Scripture Focus: Isaiah 37.32
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, 
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. 
The zeal of the Lord Almighty 
will accomplish this. 

Reflection: The Way of the Remnant
By John Tillman

At this point, Isaiah has seen kings come and go. He has seen that ultimately his country is doomed to destruction and his people are destined for exile. But even with darkness looming, there is light and hope for God’s remnant. 

Isaiah has no illusions about suffering, hope, and ultimate reality. After seeing God’s throne room, kings like Sennacherib, who threatens Judah, seem unimpressive. Isaiah brushes off Sennacherib’s boasts with a strong rebuke and a promise of God’s protection. 

Sennacherib’s army will be conquered by the God he compared to a powerless idol.
Sennacherib will be killed while praying to his own powerless idol, which could not save him from the ambition of his own sons.

The way of kings seems to have a pattern:
Out of callousness, cruelty.
Out of confidence, despair.
Out of pride, disgrace.

There is a different pattern for the remnant that God will zealously protect:
Out of hopelessness, faith.
Out of shame, honor.
Out of loss, victory.

This faith, honor, and victory won’t always look like that on the surface. There won’t always be miraculous deliverance from armies. We won’t always see the convenient self-destruction of our foes. Sometimes the enemy army will win. Sometimes, like the faithful remnant, we will be taken into exile. Sometimes, like Isaiah, we will suffer, and perhaps die. 

This suffering we endure won’t always be at the hands of enemy kings, like Sennacherib. That might be easier to understand. We are just as likely to be harmed at the hands of unfaithful or misguided fellow believers as unbelievers. 

Isaiah was killed by the last king of Judah he served, Manasseh.
Jesus was killed by the Romans, but it was at the insistence of the most dedicated and well-respected of Jewish scholars, scribes, and teachers. (Luke 19.47)
Stephen, the first martyr of the church was killed by zealous followers of God, the Sanhedrin.

If we suffer, let it be for doing good, not evil. Let us suffer for generosity not selfishness. Let us suffer for kindness not violence. If we, like Isaiah, keep the image of God’s throne room in mind, that vision can wash away misplaced reverence for human leaders or fear toward human enemies. 

Let us embrace the way of the remnant—rejecting callousness, confidence, and pride. God is zealous on the remnant’s behalf. Let us be faithful in hope and trust in God’s ultimate victory.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me.
In the evening, in the morning, and at the noonday, I will complain and lament, and he will hear my voice.
He will bring me safely back…God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me. — Psalm 55.17

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 37 (Listen -6:47)
Luke 19 (Listen -5:29)

This Weekend’s Readings
Isaiah 38 (Listen -3:20), Luke 20 (Listen -5:07)
Isaiah 39 (Listen -1:35), Luke 21 (Listen -4:18)

Read more about Temple Confrontations
Like Isaiah, we need to be confronted with our individual and collective uncleanness.

Read more about Clear the Old Growth
The foes we face don’t determine our fate. Like Hezekiah, we can turn them over to God.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 35:8a
8 And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.

Reflection: Two Roads Diverged in Barren Land
By Erin Newton

At the end of Isaiah’s long prophecy of judgment, the message shifts. A vision of the future—a vision of all things made right.

Isaiah describes God’s people like a caravan along a road in the wasteland. Distraught and downtrodden, a new path is cut through the desert.

      One path is silent, cold, and stark.
            The Way is filled with praise and joy.

      One path is a road winding down into a desolate land.
            The Way cuts through the wasteland leaving signs of life along the way.

      One path is burdensome and hard, a place where strength and hearts fail.
            The Way whispers, “Peace, be still. He is coming to save.”

      One path is often difficult; strength and ability are stolen away.
            The Way makes one whole; it heals the body and soul.

      One path is deadly; there is nothing to sustain life.
            The Way turns death into life; it has everything needed to thrive.

      One path is traveled by wicked and dangerous people.
            The Way is filled with redeemed travelers singing songs of praise.

      One path is marked by hopeless sorrow and afflicted groans.
            The Way bestows burgeoning gladness and eternal joy.

Like the poem by Robert Frost, two roads diverge. To continue on our usual path would mean continuing in a fruitless journey, exiled from God. But how exactly do we step onto the path that leads to life?

When Jesus warns his disciples that he must leave soon to return to the Father, Thomas asks for a roadmap to heaven (John 14). “How will we know the way?” Jesus simply replied, “I am the Way.” The path to life is through Jesus himself.

Even though Isaiah described a marvelous future promised to God’s people, we struggle to see this kind of utopian future now. The flowers are not bursting forth in song. The blind and lame and deaf are without healing. Ravenous beasts meet us on the road to harm us.

The Way of Holiness is a via dolorosa, a difficult path. Our Lord walked this path to redeem us from death. Let us take up our crosses to follow the Way.  It is not without hope.

We take the first steps of this new road paved by the blood of Jesus. The world around us still shows signs of desolation and despair but the word in the air says, “Peace, he is coming.” The Way is good.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
The Lord is my shepherd and nothing is wanting to me. In green pastures he has settled me. — The Short Breviary

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 35 (Listen -1:43)
Luke 17 (Listen -4:22)

Read more about The Path of the Cross
A Christ who brings earthly victory enjoys near universal welcome…Everyone rejected this suffering Christ. Even the closest of his disciples.

