Understanding the Rock: God’s Eternal Strength in a Chaotic World

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Hiker on a rocky trail near a large monolithic rock formation with a colorful sunset sky

“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah, he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare. Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”

Isaiah 8:13-15 NLT

Our planet is made of rocks presented in different forms. We have the dust and small particles that can cover large areas, such as in our deserts and seashores. There are pebbles used for roads and paths, and for decorative purposes.  There are even heavy monoliths forming structures like Stonehenge, a monument to a bygone religious custom. Rocks are dressed and used for building purposes, walls and houses, and even the Egyptian pyramids. But much of our planet consists of rock, solid and immovable. But, fascinatingly, these rocks have formed in different ways; however, a lesson in geology is beyond my abilities and the scope of this blog. 

The Lord is described as being a Rock, because He is unchangeable, a secure foundation and a place of safety. Malachi 3:6 reads, “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed”. Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety”. We have these lovely words that fill us with a sense of security, words such as ”fortress”, “protection”, “rock”, and “Saviour”. But why should we feel so? In our world, in our societies, and in our towns, cities and villages, there seems to be no place of ultimate security. Yes, we can visit our churches and cathedrals and find a little peace, but then we find that even the insecurities of our world have penetrated within their doors.

Today, there is a hunger in society, particularly amongst young people, for peace and security. The world around us is fast-changing. New customs, more technology, and changes in government that never seem to make any improvements. Just more of the same old problems with promises that they will be fixed, but they never are. Jobs are not secure any more. The list of woes seems endless. Such societal distress calls for a solution, and our churches are seeing an upsurge in people seeking meaning in our meaningless world. But in all the chaos, there is a Rock who never changes and who promises an eternity that will be marked by the peace and security that cannot be found in the kingdoms of the world. 

The people in Judah found that they ignored the Rock, who is the Lord, at their peril. God is like a large, stable rock: a secure foundation and place of safety. To those who do not honour the Lord as holy, that same Rock, a cornerstone, becomes something of a tripping hazard. God’s truth cannot be denied, any more than a person can walk through a boulder. For those who reject Him, God becomes a “stumbling rock.” He’s something they cannot help but trip over. Everyone who tries to succeed and thrive apart from the Lord eventually falls and does not prosper. And for everyone who honours Him as holy, He is the solid rock on which they build their life.

Isaiah declared that the Lord would become the stumbling stone for both houses of Israel. That meant that both the northern ten tribes, Israel, and the southern two tribes, Judah, would be destroyed. The Lord would become a trap and a snare even to the people of Jerusalem in the end. They refused to honour Him, and that would ultimately bring them misery and destruction.

In Matthew, we find the account of a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees, and at one point, He told the parable of the Evil Farmers. Jesus engaged the religious leaders by asking them the question, ““When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”” (Matthew 21:40). Having drawn an answer from the Pharisees, Jesus quoted the verses from Psalm 118, “Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on”” (Matthew 21:4-44). The Pharisees quickly caught on to what Jesus meant, realising that it was they He was referring to as the evil farmers. But there had been no change in attitudes to God since the days of Isaiah, and the Jews would once again experience what it meant that God was a Rock over which they would stumble, and it would ultimately fall upon them. In AD 70, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and many Jews perished.

There is a simple principle that applies to all mankind and has always done so. There is a God in Heaven, who is eternal and real and who put human beings on this planet for one purpose: “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Short Catechism). The people hearing Isaiah’s prophecies chose to ignore that and suffered the consequences of stumbling over the Rock, ending up “snared and captured”. We pilgrims have a mission as builders, building on the Rock that is the Lord in ways that will bring order into this chaotic world. Only God has the answer for those who intuitively know that he is there, but for many, they cannot find Him unless someone opens the door into His Kingdom, where they will find Jesus, and His saving grace, a fount of blood that will cleanse all from their sins. 

Dear Heavenly Father. You are the only Source of peace and security. Only You are the Rock on which we can be founded. In today’s chaotic world, we choose to stand firm on a foundation that will never move, and we give You all the glory and all the praise. All the thanks and all the worship. Amen.

