Do Not Be Afraid

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago. In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea. In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.”
Isaiah 10:24-27 NLT

Words of assurance from “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”. God said to His people that He was angry with them, but “in a little while” that anger would turn against the oppressors, the Assyrian army. God reminded the Judaites of what He had done for them in the past; specifically, He mentioned the victory that Gideon achieved over the Midianites and the time when the Egyptian army was destroyed in the Red Sea. When was God’s anger going to be turned? The prophecy didn’t include a time, but it did say that it would happen “In that day”. The people would know when it happened.

In Isaiah 10:24, we read God’s words of comfort to His people, “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you”. Despite their wickedness, the Judaites were still God’s people, and although they were going to be punished, He still loved them and was committed to them and their future. He told them not to be afraid. Fear is a terrible emotion, debilitating and demoralising, and, faced with a cruel and unstoppable foe, the people were afraid. They were fearful for their lives, their families, their possessions; in fact, everything that they were was under threat. So if God told them not to be afraid, faced with such a devastating situation, what were they to think? Would His words of comfort make any difference? 

Fear is one of Satan’s greatest weapons. The people of Judah had every reason to be afraid, as Assyria was the world’s superpower at the time. Cities had fallen, nations had disappeared, and Jerusalem seemed next. Yet God’s first word was not strategy but reassurance. The Lord reminded His people that, although their enemy was powerful, their suffering was temporary and God, “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”, was still in control.

What about us pilgrims today? Are we fearful about anything? Are we facing a situation that is debilitating and demoralising, as the Judaites were? Perhaps an unexpected bill has landed on the doormat this morning, and we do not have the funds to pay it. Perhaps the company we are working for is announcing redundancies today, and we are worried about our jobs. Perhaps a loved one is suffering from a terrible disease, and we are fearful of what might happen next. The list of potential fears cooked up by our enemy seems endless, but the same message that God gave the Judaites He gives us as well: “Do not be afraid”. Psalm 27 starts with the verse, “The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?” In John 16:33 we read, “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”. Why are these verses in the Bible? Because they show the heart of God to a people easily captured by fear.

It could be that our fears stem from the burdens we are carrying. I don’t mean physical burdens such as a backpack or heavy shopping bag. Burdens such as shame, sin, guilt, and the like. In Isaiah 10:27, we read that God will “break the yoke of slavery”. The yoke, a device that held two oxen together when ploughing fields, was often used as a metaphor for slavery and oppression, just as it was to the beasts coupled together. Too often, we pilgrims can be enslaved by our thoughts, habits, ways of life, influences, and friends. In Matthew 11:28-30, we read, “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ‘ ” Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light””. Jesus has the power to break our “yokes” if we let Him. Galatians 5:1, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law”. 

The Judaites were afraid and oppressed. Believers today can experience the same. But God is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is still in the business of setting people free, and we pilgrims only have to reach out and feel the love of our Heavenly Father as he helps us through whatever we are experiencing. 

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for our freedom in You. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”. Help us, we pray, as we bring before You all that is enslaving us and stopping us from functioning as a true child of God. Amen.

The Significance of Zebulun and Naphtali in Isaiah Prophecy

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Map of Zebulun and Naphtali territories featuring Mount Calvary and surrounding biblical locations

“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”
Isaiah 9:1-2 NLT

Isaiah’s message continued over the page in chapter 9. He included a theme of hope, that the darkness through which the people in Israel and Judah are stumbling will not go on forever. Something remarkable and wonderful will happen in the region of the Galilee, and the people there “will see a great light”. “The land of Zebulun and Naphtali” became highly significant in the New Testament as the setting for much of Jesus’ early life and ministry. Zebulun was the sixth son of Jacob by his wife Leah and the tenth of all Jacob’s sons, and he was one of Joseph’s brothers who sold him as a slave to traders who took him to Egypt. Jacob pronounced a blessing on each of his twelve sons before he died. To Zebulun, he said, “Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon” (Genesis 49:13). Naphtali was Jacob’s sixth-born son and the second of two sons by Rachel’s maidservant, Bilhah. Naphtali’s older brother was Dan. Moses, when Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, pronounced a blessing on Naphtali’s tribe: “Naphtali is abounding with the favour of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake” (Deuteronomy 33:23). As indicated in this blessing, Naphtali settled in northern Canaan in the high regions west and northwest of the Sea of Galilee. So the reference to Zebulun and Naphtali in the Isaiah prophecy was extremely significant, and was mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel. Referring to Jesus, Matthew wrote, “He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live” (Matthew 4:13-15). 

