God’s Sovereignty: Understanding Tyre’s Judgment in History

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This message came to me concerning Tyre: Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish, for the harbour and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumours you heard in Cyprus are all true. … The Lord held out his hand over the sea and shook the kingdoms of the earth. He has spoken out against Phoenicia, ordering that her fortresses be destroyed. He says, “Never again will you rejoice, O daughter of Sidon, for you have been crushed. Even if you flee to Cyprus, you will find no rest.” Look at the land of Babylonia— the people of that land are gone! The Assyrians have handed Babylon over to the wild animals of the desert. They have built siege ramps against its walls, torn down its palaces, and turned it to a heap of rubble. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for your harbour is destroyed!
Isaiah 23:1, 11-14 NLT

In this oracle written against Tyre, the ancient Phoenician trading port located just South of Beirut, God’s presence was clear. In the natural, and without any sort of divine intervention, they would probably have continued to trade for many years, sinfully plying their maritime businesses from a city that was nearly impregnable, located as it was partially on an offshore island. But their pride was their downfall, and eventually God had to act in judgment, as we read in Isaiah 23:8-9, “Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility”. But did God’s intervention apply in all the wars and skirmishes that took place in Old Testament times? The Israelites entered the Promised Land of Canaan, driving out the people who lived there, but they found no peace, as one nation after another fought them for land or plain hatred. But God couldn’t allow Tyre to continue because it was starting to use its economic strength to plunder the nations around it, and particularly God’s people. 

Ancient Tyre experienced something like the Wall Street crash of 1929, when the market collapsed almost overnight, leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1929, the stock market collapsed due to poor financial decisions and over-inflated share prices. Tyre experienced something similar with the collapse of its commerce. It relied on its immense economic power, its status as a maritime superpower, and its mighty sea fortresses to act with pride and arrogance, treating its renowned merchants like princes and forgetting God’s ultimate sovereignty.

We pilgrims live in a world driven and underpinned by capitalism. Nations trade with one another. Businesses buy and sell. But the message from Tyre is that capitalism on its own is a poor foundation for mankind’s future. The stock market can crash, and businesses can crash with it. Currencies can collapse, destroying buying power and bringing hardship over which ordinary people have no influence or control. Closer to home, we occasionally see houses lose value, putting the owners into what we call negative equity, where they are unable to realise sufficient value from their investments to repay the loans taken out to purchase the property in the first place. And then to compound the problems, health can be impacted, bringing uncertainty and misery in more extreme cases. But in all of this, we have a God who is unchangeable and who is immune to human systems and market crashes. Paul gave Timothy some great advice: “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Regarding the future, the only sure and solid foundation is Jesus Himself. He never changes and is “… the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

One repeated emphasis throughout Isaiah is God’s rule over history. To their merchants, Tyre looked untouchable, but God simply announced its fall. And we know from history, and the ruins that we can see today, that what He said happened. The time we live in today is politically uncertain, with a war going on between the US, Israel, and Iran and its proxies in Lebanon and Yemen. Ever since it was established in 1948, Israel has been under attack from one source or another. Anti-Semitism is an ongoing problem in many nations. And then we have the war going on in the Eastern borders of Europe, and now in its fifth year. But these are just the headline conflicts. There are many other skirmishes going on as nations rise and fall, and leaders come and go. We could be tempted to think that God doesn’t care, but the story of Tyre says otherwise. God is always active in world events, and He will act when necessary because he is sovereign. For us pilgrims, we trust in Him, and we agree with Paul about what he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:18, “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen”. The Psalmist wrote, “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 121:7-8). And of immense comfort to believers everywhere is Psalm 46:8-10, “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world””. There will come a time when all wars will end, and many believers, looking at today’s world events, feel that this won’t be far off. 

We pilgrims rest in God’s loving arms, secure and trusting that He will bring us safely home. Isaiah 26:4-5, “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. He humbles the proud and brings down the arrogant city. He brings it down to the dust”. There may be much dust in the world around us, but we stand firm on the solid Rock, God Himself. No dust there.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your presence in our lives. In these uncertain times, we look to You as the Source of all that we need, confident in our salvation, and sure that one day You will welcome us home. Thank You. Amen.

