Busyness

“Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest, like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when the Israelites came here so long ago. It will be utterly desolate. Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you. You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you. So you may plant the finest grapevines and import the most expensive seedlings. They may sprout on the day you set them out; yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them, but you will never pick any grapes from them. Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.”
Isaiah 17:9-11 NLT

We remember that Isaiah’s prophecy was directed against Damascus and the Northern nation of Israel. Earlier in Chapter 17, we read, “The fortified towns of Israel will also be destroyed, and the royal power of Damascus will end. All that remains of Syria will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”. God’s glory had left Israel on another occasion, when the Philistines captured the Ark of God in a battle during which Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed. The account of what happened can be found in 1 Samuel 4. Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, went into labour through the shock of hearing the news, and a son was born. We read, “She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured”” (1 Samuel 4:21-22). 

The presence of the “glory of God” had always been assumed by the Jews, almost as if it were their right, because they were His chosen people. They would have remembered Scriptures such as are found in Exodus 24:16-17, “And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire”. Moses even asked to be able to see God’s glory. Exodus 33:18, “Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory’”. And right at the end of the Book, we see mention of God’s glory once again, “So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). God’s glory is never far away from His people, then and now. The Psalmist David wrote, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship” (Psalm 19:1). I watched a glorious sunrise this morning, and it is hard to ignore the beauty and wonder that emerged over the horizon. But that is just a foretaste of the glory that we will one day encounter in the presence of God. 

The prophecy in Isaiah 17 referred to the Lord as being “Israel’s departed glory”. Had God really gone or had the Israelites looked the other way, away from Him? Sadly, the Jews had become accustomed to looking to their idols and Asherah poles, instead of the Lord of Hosts, God Himself. The kingdom of Israel was being attacked, and the prophecy outlined how its destruction would come about; Isaiah 17:10a explained the reason, “You have forgotten God your Saviour; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. …”. This must be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. The Israelites were busy planting, buying, importing vines, and planning their lives, but with one significant factor: God did not appear in anything they were doing because they had forgotten Him. 

As we fast-forward to today, how are we, as pilgrims, living our lives? Is there a chance that we have forgotten God in all our busyness, our planning and our activities? We look around us and see the hustle and bustle of people, generally weary and burdened, as they go about their busy lives, seemingly spending much effort on achieving little. Are we caught up in that as well? There was a musical in 1961 called “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off”, a title that perhaps portrays the feeling of busyness that can consume people and simply wear them out. Perhaps we pilgrims need to stop, take stock, and rest, turning our eyes to the One who brings the peace we need.

Jesus had a message for the church in Ephesus: “Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:4). In Luke 10:38-39, we read, “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said”. Mary got things right, because we too should spend more time sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him and embracing His truths. 

The Israelite’s problem was summed up in Deuteronomy 8:11-14, “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery”. Is that the same problem that God’s people suffer from today? Have we been so caught up with the mad whirl of life that we have turned away from God, and instead been filled with pride in our achievements? Such is the disease we call worldliness, and there is only one cure. 

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). There is no other place to be than in the presence of Jesus. The Psalmists wrote, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10). Today, let us meditate on this verse as we go about our business, looking to Jesus, the “author and finisher of our faith”.

Dear Heavenly Father. It is only in Your presence that we will find the remedy for a life spent without fruit. Unless You are with us in all that we do, then we are wasting our time striving to produce the harvest You want us to achieve. Please forgive us for our waywardness and sins, and grant us the strength to stay the course of life with our eyes fixed firmly on You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.