A New Day: New Jerusalem, Part 2

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Jason

In a dizzying move reminiscent of a flashback scene from LOST, Isaiah snaps out of this glorious vision to see the grim reality of the conditions in earthly Jerusalem. And this section runs through the rest of chapter two and the entirety of chapter three. Here are just a few of the things Isaiah says about earthly Jerusalem:

For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands; to what their own fingers have made.

Isaiah 2:6-8

There’s a popular show on Netflix called Stranger Things. The show presents this idea of a world beneath the world we can see — on the show, it’s a world they call “the upside down.” It’s a replica of the “real world” with one important difference: it’s this kind of spiritual realm where these monsters move about. It’s similar to the world that Frodo experiences in The Lord of the Rings when he puts on The One Ring.

Well, Isaiah was doing this sort of thing thousands of years before Tolkien and Stranger Things — only instead of seeing a world of evil beings, Isaiah sees a world made new by God. So this vision of New Jerusalem is God’s ideal — what God is working toward. But earthly Jerusalem is “the upside down” — the place where things are not as they should be, the place where evil continues to operate. And the grandeur of the vision of the New Jerusalem fades pretty quickly when Isaiah looks at earthly Jerusalem.

As it says in this passage, God’s people have become full of worldliness. They’re really no different than, say, the Philistines, when it comes to reliance upon things from the east and fortune-tellers. These kinds of foreign spiritual practices and superstitions were forbidden in the Law of Moses. Apparently the citizens of Jerusalem want to be just like their worldly neighbors.

Earthly Jerusalem is also focused upon greed and military might. They have laid up copious amounts of silver and gold; Isaiah says there is no end to their treasures. But the land is also full of chariots and horses — which are symbols of military strength. From what we read here, it seems that the citizens of Jerusalem have put more trust in their bank accounts and their defense budget than in the Lord God Himself. That’s the meaning of the final line: Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands.

I can’t help but notice some striking parallels to modern-day America as I read Isaiah’s assessment of ancient Jerusalem. I guess some things never change. We’re equally susceptible to spiritual superstition. For instance, Pew Research Center estimates that the percentage of Americans who believe in astrology is around 30%. We routinely hear people say things like, “The universe is telling me to do this,” — as if the universe is the all-powerful force controlling everything in our lives.

I saw this article this week from some supposed self-help guru / life coach. The title of the article was, “Don’t Ignore Signs From the Universe.” And the guy went on to say that happiness is the ultimate “GPS system” in your life. He says that when you do something that makes you happy, it’s a sign from the universe that you’re on the right track and doing what you are meant to be doing. He says, “If you’re not happy with your job, or where you are living, or any other aspect of your life, that may be the universe telling you that it’s time to make a change.” (Emphasis mine.)

If you’re not happy with you job, that’s the universe telling you it’s time to make a change.

Or if you’re not happy with your spouse — the one you promised to stand beside in sickness and in health, till death do us part — then the universe might be telling you it’s time to trade her in for a newer model.

No wonder garbage like this is so popular these days. Don’t you see how that’s just a cover for our own selfish desires? “Just do whatever makes you happy….because the all-benevolent universe exists solely for your happiness.” Never mind the fact that pursuing your own selfish “happiness” is bound to hurt a lot of other people. It’s that “any other aspect of your life” that’s the most dangerous part of the article. But this is the popular spirituality for many in our world today.

Again, this is simply a cover for selfishness and sinful indulgence. I could take you to a lot of families that have been hurt by this kind of pseudo-spiritual bullcrap. They’re suffering the consequences of a Mom or a Dad who decided that running off with someone else would make them happy. That’s what “the universe” told them to do, apparently.

The idol of happiness always has been and always will be a threat to our well-being.

That’s not the only kind of parallel we find here. Like ancient Jerusalem, we can also be distracted by wealth and military might. These can function as idols in our day as well. We can be tempted to trust in our annuities and our investments and our bombs and our tanks for more security than they can really provide. Like ancient Israel, we live in a land filled with idols. That is what Isaiah sees when he looks at ancient Jerusalem and we should guard against the same thing if we’re going to truly heed Isaiah 2 as the Word of God.

God goes on to pronounce this word of judgment against earthly Jerusalem:

For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.

