The Choice Between Two Masters: God or the Devil

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship. Those we served before are dead and gone. Their departed spirits will never return! You attacked them and destroyed them, and they are long forgotten. O Lord, you have made our nation great; yes, you have made us great. You have extended our borders, and we give you the glory!”
Isaiah 26:13-15 NLT

We cannot go far in this life without, sooner or later, finding that we have to answer to someone. As soon as a child is old enough to understand, they have to answer to their parents. At school, they answer to a teacher. Then, as a teenager, they might find that a policeman isn’t too impressed by their behaviour. In a workplace, an employer will tell them what to do. When they’re sick, a nurse or doctor will provide advice, quite strongly if necessary. Someone receiving benefits has to answer to the government agency to keep receiving them. The list goes on. But in a spiritual sense, there are two masters: one we pilgrims know well, God Himself, and it is a joy to be able to serve Him. The other is the devil, whom most inhabitants in the UK follow, although they would probably deny it. As Bob Dylan wrote, “But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed / You’re gonna have to serve somebody / Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord / But you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. 

Isaiah wrote, “O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship”. The Israelites had many different rulers, as we can read in the Book of Judges. In this Bible book, we find that time and again, the Israelites “did evil in the Lord’s sight” and found that judgement soon followed, with foreign nations overpowering their nation. In Judges 4, we find the story of a Canaanite king, Sisera, who “ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years”. Then two chapters on, we find, “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years” (Judges 6:1). Then on another occasion, “Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead)” (Judges 10:6-8). As we read further, we find the story of Samson and the Philistines, with the same pattern continuing.

So when Isaiah wrote, “others have ruled us”, he wasn’t wrong, and in his days, the threat was from Babylon and the cruel and unstoppable Assyrian army. But Isaiah could see a day coming when “those we served before are dead and gone”, and he celebrated the time when the Lord would make the nation of the Jews great again. Any student of history could see that even though the Israelites sinned and were subject to a foreign ruler for a time, the Lord saved them. This happened frequently, and even in Jesus’ time, the Romans were the occupying force, with the Jews subject to their rule. Today, the nation of Israel is self-ruling once again, although the land they live in is a fraction of what God promised them through Abraham. Will we one day see their border expanded as Isaiah prophesied? 

We pilgrims were once ruled by a power that Jesus destroyed on the Cross at Calvary. 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”. Colossians 2:15, “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross”. We were once ruled by the enemy of God, the devil, and we served him without realising it. Think of the lives we lived and the sins we committed. Think of the ways we offended God through our actions, our speech and our thoughts. But Jesus came to set us free from all that and through God’s grace, we are free indeed. 

But we pilgrims are soldiers on the front line of the battle between God and the devil. We are harassed and attacked on many fronts, but mostly in our minds. Paul wrote, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but 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). A spiritual battle continues to rage, but we know that we are on the winning side. So we equip ourselves for the battles ahead with all of God’s armour, assured of the Lord’s support in the difficult times. Yes, we will occasionally fall, but God is quick to forgive, and He picks us up and dusts us off before sending us back to the conflict. And all the while we are being sanctified, made holy for the day when we will find ourselves in Heaven in God’s presence. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. 

Yes, one day we will see the greatness and glory of God shine out in a world where the devil is no more. Isaiah could see it. Can we? A few days ago, we delved into Psalm 73 and found how the Psalmist found his way back into God’s presence. Too often, we pilgrims fail to lift our gazes in a Heavenly direction. But we have read the end of the Book, and we know what will happen. We don’t know when, but what we do know is that God will keep His promises. But we are not a people who are “too Heavenly minded to be of any earthly good”. We pilgrims are a people who bring the message of our hope in God into the lives of our friends and families, those who are otherwise heading to the wrong place. We are the means by which Heaven will touch earth. In the Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done. Do we think we can just sit back and wait for God to do something through some divine process? I suspect this process involves willing and able servants like us, serving as His hands and feet. So what has God asked us to do today? Come to that, have we asked Him? Hmmm..

Dear Father God. We reach out to You this morning in prayer, asking for the next assignment You have for us. We pray for willing ears to hear what You have to say, and for grace and compassion to equip us as we obediently do Your will in the lives of those around us. And above all, we thank You for Jesus and all that He has done for us, bringing Your Kingdom into our lives. We pray in Your name. Amen.