Understanding the Fear of God in Today’s World

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah, he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare. Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”

Isaiah 8:13-15 NLT

Of all the things we fear, and there could be many, the most important is God Himself. But if we pause for a moment in our busy lives, what do we fear the most? This will differ between people depending on their age, circumstances and even family connections. An older person may fear the onset of dementia or some illness that mainly comes later in life. Perhaps they are afraid that their eyesight will fail to the point that they are unable to drive anymore. A younger person might fear losing their job or being evicted from their tenancy. A child might fear being bullied at school. In a war zone, there will be a fear of death or destruction. At any point in life, fears can emerge seemingly out of nowhere, bringing consequences that are debilitating and difficult to handle. But whatever our circumstances, Isaiah wrote that only God should be feared.

Jesus said, “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear” (Luke 12:4-5). And that’s the thing. Any fears that a human being may face are ultimately temporal except for the fear of what might happen to them after they cross the Great Divide. And yet, that is one fear that people generally don’t seem to have. Speak to someone about life after death, and they generally don’t seem to care that much. Yes, people are sometimes afraid of dying, even Christians, but replies are often flippant and dismissive, like the man I met who said, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be involved”. 

What does it mean to fear God? Instead of being terrified, the Bible defines this fear as deep respect and awe. Think of it like standing at the edge of a giant ocean. You respect its power, but you also trust that it is beautiful and real. Proverbs 9:10: “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment”. If people had a clear idea deep within their souls that their choices in life would define how they spend eternity, then perhaps some of the daft things that they do wouldn’t happen. But then, human nature being what it is, there is always the temptation to rationalise the potential outcome. For someone speeding on the motorway, there is always the thought that they will never be caught. A burglar or shoplifter might feel that they will never be found out. But with God, He sees all and keeps a record of every thought and deed a person commits. Revelation 20:12, “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”. 

But those who have the proper deep respect and awe of God will know the consequences of their behaviour, and this will, as the writer of the Proverbs put it, lead to wise choices being made. 

The people in Judah were afraid of what was happening, as an invading army ravaged their countryside and people. They failed to realise that it was the Lord who was bringing about the destruction that they were starting to see. Isaiah could see that it was the Lord who should be feared, not the Assyrians, and if the people in Judah had realised that as well, perhaps the death and destruction about to happen would be averted. 

Do we have a modern parallel to the happenings in Judah? We probably do, because the judgment in Judah didn’t happen overnight. It took a generation or two, or even more, before what the people feared would become reality. It is the same today. Bad, Godless laws being applied in our legislatures will not be judged immediately because God is patient and He gives people time to repent. But does His lack of action over, for example, the horrors of abortion, mean that he approves of such heinous acts? Of course not! This generation may have escaped the consequences, as may the next, but there will come a time of reckoning, even if only before the Great White Throne.

But we pilgrims are a God-fearing people. We have the benefit of knowing right from wrong from God’s perspective. He leads and guides us through His Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future”.  Our lives in this world differ from those of most people around us. But we have a message of hope that will change people’s perspectives. We know that regardless of what happens in this world, there is a world to come that needs to be planned for. And so we must diligently let those heading for a lost eternity know the consequences of their choices. 

Dear Heavenly Father. The time is short, and we have so much to do and people to tell. Please lead us to the right people who need to hear the Good News about Jesus and salvation. Amen.

Confronting Groupthink: A Biblical Perspective

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.”

Isaiah 8:11-13 NLT

The first two verses from our reading today, in isolation, seem very modern in their intent and application. Our society today is plagued by people who have abandoned their own thoughts and desires in favour of adopting the thoughts and ideologies of others, just so that they can conform. We call it “groupthink”. This is a psychological phenomenon in which a group of well-intentioned people makes irrational or suboptimal decisions because the desire for harmony and conformity overrides critical thinking. Members self-censor their doubts and avoid challenging the consensus to keep the peace. We see this across all walks of life, particularly in business and political environments, even amongst church leadership teams, and among groups drawn together by similar problems or concerns, such as those pursuing an eco agenda or those who feel marginalised in society because of their gender. Then we have political activists who organise protest marches, such as those in support of the Palestinian people. About the latter, some people supporting a recent march were asked if they understood the slogan on the placard they were carrying. The response was disappointingly vague, with an almost complete lack of understanding, it being more of a social occasion for them than a genuine protest. Well-intentioned they may have been, but if they had a critical understanding of the cause they were supporting, they might have stayed at home. One frightening feature of “groupthink” is when thinking is driven by people with no moral compass. Instead, the people involved wind each other up until something illegal is proposed, at which point they fail to confront the situation, and the members of the group end up in court. 

