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Today's reading
December 11, 2024
Picture: Hedging Bets
Isaiah 29:1-3, 6-8, 13, 15-16, 22-24
Hezekiah is performing his responsibilities as the leader of Judah admirably. He has re-instituted temple worship and has led Israel to tear down the last bastions of idolatry that Ahaz littered throughout the city. Yet even with all of this religious action and piety, Judah was not fully trusting God. The word Ariel is translated earthen hearth but it can also mean, city of God. These words form an oxymoron which Isaiah uses to juxtapose their new public persona with their hidden actions.
"Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David settled!
Add yar to year
and let your cycle of festivals go on.
Yet I will besiege Ariel;
she will mourn and lament,
she will be to me like an altar
hearth.
I will encamp against you on all
sides;
I will encircle you with towers
and set up my siege works against
you."
​
Isaiah 29:1-3 (NIV)
Assyria would eventually stand outside the gates of Jerusalem; however, God ensures them that these are HIS actions. Just as quickly as God brings their enemies before them, He will also destroy them.
"The LORD Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and
great noise,
with windstorm and tempest and
flames of a devouring fire.
Then the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Ariel,
that attack her and her fortress and
besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,
with a vision in the night-
as when a hungry person dreams
of eating,
but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of
drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.
So will it be with the hordes of all
the nations
that fight against Mount Zions."
​
Isaiah 29:6-8 (NIV)
With all the progress they had been making, the Judeans may have wondered why Isaiah's message was so terse. Why showcase an instrument of justice and in the same breath promise to save? Isaiah answers this by revealing the hypocrisy that weighed so heavy on the heart of God.
"The Lord says:
​
'These people come near to me
with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules
they have been taught.'"
​
Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
At this, the Judeans would have raised their voices and denied these accusations. But the force of the next statements would be undeniable.
"Woe to those who go to great
depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and
think,
'Who sees us? Who will know?'"
​
Isaiah 29:15 (NIV)
Behind closed doors, Hezekiah has made an alliance with Egypt. He believed that he had manipulated all parties. He had hedged his bets. but the dealer had seen his hand. Gods' answer through Isaiah was scathing.
"You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be
like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
'You did not make me'?
Can the pot say to the potter,
'You know nothing'?"
​
Isaiah 29:16 (NIV)
Even with this duplicity God would rescue Judah from Assyria. But, what would happen if Judah fully dedicated themselves to the Lord? Isaiah holds up the vision of a day when a King would be the ruler of our hearts, leading us into complete trust and obedience.
"Therefore this is what the LORD
,who redeemed Abraham, says to
the descendants of Jacob:
​
'No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
When they see among them their
children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness
of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of
Israel.
Those who are wayward in spirit
will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept
instruction.'"
​
Isaiah 29:22-24 (NIV)
This is what a transformed heart looks like. This is what happens when Jesus makes all things new.
This is Christmas to you.