Isaiah 3:8

Earthly Jerusalem’s idolatry is a defiance of God Himself, just as our idolatry is a defiance of God. The mighty city has stumbled with words and deeds that stand against the Lord. Isaiah goes on to say that the citizens of Jerusalem have been crushing the poor. Therefore, at the end of chapter three, God promises to strip away the fine clothing and jewelry and perfume that matters so much to Jerusalem’s wealthy citizens. Because of this, God calls earthly Jerusalem a heap of ruins (3:6).

Again, I can’t help but notice some more parallels to our culture — parallels that, frankly, make us fairly uncomfortable. But God’s Word doesn’t always say the things we necessarily want to hear. In fact, that might be one of the surest signs that a word is from God — the fact that it’s something we don’t really want to hear.

But in Isaiah’s prophecies, judgment is always followed by hope. And this vision is no different.

Posted in Culture, Faith, Hard Sayings, Isaiah, Scripture, Social Issues, Theology | Leave a comment

A New Day: New Jerusalem, Part 1

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Jason

Most people love new things.

Maybe you’re one of those people who always has to have the newest piece of technology. I have a friend who is usually the first one in line to get the new iPhone when it comes out.

Maybe it’s new clothes or the feel of a “new look.” You might be one of those people who just loves changing the color of their hair. I’m finding that my hair color is changing without having to do anything to it at all!

Whether it’s the “new car smell” or the latest episode of our favorite show, neuroscientists say that novelty opens up the reward center in our brains. I love it when my favorite band puts out new music while my wife insists that we need a new couch.

Most people love new things.

And here’s the thing: God likes new things, too.

We’re studying through the book of Isaiah together right now and the prophet makes this point quite clearly. In passage after passage, we see how God was at work in Isaiah’s day to make all things new. Isaiah receives a vision of what is to come — the afterlife, we might call it. But Isaiah uses language like “new heavens and new earth” to describe this glorious vision of the eternity we’ll enjoy with God. Most Christians shorten this vision of eternity down to a single word: heaven. But in the spirit of “calling Bible things by Bible names,” we would do well to note Isaiah’s language. Some Christians picture heaven as a place residing up in the clouds somewhere but the biblical hope of eternity is resurrected bodies in a renewed creation — the earth made new. That’s what “new heavens and new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1) means.

And part of this renewed earth includes a New Jerusalem, the holy city of God. One of the ways we can know what heaven will be like is by looking at what Isaiah has to say about the New Jerusalem. Interestingly, Isaiah receives this vision of New Jerusalem in the midst of some really difficult days in earthly Jerusalem. And if you’re troubled by some of the things you see happening in our day, then I think this vision of New Jerusalem and eternity can bring you hope just like it brought hope to Isaiah’s original audience.

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Isaiah 2:1

Interesting — this is the word Isaiah “saw.” How do you see a word? Well, this is a clue that something transcendent is going on here. This is a vision Isaiah receives. He calls it a “word” because it has been spoken by God. And as Isaiah will say elsewhere, God’s word does not return to Him empty but it accomplishes the purposes for which He sends it. So Isaiah receives this word from the Lord, but it unfolds in the form of a vision.

And it concerns Judah and, more specifically, Jerusalem. Listen to what Isaiah sees.

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 2:2-4

Isaiah receives a vision of something that will come to pass in the “latter days.” This is a phrase that you find in a lot of biblical prophecy. Many times it refers to what God is going to do “at the end” which is why it is translated as “the end of days” in some Bibles.

Isaiah sees a day when God will do something new: when God will transform Jerusalem. Jerusalem is located in the hill country of Israel but Isaiah sees a day when Jerusalem will be made new and lifted up above all other mountains. This is the vision of the New Jerusalem, which Isaiah will return to repeatedly in his preaching. New Jerusalem will be situated on Zion, the highest of mountains because it will bear the name of the One who has been given the name above all names (Philippians 2), Jesus the Messiah. This is a picture of what we often refer to as “heaven.”

Hundreds of years before Isaiah, Moses had ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, to receive instruction from God Himself. New Jerusalem is pictured as a New Mount Sinai — only this time, instead of Moses climbing the mountain to receive the word from God, Isaiah says many peoples and nations will flow to it. They will say, Let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord…that he may teach us his ways. Although Isaiah delivers this message to the people of his day, the New Jerusalem will not be exclusive to Judah or Israel. This text is yet another reminder that God has always determined that the work of the Messiah would be for all people — including the Gentiles.