Isaiah’s Warning: Tyre’s Pride and Its Consequences

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Jeweled crown on stone pedestal with wooden scepter in ruined stone building

“This message came to me concerning Tyre: Wail, you trading ships of Tarshish, for the harbour and houses of Tyre are gone! The rumours you heard in Cyprus are all true. Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility. Come, people of Tarshish, sweep over the land like the flooding Nile, for Tyre is defenceless.”
Isaiah 23:1, 8-10 NLT

Isaiah 23 is an oracle against Tyre, the great Phoenician trading city. Tyre was the wealthiest commercial city of the ancient world and was built partly on an offshore island, making it almost impregnable. It was famous for shipping, trade, cedar wood, purple dye, and international commerce, and was closely linked with Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon (1 Kings 5). It later became proud, wealthy and spiritually corrupt. It is believed that Isaiah wrote this prophecy about 700 BC, and it was fulfilled during several sieges, the first when Shalmaneser V and Sargon II pressured Tyre in the 8th century BC. Then Nebuchadnezzar came along and besieged Tyre for thirteen years (586–573 BC), as we can read in Ezekiel 26, but it was Alexander the Great who finally conquered the island city in 332 BC by building a causeway to it. But why did such a magnificent city, the focus of Isaiah’s oracle, fall? Today, the ancient city of Tyre lies in ruins in Sour, Lebanon, about 83 kilometres south of Beirut. It is still accessible by the causeway built by Alexander.

The downfall of Tyre was due to God’s judgment for its pride, a theme common to these early chapters of Isaiah. There is something about the sin of pride that God detests, and we can see His judgment in Isaiah 23:9, “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility”. In its pride, Tyre believed that wealth guaranteed security, influence guaranteed permanence, and success guaranteed significance, but the Lord declared otherwise. In Proverbs 16:5, we read, “The Lord detests the proud; they will surely be punished”. Further down the page, we read the proverb, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18-19). James quotes another proverb in James 4:6, “And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’”. 

In Luke 18, we read the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus addressed this parable to “some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else” (Luke 18:9). Who were these people? The description fits the Pharisees very well and the parable commences, “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector” (Luke 18:10). We can read the arrogance in the Pharisee’s prayer, as he thanked God that he was not like other people, especially the tax collector who was praying “at a distance” and not even daring to lift his eyes to Heaven. But Jesus concluded His parable with, “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). 

In Matthew 23:12, Jesus said, “But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”, and this principle is clearly demonstrated by the life of Belshazzar, which we can read about in Daniel 5. We all know the story, I’m sure, of when King Belshazzar was giving a great feast for 1000 of his nobles, and to accommodate the wine, he used the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the Temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. But then we read, “Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote,” (Daniel 5:5). With his knees knocking together in fear, the king called for his motley crew of astrologers to interpret what the writing said. They failed, and eventually, at his mother’s prompting, the king called for Daniel, who began by reminding Belshazzar of what happened to his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 5:20, “But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory”. Then Daniel delivered the coup de grace, with “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honoured the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!” (Daniel 5:22-23). It didn’t end well for Belshazzar, as the story ends in Daniel 5:30, “That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed”. 

We should note that God is not opposed to success, but He is opposed to pride and self-sufficiency. Pride slowly engulfs us with attitudes such as “I built this”, or “I earned this”, things that can develop into the person thinking that they don’t need God at all. The inhabitants of Tyre eventually considered their city a monument to human achievement, which made it the focus of divine humbling. People throughout history, and even today, have found that God often removes the things they trust in, often bringing them down to earth with quite a bump. 

Pride is quite a common attribute among people in our societies today. In a culture focused on achievement, God has been forgotten, and people have generally become puffed up with pride and arrogance. Perhaps a person happened to meet a film star or another prominent person and bragged about it, full of pride. Perhaps a person achieved a degree at University and put their success down to their hard work. But God’s gift of intelligence never figures in their boasting. Even we pilgrims can fall into the trap of bragging about our prowess in our gardens or kitchens, our jobs or qualifications, our abilities in fishing or on the golf course, or even our ability to write blogs and books. We constantly need to humble ourselves before God, pointing to Him as the Author and Finisher of our faith, and the One who has given us so many good gifts. So perhaps a little self-examination is appropriate today, as we thank God for His grace and favour, giving Him all the praise and all the glory.