But how did Isaiah know about the event that was coming when Jesus would become the “great light” for the people in the land where He grew up? It could only have come from God, who could see His plan working out in that very region. But why “Galilee of the Gentiles” of all places? God could see that the exact mix of people and the right political and social circumstances would collide at that point in history, and set the backdrop for what was to come. Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6). That was the “time” for Jesus’ first coming, and the “place” was in Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 

There has always been speculation of Jesus coming to other places, as was written in Blake’s hymn “Jerusalem”, where he asked the question, “And did those feet in ancient time / Walk upon England’s mountains green? / And was the holy Lamb of God / On England’s pleasant pastures seen?” No, of course, Jesus didn’t personally visit the UK, at least not in person. But He did visit here through the Holy Spirit: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13). Many believers and followers of Christ, have stepped on “England’s pleasant pastures” and still do as the “Spirit of truth” prevails in the places where we live. Christ’s ambassadors to a “people who walk in great darkness”.

God’s timing is always perfect, and we are so grateful for His love and care. Peter wrote, “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” (2 Peter 3:9). But Peter warned of something that would happen one day, and that is the next verse in 2 Peter 3. “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment”. 

The starting gun for the New Covenant was fired when Jesus came to this world in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. He ministered to a “people who walk[ed] in great darkness”, training up 12 men who carried His message into the lands further afield, performing miracles to underpin His message of the Kingdom of God, but ultimately dying on a Roman cross. But something amazing happened that weekend, and Jesus rose from the dead straight out of a rock-hewn tomb, not many miles away in Jerusalem. And then He returned to His Heavenly home, but He continues to live in the hearts and minds of His followers through the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, gifted to us when we turn to Jesus, in repentance for our sins. Pilgrims everywhere walk in Jesus’ steps, following Him and His teaching in lives transformed. And it all started in “Galilee of the Gentiles” two thousand years ago.

Father God. Your plan for the salvation of mankind was flawless, and You implemented it at just the right time and in just the right place. Thank You. Amen.

How to Overcome Spiritual Darkness with God’s Truth

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Golden sunbeam streaming through a ceiling opening onto old stone floor in a dim room

“Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.”
Isaiah 8:20-22 NLT

If a person walks into a room at night, there is no light there. So, they look for the light switch and turn it on. Simple, really, in our modern days. Not so long ago, the equivalent would have been a candle or an oil lamp, but any action to introduce light into a dark place involves two things. An understanding that there is darkness, but with a remedy, and then the application of an action to introduce light. But it seems that in Isaiah’s day, people were “in the dark” about what was happening to their nation and about God’s role and remedy. Instead of asking Him, however, they headed for the mediums and necromancers to obtain an answer. To return to our earlier analogy, the person entering the dark room would understand that they were in a dark place, but instead of turning on the light, they had forgotten what they needed to do to illuminate the room. And they would then have started asking other people, equally “in the dark,” for a solution, even to the point of seeking out dark and demonic spirits to see if they knew anything. Perhaps the person looking for a remedy to the darkness only had a very dim memory of a light switch, or had even completely forgotten what it was, and instead of asking the owner of the house how to illuminate the room, they started to ask other sources, such as the internet, Google, or even ChatGPT, for a solution. A very simple analogy, I know, but it illustrates that the people, God’s people at that, had forgotten that God was there for them, with an answer to their darkness. 