There was a problem in Isaiah’s day: evil practices and the abandonment of God became the norm, to the detriment of society as a whole. Perhaps excuses such as “everyone does it” began to emerge, and God’s people failed to understand the consequences of their choices and actions. 

Was “groupthink” a problem with Isaiah and his society in Judah? It seems so, because he received a warning from the Lord “not to think like everyone else does”. This was also a problem in the first century, to the extent that Paul had to write the following to the Roman church: “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). And that is the root of the situation. Human thinking is flawed, deeply impacted by sin, and a society built on it will not end well. There is only one “groupthink” allowed, and that is when God is involved. His people, pilgrims like us, need to change our thinking, even when it is at odds with the collective thought within our society. The Pilgrim Fathers fled this country in the 17th century because of religious persecution. They believed the Church of England was beyond saving and wanted to form their own independent congregations. Under English law, it was illegal to worship outside the state church, forcing them to hold secret meetings. So, refusing to comply, they ended up in America via the Netherlands. Was their “groupthink” wrong, or was the Church of England really beyond saving? Some would say today that they made the right decision.

The next verse in Isaiah 8 refers to conspiracies. Isaiah quotes the Lord telling him not to believe the conspiracy theories that circulated among the people. No specific conspiracies were mentioned, but human nature has always tried to explain difficult circumstances in overly simple terms. Sometimes those explanations have no basis in reality. Today, there is a real problem with conspiracies, because the internet and its global reach can quickly circulate a theory that is based on something, a comment, for example, taken out of context, and then used to build a whole “conspiracy theory” to the detriment of the people in general. Conspiracies usually involve assigning secret motives to those in power. They can also be suggestions that those who seem powerless are secretly in control of everything behind the scenes. When such conspiracies take root among a people, they can cause immense panic and damage. The priority of knowing what is true gets lost as people get caught up in fear. Some such theories are almost laughable in their content, such as the one that the Covid vaccination was being used to implant a computer chip in people so that the government could control them. Another conspiracy theory that has been around for a long time is the Flat Earth Society’s. In one media report, the sentence “The belief that the Earth is flat has been described as the ultimate conspiracy theory” appears (Huffington Post, October 29th 2012).

But we won’t dwell on the obvious. Isaiah wrote, “Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble”. This verse emerges as a breath of fresh air and as a remedy for many of society’s ills. Who is the One who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow? Who is the One who never changes? It is God we need to trust so that godless theories fall into disuse and out of memory. And more, we need to acknowledge Him with awe and trembling, because He is the source of all truth.

Father God. You are the Truth. You are the only One worth following in this life. Thank You for Your Word. Amen.

Immanuel – God With Us

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels and sweep into Judah until it is chin-deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel. “Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us!”
Isaiah 8:7-10 NLT

We take a second look at the impending invasion by Assyrian forces. Because the people of Judah had rejected God’s care, which Isaiah, in his prophecy, likened to the “gently flowing waters of Shiloah”, the invasion would be like a mighty flood that would immerse the land of Judah so that it was “chin-deep”. Why was the overflow not total? Because Jerusalem, the “head” above the chin, was going to be spared. The first part of the prophecy ends with a reference to “Immanuel”, reminding the people that God’s protective presence was still there despite their rejection of Him. 

In verse 9, Isaiah prophetically challenged all the foreign nations that wanted to attack God’s people. He warned them to prepare for battle, but promised that they would be “shattered” (destroyed). The next verse continues in that theme, pointing out that the enemy’s strategic planning was pointless “for God is with us”, which is the meaning of Immanuel. 

Do we pilgrims today believe that God is with us? Is His presence helping us through the difficulties and problems that seem to be part of living in the 21st Century? There seem to be many media reports of the increasing cost of living, tax rises, a lack of social cohesion, but then, adding to the woes, there are wars and strife and threats of the same elsewhere in the world, all painting a picture of a flood of problems that threaten to submerge people everywhere. Where is God in all of this, some ask? But it is easy to see the problems rather than God’s provision. We are surrounded by plenty. Here in the West, the supermarkets are well stocked, and power cuts are rare. Very few people have nowhere to lay their heads at night, even though homelessness is a problem for some. Jesus said, “… For [God] gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike” (Matthew 5:45b). This is a verse that goes far beyond just watery drops from the heavens, but also points out that God shows people His favour, including all that we need for life in this technological age. Back in my days as a small boy, all children in my primary school had to attend a morning service, where a hymn was sung, and prayers were said, and I can remember that some of the prayers were thanking God for His provision, and for council workers like street cleaners, who made our society a pleasant place in which to live. Just because school assemblies have been largely dispensed with in our multi-cultural Britain, it does not mean that God has stopped showing His favour. We do not have to look very far before we see that He is indeed still with us. 

