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Ariel, the Altar of Blood

Posted on by Adrian Clark

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Understanding God’s Preparation: Lessons from Farming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Farmer’s Wisdom: Understanding Spiritual Growth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overcoming Insomnia: Biblical Insights and Promises

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building on the Cornerstone of Christ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lessons from Isaiah: Trusting God’s Protection

Posted on by Adrian Clark

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

Isaiah repeats again the words of a previous verse that made a parody of his attempts to proclaim the Lord’s message, speaking as if he were teaching simple ideas to children. But God would use the Assyrians to teach the childish Israelites a hard lesson. A time was coming when they would be “injured, trapped, and captured”, the surviving people being carried off into exile. Isaiah now turns his attention to “the scoffing rulers of Jerusalem”, the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The warnings were much the same. Judah may have been pleased to hear what Isaiah had to say about the Israelites, but their complacency ended quickly when Isaiah called them “scoffers”. As we saw a few days ago, “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise” (Proverbs 15:12). Later in the book of Proverbs, there is a helpful definition of who a “scoffer” is. Proverbs 21:24, ““Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride“. That was how Isaiah addressed the “rulers in Jerusalem”, and they wouldn’t have been pleased. As we will find in a later chapter in Isaiah, Judah had made a pact with Egypt: ““What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade”” (Isaiah 30:1-2). The people in Judah thought that they were safe from attack, but Isaiah called out the error of their ways. They had put their trust in a foreign power rather than in the Lord. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Understanding God’s Voice: Lessons from Isaiah

Posted on by Adrian Clark

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

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

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

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

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

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

We pilgrims ignore the Word of God at our peril. We know the words that Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Unlike my friend who has rejected God’s Word, we embrace it and we are like the Psalmist who wrote, “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord” (Psalm 119:1). In this Psalm we can also read, “Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions“. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me”. And so we pilgrims pursue the Word of Truth, Jesus Himself, without ceasing. Day by day we read what God is saying to us. And we pray without ceasing, because that is what He expects of His children. Yes, there will be times when we err from the Path of Life, taking time out and resting away from God. But He is gracious and kind. 1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”. There is always a way back to God’s loving arms. 

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

Obeying God in a World of Compromise

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Watercolor landscape with a rocky trail beside a winding stream and distant hills

“Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people. He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates. Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions. Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere. “Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned?”
Isaiah 28:5-9 NLT

There will come a day, said Isaiah, when justice and courage will prevail, when the Lord Himself will be the raison d’etre for the Israelites, and “the pride and joy of the remnant of His people”. But Isaiah then shifts to his present day, seeing how widespread drunkenness is in Israelite society, even affecting the “priests and prophets“. As is often the case, people under the influence of alcohol lose all ability to function in a way that is self-respectful, and they wallow in their own vomit. What a terrible view of society in Samaria in those days. But is that any different to today? We may not see overt drunkenness in the behaviour of our political and religious leaders, but are their decisions any less rational than if they were in a state of inebriation? The jury is still out on that one as we look at the behaviour of Western governments. Oh, that God’s Kingdom would come and His will would be done in our generation! 

Isaiah mentioned that religious leaders were associated with drunkenness. God’s intention for religious leaders in Israel was to call His people back to putting trust in Him. They were to encourage the people to faithfully observe His covenant. At best, both priests and prophets have failed in their mission. At worst, they’ve falsely represented the Lord. Without spiritual direction, the people of Israel were even less likely to worship Him or follow His law. We pause again, this time to look at the behaviour of the established denominations in the UK today. Were there any parallels with the situation in 8th-century BC Israel? Many, I think, with an institutionalised, hierarchical, and unaccountable leadership unable to reconcile their behaviour with Jesus’ commands, should they even wish to. Mark 10:42-44, “So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else“”. There may not be drunkenness present, but the effect is the same. The religious leaders tasked with dispensing and applying God’s Word are instead caught up with issues such as abuse, slavery reparations, and corporate government. It is understandable that so many people haven’t abandoned God, but they have abandoned the church. Where is the spirit of servanthood?

We pilgrims have a responsibility to obey God and hear Him for ourselves. Through the blood of Jesus we have been set free from the need to receive forgiveness through the actions of a priest or minister. Jesus came to “seek and save the lost”, not the religious institutions. One account describes an occasion when Peter and the Apostles were preaching the Good News about Jesus in the temple. The previous day, they were arrested and jailed, but an angel foiled the religious leaders’ plans and opened the jail doors to set them free. While teaching the people, the High Council was convened, after which the guards were instructed to bring the Apostles before them. But they could not be found in the jail, and we read that “When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end” (Acts 5:24). But the guards found the Apostles anyway in the Temple and re-arrested them, bringing them before the Council. The accusation laid before them from the High Priest was: ““We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!”” (Acts 5:28). Then we read, in the next verse, a simple statement with eternal meaning, “But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority““.

