Tag: Isaiah 1

Destruction of the Flesh

The latter part of Isaiah 1 paints a powerful and rather interesting portrait of Israel.

In verses 21-23 God lays out the charges against her. Israel is a prostitute, a murderer, worthless, weak, rebels, thieves, bought & sold, and calloused in their heart and spirit.

Verses 24-25a have God bringing his wrath down on an unfaithful Israel. Raising His fist against her — a metaphor that Isaiah uses constantly.

Verses 25b-27 has God talking about purifying Israel, restoring good judgement & counsellors, a rebuilding her reputation. But this process is bookended by rebellion and destruction.

Verse 28 again Has God visiting wrath upon the rebellious.

Verses 29 & 30 tell of a repentant people who understand the shame of what they have done.

Verse 31 once more has the evil-doer being destroyed, this time by their sin.

I think this is a fantastic flow and way to think about the effects of sin and how God uses them for His purposes of judgement. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:5 writes, “[H]and this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”

Sin comes to and for all of us. It is rather unavoidable. However, when we are convicted by the Lord or called out by a brother or sister in the faith it is our responsibility to act on that conviction and deal with the sin. If we refuse then Paul says we are to be disfellowshipped. The purpose of this is to let sin run its course. When it does there will be one of two outcomes.

  1. Your sin takes a toll on you physically, mentally, spiritually, and/or emotionally (this part is unavoidable) and then you repent, see the truth and return to God. This doesn’t un-do the consequences of sin, but it still puts you in a good place in light of eternity.
  2. Your sin takes a toll on you physically, mentally, spiritually, and/or emotionally (I told you, unavoidable) and you do not repent. Your sin continues to destroy you and you are lost in both this world and the next.

Why would God do this? Why cast out the immoral brother or sister? Because when the consequences of sin are minimized, the value of grace is diminished. And if we don’t see how our choices can bring us to ruin, the impetus to change is severely impacted, possibly even erased entirely. But when our sin causes us to lose things that we care about, we suddenly see that we need a way out. And then, when that way out is presented we take and are glad for it. And so this is why God wants our sinful and unrepentant brothers and sisters to be cast out. To fully experience the destruction of their sin. Because when they do, it will put them in the best position to begin to make things right.

One Small Mistake Gone Uncorrected

Well, it’s finally happened. The sin of the northern kingdom of Israel has lead to their dispossession of the land and their captivity in Assyria. They were cheats, liars, murders, drunks, idolators, adulterers, and even child-sacrificers, yet not none of those are the reason their land is dispossessed. No, Israel lost their land because a decision made roughly 660 years earlier — during the time of Joshua. But before we get to that, let’s take a look even further back, 690 years — during the time of Moses. Deuteronomy 7:1-2 reads:

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you — and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.

Destroy them totally. Make no treaty. Show no mercy. This serves as both the Lord’s judgement on the wickedness of the Canaanites as well as His promise-fulfillment and blessing on Israel. But what happens? 30 years later Joshua 17:13 reports:

However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely.

That’s where it all fell down. No one ever corrected this initial mistake. And so it festered and it grew and its roots got larger and went deeper and it eventually destroyed Israel. A long-time family friend who fostered many at-risk children was driving around Vancouver’s Downtown East Side some years ago and her foster kids asked about the drugged-out homeless people so prevalent in that area. My friend felt the Lord give her a word of knowledge and she replied to her foster children, “They never planned to come here and live on the street, but they made one bad choice. And that led to another, then another, then another.” (paraphrased)

So it was with Israel. One small mistake uncorrected led to destruction. Slowly but surely. In this case it took over 600 years, but it came. However, like I said yesterday, God is a gentleman and He has given us the ability to choose. Only God can save us, but we have to submit our lives to Him. Every part. Or that one, teeny tiny thing we are holding back will eventually turn into a mighty Oak tree that dominates the landscape of our lives. I’ll leave us today with this warning from the Prophet Isaiah:

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 1:18-20