the same. Judah may have been pleased to hear what Isaiah had to say about the Israelites, but their complacency ended quickly when Isaiah called them “scoffers”. As we saw a few days ago, “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise” (Proverbs 15:12). Later in the book of Proverbs, there is a helpful definition of who a “scoffer” is. Proverbs 21:24, ““Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride“. That was how Isaiah addressed the “rulers in Jerusalem”, and they wouldn’t have been pleased. As we will find in a later chapter in Isaiah, Judah had made a pact with Egypt: ““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. 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”” (Isaiah 30:1-2). The people in Judah thought that they were safe from attack, but Isaiah called out the error of their ways. They had put their trust in a foreign power rather than in the Lord. 

This is something that has happened throughout history, so the Judeans were not doing anything unusual. Except, of course, these were God’s people. The Psalmist wrote, “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God” (Psalm 146:3-5). Then we have Psalm 20:7, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God”. The promises of protection from the Lord are scattered throughout Scripture, such as in Isaiah 41:10-11, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing“.

I suppose there is a question about God’s protection today. Would He protect, for example, the UK if the people living here turned to Him for help? In some ways this question is academic, because the UK is becoming increasingly secular, but I believe that if the entire nation turned to Him, He would. God will never reject a contrite and repentant person – just look at the thief on the cross – and I’m sure that would extend to a nation. But instead there is an alliance of Western countries who rely instead on their “chariots and horses”. The question for the Judeans was: “Do you think your pact with the Egyptians will save you?” Unfortunately, they would find out the hard way that the Egyptians had no intention of helping them out. 

Isaiah continued in the next verse in today’s reading by saying that God alone is the trustworthy footing on which Judah should rest all its confidence. In an often-quoted statement, the Lord says He has established a “foundation in Zion,” meaning Jerusalem. In several places we can read that God confirmed that Jerusalem would be His home. Psalm 132:13-14 is just one. “For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem; he has desired it for his home. “This is my resting place forever,” he said. “I will live here, for this is the home I desired“”. Zion was a fortress, as we read in 2 Samuel 5:7, “But David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David”. Ancient buildings relied on large, sturdy corners to keep a building upright. These “cornerstones” were essential, and one was always the most important. References to “the” cornerstone imply something on which the entire structure depends. God has verified this “stone”. It will bear the needed weight as the keystone for the entire building. The Lord says that anyone who believes in this stone won’t “be in haste” in the sense of being panicked or alarmed. Instead, they will experience security and confidence. They “need never be shaken“. 

It is no exaggeration to call Jesus the Cornerstone of our faith. Without Him upholding His followers, the whole structure would come tumbling down, and as we know, Christianity is alive and well in this world. Peter wrote, “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honour, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced”” (1 Peter 2:4-6). There will one day be a new Jerusalem, which we can read about in Revelation 21, where God Himself will live, along with His people. There will be no shaking there in the lives of believers, because “nothing evil will be allowed to enter … but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 21:27). 

That is the future and the hope that we pilgrims have faith for. All those who believe in Jesus will be gifted eternal life with Him. But are we ready? Will Jesus find us doing His will in the life we have now? A sobering thought, and we must take it seriously. Of course, He is gracious enough to forgive our sins, and we come into His presence this morning, reaching out to Him again with our prayers and supplications.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus. We love You, Lord. You are indeed our refuge and strength, as we depend on none other than You. As we face the day ahead, we pray that You go before us, straighten our paths, and show us the way through the minefields of life. In. Your precious name, we pray. Amen.

Understanding God’s Voice: Lessons from Isaiah

Posted on by Adrian Clark

““Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned? He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language! God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen.”
Isaiah 28:9-12 NLT

The drunken Israelites did not receive Isaiah’s correction well at all. Their lifestyles had no place for God, and they responded badly, mocking Isaiah’s message like children ridiculing their peers. We can almost hear the rhyming mimicry as it fell from their drunken lips. Such childishness from so-called religious leaders beggars belief. They don’t take Isaiah’s godly message seriously. After all, they thought, why would they want to be lectured by someone still committed to proclaiming God’s message? But as they will find out, the Lord will throw these words back into their faces.

Have we ever tried to communicate Scripture with someone who perhaps knows a little about the Bible but who responds to our comments with ridicule? I had such a conversation recently with a man whose knowledge of the Bible was actually quite impressive, but he has rejected just about everything it says. His scorn of God’s Word started in Genesis 1, but he quickly became bored with the conversation and couldn’t get away quickly enough. The problem was that he had developed a worldview not aligned with God’s view, and in his current thinking, he rejected anything that conflicted with his own thoughts. This left him in a fragile state, without any foundational truth to base his life on, and it will one day crash down like a house of cards before the gaze of the One sitting in judgment. He didn’t lapse into mockery, but I have met some people who do. 

There is a question for the religious leaders in Samaria that would be interesting to hear answered. Perhaps it could be phrased something like, “How did you get to a state where you rejected God and everything to do with Him, even though you had the Scriptures to refer to?” This question is even more significant for anyone who has lived since Jesus came into this world. But answers will, I fear, be few in number because before Jesus there is no answer. Just a growing awareness that they have got things so wrong. I suspect there will be efforts to cast the blame on someone else, including the age-old response, “The devil made me do it”, or they would blame their parents, or their environment. In Hebrews 10:26-27 we read, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God”. My friend knows the truth, but rather than letting it set him free, he has responded with a stubborn rejection of anything to do with God.

The Israelites had reached a stage where they blocked their ears to God’s messages. Perhaps they had become like the children in their response to Isaiah, holding their hands over their ears and shouting out silly noises to stop the message reaching their souls. There was such a time earlier in Israel’s history that we can read about in 1 Samuel 3:1, “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon”. Had God stopped speaking? Not at all, but the people had become deaf to His voice and had stopped listening.

Isaiah 28:11 declares another way God will speak to His people. If they had become deaf to His voice, then perhaps they would listen to another in a language of judgment, with punishment administered by “foreign oppressors”. These were the Assyrians who spoke a language that was foreign to the Israelites, and what was to happen was recorded in 2 Kings 17:5-6, “Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and for three years he besieged the city of Samaria. Finally, in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign, Samaria fell, and the people of Israel were exiled to Assyria. They were settled in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes“. Did the Israelites then hear God’s “voice” as they reflected on their lives in exile? Some did, and we read about them in other accounts in Ezra and Nehemiah. But many didn’t, and those who escaped the Assyrian swords and became exiled were absorbed into the communities in which they found themselves. God’s purposes will always be fulfilled, and He purified His people.

We pilgrims ignore the Word of God at our peril. We know the words that Paul wrote to 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). Unlike my friend who has rejected God’s Word, we embrace it and we are like the Psalmist who wrote, “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1). In this Psalm we can also read, “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions“. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me”. And so we pilgrims pursue the Word of Truth, Jesus Himself, without ceasing. Day by day we read what God is saying to us. And we pray without ceasing, because that is what He expects of His children. Yes, there will be times when we err from the Path of Life, taking time out and resting away from God. But He is gracious and kind. 1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. There is always a way back to God’s loving arms. 

Dear Heavenly Father. When we are weary on our journey to Glory, we can rest awhile, soaking up sustenance from Your Word and Your Spirit. You have provided us with all that we need for life, and today we ask again for a refilling of Your Spirit to help our beacons of light to keep shining for all to see. We love You, Lord, and will continue to love You even until our days end in this world. There is no other place we would rather be than in Your loving arms with You in Heaven. Amen.