Eureka!

 

As threshing separates the wheat from the chaff, so does affliction purify virtue.  --Christian Nestell Bovee

Over the last two weeks in my study of Isaiah, I have felt like a California prospector in 1849.  Usually having limited resources, a gold prospector used a simple pan or sluice to extract gold from the sand.  He would scoop up a small amount of sand from a river or stream, and let water run over it to wash away the lighter minerals.  Gold was heavier, and would be left in the bottom of the pan when the sand and other minerals would be washed away.  Panning for gold was a process used as far back as Roman times, and was used by Spanish conquistadors in their conquest of South America in the 1600s.

A great deal of sand and other minerals would have to be sifted and washed downstream before gold was found.  However, whenever a miner or prospector found gold, he knew it was precious and valuable.  Finding nuggets of gold while sifting through tons of sand and washing with thousands of gallons of water made the whole process worthwhile.

Isaiah chapters 13 through 23 contain a series of pronouncements or prophesies concerning the enemies of Israel.  Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus (Syria), Egypt and others were warned by God that they would be judged severely for their sins.  Ironically, these nations had all been used by God to bring judgement upon Israel.

At this time, Israel was feeling oppressed.  Using an agrarian term, they were being threshed like wheat.  For those of us who did not grow up on a farm, in order for grains such as wheat and barley to be used for food, they must be harvested, and then the grains must be separated from the plant stems.  The most efficient way to do this without modern tractors and combines was to violently strike the heads of grain against a threshing floor, and then blow away the chaff, or remove anything left that was not grain.

2 Kings 13:7 described some of the persecution that Israel had endured. "For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing."  A variant spelling of the word threshing is the term thrashing, which usually describes corporal punishment or a severe loss at the hands of an opposing team.  Israel felt like they had been taken behind the woodshed and had endured a severe beating at the hands of their enemies.

Reading about the judgment of God, the wrath of God being meted out to His people--well, it's not fun.  It may bring to mind unpleasant things that have happened to us in the past: beatings we have taken (either deserved or undeserved), trials we have endured, or that we are going through currently.  Many of us may feel that we are being buffeted about by forces beyond our control.  After we are broken to pieces, then a storm comes with hurricane force winds, and all we can think is, "God, why?  Why me?"

It is at this point we need a Eureka moment, a gold nugget of scripture to give us hope.  Isaiah provides one.  Isaiah 21:10 says, "O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you."

Stop.  Read that verse again.  Threshed is violently pounded and broken into pieces.  Winnowed is the removal of useless or unwanted debris (aka "chaff") so that all is left is the grain, the kernel of who you are and what you were meant to be useful for.  If you feel you have been threshed and winnowed, God has a message for you.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  You can have peace in your suffering if you keep your eyes on God.  If you remain faithful, God will overcome your enemies and will bring to pass His purpose for you.  To Him, you are more precious than gold, but even gold and silver must be refined by fire, so that the dross can be removed and the precious metal purified.

God will overcome, and His people will be used greatly by Him.  Micah 4:11-13 says, "Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, 'Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.'  But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand His plan, that He has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."  Jeremiah 51:33 says, "For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:  The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come."

Eureka.  The time will come, and may now be, when God will use you for His purpose, and you will be purified for that purpose.  Psalm 30:4-5 says, "Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy Name.  For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime.  Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning."  Take heart, my friend.  Joy is coming.

God gives grace to the humble

 

And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry out to Him day and night?  Will He delay long over them?  I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?  --Luke 18:7-8

A musician who had been a lead guitarist for a well known rock group in the 70s used to tell the following story:  I was playing at a recording studio and Ry Cooder (a legendary guitarist--Google him if you don't know who he is) walked in.  Ry Cooder listened to my playing, and when the track was over he came and asked, "Can I have a look at your guitar?"  Flattered that the great Ry Cooder wanted to check out my guitar, I handed it over.  Ry played a few notes thoughtfully, handed the guitar back and said, "No, it wasn't the guitar..."

What a humbling moment.

Many of us are humbled quite often.  We are brought low by an expectation that we failed to meet, by words spoken by others, or by any number of other things.  Without some kind of encouragement, humility gives way to humiliation, and that gives way to defeat, destruction, and dissolution.  When we lose faith in ourselves, we often lose faith in our God. 

The nation of Israel had been humbled by God many times.  They had fallen into sin, and had received God's judgment.  Yet God always gave them hope.  This week I have read chapters in Isaiah that were meant to give them hope.  These messages of hope for Israel came in the form of God's warnings to those around her.  Yes, Israel had been defeated by her enemies, but it was God that had given them the means.  It was not Babylon's military power that had led them to victory over God's people, but rather it was God's hand that used Babylon to bring a measure of justice against Israel, and it was God's mercy that always brought Israel back.  "For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob." (Isaiah 14:1)

The prophet Isaiah had many things to say about Israel's enemies.  In Isaiah 14:12-14, he attacked their hubris.  "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!  You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'."