Read more about No Such Thing as God Forsaken
It may be a long road and a long exile between condemnation and redemption.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 34.1-2
1 Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter. 

Mark 14.27, 29
27 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them…
29 Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
Reflection: Healthy Patriotism
By John Tillman

It is all nations, not some, that the Lord is angry with in Isaiah’s prophecy.

Why is God even mad at these nations? They didn’t have the commandments, the covenant, the Temple… What does God expect of them? And what does God expect of us?

Israel did enjoy a special relationship with God, with special privileges and responsibilities. However, God desires, even demands, all nations to worship him, not just Israel. (Acts 17.26-31) Israel was to be like a priest before the congregants—a guide and model. God is angry with all nations because all nations, even Israel and Judah, became rebels and traitors.

Especially around times of patriotic celebration, it can be difficult for us to read about God being angry with “all nations.” We feel or say, “Surely not us, Lord!” We must sound to God a bit like the disciples when Jesus said they would fall away. “Not me, Lord!” 

The gospel writers, Mark and Matthew, show two moments in which Jesus confronted them with predictions of betrayal. (Mark 14.18-21, 27-31; Matthew 26.20-25, 31-35) One is direct betrayal to the authorities. All of them say, “Surely not me, Lord,” and only one of them, Judas, is guilty. The other is a more collective, or group betrayal, “You will all fall away.” Peter is the loudest objector but all the disciples deny the prediction. And all of the disciples, including Mark and Matthew were guilty. Mark, most commenters agree, is the young man who not only fled, but fled naked when he was grasped by his clothing. (Mark 14.52)

It is a grave theological error to mistake our own nation, wherever we live, for “God’s nation.” No modern nation is the spiritual inheritor of Israel and even if it were, that nation could and would fall. The Bible tells us that Israel became as evil as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. History tells us that believing one’s nation is “God’s nation” consistently leads, time and time again, to political atrocities in the name of God.

There is nothing sinful about patriotically celebrating what is good. There is, however, spiritual danger in denying national sins and glorifying national leaders. Eventually we’ll be asked to bow to their statues or demands. Directly or indirectly, we can betray Christ for patriotism.

Rarely are nations totally evil or good. Most are a mixture. Healthy patriotism, like healthy Christianity, celebrates good while lamenting and resisting evil.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
“Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up,” says the Lord, “And give them the help they long for.” — Psalm 12.5

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 34 (Listen -2:59)
Luke 16 (Listen -4:27)

Read more about Celebrating Earthly Kingdoms|
Celebrating the country in which one lives is not un-biblical but it can be a dangerous, idolatrous trap.

Read more about Jeremiah, the Unpatriotic Prophet
Jeremiah’s refusal to embrace a politically expedient alliance with Egypt, gained him the hatred of ‘patriotic’ Israelites.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 30.10-11
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”

Reflection: Prophets in Our Path
By John Tillman

Isaiah describes a caravan in the Negev desert. They carry valuables and gifts of honor through dangerous territory, filled with lions and snakes. They are envoys from Judah sent down to Egypt to seek protection. 

It is an interesting reversal. Israel left Egypt, carrying away Egyptian gold and treasures as they were liberated from slavery. Now, here they are, crawling back through the desert to seek audience with their former abusers.

Why are they returning treasure and pledging fealty to their former captors? Why are they begging for “the shade” of Egypt when God promised they would sit under their own vine and fig tree? Why are they becoming like the grumbling Israelites in the desert who said, “Wouldn’t it be better to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14.3-4)

Then, like Balaam on the way to curse Israel, these envoys are confronted and warned. A prophet stands in their path with a message from God. But they brush off the warning and tell the prophet to get out of their way and stop confronting them.

These envoys wanted sweet verses from prophets. But prophecy is often ugly. They longed to hear comforting promises. But prophecy is often disturbing. They sought convenient confirmations of what they already believed. But prophecy often holds inconvenient truths.

How like these envoys are we? How easily do we seek bargains from worldly powers and shelter from our enslavers? How often do we seek prophets to confirm our decisions rather than confront us with truth? 

Let us repent:
When an inconvenient prophecy stops us in our tracks…
When an ugly truth comes to light…
When we are caught holding a check written to evil forces of this world, asking their protection… 

Don’t push past prophets in your path lest this verse be about you: “the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation…but you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30.15)

Let us have the salvation that God longs to give us. Let us listen to prophets in our path.

“…the Lord longs to be gracious to you; 
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. 
For the Lord is a God of justice. 
Blessed are all who wait for him! 
People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. — (Isaiah 30.18-19)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. — Psalm 103.8

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 30 (Listen -5:52)
Luke 12 (Listen -7:42)

This Weekend’s Readings
Isaiah 31 (Listen -1:49), Luke 13 (Listen -5:02)
Isaiah 32 (Listen -2:46), Luke 14 (Listen -4:36)

Read more about Balaams and Balaks
These modern Balaams do their best to put words in God’s mouth that are pleasing to the powerful.

Read more about Today’s Roots, Tomorrow’s Fruit
Prophecies can tell of coming salvation or warn of coming disaster. There’s no question which we prefer to listen to.