The problem was not that God is hiding the truth by keeping them “in the dark”. It was that His people would not receive it. In other words, Isaiah said that those who will not hear the revealed word of God live in darkness. They rejected the light, and the light did not come. The day of their understanding of the truth never dawned. Paul picked up this theme in Romans 1:18-20. He wrote, “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God”. We pilgrims all know the tendency that people have to reject God and His ways, despite all the evidence. Paul pointed out that there is much evidence for God in the natural world, and so there is. Even atheistic scientists admit that the Earth is located, in stellar terms, in what they have called the “Goldilocks Zone”. The conditions for human life are precisely established: the right temperature for water to be a liquid, the right amount of gravity, the right amount of oxygen, the right amount of light, and so on. That all that happened by accident beggars belief, and yet “sinful, wicked people [have suppressed] the truth by their wickedness”. The same problem exists today just as it did in Isaiah’s day. To believe God and His “instructions and teachings” and, consequently, the truth about their existence, means that people will have to abandon their sin and live their lives God’s way.

The modern equivalent of the consultation of mediums and necromancers is a plethora of self-devised theories and explanations, such as evolution, big-bang theories and so on, all designed to replace God and His creation with a pack of lies. Sadly, just as in Isaiah’s day, the lies are propagated into lifestyles that deny God, and all sorts of social and religious error have crept in and corrupted our nation. 

Isaiah prophesied that people would become hungry. Not for food but for the truth. Starvation would come later. We see a parallel in today’s society: it has permitted Godless laws and practices, and people have started to rage at each other because of their different beliefs and ideologies, and because they are all wandering around “in the dark”. Social cohesion has become a forgotten light switch in a Godless nation. People have been starved of the truth about God and even effectively rage against Him in their ignorance. And our churches and denominations, who should be the arbiters of God’s truth, have largely failed in their mission. But there is hope, just as there was in Isaiah’s day. Isaiah proclaimed God’s message, even though the people didn’t want to hear it. They could never claim before God that they were totally ignorant of the truth. 

Fortunately, we pilgrims know where the spiritual light switches are located, and we diligently and counterculturally push back the forces of ignorance with our message of the truth. The people around us may not want to hear the Good News about Jesus and His selfless act of salvation, but without it, they will find themselves in a lost eternity. Jesus made a truthful statement that we can read in John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life””. An unequivocal statement, I think we can agree, and the people around Him, who heard that message and ignored it, would have continued to walk in darkness, as so many people do today. 

So, wherever we are, we pilgrims must proclaim the light of God to the people stumbling around in darkness, believing lies and ignoring the truth. 

Father God. We pray once again for the boldness we need to proclaim the Good News about Jesus and how He will forever illuminate people’s lives. Amen.

Immanuel – God With Us

Posted on by Adrian Clark

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll finish today with a Psalm for pilgrims everywhere. Psalm 121: “I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” That’s all about my God. Does it describe yours?

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

The Signboard of Isaiah: Messages for a Modern Society

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lessons from Isaiah: God’s Sign to King Ahaz

Posted on by Adrian Clark

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah’s Call: Responding to God’s Message Today

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Wheat field at sunset with orange and purple clouds and distant hills

“He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’””
Isaiah 6:7-9 NLT

Imagine the relief that would have flooded over Isaiah, now that he was aware that his guilt was gone. That his sins had been forgiven. But he didn’t have much time to enjoy the occasion, because he heard the Lord speaking. God was asking a question, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” Isaiah couldn’t wait to respond to the question, and he immediately said, “Here I am. Send me.” 

We notice the “us” in the Lord’s question. Yet another example of our triune God, to add to other Scriptures such as Genesis 1:26a, “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.’ …”. The other thing that we notice is that, although God is all-powerful and can do all things, He asked for someone, a human being, to do His work for Him. God asked for a messenger, someone who would take His message to a people who were hard of spiritual hearing, who were unable to listen to a Word from God and act upon it. Sound familiar?