Understanding Why the Wicked Prosper

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right. Your kindness to the wicked does not make them do good. Although others do right, the wicked keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty. O Lord, they pay no attention to your upraised fist. Show them your eagerness to defend your people. Then they will be ashamed. Let your fire consume your enemies. Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you.”
Isaiah 26:9-12 NLT

Isaiah introduces something that has constantly baffled the righteous followers of God for millennia. Why do the wicked get away with their wickedness? Why doesn’t God just zap them when they do wrong, those people who “take no notice of the Lord’s majesty”? But it’s worse than that because the same wicked people do harm to God’s people. Isaiah called out to God to “show them [His] eagerness to defend [His] people”. We can all think of people in the public eye who are overtly wicked and who, in their pride and arrogance, think that they are immortal and unstoppable in their wickedness. They may even redefine the word wickedness to mean good, and many gullible people will swallow the lies. Isaiah wrote about them once before in Isaiah 5:20, “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter”. One current example of this can be found in the war between Russia and Ukraine, in which the leader of the attacking side declared his goal was to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine. Wasn’t that just an excuse to reoccupy a nation with the false justification that it had a moral duty to do this? We pray that God will bring justice to the poor people in Ukraine and Russia who are suffering so much.

The Psalmist, Asaph, had a similar problem, as we read in Psalm 73:3, “For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness”. He goes on to describe the ways in which the “wicked” prospered, through good health, lack of troubles, and with everything they need. But in their pride, Asaph could see their arrogance, the way they boasted and crushed those less fortunate. They spoke only evil and scoffed at God. Psalm 73:11, “”What does God know?” they ask. “Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”” Asaph concludes in the next verses, “Look at these wicked people— enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply. Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?” He then continues with “I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain”. This is a very human Psalm, because Asaph’s feelings are bang up to date. Was there a hint of self-pity infecting his soul? As we read, he next tried to rationalise in his own mind why such evil people got away with their evil. “So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!” (Psalm 73:16). Don’t we do the same? A burglar steals and is never caught. A mobile phone is snatched, and the owner never sees it again. At the other end of the scale, a despotic leader sends a million young men to their deaths but is still in power at home. Why does God allow such people to get away with their wickedness?

Asaph finally went into God’s presence, and there he found the answer to his dilemma. “Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked”. There is no use fretting about God’s apparent lack of action because God will act. Asaph wrote, “Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning” (Psalm 73:18-20). Asaph then turns his thoughts away from the wicked, as God’s light illuminated his soul. He realised how bitter he had become, and he turned his gaze to God Himself. Asaph completes the Psalm with, “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. … But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do” (Psalm 73:25-26, 28). When we lift our gaze into Heavenly places, we find a different perspective, because we find that God is still on His throne and He has everything under control. He wants no one to perish, and He is gracious and patient, just in case the wicked people finally realise the error of their ways and turn to Him in repentance.

But just one more thing that we need to bear in mind, even pilgrims such as us. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). If God had zapped all the wicked people, would I be writing this? Would any of us be still alive on this planet? We pilgrims need to fall on our knees before God with grateful hearts, thanking Him for His patience and grace.

Dear Heavenly Father. We are so grateful that You sent Your Son “to seek and save the lost”. Unless Jesus had walked on this world, we pilgrims would have had no hope for the future other than a miserable existence in a place where we wouldn’t want to be. All other religions are about man seeking a god, but there is only one God who came to seek sinners like us. So on our knees before You today we offer our worship to the One who has done so much for us. Amen.

Seeking God: Morning and Night Reflections

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right. Your kindness to the wicked does not make them do good. Although others do right, the wicked keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty. O Lord, they pay no attention to your upraised fist. Show them your eagerness to defend your people. Then they will be ashamed. Let your fire consume your enemies. Lord, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you.”
Isaiah 26:9-12 NLT

Morning and night. Special times perhaps for God’s people, and pilgrims like us everywhere. Some nights, lying in bed in that “starting to drift off into sleep” mode, I’m conscious of a feeling of relief after a confusing and chaotic day, and I bring before God my thoughts and emotions, asking Him for His perspective and confessing any sins that I might have committed. This leads to praying for the issues that have emerged over the past few hours, and that’s how the day ends. But Isaiah went further; he earnestly searched for the Lord. That builds a picture of a man who is aware of society’s ills and where God cannot be found at all. We pilgrims perhaps feel the same, as we consider our increasingly secular society, where God has been forgotten, ignored and even vilified. Where our fellow citizens follow their selfish desires as they did in the days of the Judges: “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Their moral compass long gone. Their songs, devoid of praises to God, would instead have the lyrics “What’s in it for me” or “I’ll do it my way”. But Isaiah searched for God while lying on his bed, and I’m sure, in the quiet of the night, he found His Lord.