God’s Word goes out from New Jerusalem and her citizens are peaceable. Because they have heard the word of the Lord, the citizens of New Jerusalem will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Humanity will have no need for weaponry there, because we will learn war no more in that place. May the Lord hasten the day when all human bickering and fighting comes to an end in the New Jerusalem.

This is quite a vision. And it gives us just the slightest glimpse into God’s eternal purposes.

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Overexpecting

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Jason

It seems to me that we tend to overexpect quite a bit — we have unrealistic expectations for our institutions, our relationships, or really just about any area of our lives.

I first came across the word in James K.A. Smith’s fabulous book, On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts. Smith used the line to say that Augustine learned not to overexpect from politics, for instance. Although Augustine could commend politics as a calling worthy of the Christian — seeing as how politics, in its purest iteration, is simply a way to love your neighbor in a tragic, fallen world — he would never be prone to activism, the kind of naive overconfidence in politics as a viable system for overcoming evil that has perpetually gripped the hearts of both conservatives and progressives throughout the ages. The evangelistic fervor and moral grandstanding of our politics is a sure sign of our overexpectation.

And overexpecting like this inevitably sets us up for disappointment. The Biden apologists in this country, for instance, would have you believe that Messiah has come to deliver us up from the oppressive shackles of Trump era policies and inaugurate a (progressive) utopia for the United States. Of course, this is all hogwash, just like it was hogwash that Trump was going to ride in on the white horse in 2016 to drain Washington’s “swamp” of political corruption (oh, the irony); just like it was hogwash when Obama started preaching his gospel of hope and change in 2008 (also ironic); and on and on and on it goes.

What’s truly amazing is our capacity for delusion. We actually believe these con artists when all we’ve done is trade one huckster for another.

The prophet Isaiah wisely proclaims:

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for what account is he?

Isaiah 2:22

Of course, our overexpectation isn’t limited to politics, even if it’s the easiest place to recognize it days after an inauguration. Smith points out how we overexpect from sex these days, too. Our sex-saturated culture often presents the sexual encounter as the locus of ultimate fulfillment and expression. We hardly even know ourselves apart from our sexual identities. And yet, sex cannot possibly deliver on such false promises. As Smith says, the satisfaction of sexual hunger is actually indicative of a much deeper hunger, a transcendent desire to be known — which is the human condition God addresses in the Gospel. To put it differently, Smith says:

The problem isn’t sex; it’s what I expect from sex.

Relationship counselors have long pointed out that unrealistic expectations of our partners contribute to some of the greatest problems in our marriages. We import Hollywood’s ridiculous “you complete me” soulmate-liturgy directly into our marriages, thereby creating expectations that even the best spouse could never possibly meet. How could a flawed, sinful person ever bear the freight of “completing” you or bringing wholeness to your soul? Releasing these overexpectations is often the first step toward greater health in our relationships.

I’m a preacher, so it’s not surprising that I would seek to apply a biblical label to all of this: idolatry. We’re mistaken if we assume that idolatry only exists in golden-calf form. Idolatry could be fairly defined as applying ultimate expectations to anyone or anything other than the Ultimate.

Smith says,

Existentially, the problem with idolatry is that it is an exercise in futility, a penchant that ends in profound dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Idolatry, we might say, doesn’t ‘work’ — which is why it creates restless hearts.

Is it fair to say we overexpect from everyone and everything while underexpecting from God? I’m inclined to agree.

A friend texted me this morning and asked if I thought worldly things had infiltrated the church, becoming more readily accepted by God’s people. Here is my response, which actually led to this post:

Generally, yes. I think for most people (even Christians) their worldview is shaped more by Hollywood, media, and social media than by God and His Word. I have to fight this as well.

As a counter to this, may we reserve our highest expectations for our God who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3).