Dear Father God. Our success in life is all down to You and Your grace working out in our lives. There is nothing we can claim to be able to do or achieve without You being there behind it. Thank You. Amen.

Times of Trouble and Finding Security in God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This message came to me the year King Ahaz died: Do not rejoice, you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken— that the king who attacked you is dead. For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you! I will feed the poor in my pasture; the needy will lie down in peace. But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine and destroy the few who remain. Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities! Melt with fear, you Philistines! A powerful army comes like smoke from the north. Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight. What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them, “The Lord has built Jerusalem; its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.””
Isaiah 14:28-32 NLT

The first question today is “Who was King Ahaz”? Well, he reigned in Judah from 735 to 715 BC and was the 12th King of Judah. He is remembered for his disastrous alliance with the Assyrian Empire and deep involvement in idolatry, which brought heavy tributes and foreign religious practices into Jerusalem. The account of what happened during his reign can be found in 2 Chronicles 28. But it is worth noting that he abandoned true worship of God and added to it worship based on Baal, following the example of Israel’s kings. Somehow, the worship of God became integrated with the worship of Baal, and, faced with agricultural realities in Canaan, the Jews adopted Baal, the local storm and fertility god, as a rain-giver. They viewed Yahweh as the national covenant God, and Baal as a functional deity, often worshipping them side-by-side at local “high places”, a process referred to as syncretism. A really sad situation, but then we remember that we pilgrims live in a country where the national religion, Christianity, is being sidelined more and more by secularism and the introduction of other religions, such as Islam, through immigration. The worship of God in Judah and Israel was integrated with idol worship, and the merger resulted in death, destruction and exile for the Jews. Today, even the Bible-based worship of God is being diluted in some denominations by the introduction of secular and societal customs (idols and ideologies) that directly contradict the Word of God, and, as in the days of King Ahaz, it will not end well. We even find the abomination of occasional “multi-faith” worship services that include religious leaders from other religions sharing the platform with Christians. Christians today tend to believe that the Old Testament judgments on Jewish societies will not recur in modern times under the New Covenant, but such complacency may be ill-founded. We cannot ignore the prophecies in Revelation, because the plagues John described may occur sooner than we think. Jesus said that He was coming “soon”, but we don’t know how soon “soon” will be.

But what else can we find in our verses today? Isaiah wrote, “The Lord has built Jerusalem; its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people”. When trouble comes, our natural instinct is to look for a safe place. We may seek security in our finances, our health, our family, our abilities, or the people around us. Nations seek security in political alliances, military strength, and powerful leaders. Yet Isaiah reminds us that none of these things can provide lasting security.

The Philistines were rejoicing because the king who had oppressed them was dead. This king was Uzziah, whom Isaiah wrote about in chapter 6. King Uzziah had previously struck down the Philistines and broken down the walls of major cities such as Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod (see 2 Chronicles 26). The Philistines thought the danger had passed. But Isaiah warned them not to celebrate too quickly. One threat would be replaced by another. It was likely that this would be the Assyrians or perhaps King Hezekiah of Judah. Their confidence was misplaced because they were looking at changing circumstances rather than at the sovereign purposes of God.

How often do we do the same? We think that if one particular problem disappears, everything will be well. If our circumstances improve, our health improves, our finances become more secure, or a difficult situation is resolved, then we will finally have peace. But circumstances change. One problem may disappear only for another to take its place. Human strength fails. Political powers rise and fall. Financial security can disappear. Health can change. Even the people we depend upon cannot always be there for us. Isaiah points us towards something far more secure: “The Lord has built Jerusalem; its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people”. The security of God’s people did not ultimately depend upon kings, armies, alliances, or favourable circumstances. Their security rested in the Lord. And the same is true for us pilgrims today. Our greatest security is not found in the absence of trouble but in the presence of God.