But on awakening, Isaiah sought God again. Faced with such an arrogant and Godless society, he knew that he needed God to be there with him. He didn’t know what he would face in the day ahead, and perhaps he was even a bit scared about the issues he would have to face. The people around him had forgotten God, as we have read in previous chapters, and were following sinful practices, particularly idolatry, even though they went through the motions of the Jewish rites and rituals. But do we pilgrims feel the same? Do we too wake up and immediately start to think God-thoughts, earnestly seeking Him for whatever resources we need for the day ahead? Are we like the Psalmist David, praying as in Psalm 5:3, “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly”? In a time of great stress, David wrote another prayer: “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1). This might be an appropriate prayer for those of us pilgrims who are currently living in drought-filled parts of England. But the land in which we live is indeed parched without the living water of God’s Spirit flowing throughout our societies, our churches and communities.

What requests do we have this morning? And, here’s the thing, do we believe that God can bring answers to our prayers? But I know that some people wake up in the morning, just relieved that they have survived another night, having been racked with pain, or unable to sleep. Others wearily haul themselves out of bed, wishing that they didn’t have to face the day ahead at all. But not Isaiah. He had an eager expectation that God would be there with him. He knew what Solomon had written years before: “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lamentations 3:23). 

Jesus always spent time in prayer in the mornings. Mark 1:35, “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray”. Why did He have to do that? Because when He left Heaven, Jesus left behind most of His divine attributes, taking on human form with all the limitations that would follow. So He had to spend time communicating with His Father in Heaven to ensure that He would follow His will in the day ahead. We should do the same because we don’t have a clue about the issues that might appear in the hours ahead. We pray for grace and compassion in our interactions with fellow citizens, God-followers or not. We pray for the words to say when someone needs comforting. We need the leading of the Holy Spirit when God wants us to bring His message of hope into a life devoid of hope at all. And, above all, we need God to fill us afresh with His Spirit, resourcing us for the day ahead. I do not know what I will face today. But I know Someone who does, and I need to hold His hand throughout the day ahead. Thankfully, His hands are big enough to hold each one of us. 

Almost despairingly, Isaiah wrote, “For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right”. A statement of truth, but within it there are pockets of hope for those who follow Him day by day, for those who earnestly seek God for His resources and His righteousness. But by Judgment Day, it will be too late for most to understand the difference between right and wrong. For those who have never understood what God truly desires, Fanny Crosby wrote a hymn in 1869 called “Near the Cross”, and the first verse reads, “Jesus, keep me near the cross,/ There a precious fountain; / Free to all, a healing stream,/ Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain”. And the chorus goes: “In the cross, in the cross / Be my glory ever, / Till my ransomed soul shall find / Rest beyond the river”. That’s where we pilgrims need to be, always aware of what Jesus has done for us. Always close to our Master.

Dear Heavenly Father. It all starts with the Cross at Calvary, and Your Son in agony of body and spirit, taking on to Himself the sins of the world. And before You this morning, I declare my gratitude. In this weary and parched land, I pray that once again, You will awaken us with a new move of Your Spirit. Raise up Godly men and women, we pray, who will pray without ceasing for revival to hit Your churches, shifting the people’s gaze far above their leaking church roofs to Your throne. It’s all about You, Lord, and we echo Your prayer for Your Kingdom to come and Your will to be done, in Your precious name. Amen.

Righteous Paths: Navigating Life with Faith

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Moth hovering beside a lit candle on a rustic wooden table

“He humbles the proud and brings down the arrogant city. He brings it down to the dust. The poor and oppressed trample it underfoot, and the needy walk all over it. But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.”
Isaiah 26:5-8 NLT

In the next few verses in Isaiah 26, another city emerges. It is not the same as the previous city, the City of God. This one is arrogant. Once again, we are back to the theme of how destructive pride and arrogance can be, and how a city full of people infected with these traits thinks it is invincible and untouchable. The Jebusites, who populated Jerusalem before it became the city of the Jews, thought they were invincible. In 2 Samuel 5:6, we read, “David then led his men to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land who were living there. The Jebusites taunted David, saying, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For the Jebusites thought they were safe”. But in the next verse, we read, “But David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David”. How did he do it? By finding a way into the fortified city through the water tunnel. With God there is always a way. Without God, wicked people, in their pride and arrogance, amount to nothing. 

But the word “city” has another meaning. In the context of our verses today, it also means worldliness, the world system, and the people who support it. Many complacent people in the UK today believe they are safe from the collapse of their society. After all, they say, nothing bad has happened here for many years. Yes, they say, there are challenges and the tax rate is too high, but they’re comfortable and can get by because they think they are invincible in their riches, nice houses, and secure jobs. They are proud of their achievements, their education, their cars and so on. But none of them gives a thought that God can bring it all down to “dust, to a point where the poor, the needy, and the people they oppressed can trample over them. 

