You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water. – Isaiah 1:30

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 31, 2013): Isaiah 1

I spent about twelve years in an area that was actually reclaimed desert. Reclaimed desert is usually agricultural or ranch lands that depend on high amounts of irrigation in order to grow the crops that the farmers need. But the thing about reclaimed desert is that it looks like normal agricultural land – except for the presence of irrigation equipment on a lot of the farmland. In this area, it used to amuse me that when I got together with farmers and ranchers early in the growing season, usually the conversation hovered around one thing – the lack of rain. And I would just shake my head with the logic of a non-farmer and say something like – “What exactly were you expecting? It doesn’t rain in the desert. It has never rained in the desert. And yet every year we seem to be surprised at the lack of rain.” Okay, the truth is that it does rain in the desert, but even when it does rain, the land has no idea of what to do with it and the water simply runs off.

Isaiah looks at the people of Judah in amazement and seems to ask the same question that I asked of the farmers. Do you not realize that spiritually all you are is reclaimed desert? You look to the mighty oak trees as symbols (and gods) of fertility and you even gather these trees into groves or gardens of worship dedicated to the Canaanite gods of the land, but you forget that what is really needed is the irrigation that only God can bring. If God stopped sending the rain, then where would your garden be? The leaves of the mighty oaks that you worship would fade and no garden can survive without water.

But the prophet was not trying to teach an agricultural lesson. He wanted to point to the spiritual dryness of the people. Because of their dependence on the gods of the land rather than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their God had stopped bringing the rain to the spirits of the people that was necessary for the people to grow spiritually. They were the withered leaves and Judah herself was a dry garden. And every once in a while, God raised up a prophet (like Isaiah) to bring the rain to the people, but the people no longer knew how to handle the prophets instructions. The teaching just ran off to gather into pools and eventually evaporate back up into the air.

The mission of the nation had always been that they were to be a blessing to the world (Genesis 12:2-3). But that blessing would never become a reality unless the people returned to God. The garden (Israel) that was intended to bring the world together would only rarely bloom. And its influence on the world would be minimized. None of the great purpose that God had always placed on Israel could become a reality outside of God. The garden needed the rain.

As Christians, we do not believe that we have replaced Israel in this purpose – but we have joined them. But our presence will not have any significance outside of the presence of God. We need the rain that only he can bring or we too will be oaks with leaves that are fading.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2