Jesus never promised His followers a trouble-free life. In fact, He said: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Our confidence is not that nothing difficult will ever happen to us. Our confidence is that whatever happens, we belong to the Lord, because He is our refuge. When circumstances are uncertain, He remains faithful. When people disappoint us, He remains trustworthy. When our strength fails, His strength remains sufficient. When the future is unclear, His purposes remain secure.

The Philistines placed their hope in changing political circumstances. God’s people were called to place their hope in the unchanging character of the Lord. Perhaps today we pilgrims are facing uncertainty. We may be wondering what the future holds or how a particular situation will work out. Isaiah’s message is simple but powerful: Do not build your security on circumstances that can change. Build your life upon the God who never changes. 

The Psalmist wrote, “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. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” (Psalm 46:1-3). The safest place in an uncertain world is not a life without problems. It is a life hidden in God.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please forgive us for the times when we place our security in people, possessions, circumstances, or our own strength. Help us to remember that You alone are our true refuge. When life is uncertain and the future is unclear, teach us to trust in Your faithfulness and rest in Your sovereign care. Thank You, that whatever we face, we belong to You, and we are safe in Your hands. Amen.

Podcast Episode: Isaiah 5 Judgement And Woes

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Pip: There is something quietly relentless about the book of Isaiah — it keeps finding us wherever we are, even in the twenty-first century, still doing roughly the same things the people of Judah were doing in 700 BC.

Mara: Adrian Clark has been working through Isaiah 5 this week, and the posts cover territory that stays uncomfortably relevant: divine justice and what it demands of us, and the specific catalogue of sins Isaiah names as woes against his own society.

Pip: Let's start with the justice side of things — what righteousness actually means, and what happens when it runs out.

Judgement and divine justice in Isaiah 5

Mara: The central question here is what God's justice looks like when it finally arrives — and what it requires of people in the meantime.

Pip: The post on Isaiah 5 opens with a passage that sets the stakes plainly. The verse reads: "Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation. But the Lord of Heaven's Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness."

Mara: What that means in practice is that the wealth and revelry of Judah's ruling class had a shelf life. Historical record confirms it — foreign invaders entered, the land was emptied, and the partying stopped. Pride gave way to humility, not as a spiritual exercise but as a consequence.

Pip: And the post is careful to define what righteousness actually is, not just what it punishes. It draws in Micah 6:8 — "to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" — and Proverbs 21:3, which puts righteous action above religious ritual.

Mara: The follow-up post, "The Judgment to Come," extends the same argument into the present tense. It quotes Isaiah 5:24-25, with its images of fire consuming straw and mountains shaking, and connects that to Jesus's words in Matthew 24 — that no one knows the day or hour, but the call to keep watch stands.

Pip: The remnant thread is what gives it shape. Jeremiah, offered safe passage to Babylon, chose to stay with those left behind. That choice frames the question put to readers directly: are we warning our generation, or are we huddled quietly in the pews?

Mara: The post puts it this way — pilgrims today are effectively that remnant, the faithful lineage through which restoration moves forward. The responsibility that comes with that is not passive.

Pip: Which brings us neatly to what, exactly, the people of Judah were actually doing that warranted all this.

The six woes: a catalogue of sinful living

Mara: Isaiah 5 doesn't just pronounce judgment in the abstract — it names specific behaviours, and the post on the six woes works through each one.

Pip: The anchor passage covers several of them at once: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

Mara: That inversion of moral categories is the one the post treats as most urgent for today — the point where a society stops being confused and starts actively recategorising what God condemns as acceptable, and what God approves as ridiculous.

Pip: The post on hedonism in Isaiah 5 fills in the social backdrop — wealthy people in Jerusalem who had turned drinking and pleasure into a full-time occupation, from early morning to late at night, to the point where they simply stopped noticing God at all.

Mara: And the six woes post ties the alcohol culture directly to injustice: those who are "champions at mixing drinks" end up acquitting the guilty for a bribe and denying justice to the innocent. Excess and corruption travel together.

Pip: Paul's line from Romans 12:2 gets the last word — don't let the world squeeze you into its mould. The J.B. Phillips version is the one quoted: "let God re-mould your minds from within."