In this prophecy, Isaiah highlights the benefit of those who trust in the Lord, as we read in Isaiah 26:4, “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock”. Those who trust in the Lord obey Him, and this obedience to God leads to living a life of righteousness. Because of that, Isaiah pointed out that those who live such lives of trust and righteousness will find that their ways through life will not be “steep and rough”, and the way before them will be smooth, without the hassles the proud and arrogant would find. Trying to live outside of the Lord’s design for life always introduces obstacles and difficulty. We find in Proverbs 1:7 the difference between the proud and the righteous: “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”. And for us pilgrims, we do well to take note of, and follow, Proverbs 3:5-6, “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”. The paths the proud and arrogant have chosen will not end well, as their “house of cards”, their trust in the world system and ways, comes tumbling down. However, those who look to God will find that His way is free of the disasters experienced by godless people. A headline in one of the papers this morning mourns the experience of some greedy people with too much money who invested in poor-performing stocks, with returns far from those promised or expected. Perhaps they should have invested instead in God’s Kingdom, building up treasure that will never suffer from poor returns. The world system, and those who support it, will never last beyond the grave.

So does that mean we pilgrims should opt out of our societies and find a way of life in a monastery or foreign land, where life is more basic and untainted by the hustle and bustle of Western ways? No, because in our verses today, Isaiah is saying that there is a straight path through all the pride and arrogance that blights the lives of those around us. Isaiah 26:8 reads, “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name”. We pilgrims are living in two kingdoms, the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God, but we are only citizens of the latter. We are God’s ambassadors to a lost and hopeless people caught up in the pride and arrogance of the world system. We need to be like Isaiah, who lived in Judah amongst a people who had forgotten God and were living lives tainted by evil and idolatry. We need to be beacons of light, speaking out God’s message to this lost and hopeless generation. And so we echo Isaiah’s words today, “Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name“.

Father God. Please help us to navigate the ways of this world, staying righteous in our societies of unrighteousness. Maximise our witness, we pray, so that Your voice will prevail through all the noise and darkness declared by evil people. We pray for our governments and leaders, our churches and congregations, our places of employment and recreation, so that Your name will be glorified. And we pray for our families and friends, that we will indeed be that beacon of light that draws them close to You. We pray all this in Your precious name. Amen.

Finding Perfect Peace in God’s Presence

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Sunset sky reflecting on calm lake with mountain silhouettes and pine forest

“In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song: Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation. Open the gates to all who are righteous; allow the faithful to enter. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:1-4 NLT

That phrase again, “In that day”. Isaiah could see a day coming when all his wishes would be realised. A day when he would be freed from the anxieties caused by the sins of his people. A day when God’s perfect order would be restored, along with His kingdom. A day when everyone would be singing from the same hymn sheet, and what a song that will be! And Isaiah lets his anointed imagination loose on what that day will look like. The strong city was a reference to Jerusalem, the City of God, and with Him dwelling there, salvation would be assured. Only righteous and faithful people would be allowed to enter, with, presumably, anyone else shut out. 

We read about this City in Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem “coming down from God out of Heaven, like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband”. Further down the page we read, “So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). And at the end of the chapter we read, “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life”. In the next chapter, we read, “Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life”, and the unrighteous will be excluded, “Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie”. But there won’t be many of them, because we read in 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”. 

In Isaiah 26:3, one of our verses this morning, we read the well-known and much-quoted verse, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Peace is a scarce commodity these days. Wars blight our world, with death and destruction following. But peace, or a lack of it, also impacts our societies and our relationships. In recent years, the UK seems to have become very angry, with different factions stridently declaring their beliefs and ideologies and denigrating those who believe otherwise. Many people fail to be at peace with their neighbours, with occasional court cases emerging that expose disputes over the silliest of things, like a boundary wall erected a few inches the wrong way. The UK fails to be at peace with itself, and the problem seems to be getting worse, with politicians of different colours stoking up dissent and failing to lead the country into the peace its citizens require. But, as we pilgrims know, it is only God who has the eternal solution. Perfect peace can only be found in Him.

Jesus said to His disciples, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). He knew that the world would never live in peace. He knew that even the people themselves were suffering from a lack of it. And He knew that there was no political or national leader who could ever deliver the peace that people yearned for. That peace can only be found in God. The Psalmist David knew all about that peace and where it originated. Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe”. His is an incredible story of highs and lows, hounded for many years by King Saul, betrayed by his own son, harassed by his enemies, and yet he could feel safe and at peace in God.

