Listen, Obey and Love

 

 

READ Isaiah 6–10

I’d not be surprised that most people ‘see’ the Lord at one time or another. From the few who talk about it, this experience is too incredible to publicly disclose. In the case of God’s prophets, He told them to tell others. One of the most familiar is when Isaiah saw God:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:1–7)

For some, seeing God is a warning or a reassurance. For Isaiah, it was to experience God’s atoning power and receive from Him a mission. God said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” and when Isaiah volunteered, He said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive . . . .’” (Isaiah 6:8–9)

This pattern continued. Isaiah was told who to talk to and what to say. He was warned not to behave like others: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:11–13) and when anyone told him to, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” the Lord said, “Should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19)

In other words, those who know the Lord as Creator and Savior have a personal relationship with Him and ought to listen and pay attention. He wants to communicate with me. I’m I listening? Or am I too busy? Too preoccupied with doing my own thing? Or too busy living like sinful people live? Imagine what the world would miss if Isaiah was not listening and did not write this for generations of readers:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6–7)

Another feature in this reading is God’s persistent love. Even though “Everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly”  . . . . and “Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah” Isaiah writes, “For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” (Isaiah 9:17)

Because of God’s persistent love, one day “the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.” And God says, “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.” (Isaiah 10:20–25)

Today we are in San Francisco for a special family event and this word from the Lord is timely! The practical bottom line is keeping my relationship with God close. He may not show Himself to me, but He does speak; I must listen, do what He says, say what He tells me to say, and persist in loving others, even those who reject Him. They could change their mind, but I’m not to stop caring about them.