Application to the Heart
Wednesday, May 7, 2009
Isaiah 66

Isaiah 66:17 "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.”

In God’s dealing with man, he seeks to judge those that have compromised in their faith. These are the people who no longer listen to God, instead, they listen to anything that they hear. These are the ones who forsake the revelation of God and now become the epitome of “following one in the midst.” What is evident from the text, with the listing of pig’s flesh and mice, is that it does not seem to matter to them how much of an abomination they become against the Lord. With those who “sanctify and purify themselves to go into the garden” this is not a one time event but suggests an organized cult possibly lead by an elder or leader. As we already know, God is a jealous God, and this outright sin against him will not go unpunished as his hand moves towards judgment.

Recently I was reminded by an old and very popular saying, “a rolling stone catches no moss.” The idea behind it, was that if you keep moving, keep focused, then all those extra things in life that tend to tie people down would not be able to hold you back. Likewise there wouldn’t be enough opportunity for a rolling stone to grow moss upon itself. I tend to think that most of the time when we wander into “whatever” it is because we have lost the focus of God within our life. If we were really focused on the Lord, if we really knew what was at stake, we simply would not have the time or the chance to wander into some strange garden and perform weird ritualistic ceremonies. The problem is that there is an organized front meant to distract us and we are indeed fallen creatures. We must remind ourselves that we are new in him every morning, and pray that the Lord “keeps us from temptation.”

J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah: TDOT, (Downers Grove : IVP, 1999) p. 404-5.

The way of the Lord

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

Proverbs 19:3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

Psalm 119:1-3 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

I realize that Proverbs 21:31 is right when it says, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD." This has been one of my most favorite proverbs since I started studying wisdom literature. I tend to be the kind of personality that tries to make everything ready before any deadline. With this kind of personality I often become over-prepared and even overly-anxious.

There are times when I realize I become "creative" in the way I handle situations. In today's devotion it made the point, why do we consider any other way when we know that God's way is always the correct answer. True, there are some situations where there could be some possible gray areas, but questions concerning salvation, relationships, work ethics; most major subjects in our life can be easily answered by an understanding from God. The hardest part is doing it.

I try to reason why we doubt. Maybe we doubt the outcome? Maybe we think that the cost is not worth the reward? Maybe we doubt the one who we are supposed to trust? In cases like these we are all forced to bank on the Scriptures. Because the Lord promised, that will be enough for me. When things don't go the way I expect, I will trust the Lord and not have my "heart rage against" Him (Prov 19:3). Saying this is easy, promising this is another story. But our Lord already has, and so must I.

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 179-180.