We pilgrims must never stop praying for our countries, thanking God for His presence and favour. We have much to thank Him for, each and every day, but even in the dark times, God is still there with us. I always feel so sorry for those without a belief in God, and who drift through life like a ship without a rudder. When problems come their way, they are like the man who built his house upon the sand. Matthew 7:27, “When the rains and floods come, and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash”. Such people can be found in a doctor’s office, listening to a bad diagnosis. Or facing an unexpected bill, knowing that they lack the funds to pay it. I met a man recently who, now in his late seventies, said that he was glad that he only had a few years left to live, because his life was one of misery and depression. There is a poem about two prisoners looking through the bars of their cell. “One saw mud, but the other saw stars”. We pilgrims are star gazers, looking up into the Heavenly realms from which our hope and help originate.

We’ll finish today with a Psalm for pilgrims everywhere. Psalm 121: “I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. 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.” That’s all about my God. Does it describe yours?

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your grace and favour, providing for our needs, and giving us hope for the future. Amen.

Hope Amidst Destruction: God’s Promise in Isaiah 8:8

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Narrow village street with stone buildings and a stream flowing through center

“Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.”
Isaiah 8:5-8 NLT

God cared for His people. Time and time again, He offered His love and compassion to a people who consistently rejected Him, a people who preferred to rely on their own resources in times of trouble. The people could never say that they had been given no warnings about what would happen to them. Prophet after prophet brought warning messages from God, and His patience endured long after it would have been expected to. The “gently flowing waters” paint a picture of peaceful and constant care, with provision and healing implied for generation after generation. So why would the Israelites have rejected such an offer? Why indeed.

Because they decided to behave in a way like the nations around them, with their idols and evil practices, their reliance on their own armies and other resources, God had to let them face into the consequences of their choices. It beggars belief that they thought they could go their own way instead of God’s way, but that is how human beings behave. In C S Lewis’s book “The Great Divorce”, the inhabitants of hell, ghosts, were given the opportunity for a day trip to Heaven with a potential second chance. But once there, they preferred to rant and rave at the inhabitants of Paradise rather than humble themselves and repent of their sins. Fiction I know, but the point is that human nature can become so selfish that it destroys itself.

After the building of the Temple had been completed, “… the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:12-15). Perhaps, as we read in Isaiah 6, the prophet recalled this Scripture and went to the Temple in the knowledge that God would hear his prayers.

But, sadly, the Israelites’ attempts to defend their country through alliances and their own resources were not going to end well, because the Assyrians would soon overrun their land, overwhelming the inhabitants, with the result previously described in Isaiah 7:20, “In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people”. But there is a note of hope at the end of verse 8, “it will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel”. Despite this total destruction, God leaves a promise. The land ultimately belongs to Immanuel (which means “God with us”), offering hope for a future.

The “gently flowing waters of Shiloah” were a reference to the Pool of Siloam, the water source for Jerusalem, a spring that never ran dry. But like such things, even today, it was taken for granted. When was the last time we thanked God for the water supply that appears when we turn on a tap? Or the air we breathe? These are basic commodities that support and sustain human life, and have done so ever since Adam appeared on this planet. 

But there is another source of God’s care and compassion, and that is Jesus, who shed His blood that we might have life, and life eternal. In Zecharia 13:1, we read, “On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity”. What else could that have been than Jesus’ blood, that has been cleansing believers ever since the soldier plunged his spear in Jesus’ side after He had died on the cross. People in previous generations revered the unstoppable availability of Jesus’ blood for the cleansing from sin, even writing hymns such as “Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; / Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise,” a hymn written in the mid-18th Century. A William Cowper hymn of 1770 was, “There is a fountain filled with blood / Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, / And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, / Lose all their guilty stains.”

