Today's Scripture Reading (March 20, 2023): Isaiah 8
Have you ever seen something
and said, "I want that!" I have friends who like to watch home
improvement shows, trying to gather ideas about things they want to renovate in
their homes. And these shows are a great place to gather ideas, even if some
improvements are widely impractical. Many years ago, my family rented a house,
colloquially referred to now as "the big house," for our vacation.
The house was big enough to accommodate my wife and me, my parents, our kids
and their spouses, as well as the grandkids, all in one spot for a week and a
half of our vacation. We had a great time and still have great memories of the
time spent in "the big house."
The house also had several
great features, which included a theater room, a pool, and great living spaces
where we could gather to play games or even just talk with each other, and areas
where we could go to grab some alone time so that we didn't feel that we were always
in each other's way. But one of the features that I enjoyed was the en suite bathroom
in the Primary Bedroom. It was spacious and had a dressing room attached, a
great shower area, and a separate bathtub. And years later, if I ever had a
chance to build a house to my specification, it would include an en suite that
would approximate the one we had in "the big house."
Ahaz was an apostate king. He
wanted nothing to do with the religion of his father and the rest of Judah. But
that didn't mean that he wasn't spiritual. He just seemed to believe the grass
was greener on the other side of the fence. And so he becomes a consumer of the
spirituality of other nations. And on a trip to Damascus, Ahaz was impressed
with an altar he had found there. As a result, he wrote down a description of
the altar and sent it back to Jerusalem to the priesthood at the Temple. One
priest, likely well positioned in Jerusalem, took it upon himself to build a copy
of the Damascus altar. The priest's name was Uriah, and he finished the replica
of the altar before Ahaz returned to Jerusalem.
It seems likely that the
Uriah that built the Damascene altar in Jerusalem is the same Uriah that Isaiah
called to be a witness in Isaiah 8. If that is true, then Uriah and Zechariah
mentioned here are both part of the establishment in Jerusalem. Therefore, they
would have also been in opposition to Isaiah. So, we need to note that Isaiah
was not calling those on his side as witnesses, but rather, his opponents. He
wanted those who opposed him to have to stand up and admit that Isaiah's
prophecy was true. And really, there are no more convincing witnesses than
those who stand against us.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 9
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