We often say of a recently departed person that they are now at peace, implying that their life, or their last days, were spent in conflict. But even that is not assured, because there will be no peace for those wandering souls, excluded from God’s presence in heaven because they failed to trust in Him. God’s peace extends beyond the grave into Heaven itself, where the redeemed will enjoy God’s presence for ever. That is why we pilgrims must be proactive in spreading God’s message of hope to all those we meet. So many people are living lives conflicted by their worries and anxieties, hopeless and without peace. But we pilgrims know the “peace that surpasses all understanding”, and we cannot keep it to ourselves. Who can we truly say “Shalom” to today? Let’s be ready, in case God is leading us to just the right person.

Dear Heavenly Father. It is only in You that we can experience perfect peace. Please help us to look at world events through Your eyes, and be at peace because we know and trust that You are still on Your throne. We praise You today. Amen.

End Times and Trust: Understanding Isaiah’s Prophecies

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!” For the Lord’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem. But Moab will be crushed. It will be like straw trampled down and left to rot. God will push down Moab’s people as a swimmer pushes down water with his hands. He will end their pride and all their evil works. The high walls of Moab will be demolished. They will be brought down to the ground, down into the dust.”
Isaiah 25:9-12 NLT

“This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us!” What a wonderful way to start our devotions today, with the thought that God has saved us. But we need to unpick this verse a bit to extract some more important messages. The first thought centres on “in that day”. Once again, Isaiah’s writings refer to a day when the world order will be destroyed, and it must have been of some importance because the phrase “in (or on) that day” occurs 57 times in the Book of Isaiah. God revealed to Isaiah some important truths about what was to come, and Isaiah faithfully wrote down what God revealed to him. But when will that day be? Of course, we don’t know, and Jesus said to His disciples, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know” (Acts 1:7). In Matthew 24:6-8, Jesus set out some signs to look for: “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come”. So the indications are that we are in the End Times, but, with more events scheduled to happen, we’re not there yet. John’s vision in the Book of Revelation is worth a read for the inquisitive. But, as any mother can tell us, the labour pains can come suddenly or can drag on for days. On the other side of all the End Time events yet to happen, though, there will be a people who will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us!” 

What does it mean to trust in God? Trusting God means relying completely on His goodness, wisdom, and power, even when life is hard or uncertain. It is a daily choice to let go of control, stop worrying, and believe that His character and promises are true. But, human nature being what it is, we find that it is very hard to let go and trust someone else with our lives, both now and in the future. And if that Person we trust is God, who, in the natural, we can’t see or feel or communicate with, face to face… But that is when faith comes into play. The natural response, when we encounter hard and difficult times, is to cast around to find a human remedy. So when money is short, we head to the banks or moneylenders, or use our credit cards. If we are short of food, we think of the food banks. If we lose our jobs, we see what financial assistance, “benefits” we can receive from government agencies. If we are in danger of losing our homes, we think about alternatives, such as staying with relatives, or phone around to find another. But trusting in God means that we set aside our anxieties and instead look to God for a solution. Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”. Jesus 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). 

But trusting God also means that we must wait for His solution, and not try to get ahead of Him by producing an Ishmael. Remember the story? God promised Abraham a son, but after a few years of waiting, he and his wife hatched a plan to get one through Sarah’s servant. Ishmael duly appeared, but he wasn’t the son of the promise. That son, Isaac, was still to come. And, as we know, in this world, the consequences of producing an Ishmael still continue. Getting ahead of God would likely produce something second-best, not the perfect result our Heavenly Father has waiting for us. And in it all, when anxieties and problems emerge, as they will in this troubled and imperfect world, we learn the peace that comes from trusting in our Father with our lives and all that we are. After all, we know who controls this world, and we remain faithful and hopeful, calm in all the storms. 

The people will also proclaim “in that day” that God saved them. When God saves us, it means He rescues us from the punishment and power of sin through Jesus Christ. Salvation means that we are delivered from eternal death through our faith in Jesus, who granted us forgiveness and a new relationship with God. Think about it. All the sins, the things that we have done wrong, the thoughts that have polluted our minds, the failure to do what we should have done – the list is endless – have all been forgiven and erased from God’s Heavenly slate. Psalm 103:12, “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west”. But it gets better. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ”. We pilgrims can now stand before God clothed with Jesus’ righteousness and adopted as His children. Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father””.

Isaiah 25 ends with a warning to Moab, but “Moab” can be extended to include all people who refuse to trust in God. Their pompous pride and evil works get in the way. As with all unbelievers, their belief that they didn’t need to acknowledge the Lord God of Israel is their downfall. But He will knock down the fortification of their human walls and defeat them in His judgment. We all know someone in this category, I’m sure, and we must reach out to them with God’s love, sharing His message of hope and salvation, so that the Holy Spirit can bring conviction of their sin. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent”. Yes, God’s patience is driven by His love and grace for human beings, and we must, in our capacity as His ambassadors to Planet Earth, extend the same.