Posted in Church, Disappointment, Discipleship, Faith, God, Gospel, Isaiah, Jesus, Kingdom Values, Marriage, Politics, Scripture, Social Issues, Theology | Tagged | Leave a comment

2020 NFL Playoffs: Week 3 Picks

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Jason

Week one, the three of us were in a dead heat: we were 5-2 picking the NFL playoff games and the NCAA Championship Game. But there was some notable separation last week. Here are the current standings:

Joshua: 9-2. The stinker picked every winner last weekend. Gonna be hard to catch him, given that there are only three games left in the NFL season.

Jason: 8-3. I had a gut feeling about the Ravens last week; wish I’d just stuck with the chalk pick. Now I have three games to make up a one-game deficit. Best I can hope for is to tie Joshua; doubt I’ll be able to beat him outright.

Sunny: 7-4. Sunny and I both had the Ravens last week, but she also went with Drew Brees and the Saints over Brady’s Bucs.

Here are our picks for this week:

Joshua: Packers over Bucs; Bills over Chiefs

Jason: Packers over Bucs; Chiefs over Bills

Sunny: Bucs over Packers; Chiefs over Bills

Should be another fun football weekend around here!

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A New Day: The Power of “With,” Part 4

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Jason

We live in a time when the nature of truth seems to be up for grabs. Every news story can be spun one way or another to say almost anything someone wants to believe. In times like these, I have to go back to what I know to be true. I have to go back to the promises of God.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:8

This is where we find true comfort, in the word of our God, the One who promises to be with His people. “God with us” means God is for us. Immanuel is a sign that God has not abandoned us. No matter how bad it gets, God promises to deliver those who put their trust in Him. He is on our side, fighting to redeem us, to restore us, to bring us back home.

Romans 8 says If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) And from that idea, Paul goes on to say that if God is for us, nothing in all creation can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. If God is with us, we’re never separated from Him or His love. What an amazing thought!

That means God is with me when I’m going to school.

When I’m at work.

When I’m dealing with anxiety.

When I’m cooking dinner.

When I’m going in for my chemotherapy.

When I’m feeling all alone.

This promise from the time of Isaiah points us to something so practical but so transformative — the idea that God is truly with us. Is there anything you can’t handle if you know God is on your side? God is with us to comfort us when we’re afraid, to shepherd us through the dark, to take away our sin. These are God’s promises — Simon Peter calls them his great and precious promises through which we can participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:4).

What would we do without the promises of God?

If someone asked you, “What is the first verse of the Bible?” I’m guessing a lot of you would know it: Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It’s one of those really well-known passages. But what about the last verse of the Bible? No cheating…but do you know the last verse of the Bible? (Incidentally, if you cheat on Bible trivia, you’ve kind of missed the point.)

The last verse of the Bible is Revelation 22:21, The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. The Bible begins with God creating everything; the backdrop is cosmically huge with universes and stars and moons and suns. But the Bible ends with a simple promise, a word of hope. The grace of Jesus be with God’s people.

That’s because God with us is the promise of eternity.

The final page of the Bible contains the promise of an eternity with God.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:3

God says that the promise of eternity is the promise of being with Him. What a glorious thought!

This promise is for those who would put their trust in Him. Do you need to put your trust in Him today? Today can be a new day — as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, Today is the day of salvation — if you would put your trust in Him.

If we can help you in your spiritual journey, you can reach out to us at prayer@mayfair.org. The shepherds of our church would love to hear from you and talk with you about the promises of God.

God says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, he who has ears, let him hear.

Posted in Devotional, Eschatology, Faith, God, Hope, Isaiah, Scripture, Theology | Leave a comment

A New Day: The Power of “With,” Part 3

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Jason

The theme of Isaiah 7 is repeated throughout the Bible: God promises to be with those who put their trust in Him. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And His promise endures in every season of life.

God promises to be present, to be with His people. That directly counters our fears. To put it differently, God’s promise is greater than my problems. We have to remember that. Fear and discouragement can be found at every turn these days. They will grind you down; they erode the foundations of our lives. But that’s one of the reasons you find God repeatedly telling His people, Do not fear. Be firm in faith. I am with you.

Ahaz had some pretty serious problems in his day. And when he heard that Syria and Israel were trying to overthrow Jerusalem, the Bible says that his heart shook like a tree. But God essentially says, “Come on, Ahaz. You have ME on your side if you’d just put your trust in Me!” Ahaz lost sight of the fact that God was greater than His problems.

