The 58th chapter of Isaiah really foreshadows the Pharisees of Jesus' day. And really, 21st century America, as well. Starting in verse 2: "For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and You have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?"
Every US President in modern history has ended important addresses with the phrase "God bless America." Is this an empty phrase, something that we have grown to expect at the end of State of the Union Addresses, but don't really expect too much blessing to follow? If so, why do we expect it? And why do our politicians continue to say it?
Each time there is a national tragedy, somebody in government calls for a National Day of Prayer. Yet how much praying will be going on if all the stores are still open, and people have to go to work? Just once I'd like to see a US President say, "Citizens of America, we will stop business as usual and declare a holiday. But this will not be like any other holiday, where restaurants and movie theaters and theme parks beckon you to have a great time. No, today we will all stay home; everyone except essential service workers like police, firefighters, and hospital staff will be urged to truly humble yourselves before your Maker, and to pray. Today we will proclaim a fast, not just of food, but of television and other entertainment venues; not just of drink, but of all commerce and profit-making." That would get our attention. That would get God's attention.
Isaiah goes on to describe the kind of fasting that God would honor: in verse 7 he says "Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?" This makes it personal, not national. It is not for us to give all our money to the government in taxes so that the government can feed and clothe people. Rather, it is up to each and every one of us to meet the needs of those around us, especially our families.
Today, we have it all backwards. The government is responsible for everyone, the families are only responsible to get the kids to the government sponsored schools or to get to the government approved jobs, and the individuals have no responsibility other than to pay taxes to the government. No, no, a thousand times no! We must go back to individual responsibility, where each person is responsible for his own upkeep; and where people are not able to care for themselves (e.g. children, the sick, the elderly), then the family is responsible for their care. Beyond that, the Bible says that the Church should care for the widows and orphans, that is the ones without family to care for them. And the government only provides what the families and the Church are unable to provide for themselves (e.g. National Defense, a National Currency, and State and National Courts to administer justice.)
In the movie Shenandoah, the patriarch character played by Jimmy Stewart tries to keep his family out of the Civil War. But when his children are taken prisoner, he leaves his house and family behind to go and get his children back. Isn't this a picture of our Heavenly Father? During one scene, a Union officer tries to convince the patriarch of the benefit of a standing army, and how each family should send their sons to serve in the army. Jimmy Stewart barks back "They don't belong to the state, they belong to ME! When they were babies I never saw the state comin' around here with a spare tit!" Other movies of that era, like The Grapes of Wrath, stated a nationally shared view that people were honestly embarrassed to receive charity--if they didn't work for it, they didn't want it. When did this attitude change? When did we become a nation of victims, a people so hooked on entitlements? When did we go "through the looking glass", as described by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland--to a place where Up is Down and Down is Up? More importantly, why would we want to stay in such a pitiable condition?
But thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
The remainder of Isaiah 58 describes the blessings God wants to give His people if they would just get their hearts right, and start doing right, and stop their hypocrisy. "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before you, and the Glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and the Lord will say, 'Here am I.'....The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land, and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins, and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called the Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."
The good news is that no matter how bad things get, God still wants to bless us. He still wants to make us whole, to raise us up to new heights, to prepare a feast like no other for us. All we have to do is follow Him, and do what He says. "If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land." What a wonderful promise! Why wouldn't anybody want that? Why don't we do everything we can possibly do to get the most from God? Why dwell in hypocrisy and sin when we can dwell in the House of the Lord forever, Amen!
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