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Today's reading

December 24, 2024

Picture: Problems and Solutions

Ezra 9:1; Isaiah 58:3-4; Isaiah 63:1-6; Isaiah 64:8-9

Problems and Solutions
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As the people returned from Babylon, they prepared themselves for the work that had to be done to rebuild society. They traveled for days, and participated in the painstaking work of gathering supplies, and rebuilding the temple. The people desperately wanted to see God's hand working in their midst and the temple was the iconic representation of the worship and favor of Yahweh. As progress was being made it became painfully obvious that the flaws in their character were holding them back from experiencing God the way they desired to. An example can be seen in Ezra.

     "After these things had

been done, the officials

approached me and said,

'The people of Israel and

the priests and the Levites

have not separated

themselves from the

peoples of the lands with

their abominations, from

the Canaanites, the

Hittites, the Perizzites, the

Jebusites, the Ammonites,

the Moabites, the 

Egyptians, and the 

Amorites.'"

​

Ezra 9:1 (ESV)

These leaders in Israel were marrying foreign woman which resulted in idol worship and divided allegiance to God. They had barely arrived in the land and they were already flailing as a people. They felt God's distance and displeasure so they fasted and offered prayers. Isaiah's words offer a rebuke similar to what is written in Chapter 1.

   "'Why have we faste, and

         you see it not?

Why have we humbled

         ourselves, and you

         take no knowledge of

         it?'

Behold, in the day of your

        fast you seek your own

        pleasure, 

and oppress all your

       workers.

Behold, you fast only to 

       quarrel and to fight

and to hit with a wicked

       fist.

Fasting like yours this day

will not make your voice to

      be heard on high."

​

Isaiah 58:3-4 (ESV)

In the Chiastic structure this represents the problem that will hold back God's goal of all people experiencing His love. Israel was meant to live out the character of God as a light to all nations. This idolatry and sin would disqualify them from being apart of God's plans. But the parallel passage in Isaiah 64 gives hope.

   "But now, O LORD, you are

           our Father;

we are the clay, and you are

           our potter;

we are all the work of your

           hand.

Be not so terribly angry, O

           LORD,

and remember not iniquity

          forever."

​

Isaiah 64:8-9 (ESV)

Israel acknowledges that their sin is their problem. They hearken back the potter metaphor which had been used to describe Israel's pride and rebellion. This time though, the clay would yield to the potter's hand. Israel was acknowledging their sin but who could deal with this problem? Who could deliver Israel from the spiritual oppression they were so laden with? It is the Vine, the Suffering Servant, the strong arm of the Lord that can restore them. In a new section of the Chiasm, Isaiah offers a mighty warrior as the solution to Israel's problem. Only He could help them meet God's goal of sharing His glory with all nations.

     "Who is this who comes

            from Edom,

in crimsoned garments

            from Bozrah,

he who is splendid in his

            apparel,

marching in the greatness

            of his strength?"

​

Isaiah 63:1a (ESV)

Edom symbolically represented the enemy of God. Here Isaiah is offering them as a place holder for the oppression of sin.

"'It is I, speaking in

        righteousness,

mighty to save.'

​​

   Why is your apparel red,

and your garments like his

       who treads in the 

       winepress?

​

'I have trodden the

       winepress alone,

and from the peoples no

       one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my 

       wrath;

their lifeblood spattered on

       my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

    For the day of vengeance

       was in my heart,

and my year of redemption

       had come.

I looked, but there was no

       one to help;

I was appalled, but there

       was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me

       salvation,

and my wrath upheld me.

I trampled down the

       peoples in my anger;

I made them drunk in my

      wrath,

and I poured out their

      lifeblood on the 

      earth.'"

​

Isaiah 63:1b-6 (ESV) 

This mighty Warrior is enraged, with the sin that is an affront to His holiness and a trap to His people. He acknowledges that He is the only solution to the problem of sin in the world. He is the only one who can make a way of salvation to all people. In this picture his clothing is stained with blood. But, in a breathtaking shift it is not the blood of His enemies, it would be His own blood that would be offered for remissions of sin. A sacred sacrifice so powerful that it would deal with the problem of sin and offer salvation to all who believe. But, before this blood-stained warrior would walk the lonely road to his lifegiving demise, he would rest in a manger patiently waiting for his time to come. Now as a victor he patiently waits for his people to come to Him.

This is Christmas to you.

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