Hopefully, in our lives today, we will not have to choose between what God has said through His Word and what is happening in our churches and society. But inevitably there will be a clash sometimes, and we may have to take a stand against worldliness, evil and sinful behaviour, instead upholding the Name of Jesus and God’s principles. Having said that, though, we must ensure that we are in fact obeying God, and not an erroneous interpretation of Scripture – human minds have a peculiar ability to twist things to suit their worldview. But in it all, we call upon the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us carefully and correctly. The way of righteousness and truth is the only way.

In Isaiah 28:9, the last of our verses today, the drunken priests and prophets seem to be resenting what the Lord was saying to them. Was that through Isaiah or someone else? But whoever it was, their attitude was, “How dare they attempt to correct them for their drinking habits and their dereliction of duty?” Those in the wrong, especially those protecting a cherished habit, often don’t receive correction well. We read in Proverbs 9:7, “Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt“.  Instead of honestly examining themselves to see whether the correction is worth listening to, they strike back with their own accusations. This pattern is especially true when alcohol is involved. But although alcohol was not banned for the religious leaders, there were restrictions on when it was allowed. Leviticus 10:9, “You and your descendants must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle. If you do, you will die. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation“. The same rule applies today, but thankfully, to the best of my knowledge, I have never met a leader who was a drunkard. 

How do we pilgrims receive correction? We should receive correction with humility, listen carefully, and test the feedback against Scripture so we can grow in wisdom. We must avoid excuses and resist the temptation to counterattack with a repartee we will later regret. Proverbs 18:13, “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish“. If we find that the feedback we have received does stack up against Scripture, and has been delivered to us in a spirit of love with our own well-being at heart, then we must thank the person who has been speaking to us, and go away to get before God in prayer, asking Him to lead us to the place where we should be. I thank God for the men and women who had the courage to confront me over some issues, particularly in my early Christian days. In Psalm 25:8-10, we read, “The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands”. Humility is a key heart attitude, because as Paul wrote, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). With such a life principle within our hearts, we will avoid the traps that ensnare the proud and the arrogant.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your Word this morning. Help us to live our lives free from influences such as alcohol, bringing to our minds and spirits the truth of Your Word. We thank You for Jesus and His redeeming blood, that cleanses us from all sin. Amen.

Being Salt and Light: Overcoming Modern Challenges

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The proud city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel— will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up, as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten. Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.”
Isaiah 28:3-6 NLT

Why do people sometimes fail to see serious problems and issues and carry on their lives regardless? The leaders in Samaria failed to see that their inebriation was badly affecting their ability to make rational decisions, including that of worshipping God. But Isaiah could see a time when the drunkards were no more, and “at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown”. But verse 6 ends with the sobering thought that there will only be a remnant of the people left. The majority will have disappeared along with the bad leaders.

But returning to our initial question today, consider an alien from another planet observing the human beings on Planet Earth and the way they were conducting their lives. They would observe the same drunkenness affecting people’s behaviour, and they would wonder why they did it. Add into the mix the other drugs that seem to underpin so many lives, and they would be left scratching their heads in wonder. How could such an intelligent species fall into such strange and debilitating habits? must have been their question. In Samaria, drunkenness led to the collapse of a nation. Today, in 21st-century Britain, drugs destroy lives and lead to the rest of society having to mop up the after-effects. Ruined lives and families, and health care costs that reach eye-watering levels.

Of course, the drug community is small, compared with society as a whole, but it is still significant, affecting society negatively. But in another part of society we have the Christian believers, who are also small in number. They are also significant, but nevertheless have a positive impact on society because of Jesus’ exhortation to be “salt and light” in their generation, their families and amongst their friends and communities. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:13-16). 

Salt adds flavour to the food we eat, and in times gone by, before refrigeration had been invented, salt was used to ensure food, particularly meat, didn’t spoil. In our societies, the analogy extends to believers, pilgrims such as us, who are meant to stop moral decay in our society by standing up for honesty, kindness, and justice. I support an organisation called the Christian Institute, and they do just that. They constantly lobby politicians and others in authority, trying to introduce or develop Godly influences into the very seat of our governments. Often the work that they do goes on under the radar and away from the public gaze. Only rarely does their work generate a media headline, but the “salt” in their activities achieves many good results. We pilgrims, too, have the same influence when we interact with our fellow citizens, and it is worth considering joining a community group, where our knowledge of God and His ways will counter the enemy’s disruptive activities. Believe it or not, this is also an important role in our churches because some congregations lose their way from time to time, building their spiritual activities on liturgies and jumble sales rather than the Word of God. But we remember that salt only works if it keeps its unique properties. If a believer acts just like those in the selfish world around them and forgets God’s teachings, they lose their spiritual impact and become useless to God’s mission. A sobering thought.

We pilgrims also remember that we are beacons of light in our communities. A question sometimes asked, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” I ask this in a positive way, because unless those around us know about our faith, how can we ever hope to “give light to everyone in the house”? Our “house” will extend beyond our homes to anywhere we go, such as our places of work, or the supermarkets, the local park, care home or wherever. Jesus referred to “good deeds” in His analogy and how they can influence people so that they see God in all that we do. Evangelism is mostly not up-front Gospel preaching on a street corner, or the handing out of tracts outside a nightclub, but demonstrating that, in all that we do, we are doing it for God. People will then see from the quality of our work that we are of a different spirit. Colossians 3:23, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”. Someone once said, “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words”.

