Devarim/Words
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22
Isaiah 1:1-27
The first 3 chapters of Deuteronomy begin with such hope and promise; if only the Children of Israel could have ‘stayed the course’ (if only we could ‘stay the course’). Unfortunately, we have to leave the joy of these chapters and move on to the haftorah portion (Isaiah 1:1-27), for a ‘reality check’! If I were to give this section a title it would be: “the inconvenient cost of righteous adjustment”. Can you even imagine that God has to call the people that He created for His pleasure, with the promises outlined in those first chapters of Deuteronomy, Sodom and Gomorrah? Can you even imagine if you had to address one of your children by a name that you reserved for describing a person that is despicable and reprobate? Take a moment to feel the Father’s heart!
Isaiah 1:4: “I have nourished and brought up children, they have rebelled against Me…” Is 1:2. “They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.” Not exactly that warm fuzzy love talk of a Parent, excited about how great their kids are turning out…. Let me quote some of Isaiah 5, so you can hear God’s heart of promise for His vineyard (Israel): “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it”; So, He expected it to bring forth good grapes… and now back to Isaiah 1:4: “So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city…”
A “booth” instead of a glorious dwelling place for the Lord of Glory! In our modern times you could go as far as calling this a “porta potty”! What a contrast! “A garden of cucumbers”; instead of a vineyard that produces grapes for worshipping God and making His people glad! “A besieged city”; instead of a city on a hill, the light to the world! Then in verse 9 He mentions leaving a “remnant”, less they become like Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, the mercy of God, look how He addresses them in verse 10: “Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of
Gomorrah”. I can’t even begin to imagine how broken His heart must have been. I will have to move on but be sure to spend some time reading the verses and feeling God’s heart. And now for some hope:
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land.”
But whenever righteousness comes, it has to drive out what was there. Since the Lord is dealing with flesh and blood, whether it’s His First Born Israel, or us, His bride (Jew and Gentile), there are some practical realities to the changes He brings into our lives. Unfortunately, many times we have developed, let’s say certain comforts, that are a result of bad behavior. It’s so easy to sit in church service and love the time of deliverance or a touch of God, and struggle with the ‘cost’ of what those changes might be to our personal lives. Isaiah 1:25,26: “I will turn My hand against you, And thoroughly] purge away your dross, And take away all your alloy. 26 I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” Those goosebumps you felt at that meeting, could temporarily be replaced by a “yikes”, when the ‘demolition team’ shows up, to help build “the city of righteousness” that He promised that day in your church meeting. So today, with the grace of God, let’s be reminded of how His love has ‘planted’ us also as a “choice vine”, with great promises, as we live with the gift of the fear of the Lord. by john eisner
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