But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. – Isaiah 44:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 7, 2023): Isaiah 44

I have spent most of my life cheering for the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions in the National Football League. I am old enough to remember when the Seahawks and the Lions played in different conferences. So, the idea of cheering for the Seahawks and Lions meant I had a team playing in each football conference. But since 2002, both Seattle and Detroit have played in the same conference. I no longer have a team that I cheer for in the American Football Conference, although I still have teams that I don't like in the AFC. One of them is the Denver Broncos, a dislike that is a carryover from the days when Seattle played in that conference.

Cheering for Seattle has brought some high and low points over the last few years. Despite having some excellent players throughout my life, Detroit has struggled with their play. Just a note: I have never lived in either city, so selecting these two teams is really just a choice on my part. And so, occasionally, and especially when my teams aren't doing well, someone suggests that I make a different choice. But that has never appealed to me. Sometimes, I think the victories mean so much more when you cheer for a team that has to work hard for every win, and maybe they don't win very often. I like Patrick Mahomes but don't expect me to be cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs anytime soon. (Of course, they will be my team of choice whenever they play against the Broncos.) I am happy with Detroit and Seattle, and I am willing to stick with them on good and bad days. And this year, I have high hopes for both teams.

Hebrew writing often contains dualism or restating the same concept twice. And that dualism is present in this passage. Jacob and Israel point to the same person. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and the nation received the changed name to indicate the whole country. But the nation is now at one of the lowest points in its history, maybe even lower than when they were enslaved people in Egypt. In Egypt, they didn't know any other way of life. But as they live out their lives in Babylon, they know well what life was like when they were free people in Canaan.

But the prophet wants to remind the people that God chose them. And just because times were rough didn't mean that they weren't still chosen. God was still choosing them, even though the nation had let him down in the past.

The same is true today. God has chosen you and still chooses you, whether you are going through good times or bad. He still wants the best for you, so hold on tight and keep following close to God as you move through the journey. Because as long as God is choosing us, then there is still hope for the future.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. – Isaiah 43:4

Today's Scripture Reading (September 6, 2023): Isaiah 43

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). Or as the King James Version of the Bible says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). To understand the concept Paul is trying to get across here, we have to realize that 2000 years ago, the people living in that century didn't have the highly polished reflective surfaces that we call "mirrors" today. Instead, they had polished surfaces that offered a reflection but not one without imperfections and distortions. A mirror could give you an idea of your appearance, but it was far from a perfect image. It was an approximation, nothing more; thus, we saw "through a glass, darkly."

Our mirrors have improved, but we still see through a glass, darkly. I am confronted with someone who has taken a comment out of context almost weekly. Sometimes, the words might have belonged to me, but often, it is something that someone else has said. But, usually, they have taken insult when none was intended. Part of the problem is that we don't just hear the words someone says to us. We hear the words and translate them through a prism of our expectations and values. As a result, what seems so evident to us in our many interactions might not be what is really happening. As much as these interactions seem obvious to us, we have unconsciously taken some shortcuts to get to that solution.

Prophecy is often the same way. All prophecy is seeing through a glass, darkly. There is nothing obvious about a prophecy. We have to try to put the pieces together, and even if we do that right, we still might arrive at a wrong conclusion.

The author of this passage is trying to encourage a nation that has been destroyed by the Babylonians, arguing that God is still on their side. And so, the prophet reminds them of what has happened in the past. When they were in Egypt, God redeemed them from their slavery, substituting other nations in their place. Whether they understood this or not, these other nations were also on a journey with God, but they existed at a different location on that journey. The prophet's idea was that something similar would happen again. God was willing to give people and nations in exchange for his people.

But the ultimate expression of this concept is found in the life, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the very Son of God, was the ultimate trade that God made for us. He died on the cross so we wouldn't have to pay the price of our disobedience. He suffered in our place. While this prophecy is viewed through a glass, darkly, the substitution of Jesus for us is the point that the prophet was trying to describe to his people who so desperately needed to find some hope for the future.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 44

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. – Isaiah 42:3

Today's Scripture Reading (September 5, 2023): Isaiah 42

I have a decorative, grass-like plant in my front yard. The grass stands tall but is also very delicate and has a feathering effect on the top of the plant. A couple of months ago, a storm came through the area, and after the storm, I noticed that the stalks on a few of the strands were broken. Instead of standing with the pride waving in the wind, these stalks, still attached to the stem and roots further down, pointed to ward the ground. The problem was that because the stalks were broken, there was no hope they would ever stand straight and point toward the sky again.

In response to the storm, it was time to take some scissors and cut the plant's stem. We made the cut just below the break, allowing what was left to stand with their siblings, but they would no longer have the feather-like top they had boasted before the storm. The broken stalks had reminded watchers that some of the grass was no longer healthy, but that was no longer obvious to passers-by once the stem was cut.