Today, we hear little about the blood that Jesus shed for us, pilgrims. We worship in a more sanitised environment, it seems. But back to basics, because that is why we are here. We are God’s children, and Jesus gave His life for us. 

Father God. We worship You for all You have done for us, and particularly with thanks for Jesus, who shed His blood for us. Amen.

The Signboard of Isaiah: Messages for a Modern Society

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Wooden sign reading 'Ancient Pathways to Oldwood Village' overlooking a mountain village

“Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.” I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this. Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.””
Isaiah 8:1-4 NLT

Isaiah 7:17-25 outlines the prophecy about what will happen to Judah because of King Ahaz’s stubbornness and lack of faith in God. It is grim reading, as “ … the Lord … whistle[s] for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees” (Isaiah 7:18), and the picture develops of a land, desolate and unpopulated. “The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife” (Isaiah 7:24). There are a few people remaining, however, and with the abandoned sheep, cattle and goats, they will have sufficient food to sustain them. But the land of finery, prosperity, rich people and the partying and drunkenness is no more.

We now move over to Isaiah 8 and find Isaiah doing something strange. He makes a signboard with the slogan “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” written on it. To emphasise his message, he enlisted the witness of two honest men, Uriah and Zechariah. He didn’t include what he then did with his signboard, but the message was “Swift to plunder and quick to carry away”. Imagine today if someone had such a placard with those words written on it, and they started to walk down the local High Street. At best, people would stop them and ask what the message was all about. But I suspect that, in today’s society, most people would hurry past them and ignore them. Messages written on placards as part of our seemingly frequent demonstrations and marches today are mostly understandable and convey the message behind the event, so a cryptic message or statement with no apparent meaning would be unusual. 

Perhaps the signboard was to be located in a prominent place in Jerusalem, where passers-by would be constantly reminded of the warning Isaiah had written. But almost to emphasise the message, Isaiah and his wife had a son, and they gave him the same name. Poor wee chap, we think, having to be called that name for the rest of his life, but the message was clear. A time was coming when Israel would be plundered, and all the spoil carried away with the people into exile. “Damascus” and “Samaria” refer to the Syrian and Israeli kings. 

Isaiah wasn’t slow in proclaiming God’s message to His people, who had lapsed into apostasy, idolatry and sin. They were living lives of luxury, apparently unaware of the storm clouds gathering on their borders and of the warning Isaiah had issued. Were all the people living sinful lives, or were there some who “had not bowed the knee to Baal”? Throughout history there has always been a remnant of people faithful to God, and Isaiah’s prophecy at the end of Isaiah 6 records, “… But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed”, and in the verse 22 in the next chapter we read, “Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey”. 

Today, we pilgrims mostly live in an increasingly secular society where there are many parallels with society in Isaiah’s day. Many people live a life of plenty and luxury, but fail to acknowledge the One who has blessed them with the means to enjoy what they have. Talk of God and who He is falls largely on deaf ears. But it wasn’t so long ago when people everywhere here in the UK flocked to their churches without a thought of denying God. Here in the centre of the city where I live, there were fourteen churches and congregations in the 17th and 18th centuries, and most of the buildings remain today as “signboards” of a past move of God. The remaining churches are marked by a small number of people in large buildings. But God is still on the move, with new congregations springing up in out-of-town warehouses and industrial buildings. God always has a remnant of people faithful to Him. 

We pilgrims are representatives of God, and we pray that there will once again be a new awakening to God, and that people will reach out to Him as their Creator and their God. We are the “signboards” in our generation and communities proclaiming a message similar to that of Isaiah. Perhaps ours would be “Repent for the end is nigh”, or “Jesus is the answer”, or something more scriptural like “Jesus came to save the lost”. Even John 3:16 might be an appropriate message for our “signboard”. Or, as a friend of mine does quite frequently, we try to engage people and give them a copy of the Gospel or a simple tract that might lead to their salvation. But however we proclaim the message about our wonderful God to our society, we realise that what we have to say will go largely misunderstood or ignored altogether. The same hindrance that Isaiah was warned about still applies today (Isaiah 6:9-10). 