Mara: Righteousness as a daily practice, judgment as a present reality, and a faithful remnant called to be visible — that's the thread running through all of it.

Pip: Isaiah was writing to people who couldn't see what was coming. The question for next time is whether we're any better at looking up.

Understanding Righteousness in Isaiah 5

Posted on by Adrian Clark
A large tree glowing with warm golden lights in a meadow at twilight with a crescent moon and starry sky

“Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation. But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted by his justice. The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness. In that day lambs will find good pastures, and fattened sheep and young goats will feed among the ruins.”
Isaiah 5:15-17 NLT

Isaiah wrote about a time coming when “humanity will be destroyed”. Such an event must have seemed a long way off for the rich and partying people in Judah. People who were rich landowners were made richer by the misfortune of their poorer neighbours, who were forced to sell up in their poverty. People who had no concern for God and His ways, having abandoned their part of the Covenant God had made with them. So what was going to happen to them? We know from historical evidence that foreign invaders entered their land, and those who were not killed were taken away into exile. Their pride and arrogance were replaced by humility. What happened to their wealth and partying then, as they discovered that God was real and was seeking justice? Earlier in Isaiah 5 we read, “But I have heard the Lord of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath: “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty” (Isaiah 5:9). In those days, the sins of rebellion against God, idolatry, injustice, oppression of the poor, and so on were the signs of a ticking clock, counting down the time to when God would finally act, bringing justice, holiness and righteousness back to the land he had given His people. 

Righteousness is a character trait that reflects what God desires from His people. Righteousness is defined as being morally right, and synonyms include goodness, uprightness, morality, integrity and honesty. That is who God is, and He demands that everything we think or do is founded on righteousness. In Micah 6:8 we read, “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. Proverbs 21:3 reads, “The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices”. And of course we mustn’t ignore the role the Bible has when we look for help about righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16, “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”. 

Righteousness is something that we have to work at and apply in every part of our lives. When we do what is right, we are aligning ourselves to God’s way. 1 John 2:29, “Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children”. Early on in the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).Other translations use the word “justice” instead of “righteousness”, and the two meanings can be synonymous. And those who find a life filled and directed by the pursuit of righteousness will find a reward. Matthew 13:43, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear”. 

Are we pilgrims “shining like the sun” in our families and communities? I’m sure we are, as we stand in our sinful world, displaying and upholding God’s righteousness and justice. Isaiah 5:17, the last of our three verses today, reads, “Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich”. After God’s justice was applied to Judah, the land quietened. No sounds of music and drunken partying. No revelry and debauchery. Just peace and tranquillity, as once again the land returned to God’s ways. I’m sure there were a few righteous people left in the land to tend the sheep and set the scene for a future, aligned to God and His ways.

Dear Heavenly Father. You require Your people to seek righteousness and justice. We commit ourselves to that today and look to You as the Source of all we are. Amen.

Judgment Day: Lessons from Isaiah’s Warning to Israel

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low— do not forgive them. Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.”
Isaiah 2:7-11 NLT

Isaiah’s prophecy continues with a statement about the materialistic nation that Israel had become. Silver and gold, and treasure reveal that prosperity abounds, and they lack nothing. Warhorses and chariots define a nation that relies more on its own abilities than on God. Such a military buildup was forbidden by God, as we read in Deuteronomy 17:16, “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt’”. The plethora of idols, handmade figures that skewed and violated their desire to worship, sealed the fate of the people. Of course, such idolatry is still alive and well today, with people worshipping their own achievements, ingenuity, and cultural creations instead of the Creator, and that includes even Christians. 

But there is a time of payback coming, Isaiah warned. The “people” include all levels of the Israelite society, and none will escape the judgement that is to come. Pride and arrogance displayed by the people through their materialism and military might will disappear and will be replaced by humility, fear and terror, as the Lord and His glory appear on “that day of judgement”. 