We like to do this in other areas of our lives. We know there is truth in the statement that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And the solution to having a strong chain is to remove and replace any weak links. We do the same thing with our lives, spurning or eliminating the weak from our midst. And there is some logic in our moves. I was surprised when an older pastor told me that a church has to be careful with how many "weak" people we allow to attend because these people will limit the growth opportunities available for the organization. While I understand the comment from the point of view of organizational health, I have never been able to bring myself to remove people simply because they required extra attention and grace.

Whatever you believe we should do with the weak among us, Jesus didn't hesitate to care for the vulnerable. In fact, he argued that these were the precise people for whom Jesus had come. After all, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (Matthew 9:12). Isaiah's prophecy indicated that the Messiah would be someone who would care for those who were weak and bruised. He would take time with those who were hurting; in the ministry of Jesus, an example of this care might be the woman at the well in John 4 who came to the well at noon so she wouldn't have to interact with the people who wanted nothing more than increase her pain. Jesus met with her, gently moving her to a place where she could begin healing. And maybe if we are becoming more like Christ, part of that means that we will take on the gentle character of Jesus, who would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43

Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. – Isaiah 41:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 4, 2023): Isaiah 41

I met with a prophet the other day who told me that God has spoken, and the next President of the United States will be Donald Trump. And I must be honest; he was not the first prophet who has given me that information. So all the MAGA fans can take a breath because, apparently, this is already a forgone conclusion; the matter has been closed. According to my most recent prophet, President Trump will visit the fury of God on the legal system and restore conservative values to the prominent place where they were designed to be in North American society. A friend recently told me that while Trump might be flawed, I guess that is what you call someone facing four indictments; he is the only Defender of Conservatism available to Christians living in the United States. I think that is a bit pessimistic. My hope was for Chris Christie at the top of the Republican Ticket, but I have to admit that I, along with, it seems, many others, was impressed by Nikki Haley in the most recent Republican debate. But according to my prophet, I am wrong. Donald Trump is the man from the east who will make everything right in our world. I think there is little doubt that Trump will lead the Republican Ticket. And I know that no one is asking me, but I think the Democrats are bending over backward to make sure that Trump wins the 2024 election because I think President Biden might be the only Democrat that Donald Trump could beat, just as I believe that Donald Trump is likely to be the only Republican that Joe Biden can beat. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of politics.

The answer to the question asked in this verse is God. He is the one who stirred up the one from the East. But the bigger question is, who is this one from the east? And the top two guesses are very different from each other. Some believe this man of righteousness who rises in the East is Abraham. Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees, a place in modern-day Iraq, East of Israel, and then Abe moved West. He is the Father of Israel and the Arab nations. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul comments that "Abraham 'believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:6-7). Obviously, then, Abraham must be this "one from the east."

But others say not so fast. Their choice for the "one from the east" is Cyrus, the leader of the Persian Empire. Cyrus was born in present-day Iran, east of Babylon (Iraq). And he defeated the Babylonians and returned the people of Israel home to Judah. His righteousness lay in his doing what God wanted him to do. The nations were handed over to him, not just Babylon. He united the Medes and the Persians and defeated nations from Asia to Northern Africa. Theologian Harry Bultema adds, "Both secular and sacred documents present him as righteous and good, and he can be called righteous or, as the text actually has it, justice, especially since he carried out the righteous acts of vengeance on Babylon and that of the deliverance of Israel" (Harry Bultema, Commentary on Isaiah).

I lean toward Cyrus because the time period of this prophecy is closer to the era of Cyrus, and it is a return to Israel by the Jewish people that would have been on the mind of both the prophet and the people. But whoever it was, God called this one from the east to go west.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42

A voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. – Isaiah 40:3

Today's Scripture Reading (September 3, 2023): Isaiah 40

There are two voices in the contemporary church. It is a fact that I have struggled with throughout my career. And it is a problem that I think handicaps the church universal. The two voices are divided between the one that specifically speaks to the church and the one that speaks to the world. And it is not just that the same message is phrased differently for different audiences; it is that the message itself is often very different. Inside the church, we seem to want a very legalistic message. I know some people don't like me because I don't [usually] preach a hellfire and brimstone message. We want to hear a message that stresses our need to keep the rules, or we will be punished, and we don't want someone to come along who tells us that that is not where we should be focused.

A hellfire and brimstone message doesn't work for those outside the church. I think it did once. Not that long ago, almost everyone in the Western World had a basic understanding of the Christian faith. And when an itinerant preacher came to a community and said, "You are going to hell because of the way you are living," it was a truth that the listeners already believed was true. Those outside the church knew they didn't measure up to the standard that even they had accepted was necessary for a successful life, let alone God's. But that is a world in which we no longer live. What the world needs is a message of grace, not judgment. And that was the message that Jesus preached to sinners during his ministry.