And this is a practical word for us because God’s promise is greater than our problems, too. When we find ourselves shaking with fear like Ahaz, we have to choose to be firm in faith. God’s presence sustains us through the darkest of circumstances. We can truly bear up through these trials because God is with us!

The most beloved Psalm of all-time is Psalm 23. David talks about the security that comes from knowing God is with him.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

I’ve read that passage at many a graveside over the years. Everyone has to walk this path of grief at one time or another. We find ourselves grieving the loss of a friend or a family member. And that can be such a cold, lonely feeling. But it’s right there — in the valley of death’s shadow — that David feels something. He knows that he is not alone. He knows that God is with him, shepherding him through the darkness.

“Daddy, will you go with me,” David has asked.

“Yes, child,” God has replied.

So David can now say, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. We need not fear the valley when we trust in God’s promises. He calls out in the darkness, “I’m right here! I’ve got this! I will never leave you nor forsake you!” We can find our way through any darkness when we know God is with us. And like David, this brings us comfort.

Are you seeking comfort right now? If so, trust in the promises of God. Make this line your prayer; write it down so you’ll see it every day: I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Posted in Devotional, Faith, God, Isaiah, Scripture, Theology | Leave a comment

A New Day: The Power of “With,” Part 2

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Jason

When Isaiah goes to visit Ahaz, he says things like, Do not fear and do not let your heart be faint (7:4). God knows that it is dangerous when we’re controlled by our fears, so His word to Ahaz is the same one He repeats throughout the Scriptures: do not fear. Isaiah goes on to tell Ahaz that the alliance between Israel and Syria won’t last because these two nations are like two smoldering sticks. Isaiah encourages Ahaz to put his trust in God and he closes with a line that we discussed a few weeks ago: Isaiah 7:9, If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.

A couple of things are interesting about this verse. One, it’s a plural statement. If y’all are not firm in faith, y’all will not be firm at all. It’s not a statement delivered simply to King Ahaz — it’s intended for all the people of Judah. Therefore, I believe this is a word intended for us as well. God is saying to the people of Isaiah’s day: “Hold tight. I’ve got this. I won’t let Israel and Syria succeed against you. So y’all just continue to firm in your faith because without this nothing in your life is really firm at all.” This is just one of thousands of verses in the Bible that tell us that trust in God is more important than anything else.

Another interesting point is that these two lines actually rhyme in the original Hebrew — something we lose in our translation into English. This is kind of a crude translation, but the original would’ve sounded something like “trust or bust” — “In God y’all need to trust or else y’all are going to go bust.” Something like that.

And then God does something truly amazing: He tells Ahaz to ask for a sign that he might rest assured in God’s promises.

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

Isaiah 7:10-11

Think about how many people throughout history have asked God for a sign. And God gives Ahaz the green light here, essentially saying, “Ask for anything from the highest heights to the deepest depths.” But Ahaz refuses this invitation, which I think indicates that he’s not interested in trusting in God — he has his own plans for getting out of this dilemma. Nevertheless, God gives a sign. Even if Ahaz won’t have eyes to see it, God’s faithful remnant will.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

The sign God gives is a child named Immanuel — which means “God with us.”

Isaiah speaks of a young woman — we don’t know exactly to whom he is referring, but obviously Ahaz would have known her. This young woman is a virgin at the time God speaks these words through Isaiah. And this young woman will get pregnant over the course of time — not supernaturally, as in the conception of Jesus centuries later, but by natural means. And God goes on to say that before her child is very old, Israel and Syria will not be a threat to Judah any more.

This is a good place to talk about an important principle of biblical prophecy: partial fulfillment vs. ultimate fulfillment. There’s a sense in which this prophecy finds ultimate fulfillment or its greatest fulfillment in Jesus — the gospel writer of Matthew tells us as much. Jesus is God’s ultimate sign that He is with us once and for all. But there’s also a sense in which this prophecy was at least partially fulfilled by the events in Ahaz and Isaiah’s day. This young woman will become pregnant — again, not supernaturally. That kind of supernatural conception and birth is reserved only for Jesus. The unique circumstances of His birth will parallel the unique circumstances of His death. But in Isaiah’s day, while this little boy is still young, the threat of Israel and Syria will go away.