Isaiah’s prophecy preceded the demise of Judah in 586 BC, and the people were exiled to a foreign land, Babylonia. The exile took place in three waves, the first in 605 BC, when royal hostages, including Daniel, were exiled. The second wave took place in 597 BC, when thousands of skilled craftsmen were removed from Judah. Finally, in 586 BC, the remaining people were exiled, and the temple was destroyed by the invading army. They could never say that they had received no warning! What happened to their silver, gold and treasure? Or their warhorses and chariots? Or even their idols? None of them mattered in a foreign land, where they mourned the loss of their native land. Psalm 137:1-2, 4, “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. … But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” A bit late to mourn what they had lost?

Under the Mosaic covenant, God’s judgement took place within a generation or two, but in the New Covenant judgement will be before a Great White Throne at a time we call “the Day of the Lord”. But the warning in Isaiah’s prophecy still stands today. Pride, arrogance and idolatry will one day be judged, and God will deal with such sins in accordance with His Word. The Israelites were humbled by their experience of exile, and they tried to hide in the dust and amongst the rocks, hoping to avoid what was about to happen to them, as the fear and terror of the Lord overwhelmed them. In Revelation 6:15-17 we read, “Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?’” A time of terror where none escaped “from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty”. 

 Isaiah concluded our verses today with, “Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment”. This verse hangs over time as a stark warning that humanity will come to nothing in the face of the Lord’s judgement. Every great man and woman on earth may try to present their wonderful and creative exploits before God, but they will be of no consequence, because one day “…  at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). 

The Apostle James wrote, “… As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. … Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honour” (James 4:6-7, 10). We pilgrims must always evaluate ourselves, asking God to shine His light into our very souls. And then we must deal with any pride and arrogance that we find there. There is no other way.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your grace and patience. We have a tendency to rely on our own abilities instead of on You. Please forgive us, we pray, and teach us Your ways, day by day. Amen.

Walking in the Light: Lessons from Isaiah 2

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans.”
Isaiah 2:5-6 NLT

Following an invitation for the “descendants of Jacob” to “walk in the light of the Lord”, we find about their parlous state because the Lord has rejected them. Why is that? Because they have “filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers”. And the reason for the Lord’s rejection of them? Because “They have made alliances with pagans”. The Jews were supposed to be a nation set apart and holy for the Lord. God had provided them with instructions for how they must live under the Mosaic Law, and He made a covenant with them to ensure their prosperity as a nation. God promised them a land that extended all the way from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates river, as the Lord promised Joshua, “I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites’” (Joshua 1:3-4). The exact boundaries encompass all or parts of modern-day Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, so Israel today only possesses about 10% of the land that God promised them. And they lost it all at various times in history due to their continual rebellion against the Lord.

Isaiah was one of several (many?) prophets who emerged in history to warn the Jews about the consequences of their idolatry and sin, and here he presented another prophetic vision, warning the people that, because of their behaviour, the Lord had rejected them. Was God’s rejection of His people permanent? No, as we see time and again how He continued to fulfil His part of the covenant that he had made with them. Over successive generations, it seemed as though one would return to God only for the next to lapse into sin and rebellion against the Lord.

What can we pilgrims learn from all this today, if anything? We live in the days of the New Covenant, which is the promise that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant, and His death on the cross is the basis of the promise. Jeremiah prophesied about the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33, ““The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people”. But regardless of living in the new, there is still a place for sin, rebellion and idolatry. The same choice facing the Jews is facing us today. The difference is that God has delayed judgement until a future time rather than bringing about immediate calamities, such as punishments from the peoples and nations around them. 

Of course, there are people today who claim that certain human ailments or national disasters are the result of rebellion or disobedience to God’s precepts, such as the AIDS or Covid epidemics, or floods and earthquakes, but I’m not so sure. His grace prevails, as Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent”. So there is an opportunity for all to repent of their sins even with their dying breaths. But one day there will be a time of judgement and people will face the eternal consequences of their sins. 

But the main takeaway from Isaiah 2 must be that God will reject those who fail to follow His ways. Does that include those who once had a relationship with Him, but who have subsequently turned their backs on Him and returned to their lives of sin and rebellion? Some would say, “once saved always saved” but in Hebrews 6:4-6 we read, “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame”. This is perhaps a sober reminder that we pilgrims must stay the course and complete our journey with Jesus. Yes, we will have times of doubts and difficulties. Yes, we may even lapse into times of sin. But God is patient and kind, and He sees the end from the beginning. We grow under God’s grace and produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives day by day, always in the light of God who helps us every step of the way.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Please forgive us for our waywardness and tendency to drift into places where we shouldn’t be. We declare again, “I have decided to follow Jesus”. Amen.