Father God. The message we proclaim to the people around us, repentance and belief in Jesus, contains words and actions as we live out our pilgrim life in our communities and families. Please lead and guide us in Your ways, and to the people who You want us to reach. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lessons from Isaiah: God’s Sign to King Ahaz

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yoghurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.”
Isaiah 7:13-16 NLT

Isaiah is frustrated with King Ahaz because he refuses to ask God for a miracle to save his country. Isaiah points out that Ahaz is not just testing the patience of human leaders but also God’s. But isn’t that like some people, who stubbornly stick to their sinful and selfish ways, even when they know that they are wrong, and ignore the advice or counsel about the right way? We have people today who choose a lifestyle that does them harm, physically and mentally, even though they know it is wrong, even admitting as such when challenged. But that was King Ahaz, and he probably knew the old Frank Sinatra song, “I’ll do it my way”, down to the last note. The second verse sums up Ahaz well, “I’ve lived a life that’s full / I traveled each and every highway / And more, much more / I did it, I did it my way“.

But Isaiah continued by giving Ahaz a sign from the Lord Himself. It is a famous verse, much used in the season of Advent, because it prophesies the coming of Jesus. A virgin having a child was a very rare event, and we marvel at such a prophetic foretelling of Mary and the Christmas story, something that has been a cornerstone of the Christian faith. But was there perhaps a second, more immediate, meaning for Ahaz that day? Isaiah explained how this sign from the Lord worked as a “timer” for the war. The boy would eat simple, everyday foods like “yoghurt and honey“. Before this child was old enough to know right from wrong (roughly age 12-13), the two kings threatening Judah, along with their lands, would be destroyed. This historical timeline was likely tied to a baby born during Isaiah’s time, providing immediate proof of God’s Word. 

We cannot leave these Scripture verses without turning to Matthew’s Gospel. A young peasant girl called Mary was engaged to be married, but “she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit”. “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly” (Matthew 1:19). But God had different plans and the account continues, “As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfil the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”” The same prophecy from Isaiah was quoted by Matthew, and we know the rest of the story, with Jesus, God’s Son, being born in a Bethlehem stable.

Did Jesus fulfil the next part of Isaiah’s prophecy, that “By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yoghurt and honey”?. There is perhaps a fulfilment of this, because we know the event that happened when Jesus was twelve years old. He went missing at the time of the Passover festival and was found in the Temple speaking with the religious teachers. “His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant” (Luke 2:48-50). Was that the time when Jesus began to be aware of His mission, choosing what was right and rejecting what was wrong?

We pilgrims, with the benefit of hindsight, see how the Biblical prophecies were fulfilled and how foundational they were to the first coming of Jesus. We know that He will return again, and many prophecies apply to the event yet to come. But are we ready and prepared as prophecies work out in our lifetimes? Jesus said, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). Peter wrote, “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved …” (2 Peter 3:13-15a). 

The question, “Are we ready?” hangs in the air and impacts every facet of our believing lives, day by day. We must do all that we can to be faithful to our calling.

Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your prophets and their messages of events yet to unfold. Help us to stay near the cross of Jesus so that we will be ready when the day comes, pure and blameless in Your sight. Amen.

Ahaz Refuses the Lord

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.” Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well?”
Isaiah 7:10-13 NLT

Ahaz was a bad king in Judah. In 2 Chronicles 28 we read, “… he followed the example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal. He offered sacrifices in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree”. The same chapter records that the Lord “… allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army”. In Isaiah 7, we now find that the armies of Syria and Israel are now advancing on Jerusalem itself, causing alarm and terror. The goal was to remove Ahaz from the throne and install their own king, “the son of Tabeel”. 

Isaiah brought the Lord’s message to Ahaz, telling him to “stop worrying” and not to fear, and later he followed it up with an extraordinarily gracious offer from the Lord. “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” Why should God have been so kind and gracious to a king and his people, yet who were so deeply involved in sin and idolatry, and who had rejected God Himself? Why not let the pagan hordes (yes, Israel was a “pagan” nation at this time as well) overrun the whole of Judah, and assign the people to death or exile? After all, they had broken their side of the Covenant that God had made with His people through Moses. But God offered Ahaz a deal to bolster his faith and show him how stupid he was being with his idolatry and evil ways. Ahaz was told to ask for a miraculous sign to prove to him that God was who He said He was, and would protect him and his (remaining) people. 