So we end these devotions today echoing how we started, declaring that the Lord is our God, that we trust in Him, and thanking Him for our salvation. We are truly favoured as God’s children.

Dear Heavenly Father. As we draw to a close in another chapter in Isaiah, we thank You for the prophet and Your messages communicated through him. We thank You for Your Word, and the truths held within, so useful for helping us, and keeping us founded on the Rock who is Christ. Amen.

Divine Banquet on Mount Zion: A Biblical Vision

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 25:6-8 ESV

There is a mountain involved in Isaiah’s vision, where God will prepare and serve “a feast of rich food” with all the trimmings. What a wonderful banquet that will be, particularly for the poor and needy people in their distress. And even for those who are accustomed to enjoying their food with a variety of possibilities, the divine banquet will be literally out of this world.  However, this event will be held on the mountain, assumed to be Mount Zion, where God will be a stronghold and refuge for those in need. 

There is much significance to this mountain. In the Bible, Mount Zion was first described as a specific hilltop fortress in Jerusalem captured by King David. Over time, the name expanded in scripture to mean the Temple Mount, the entire city of Jerusalem, the people of Israel, and finally a symbol for God’s Heavenly kingdom. In Hebrews 12:18, we read, “You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai”. This was the mountain we find in Exodus 19:12, “Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death”. The Hebrews epistle was addressed to the Jewish people, so they would have known the significance of any reference to Sinai. But back in Hebrews 12:22-24, we read about the “Heavenly Jerusalem”, where God will be found. “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel”. Will we pilgrims be there? Of course we will. Where else will we be able to enjoy “a feast of rich food”? A banquet like no other.

There is something else significant about that mountain. In our verses today, we read, “There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth”. What is this “shadow of death”? It is sin. Some translations refer to a veil hanging over humanity, so that they cannot see God, just as Moses wore a veil to prevent the Israelites from seeing his glowing face. The curse of sin and death hangs over every life, but God promises to remove that covering forever. Paul describes unbelievers as spiritually veiled, as we read in 2 Corinthians 3:14, “But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ”. Two verses on, “But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away”. We pilgrims have had our eyes opened to God and His Kingdom, through Jesus and all He did for us at Calvary. We have access to God beyond the veil that stops all unbelievers from seeing Him. Paul wrote, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12). For us pilgrims, the veil has been removed, but one day we will see God clearly, without any spiritual myopia at all. Will that be on Mount Zion, on that day when we will be enjoying the banquet of delicious food? That is our hope, our faith, in the promise of God.

There on Mount Zion, “[God] will swallow up death forever”. Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever”. Back to Paul again in 1 Corinthians 15:54, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory”. On the Cross, Jesus defeated death forever, and He confirmed that through the empty tomb. Jesus is still alive today, sitting at God’s right hand, where He is interceding for us. One day, we will be alive with Him for eternity. But notice what this means. Death is humanity’s greatest enemy. Medical science may delay it, and philosophies may explain it, but only Christ defeated it. And the enormous truth is that death itself will one day die.

Dear Father God. We pilgrims will one day come to Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem, Your dwelling. You are preparing a place for us there, something for which we are very grateful. Amen.

God: Our Ultimate Refuge in Times of Distress

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled. In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.”
Isaiah 25:4-6 NLT

What a wonderful picture of a secure and invincible fortress, established by God because He is the “tower of refuge to the needy in distress”. Isaiah builds on the picture with thoughts about storms beating against its walls, or shelter against the “relentless heat of the desert”. And he then compares the storms and heat with the “roar of foreign nations” and “the boastful songs of ruthless people”. But whatever the analogies, anything arraigned against God, the “tower of refuge”, would come to nothing. The “tower of refuge” is compared to Jerusalem, where “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world”. 

The “poor” and “needy in distress” describe people who are not just financially deprived, but also those who are very much aware that they cannot save themselves. God identifies with such people, and He has provided the answer to all their needs. He gives them protection from those who would exploit and terrorise them, and he feeds them with the richest of foods in a place of security. Throughout the Bible, there are verses that confirm who God is to His people. In Psalm 46:1, we read, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” The psalmist continues with a reference to Jerusalem, the City of God, with, “A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High. God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it”. And then we read, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress”. 