In Conclusion

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given? If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognise that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. But if you do not recognise this, you yourself will not be recognised. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.”
1 Corinthians 14:36-40 NLT

In these verses today, Paul is wrapping things up, and he gives weight to what he has written by the phrase “what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself”. Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians is all about speaking in tongues, messages of prophecy, and how these gifts should be used in a public context. Rather tongue in cheek, Paul suggested to the Corinthians that, actually, when it came to spiritual matters, they were not the centre of the universe. In those days, there were other churches dotted around the Middle East who were also bringing messages in tongues or prophetic utterances, and they were probably facing the same challenges but without getting things so wrong as the Corinthians did. But the main message to the Corinthians was about worshipping in a Christ-honouring way, and preferring one another in the process. 

The previous parts of Paul’s letter have addressed several ways in which the Corinthians have got things wrong. There were the church divisions in chapter 1. The factionalism emerging in Chapter 3. The importance of supporting those who minister amongst them in Chapter 4. Sexual immorality and pride in Chapter 5. Lawsuits amongst fellow believers and the wrong attitude to sins, particularly sexual, in Chapter 6. Thoughts on marriage in Chapter 7. Food sacrificed to idols in Chapter 8 followed by more instructions concerning supporting those who work in their midst but who don’t receive any reward in Chapter 9. Idolatry in Chapter 10. A first look at public worship and how to share the Lord’s Supper in Chapter 11. Then we read what Paul had to say about the Holy Spirit gifts in Chapters 12 and 14, interspersed with those wonderful words describing love in Chapter 13. Paul took the Corinthians on quite a journey, but the picture that has emerged is of a church in disarray, one that has got so much wrong, and with much correction needed. 

So why did Paul have to include the statement that the Lord Himself endorsed his instructions? Probably because there were some in the Corinthian church who didn’t like what Paul had been writing. Perhaps as his letter was read out for all to hear, they were squirming a bit in their seats, and some internal rebellion was welling up inside them. Perhaps these people were thinking, “Who does he think he is – after all, he’s just a man like us”. Sound familiar? I think we have all been there at one time or another. Being teachable is an important quality found in believers, particularly those who are more mature in the faith. But if Jesus Himself were adding His approval to Paul’s message, there would be no argument. 

But as we bring our thoughts forward from two thousand years ago in Greece to churches in the UK and other Western countries, what can we learn? What sort of letters would Paul write to us and our churches today? This in itself is a topic that would fill more than a few chapters. There is such a plethora of different church liturgies and expectations. There are more than 29,000 church buildings to be cared for. We have so much technology. Bibles are a common feature on most people’s bookshelves, or on their smartphones, whether they read them or not, eliminating excuses such as “we never knew”. And, of course, why do we have to make things so complicated? At times, I return to the final verses of Acts 2, which start, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Of course, our enemy the devil will want to make things complicated, because he fears the stripped-down simplicity of the Gospel and what it means for believers. Some denominations enjoy bobbing up and down in a pew, following a liturgy by rote, but this is something never found in the Bible. I wonder if Paul would have anything to say about it!

Dear Father God. You never made believing in Jesus a complicated affair. It is our human tendencies that complicate matters. But we reach out to You this morning, grateful for Your grace and patience, as we stumble through life’s journeys towards our promised eternal home. Amen.

Five Words

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you. But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language. Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.”
1 Corinthians 14:18-20 NLT

Paul was apparently a great tongue speaker, but the Corinthians would have known that because he started the church there and pastored them for the first few months. Paul started in the synagogue, found much opposition, and so ended up meeting in a place right next door. But the people in the church had become believers in Jesus, responding to a message which had been the central thrust of Paul’s evangelism. They found that when they believed the Gospel message and were baptised for the forgiveness of their sins, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit in a way that astounded them with its power and its impact on their lives. Apart from when he used the other gifts, Paul was a great tongue-speaker, and that fact wasn’t lost on the Corinthian believers. 