Samaria was facing destruction and exile in the years to come, but “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself … will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people”. God always has a remnant of His people who carry the torch of His presence from generation to generation. As we pilgrims know, we are just such a people. Through our Godly lifestyles, we worship and praise the One who one day will bring to fruition a world full of remnants, gathered over the centuries. A people that the Apostle John could see, as we read in Revelation 21:7, “All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children“. We may be facing all sorts of challenges, but one day things will be different, as we dwell in God’s presence forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for Your Word and Your Spirit, which assist us in every situation we find ourselves in. Drunkenness is not for us, and we pray today that You fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit, so that we can be effective for You wherever You have planted us. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

How Alcohol Impairs Spiritual Awareness: Insights from Isaiah

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Shattered clay vessel leaking liquid across a rustic stone floor

“What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by wine. For the Lord will send a mighty army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground.”
Isaiah 28:1-2 NLT

We will spend another day exploring the first two verses of Isaiah 28 and reflecting on the reputation of Israel’s leaders. They were known for their propensity for drinking excessively, and they had therefore acquired the name “drunks of Israel”. The problem is not simply that the people drank too much but that their drinking had become symptomatic of a deeper spiritual condition. Wine had displaced wisdom, self-control and dependence upon God. This is a spiritual warning that anything that controls us more than God does has become an idol. Alcohol may be the obvious example, but the principle is much wider. Wealth, entertainment, food, possessions, sport, social media or even work can become controlling influences. Paul wrote, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). So the question is not merely, “What, or how much, am I consuming?” but “What is consuming or controlling me?”

The leaders of Samaria were responsible for guiding the nation, yet Isaiah portrays them as intoxicated. Their physical drunkenness reflected a deeper inability to think and judge rightly. Alcohol can impair judgment, but we can also become absorbed in the things of this world and lose our spiritual perspective. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour“. We pilgrims want to walk closely with God, and this needs constant spiritual alertness. We cannot afford to let anything cloud our judgment about what is right and wrong. Any alcoholic drink can have a relaxing effect, and the devil will use it to soften our resolve over sin and situations that should be avoided by believers. The problem for Israel’s leaders probably lay with their drunkenness being used by the devil to divert them from God’s ways. Samaria appears to have been living in comfort and prosperity, yet beneath the surface was spiritual decay.

Wine itself is not presented in Scripture as inherently sinful. The Bible references wine in ordinary life, and Jesus Himself turned water into wine at Cana. The clear biblical condemnation is directed particularly towards drunkenness and the loss of self-control. The danger is that something legitimate can become something controlling. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything”. We pilgrims have freedom in Christ, but the danger is that such freedom can easily turn into licence. This can be a problem in our churches, where perhaps a new Christian, turning to Jesus after a life spent in alcohol addiction, might struggle if fellow believers do not have the same restraints and freely drink alcoholic beverages. In fact, I was once in a church where the leadership decided to become teetotal. Paul addressed this potential conflict with a few verses on food offered to idols, but the same principle can be applied to alcohol. 1 Corinthians 8:9-11, “But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed”.

Perhaps one reason people become dependent upon alcohol is the desire to escape anxiety, disappointment, loneliness, guilt or pain, and, for a while, alcohol can seem to provide relief, but it cannot deal with the underlying problem. But, as we know, we pilgrims have somewhere else to take life’s burdens. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Instead of seeking escape through intoxication, we are invited to seek refuge in God. There is a particularly powerful contrast in Ephesians 5:18, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit”. If alcohol is consumed to fill an aching hole in someone’s heart, then ruin is inevitable. Drunkenness diminishes self-control and spiritual alertness, but the Holy Spirit produces self-control as part of the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Self-control can be eroded by alcohol, as I’m sure anyone who has been to a wedding celebration will know.

Isaiah’s criticism is especially serious because Samaria’s leaders were affected by drunkenness. Their personal behaviour had consequences for the people they were supposed to guide. This principle also applies to Christian leadership, parents, grandparents, pastors and anyone whose example influences others. Paul told Timothy: “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Remember, our private habits can eventually become public examples. There are many people out there who would be delighted if they could find some aspect of our behaviour that they could find fault with. Alcohol abuse can destroy health, marriages, families, finances, reputations and relationships. More importantly, addiction can gradually diminish a person’s capacity to live the abundant and purposeful life God intends. Proverbs 23:29-35, “Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?””

We pigrims have an obligation to restore people gently rather than simply condemn them. Galatians 6:1, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.” Someone struggling with alcohol dependence needs truth, but they also need grace, prayer, practical help and Christian fellowship.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please fill us again today with the right Spirit, I pray, We don’t have to head for a bottle to find the answer to our problems because Your Spirit will lead and guide us, and, as we cast our cares on You, we know that You have the answers. Please lead us not into temptation and deliver us from all things evil, so that we can continue our spiritual journey in the knowledge that You are there walking with us. With deeply grateful hearts, we worship You today. Amen.