Isaiah had been cleansed of his guilt and sin by the Lord Himself that day in the Temple. He went there in a time of political upheaval and instability, perhaps hoping for some direction and insight from God about what would happen now, and instead, he came out a totally transformed man with a message from God that not only encouraged him, but would encourage others, if they would listen, that is.

Did we pilgrims experience an overpowering sense of relief when we discovered that Jesus had forgiven us for all our sins? Many Christians do, and some go on to be active messengers for God, hearing the call to take His message to a people who are hard of hearing. Spiritual deafness is prevalent in the 21st-century, just as it was in Isaiah’s day.

I can think of two men who were involved in drugs and who were released from their addiction through the power of God. Each of them was so overwhelmed by what God had done for them that they became evangelists, one on a foreign mission field, and the other in the very area of Glasgow where he had become involved in drugs in the first place. But we pilgrims are called to take God’s message to those around us as well. The same question that God asked in the Temple still hangs in the air today. We read what Jesus said about evangelism in Matthew 9:36-38, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields””. 

I meet many people who are “confused and helpless” inside, even though on the outside they are full of self-confidence. A few gentle questions, if an opportunity arises, soon expose a deep yearning for something more. Some people will object almost angrily to the idea that there is a God with a message of hope. They know the truth of course, but a reminder is often not well received.

So, I would encourage all pilgrims everywhere to respond to the call of God. Instead of responding, “Here I am. Send me”, we must answer with our names, personalising the call and confirming our willingness to take the Good News about Jesus to those who are “confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Jesus could see the need. He knows where there is a harvest, and He also knows that there are willing helpers, fellow pilgrims like you and I, just needing a little push, some encouragement, to get out there and do something for God. 

Dear Lord Jesus. The harvest is waiting for the workers to bring it in. Please guide us to the right places, the right people, so that we can do what You have asked us to. In Your precious name. Amen.

Exile and Captivity

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to those at the ends of the earth. They will come racing toward Jerusalem. They will not get tired or stumble. They will not stop for rest or sleep. Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken. Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle. Sparks will fly from their horses’ hooves, and the wheels of their chariots will spin like a whirlwind. They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions. Growling, they will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one will be there to rescue them. They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.”
Isaiah 5:26-30 NLT

A scene of devastation marks Isaiah’s vision, as God calls upon foreign nations to administer His judgment over Judah. Wonderfully poetic language graphically describes the invading forces and their motivation to complete the day of destruction, leaving the land full of darkness and distress. Miraculously, in a way, the invading army will not suffer the usual irritations, like breakdowns in military equipment. What a terrible day that would be for the Judaeans, but we know from our historians that the exile took place in 586 BC, because the people never turned from their sinful ways. 

Did the people of Judah, languishing in captivity, ever regret what happened to them? Did they remember their sinful ways once more and long again for their parties, their drunken orgies, and their idol worship? Or did they finally come to their senses and decide to turn back to God? Psalm 137 provides a partial answer: “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. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). 

Jesus Himself could see what would happen to Jerusalem much later in history. He knew what was going to happen within a few years of His death, as recorded in Matthew 24:1-2, “As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”” Jesus entered Jerusalem on the day we now call Palm Sunday. In the Jewish calendar, this took place just before the Passover festival. He wept over Jerusalem, as we read in Luke 19:41-44, “But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognise it when God visited you””. Once again, the Jewish people had rejected God’s care and compassion, even to the extent, as we know, of killing His Son.

But God never gave up on His Covenant with His chosen people. There will be another day, yet to come, when an invading army will once again approach Jerusalem. In Revelation 19:19-21, we read, “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshipped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies”. 

We pilgrims worship a faithful God, who has throughout history always loved His people, first the Jews and now the Gentiles. We know that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the One who saved us from our sins, an act of love that sets Christianity apart from any other religion. Jesus said He was “the way, the truth and the life” and still is today. We pilgrims have the opportunity to extend God’s love to those around us in this season of grace, secure in the knowledge that His mercies are new every morning to those who love him.

Dear Father God. We praise and worship You today, the God of love and grace. 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.