Many believe this passage actually describes Satan, as some translate the name Day Star as Lucifer, a name given to the devil.  I think it could have a double meaning, as many Bible passages do.  God may have used Isaiah to recount the fate of the fallen angel in his prophecy against Babylon and all of Israel's enemies.  "But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.  Those who see you will start at you and ponder over you: Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?" (Isaiah 14:15-17)

In subsequent chapters Isaiah specifically calls out the nations that came against Israel from the north (Assyria), from the west (Phiistia), from the east (Moab), from the northeast (Damascus), from the Southwest (Egypt) and from those who sent mercenaries from afar (Cush).  When you read these accounts in Isaiah 14-19, you may not be familiar with the geographical regions, or the leaders that are called out by name.  What you should look for is the encouragement God gives for Israel.  

In the oracle against Moab (chapters 15 and 16), God says, "When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness." (Isaiah 16:4b-5).  In the oracle against Damascus (chapter 17), God says, "In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.  He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Ashirim or the altars of incense." (Isaiah 17:7-8).  In the oracle against Cush (chapter 18), God says, "All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! For thus the Lord said to me: I will quietly look down from My dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."  In the oracle against Egypt (chapter 19), God continues the cloud metaphor, saying "Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud." (Isaiah 19:1).  He further says, "Those who are pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved." (verse 6), predicting economic collapse.  Yet even to Egypt there is hope: "And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them." (verse 22).

Just as God gave a warning to Babylon, comparing it to Lucifer in its impending doom, I believe each of the verses of encouragement in these passages look forward to a coming Messiah that will sit on a "throne established in steadfast love," will exhibit "faithfulness in the tent of David," and who "judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness."  Does this not describe our Lord and Savior Jesus?  When we look to our Maker, and our eyes behold the Holy One, do we not see Jesus? Peter preached of Him in Acts 3:13-15, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.  But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead.  To this we are witnesses."

And aren't we eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus "riding on a cloud" when "a trumpet is blown"?  1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words."

Be encouraged, so that your humility does not turn to despair.  Stay humble, seeking both justice and mercy, for this is the will of God concerning you.

Use me as You will, O Lord

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!  --Isaiah 10:15

I came across this verse in my daily Bible reading today.  Several thoughts crossed my mind, not all of them worth sharing.  However, for the purpose of this essay, I will share them anyway.

If a Hollywood exec came across this verse, he might think that it touches on all three genres of Action films:  Drama about an axe murderer (The Axe Made Me Do It!); Horror films (insert the word "Saw" with any Roman numeral behind it); and Kung Fu movies, where quarter-staff wielding ninjas fly through the air as if magically lifted by, well, the staff.

Okay, that's not what the verse means.  Let's move on.

A logical person might use this Scripture as a proof text against gun control.  "A gun is just a tool.  The tool is not evil.  Only the person who would use it for murder is evil."  Sounds good on the surface, but not really what the prophet Isaiah was trying to get across. 

Let's look at the verse in context:

When the Lord has finished all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.  For he says, "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.  My hand has found like a nest the wealth of all the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped."  Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!  Therefore the Lord God of hosts will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under His glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.  The light of Israel will become a fire, and His Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.  The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.  The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.  --Isaiah 10:12-19

 God had used the king of Assyria to punish the evil deeds of Israel.  Shalmaneser had marched against Israel and conquered them, taking the best and brightest away into exile and leaving a remnant, weak and exposed.  Then the king took credit for his achievements.  We have all heard the expression, that it was so easy, "it was like taking candy from a baby."  This is a similar turn of phrase: he said it was like taking eggs out of birds nests, and the birds made no sound--no chirping, no flutter of wings, they didn't even open their mouths.

Many of us remember Julius Caesar, who said of his own conquests, "Veni, Vidi, Vici": I came, I saw, I conquered.  In this case Shalmaneser boasted of his own military prowess, not realizing that God had not only allowed him to conquer Israel, but that He had directed the king's hand and given him the victory.  What this means to us is that we should not glory in ourselves and in our own works, but humbly admit that God works all things for His glory.

I also think it is not too big a stretch to say we should not always assume God will protect us from harm or from evil.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people, either to bring us back under His authority and leadership, as He did with errant Israel, or to make an example of us to other people, like He did with the martyrs.  When He gives us success, it should not go to our heads.  Luke 17:7-9 says, "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come home from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'?  Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'?  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

Sometimes we get so caught up in the world's vision of Jesus--love your neighbor, judge not, it's okay to associate with prostitutes and sinners since Jesus did--that we tend to overlook the concept of God's wrath.  Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."  If we are faithful, it will not always be sunshine and daisies for us.  It may tear our hearts out to dissociate ourselves from family and friends, but we are called to be faithful to Him, not to them.  Matthew 19:19 says, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My Name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life."  His promise is eternal reward, not necessarily rewards on this earth.

God is not a puppet that we can manipulate.  He is not a divine Santa Claus.  He is Lord and Master, and whatever He has for us we must humbly accept, for our good and His glory.