Once again, Isaiah points out the futility of national pride and arrogance. Human pride always appears impressive, that is, until God speaks. We see in our history books the accounts of the rise and fall of empires and cultures, with nations ruled by men who think that they can change events for the future, even change the very stories in the history books yet to be written. Yet God can silence the loudest voices with a single word. In Acts 12, we read of the death of Herod Agrippa. A grovelling delegation of people from Tyre and Sidon came to plead with Herod for favour in the supply of food, and they were treated to a speech from Herod, dressed as he was in his royal clothes. In the account we then read, “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”” (Acts 12:22). But because of his pride, things didn’t end well for Herod, and we read in the next verse, “Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died”. For us pilgrims, it doesn’t matter what world leaders say or claim. One day, such words will disappear and never be heard again, no matter how terrifying or loud they are. It is only God’s Word that is true and eternal, and we can read God’s perspective in Psalm 2:4-5, “But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury”. 

In the New Testament, we read what Jesus said to the people around Him. “ … Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And then we have the parable about the Wedding Banquet, in Matthew 22. It started with Jesus saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son”. A common enough event in those days, so the people would have been familiar with the scenario. But Jesus related it to His teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, and the importance of being ready and willing for the ultimate Heavenly celebration. In a country where finding sufficient food to live on was difficult at best, the vision of a feast, “a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat”, would have immediately grabbed people’s attention. One of Scripture’s most beautiful pictures of heaven is a banquet. Throughout Scripture, meals represent fellowship, with the most famous one being the Lord’s Supper, where we see Jesus celebrating the Passover with His disciples over a shared meal. And the meal ends with Jesus saying, “Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).  God is not merely preparing a place for us; He is also preparing a celebration.

We pilgrims stand strong because God is our security. Yes, we will experience trials and challenges, but God is always there for us,. Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He didn’t just say that just because He wanted to give His disciples some encouragment at that moment. He said that as encouragement for all believers throughout history, even pilgrims such as us. So when we face situations in this life that are testing us, we turn to Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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“.

Dear Heavenly Tower of Refuge, our Father God. Thank You for Your Word from Psalm 91 that says, “[You] will cover [us] with [Your] feathers. [You] will shelter [us] with [Your] wings. [Your] faithful promises are [our] armour and protection”. Amen.

Finding Hope in Isaiah 25: Praise Amidst Chaos

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Person in a cloak kneeling and praying on a rocky peak above a sea of clouds at sunrise

“O Lord, I will honour and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them. You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble. Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt. Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory; ruthless nations will fear you.”
Isaiah 25:1-3 NLT

We leave the devastation of God’s judgments in Isaiah 24, and move on to the next chapter. Isaiah 25 is one of the most hope-filled chapters in Isaiah’s writings, and here the prophet suddenly turns to praise. The chapter looks beyond immediate historical events to God’s ultimate victory, the salvation of His people, and the coming Messianic kingdom. It also contains one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies of the resurrection. But in many ways this chapter follows on from the previous verse at the end of chapter 24, which ended on a note of hope, “for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of His people”. It is almost as though Isaiah turns in a different direction, away from looking at the destruction of the earth, to God Himself, the One who destroyed all because of the “sins of the people, for they have twisted [His] instructions, violated His laws, and broken His everlasting covenant … its people must pay the price for their sin”. Isaiah understood well the consequences of sin.

So, Isaiah turned to God Himself, bursting into a personal outpouring of his praise. You see, God’s purposes had been completed in the previous chapter, the end of the story leaving Isaiah free to look at what God means to Him. Today, we pilgrims look on as life around us seems to reflect a maelstrom of chaos, both near and afar, but Isaiah knew that nothing was going to happen that God had not already planned. World events, on the one hand, and even personal happenings when we walk out of our front doors, all fit in with God’s plans for mankind. This is a hard statement to believe, because we have to face into the reality that sooner or later God will have to act because of mankind’s sin. Many people today are very worried and concerned that someone will push the nuclear button and the world will self-destruct, but we can be assured that nothing like this will happen unless God allows it. For other people, there is a huge cry of “why!” when a baby dies, or a plane crash kills all on board. They shake their fists in God’s face in anger and frustration, that is, if they ever believe He exists in the first place. Could God stop such occurrences? Of course, He could, and one day God will judge the world and its sin, bringing righteousness to bear when there is now only evil and sin. In the perfect to come, we read that there will be no more crying and no more death. Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever”. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we received a message of hope, because He was the first to defeat death. And this one event sealed our faith in God and His plan for the future, a future to be enjoyed by us pilgrims as we live with God forever.

Isaiah saw in his vision what the judgment would look like, but we never find him remonstrating with God with a “why”. Instead, he said, “O Lord, I will honour and praise your name, for you are my God”. Isaiah referred to what had happened as “wonderful things … planned … long ago”. Isaiah praises God for dealing with Israel’s enemies, and those nations that stand against God will one day have to praise Him. But we know that from Paul’s writings in Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. That’s a very complete count of everyone who has, or will, ever live. No exceptions at all. Paul echoes the same confidence as Isaiah. He wrote, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them“.

