Scripture Focus: Isaiah 4.2-3, 5-6
2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. 3 Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy…5 Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. 6 It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. 

Reflection: Hope Amidst Destruction
By John Tillman

Even among the destruction of what is coming to Judah in Isaiah’s prophecies, there is hope. God promises to place his glory over the remnant, like a tent or shelter.

The image Isaiah paints in verse five, a “cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night” has a double meaning. It realistically depicts the smoke that would be seen when the city was burned, and the glow of the fires that would smolder for weeks after the destruction of the Temple and the city by the Babylonian army. But it also is an image of God’s presence, his glory returning. It is a reference to the form of God’s presence with the Israelites on their sojourn in the desert after being freed from oppression in Egypt.

The people will be on the move again, this time moving into exile and suffering instead of away from it. But God will still go with them. The people will be enslaved again with a yoke of bondage. But they will be bonded to God and learn to live as exiles, serving God in spite of, rather than at the direction of a king. They will be purified by fire. This time, not the fire of a desert wilderness, but one of exile and cultural isolation. 

They will be the bush in the wilderness—burning but not consumed.
They will be the rock in the desert—hard and hot, yet bursting with cooling springs of living water at God’s command. They will be God’s homeless sojourners again—learning that anywhere is home when they can serve God there. They will be a tree chopped down and burned, from which a tiny green shoot springs up.

For God’s people amidst destruction there is always hope. Amidst collapsing kingdoms there are always a core of survivors. Amidst crumbling moral foundations and corrupt spiritual leadership the Lord always reserves a remnant. 

May we be among them. The hopeful. The faithful. The remnant. 
May we be a spring, a shoot, a branch reaching up through destruction to the sky.
May we be those who hope not in princes but in our God.
Those who will stand when ten thousand fall at their side. 
Those who will not flinch at the terror that stalks at night. 
May we be lanterns of light, shining in a darkened land.
May God purify us and spread his glory over us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. — Isaiah 9.1

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Isaiah 3-4 (Listen – 4:34) 
Hebrews 11 (Listen 6:22)

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The very thing the disciples despaired at, became the source of hope amidst any despair—the cross.

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The king we hope for brings the glory of Heaven to earth in our hearts and expresses his love through our lives.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 2.4-5
4 They will beat their swords into plowshares 
and their spears into pruning hooks. 
Nation will not take up sword against nation, 
nor will they train for war anymore. 

5 Come, descendants of Jacob, 
let us walk in the light of the LORD. 

Isaiah 2.17-20
17 The arrogance of man will be brought low 
and human pride humbled; 
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day, 
18 and the idols will totally disappear.
19 People will flee to caves in the rocks 
and to holes in the ground 
from the fearful presence of the Lord 
and the splendor of his majesty, 
when he rises to shake the earth. 
20 In that day people will throw away 
to the moles and bats 
their idols of silver and idols of gold, 
which they made to worship. 

Reflection: The Sin Which Fells Nations
By John Tillman

Isaiah is filled with incredible contrasts. 

Isaiah holds beautiful descriptions of the future God has for his people. Many of the most hopeful and uplifting promises of God can be found in the prophet’s words. 

Isaiah also shows unflinching portraits of wrath. His pen does not shrink from descriptions of grim destruction that will eventually come to Judah and the terror that will strike the powerful when God destroys injustice.

We must remember both.

One might assume that these were bad times in Judah. Far from it. By most external indicators, it was the best of times. The land overflowed with gold, goods, horses, and chariots. (Isaiah 2.7) Isaiah served as prophet to four kings and only Ahaz is described as being overtly evil. Yet there was something rotten at the core of worship in this prosperous and powerful kingdom. 

So if the kings are (mostly) good, why is Isaiah’s message so serious and so often bleak? A hint may be found in the downfall of two of those righteous kings. Hezekiah and Uzziah (Also called Amaziah) are among the great kings of Judah but each was felled by the axe of pride.

Hezekiah died knowing that his prideful display before the Babylonians would cause slavery and death for the generations following him. Uzziah’s prideful sin was greater and his fall was worse. He died alone, a leper, outcast even from being buried among the kings of Judah. These kings ended their reigns bearing the ignominy of consequences brought on by pride.

Even under good kings, sin (especially pride) brings ruin to nations. How much more so, under evil kings? How much more so beyond that, under evil kings who think themselves to be good?

From Isaiah we can learn that what looks like a great and powerful nation may actually be a spiritual wasteland of pride and greed and what looks like God’s faithful worshipers may actually be rebels entering the Temple with blood on their hands from the injustice they either ignore, support, or use to fuel their prosperity, which is their true god and idol.

May we flee pride and prideful leaders. May kings of the earth be of little consequence to us compared to the king of Heaven. May our worship be marked by humility, confession, contrition, and repentance. May the indicators that most matter to us be ones of spiritual import not financial or political. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. — Psalm 51.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis TickleToday’s Readings
Isaiah 2 (Listen – 3:00) 
Hebrews 10 (Listen 5:33)

Read more about Pride and Shortsightedness
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The separation of cowardice and pride is a false one, for these two are really one and the same.

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 1.12-15
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,
    this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
    Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
    I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
    I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.

Reflection: A Worn Out Welcome
By John Tillman

When we go into the house of the Lord, is God glad we have come? 

Much of Isaiah’s first chapter concerns how the worshipers in Judah had worn out their welcome in God’s house. God was actually weary of putting up with the very acts these worshipers thought were pleasing to God. 

To hear Isaiah’s words, one might assume that these were bad times in Judah. Far from it. All external indicators looked good, but the spiritual reality was quite different.

Many churches are considering plans to return to worshiping in their sanctuaries as bans on gatherings are relaxed. But before we start singing, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord,” perhaps we need to consider Isaiah’s warnings to a prosperous and crowded Temple.

How can we tell if we have worn out our welcome in God’s house? Let’s look at the commands and warnings God gives through Isaiah. (Isaiah 1.16-17)

Are you “clean?” 
“Your hands are full of blood!” (Isaiah 1.15) 
This is figurative blood of the suffering these worshipers are responsible for. Are your accounts lined with profit from taking advantage of the poor? Is your security more important than others’ oppression? Are you deaf to suffering? Are you hard-hearted? Are you close-handed with those in need?

Will you repent? 
“…stop doing wrong. Learn to do right…” (Isaiah 1.14-15)
To stop doing wrong you must learn to do what is right. You cannot repent of what you claim is not sin.

Will you seek righteousness? 
“…seek justice.” (Isaiah 1.15)
Do not misconstrue righteousness as forcing others to live in obedience. Righteousness means surrendering your own sinful nature to be killed and replaced with Christ’s righteousness.

Who will you defend? 
“Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1.15)
Will you take up the cause of the oppressed, the fatherless, the widow? Will you expand your definition of the oppressed to include not only the oppressed people you are comfortable with, but the ones who make you uncomfortable?

Who will you correct? 
“Defend the oppressed.” (Isaiah 1.15)
“Defend the oppressed” can also be translated as “correct the oppressor.” Will you confront the powerful? And not just powerful enemies? Will you confront powerful friends, as Nathan confronted David?

When what we say and do outside God’s house misrepresents God’s identity, our worship is wearisome rather than welcomed. As Jesus says, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say.” 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. — Psalm 19.14

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis TickleToday’s Readings
Isaiah 1 (Listen – 4:36) 
Hebrews 9 (Listen 4:40)

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