But Ahaz refused. He said that he “[would] not test the Lord like that”. What was he afraid of? Probably because if he had asked for an impossible sign, he would have faced the reality that God is real and that he would have to change his ways. How could he continue in idolatry, knowing that the lumps of metal that he worshipped had no power like the Lord? Surely he could remember the story of the time when the Ark of God was captured by the Philistines, and they placed it in the temple of their own god, a statue called Dagon. We can read the story in 1 Samuel 5, “But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact”. What a farce! What followed was enough to terrify the inhabitants of Ashdod, and they couldn’t wait to send the ark back to its rightful people. That is the power of the Lord, and even today, denial of the Lord in pursuit of other “gods” will have consequences, either in this life or the life to come. 

Perhaps Ahaz was frightened about testing God, because the test might be accompanied by something unpleasant. There was the account of Elisha, on his deathbed, in conversation with King Jehoash of Israel. We read in 2 Kings 13:18-19, “Then [Elisha] said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times””. Fear instead of faith ruled the day as far as Ahaz was concerned, and he refused a life-changing offer from God. God’s offer to Ahaz was startlingly gracious. He told Ahaz that the sky could be the limit. He can ask for any supernatural act to show that God was with him and His power was real and effective. It seemed that Ahaz wasn’t expressing faith, but stubbornness. What’s implied in Ahaz’s refusal to test God was that the king’s mind was already made up. He didn’t want to be distracted by supernatural displays of God’s power through the prophet Isaiah. He wanted to produce the answer himself. And in the process he would end up putting the fate of his nation in the hands of the powerful Assyrian king.

For us pilgrims, there will come times of testing, when God will check out our faith. In Hebrews 11:6, we read, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”. There will be times in life when we have to appeal to God in prayer, perhaps for a miraculous healing, relief from debt, or some other human catastrophe. In faith, we know that God will have an answer, and we pray and keep praying until we receive His answer. Nothing delights God more than to see His children faithfully look to Him in times of need. He may not offer us a miraculous sign to prove His presence, because through Jesus, He was the miracle that we need. So we keep praying, day by day, bringing our petitions to the throne of grace. And, as we know, His peace will flood over us. Faith, not fear, will overcome in the end.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that You are real and able to forgive all our sins. We love You and worship You. Amen.

A Message of Hope: God has a Way

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah. Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying, ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’”
Isaiah 7:2-6 NLT

The news that Syria and Israel had formed an alliance and were heading to Jerusalem filled the hearts of king Ahaz and the people there with fear. We read the extent of the fear, because we are told that the people “trembled … like trees shaking in a storm”. We get more of a background from 2 Chronicles 28, where we find a good reason for the Judeans’ fear. We read, “Because of all this, the Lord his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army. In a single day Pekah son of Remaliah, Israel’s king, killed 120,000 of Judah’s troops, all of them experienced warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. … The armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and children from Judah and seized tremendous amounts of plunder, which they took back to Samaria” (2 Chronicles 28:5-6, 8). 

But all was not lost, because the Lord gave Isaiah a message of hope to take to Ahaz. He was to take his son, Shear-jashub, to meet the king and deliver a message that he must stop worrying. A strange name for a son, I think we agree, but in those days it was the customary to name a child after some event or message from God. Shear-jashub means, “A remnant will return”, a reminder that God would ensure that a small number of people will return from exile to rebuild the nation of Israel. We find some strange names as well in Hosea, with the children of Gober named Jezreel (God will scatter), Lo-ruhamah (Not loved) and Lo-ammi (Not my people), all names to send a prophetic message to the people of Israel because they had rejected God. But at least “A remnant will return” conveys a message of hope.

The account in Isaiah continues with the Lord providing specific instructions to Ahaz regarding the invading armies of Israel and Syria. Ahaz was outside Jerusalem, presumably inspecting Jerusalem’s water supply, when Isaiah caught up with him. There, Isaiah received a message from the Lord telling him not to fear and he delivered it to Ahaz. Although the intent of the invading armies was to capture the whole of Judah and replace the king with their own, we read more detail in Isaiah 7:7-9, “But this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place; for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed. Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm””.

The Lord referred to the invading kings as being “burned-out embers”. In other words, they may look scary, but they are like dying fires that will soon burn out. The Lord promised that their plan to conquer Jerusalem “will never take place”. God points out that the enemies are just human kings, but the Lord is in total control of history. But there was a warning in Isaiah’s message, “… Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm” (Isaiah 7:9b). This was a stark warning to Ahaz that unless he trusted God to protect his kingdom, then he would fall, taking Judah with him. Ahaz received a message of hope, but there was a condition – unless He had faith in God and changed his evil ways, there would be consequences. 