Isaiah's words here are familiar because all four Gospels allude to them. But what is maybe significant is that Isaiah seems to indicate the voice isn't crying out in the church. It is not a voice that cries out in the Temple, the synagogue, or wherever the people were worshipping. The voice was supposed to cry out in the wilderness, barren places, and places far from God. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to go there with God's message, preaching the message to those living far from him.

And that was precisely what John the Baptist chose to do. He was the one who became the fulfillment of these words. He went out into the nation and preached a message of repentance and the coming Messiah. But his shouldn't be the only voice. We need to join John in bringing the call of God to the barren places and to people who need to know that there is one who has already paid the price for our sin so grace can be extended to us and to anyone who is far from God but wants to come close.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 41

Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites will have an allotment 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. Its total length will be 25,000 cubits and its width 10,000 cubits.– Ezekiel 48:13

 Today's Scripture Reading (September 2, 2023): Ezekiel 48

I have a bit of a salt addiction. I try not to eat it much, but there are certain foods, like French fries, where I admit I like my salt. I also joke that I have a salt tooth instead of a sweet tooth. If a craving grabs me, it is more often for something salty than something sweet.

I think that salt is a fantastic substance. But it has to be sprinkled onto the food to be enjoyed. You might pool ketchup in one place and dip the food into it, but a pile of salt is generally useless. But sprinkle the white crystals onto something you are about to eat, and it has the power to transform your meal, as long as your blood pressure can take it.

When the nation of Israel was formed, and the land was divided among the twelve tribes, the tribe of Levi didn't receive an allotment. The idea seemed to be that the priests and Levites, technically the priests were also part of the tribe of Levi, would be like salt on our food; they would be sprinkled out over the tribes, giving the Levites a chance to challenge the tribes and to remind them that Israel was to be spiritually set apart from the other nations.

But with this new Israel, that would change. The tribe of Levi would have an allotment alongside the other tribes and directly beside the area set apart for the Temple. It should also be noted that the land set aside for the Temple and the Levites matches the dimensions of the Sacred District that Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 45. So, this Holy District might be these two sections taken together. But whatever the reality might be, the priest and Levites would live close to the Temple in which they would serve. And rather than being sprinkled out like salt in Israel, they would find their place at the heart of the New Israel.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40

He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" – Ezekiel 47:6

Today's Scripture Reading (September 1, 2023): Ezekiel 47

It was a teasing phrase that I heard back when I was young. The phrase? "I see said the blind man who really didn't see at all." The expression was offered whenever someone didn't seem to understand what was happening but refused to admit that lack of understanding. "I see" is a phrase that says, "I understand." And sometimes, it is easy to say "I see" when you don't, thus the expression of my youth.

One of my favorite names for God is "El Roi," which means "the God who sees me." The name arises from the story of Hagar, Sarah's maidservant and the mother of Ishmael, in the days before the birth of Isaac. Abraham and Sarah had launched a plan to get an heir for Abraham. Sarah was barren and unable to conceive. As a result of her inability, Sarah offers Hagar to Abraham. The idea was that if Abraham slept with Hagar and Hagar became pregnant, Sarah could claim the child as her own. It was an accepted practice of the time, but I have never read of an instance where the plan worked well.

And the plan didn't work for Abraham and Sarah. It was not that a pregnancy didn't happen because Hagar did become pregnant with Abraham's child. But as soon as Hagar became pregnant, Sarah became jealous. Hagar had succeeded where Sarah had failed. Maybe Sarah hoped that Hagar would remain childless, indicating that her inability to get pregnant was not entirely Sarah's fault. But now Hagar was pregnant.

As a result of Hagar's pregnancy and Sarah's jealousy, Sarah began mistreating Hagar. Things got so bad between the two women that Hagar decided to run away from Sarah. In the wilderness, Hagar meets with God, and in response to that meeting, Hagar tells God that he is the God (El) who sees me (ro'i) (Genesis 16:13). We can withstand a lot if we know that God sees us, and we know that God understands the crises that we are facing.

God asks Ezekiel, "Do you see this?" God is asking Ezekiel if he understands what he is seeing. Specifically, does Ezekiel understand this river that runs from the Temple, beginning as a trickle but eventually becoming so deep that it cannot be crossed without swimming? Experts have placed a lot of effort into the idea that Ezekiel intends this to be a real Temple that could be built on the earth. But if there is one element that seems to be nothing more than a symbol, it is this river. It indicates that our spiritual lives begin shallow and gradually get more profound. Or maybe the depth available in the word of God that only reveals itself as we spend time in the Bible.

But I must admit that I am not sure I "see," at least not with certainty. In this case, I am probably a little like the proverbial blind man who doesn't see at all.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 48