For us pilgrims, there is a principle we do well to follow. When life makes little sense, then we look upwards into the Heavenly realms, where we find the One who has all under control. We may not understand what is going on, but we do know the One who does. So, when life makes little sense, and we are tempted to look at the circumstances around us, it is more profitable instead to get on our knees in praise and worship. Faith trusts God’s plan before seeing God’s purpose.

Dear Heavenly Father. When all around us is descending into ever deepening depths of evil and sin, we instead look to You, the Rock upon whom we stand. Amen.

What Comes After the Earth’s Collapse?

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Earth with bright glowing cracks showing tectonic plate boundaries and ruptures.

“… But my heart is heavy with grief. Weep for me, for I wither away. Deceit still prevails, and treachery is everywhere. Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, you people of the earth. Those who flee in terror will fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will be caught in a snare. Destruction falls like rain from the heavens; the foundations of the earth shake. The earth has broken up. It has utterly collapsed; it is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunk. It trembles like a tent in a storm. It falls and will not rise again, for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy. In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. They will be rounded up and put in prison. They will be shut up in prison and will finally be punished. Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people.”
Isaiah 24:16-23 NLT

I can remember finding a snare in a wood in Argyll, on the West coast of Scotland. Someone had made a wire loop and fixed the other end to a stout wooden peg firmly driven into the ground. It was obviously installed by someone knowledgeable of the wildlife, particularly deer, in that part of the world, and the intention was that an animal’s leg would become trapped by the loop, rendering it unable to escape. Traps are also commonplace, with a variety of designs that can lure an animal into a place where it cannot escape. But in our verses today, Isaiah is distressed by the deceit and treachery everywhere. The people remaining on the earth, those who have not returned to God, will be filled with terror, and they will try to run from God’s judgment, but end up being caught in traps and snares. But are these traps and snares real or a metaphor for something else?

Imagine the scene. God’s judgment is being poured out on the people of the earth. We read earlier in this chapter, “even the greatest people on earth waste away”, and “its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire”. Faced with such terror, the people remaining are fleeing away from it, but it is not possible to flee away from God’s judgment. Those who managed to outrun one disaster fell into a “trap” or “pit”, and if they escaped that, then there was a “snare” waiting for them. No one could escape from God. No one could hide from God’s global reckoning.

Reading on in our verses today, we find that the earth will experience a massive global earthquake, shaken to its foundations. We read, “The earth has broken up. It has utterly collapsed; it is violently shaken”. And this is to be final, because the earth “falls and will not rise again”. How do we pilgrims consider the world in which we live? It is an amazing, creative work of God, because its design is such that life can thrive, and has done so for millennia. And in our world, God has provided all the resources we need to sustain the life he has designed for us. Unfortunately, we take so much for granted: the air we breathe, the gravity that keeps our feet on the ground, the food supply, and so on. But one day it will all disappear.  Revelation 21 commences, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone”. The good news is that God will create a new earth, but the news gets better. Revelation 21:3-4, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever””. God’s new earth will be so wonderful that He will come to live with us, His redeemed people. So, for all those people who think that they will die and go to spend eternity in Heaven, there will come a time when they will return to the new earth to be with God. 

The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain” (Hebrews 12:26-27). We have to realise that all we see around us is temporary and can be removed at God’s command. Most people build their lives upon their careers, wealth, reputation, health and possessions, but all can and probably will disappear one day. At the point of crossing the Great Divide, all possessions and everything else will have to be left behind. As a thought, are we pilgrims hanging tightly onto something that is precious to us? Well, don’t hang on too tightly, because one day it will be left behind. And on that day, when the massive earthquake destroys the earth, no possessions will remain. 

The last part of the earth’s demise concerns the rulers and other ”gods”. We read from today’s verses, “In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. They will be rounded up and put in prison. They will be shut up in prison and will finally be punished”. Paul reminded believers that Christ has triumphed over all rulers and those in authority. “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross” (Colossians 2:15). It will not matter how powerful the leaders claim to be, because evil and its apparent victory are only temporary. As we know, God’s victory is eternal. 

Isaiah 24 is a chapter of apocalyptic visions. Not easy reading, but a message that needs to fill us with a sense of urgency to tell those who otherwise will be caught up in the eternal destruction. 

Dear Heavenly Father. Please lead us to those with open ears, those ready to hear and act upon Your wonderful message of hope through Jesus. There is no other way to escape the judgment to come. Amen.