Lessons from the Rich Landowner: A Cautionary Tale

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Sun rising over mist-covered fields and hills with scattered trees and a farmhouse

“What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land. 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. Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.””
Isaiah 5:8-10 NLT

A strange picture emerges of a land with empty houses, surrounded by empty fields. A landowner has bought up farms and houses because their owners could no longer afford to live in them. Yes, the landowner lived in great splendour, but many poor people were forced into unsuitable accommodation because their family home, sometimes there in their family for several generations, had been sold. And we end up with the landowner living isolated from his immediate neighbours. A lonely existence that was never in God’s plan for the communities of Israel and Judah. 

God foresaw such an eventuality when he gave Moses relevant instructions. The Year of Jubilee was instituted, as we read in Leviticus 25:13, “In the Year of Jubilee each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors”. The Lord continued, “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me” (Leviticus 25:23). The rest of the Leviticus chapter provides some detailed instructions regarding property, but for the farms and houses out in the countryside, the price of any purchases were calculated with an eye on the remaining years before Jubilee, at which point the property had to be returned to the original owner.

Reading on in today’s verses, we see what will become of the beautiful mansions of the wealthy landowners. Not only will the farmhouses stand empty and neglected, but, for one reason or another, so will the mansions. Such is reality for people who think they will live forever. There have been many building projects over the years that have ended up unfinished because of the owners’ premature deaths. Also, perhaps the Lord’s judgements in those unstable times created situations in which wealthy people were removed, went to live elsewhere, or faced other family calamities. God never intended that such a dysfunctional society would exist. Greed replaced the fruit that God demanded from His people. 

The final verse from our verses from Isaiah 5 today describes how, all of a sudden, the yield from the farms the wealthy have acquired plummets, with insufficient crops being harvested even to replace what had been planted. What could have caused that? Well, as any farmer knows, climate problems such as drought can decimate their crops. Blight or disease was not unknown in those days either. Sadly, the Jewish people had forgotten the instructions given through Moses in Leviticus 25:18,-19, “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it”. Simple, really, I think we agree, but so often the Jews rebelled against God and abandoned His ways.

What about these verses today? Are they relevant to us pilgrims? Jesus told the story of the Rich Landowner, which we can find in Luke 12. He had a “fertile farm that produced fine crops”, and he decided to tear down all his barns, build bigger ones, and store enough crops to keep him going for many years. Then he could “take it easy [and] eat, drink and be merry”. Such a worldly perspective is common today, with certain people working hard to accumulate riches and possessions, all with a view to early retirement and a life of pleasure to follow. In the UK today, the state retirement age is 67, but many save for retirement through shrewd investments, hoping to have sufficient resources at 55 or 60. But none of us knows the time or place when we will leave this world, and all that they have accumulated will be left to someone else. We read further in the story of the Rich Landowner, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’” (Luke 12:20). Jesus was quite forthright when He said in the next verse, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God”. I remember a man I worked with who was approaching the company retirement age, and he spent a significant amount of time planning for the day he would stop working for a living. He lived in a large house in an expensive part of Edinburgh, which he and his wife sold before buying a more modest dwelling in a more rural part of Scotland. He added equity release to his already substantial savings, and then planned his first retirement project in meticulous detail: a walking tour around Norway. So his retirement day arrived in the middle of January the following year, and he left to complete the final arrangements for the house and his project. However, we, his workmates whom he had left behind, were shocked to hear that he had suddenly experienced a massive heart attack just a few weeks later, from which he never recovered.

We never know when God will call us home. Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician, decided that it would be better to live his life God’s way, setting aside the sinful and hedonistic lifestyles of his society, because otherwise he would have too much to lose after death. Jesus said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21). Sound advice.

Dear Father God. Sometimes we weary of the world in which we live, a world with all its evil and difficulties. We look forward to the increasing glow of Glory, appearing over the horizons of our lives, and pray that we will be ready for the day when it comes. In Jesus’ name. Amen.



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