But Paul had to address the overabundant use of the gift of tongues, and he laid out the necessary balance in a church meeting. Great to use the gift of tongues for their personal devotions, he said, but not in a church meeting, please! Instead, he encouraged them to seek God for five helpful words to build up the church. 

Fast forward to today and our church meetings. Whatever and wherever they are, there is always an opportunity to help other believers. Sadly, when we encounter another person, a negative situation often develops. There was a lady I used to know who got to church, which was a miracle in itself, because when she arrived, she unburdened herself of all her family problems. Negative after negative came up in conversation, but in return, a message in tongues would have been no help to her at all. Instead, she needed some words of encouragement to lift her and give her hope again. Sometimes five words would have been sufficient. 

“[God] will never leave you nor forsake you”

As we pilgrims go out and about, there are plenty of opportunities to bring five words of encouragement. It will probably be appropriate to say a few more words than five, but sometimes all another person needs to hear is that God loves them and cares for them. We need to have a word of Scripture ready and waiting. Something like 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Or how about Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”? Or there is Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”. As we read our Bibles every day, we must squirrel away useful and encouraging verses for future use so that when we meet people, we have a few words to edify them. We live in a sad and bad world, but we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and He hates to see His children struggling unnecessarily with worldly burdens. 

Dear Heavenly Father. We love You and praise You today. We are so grateful for all You have done for us, for the times when You have lifted us up out of the miry clay and put a song in our hearts. Please help us to be Your mouthpiece to bring encouragement to the discouraged in our churches and neighbourhoods. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We Need Each Other

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.””
1 Corinthians 12:18-21 NLT

Paul continues with his analogy, using the human body, with all its constituent parts, as a comparison to the body of Christ, the church. In the verses we are considering today, Paul notes the interdependence of the various parts of the human body, something that we take for granted. In fact, if most parts of the body are removed, both they and the body from which they have come will die. Take, for example, a stomach. Not a very nice and visible part of the human body, but if it is removed, then the person will die. Other parts can be removed without a terminal result, and the body will continue to live, although its capabilities will be restricted. All of this is implied in Paul’s analogy, and the same sentiments apply to our churches and fellowships today. 

Human beings need each other, whether we like it or not. We look around our congregations, seeing the diverse backgrounds, nationalities, ages, employment statuses, and all, and often wonder how such a motley crew could ever function in the way that God intends. But Paul wrote, “God has put each part just where he wants it”. Right back in Genesis 2:18, we read about God’s plan for Adam. “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him””. With the arrival of Eve, the basis for God’s plan for families was established. Genesis 3:20, “Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live”. Over the page we read, “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground” (Genesis 4:1-2). Families and communities are all parts of God’s plan for human beings. They can, of course, be separated from the body of people of which they are a part, but most will then suffer from loneliness, and their lives will be the poorer for it. 

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land”.

Psalm 68:5-6.

From these two verses, we note some principles that apply to our churches and fellowships as well as our communities. 

Firstly, we note God’s interest in the disadvantaged, such as orphans and widows. James wrote about this in James 1:27, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”. In our fellowships, we will have those who are on their own, and not just the widows and orphans. God’s plan is for the church to look after them, because the disadvantaged are still part of the body of Christ. 

Secondly, there are prisoners among us, and God has promised to set them free. We are, of course, all redeemed sinners, set free from the consequences of our sins by Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary. Galatians 3:22, “But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ”. But for the others still bound up by their sins, or those who are prisoners of addictions and other lifestyle choices, God will set them free with our help. And their joy will know no limits. 

Thirdly, we read that those who are rebellious and who may even leave their church or natural families will find themselves in a place where they don’t want to be, wallowing in their loneliness and misery. A “sun-scorched land” indeed. Such people may not want to be part of a family, particularly God’s family, but by leaving, they will be the poorer. After all, one day we will be in Heaven, and we are told that the souls there will be countless in number, a big family indeed!

So, in conclusion, we need each other. This is how God has designed us, and going against His design will not end well for us.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your care and provision, particularly with respect to Your family, the church. Please help us to look out for one another at every opportunity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.