For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

Isaiah 7:16

This is the “sign” God promises — a child called Immanuel. God with us.

Posted in Devotional, Faith, God, Isaiah, Jesus, Scripture, Theology | Leave a comment

A New Day: The Power of “With”, Part 1

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Jason

The word “with” is a really small word, a simple word, but it communicates a life-changing idea. The word “with” simply means, “accompanied by another person.” And sometimes that knowledge can be enough to change your life — just knowing that someone is with you.

When you’re the new kid at school and someone asks you to join in with their group or to sit at their lunch table.

When you’re grieving and your best friend drives all through the night just to show up, just to hold your hand and join you in your pain.

When your friends and family gather around to celebrate a birthday or an anniversary or just to be together.

These moments are powerful because these are the moments when we are with our people.

When my children were younger and they had to do something they didn’t want to do, they’d often ask, “Daddy, will you go with me?” And even as we grow older, we continue to find comfort in being with our people in some of those key moments in life.

So it’s only natural that we would bring this same idea into our relationship with God. At the heart of so many of our prayers, we ask God to be with the people we love: during times of great pain and loss, this is our prayer; but also in times of joy and celebration. I think I’ve prayed the same prayer at every funeral I’ve done over the last 20 years: “God, please be with this family in their hour of grief.” And I’ve prayed a version of this same prayer at every wedding ceremony over which I have officiated: “God, please be with this couple and the new family that begins here today.”

The most comforting thought we can imagine is God being with us.

In the book of Isaiah, God speaks to this expectation with a powerful promise. It is the promise that God will be with His people. God says, “I will never leave you, never forsake you. I will be with you forever.” And this is a promise that endures in every season of life.

King Ahaz, king of Judah, was being opposed by an alliance of Syria and Israel. It seems that these two nations banded together to pressure Ahaz to join their efforts to oppose the Assyrians. But God sends Isaiah to deliver a word of comfort to Ahaz: this opposition will not succeed.

In the days of Ahaz…the king of Syria and…the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

Isaiah 7:1-2

Even though Syria and Israel had not been able to score a decisive victory against Judah, Ahaz and the people were scared to death. So God sends Isaiah to go speak with the king. But God tells Isaiah to take his son with him. That’s kind of odd — the Bible’s version of “bring your child to work” day. But it’s right there in Isaiah. And although the child doesn’t really say anything, his presence is significant. Isaiah’s son was named Shear-jashub, which in Hebrew means, “a remnant will return.”

In Isaiah, the idea of a remnant is really important. Isaiah preaches quite a bit about the threats that God’s people would face: whether it’s the Assyrians or the Babylonians or even the judgment some of them would experience on the Day of the Lord, Isaiah never pulls his punches in talking about these things. But through Isaiah, God always reminds the people that a faithful remnant will endure. Even though God’s people have to persevere through some difficult days, God is always working to preserve a remnant.

No matter how bad it gets, God promises to deliver those who put their trust in Him.

Isaiah is so sure of God’s promises that, as one scholar puts it, “he made the word of God become flesh in the person of his son.” Shear-jashub’s name reflects Isaiah’s strong belief that God will do what He says He will do: He will deliver His people who trust in Him.

Posted in Faith, God, Isaiah, No Fear, Scripture, Theology | 2 Comments

Jackson’s New Blog

Posted on January 17, 2021 by Jason

So my son, Jackson, has decided to start a new blog. It’s called Everything TV and — you guessed it — he’s decided to write about some of his favorite TV shows. If you know Jackson, then you know he’s a HUGE fan of Survivor and his first post is all about the show and some of his favorite seasons.

Follow the link and check it out.

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2020 NFL Playoffs: Week 2 Picks

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Jason

So last week, we went 5-2 with our picks. Time for our picks for Round 2 of the playoffs.

Sunny: Packers over Rams; Ravens over Bills; Chiefs over Browns; Saints over Bucs.

Jason: Packers over Rams; Ravens over Bills; Chiefs over Browns; Bucs over Saints.

Joshua: Packers over Rams; Bills over Ravens; Chiefs over Browns; Bucs over Saints.

We have some differing picks for this week, so we’ll have plenty to argue about, I guess!

Posted in Family, Football, Kids, Sports, Sunny | Leave a comment