Have any of us pilgrims ever had a panic attack? At a time, perhaps, when something in our lives was so big and so threatening that we lapsed into fear, shaking “like trees in a storm”? At a time when there seemed to be no way out from a financial crisis or bad news from the doctor? At such a time, it is important to stay calm, trusting that God will take care of us. Peter wrote, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7). Paul wrote, “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” (Philippians 4:6-7).

In God, there is always a way out of a crisis. He brings hope to the hopeless and succour to the needy. Our cares and worries are as nothing to a child of God, because He has all the resources that we will ever need. And one day He will bring us home, to live in His house forever. We pilgrims are children of God, a people of faith, and we know that “… the Spirit who lives in [us] is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4b). 

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your care and concern for us, your children. Whatever we are facing today, we give it to You, in faith that You will bring about the solution we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ahaz, the Bad King

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan. The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.”
Isaiah 7:1-2 NLT

Ahaz was the king in Judah for 16 years around 735 BC. In 2 Kings 16:2, we read, “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had done”. His list of misdemeanours can be found in the next two verses, “Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree”. Faced with an invasion by an Israel-Syria coalition, he forged an alliance with Assyria, which cost Judah much gold from the Temple and made it a vassal state of Assyria. 

Well, that is the background to the next phase in the life of the nation of Judah, and as we read on, we find a series of alliances and wars that bring political volatility and instability that was never in God’s plan for His people. A bad king, and rampant idolatry and sin permeated throughout the nation regardless of God’s appeals and warnings. Was God supposed to turn His back on His people and let them get on with it? Perhaps another option was to destroy them all, as He did in Noah’s day, and start again, but the Noahic Covenant He made at the time meant that this was never going to be a divine option. And so, the decline of Judah commenced in line with Isaiah’s previous prophesies. It wouldn’t end until all the inhabitants had been cleansed by death, destruction or exile. So sad, when all the time God was reaching out to His people with unlimited love and grace.

Israel and Judah were surrounded by belligerent nations that they were supposed to have driven out when they entered their promised land. That would have enabled them to occupy the land and live in accordance with God’s plan, and to be protected from any nations outside their territory. But time and again, they rebelled against God and adopted the sinful practices of the nations that they were instructed to destroy. Yes, there were bright spots when they rose up and did what they were supposed to do, and we can read about some of them in Judges and elsewhere, but overall, there was a downward spiral of evil that they were unable to overcome, having rejected God’s help in it all. They were given a choice between blessings and curses, and chose, for much of the time, a way of life that brought upon themselves the curses God warned them about.

The same choices that were before the Jews in the BC centuries and ever since are before mankind today. The UK and US have their roots in Christian principles and morals, founded on a faith in Jesus. Laws have been based on Jewish precepts, such as the Ten Commandments, and Western nations have, in the main, flourished and prospered. But today, secularism and humanism is on the increase, and laws are being passed that are at variance with what God desires. The outcome will be the same as it was for the Jews. Blessings and curses are still before us today, because God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. 

So what do we pilgrims do? We pray, of course, and keep on praying, that our leaders in government will turn from their wicked paths and embrace the one true God and His ways. We pray for a new awakening in our countries and revival in our churches and denominations. We remember that we are salt and light in our communities, telling people everywhere that there is a God in Heaven, and that Jesus, His Son, came to bring salvation from the consequences of sin. Many Christians are also called to get involved in the politics of our nations and, by doing so, bring a Godly perspective to largely godless assemblies. 

Ahaz failed to do “what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God”, and he ultimately paid the price. He was twenty when he became king and reigned for sixteen years, which meant he died in his thirties, although we do not know for sure how or when. Did God cut his reign short because of his evil? Perhaps, but there is a warning for the leaders in our days that God may intervene when necessary and when the time is right. 

Heavenly Father. It was a depressing period in Israel’s history when Your people abandoned Your ways and lapsed into sin and idolatry. We too live in a depressed world, with evil leaders causing so much mayhem. And so we pray for peace and for Your Kingdom to come, as Jesus taught us to pray. And we echo the words at the end of the Bible, “Come Lord Jesus”. Amen.