God has a message for the contemporary church and it
is found in Isaiah 30.
“What
sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are
contrary to mine. You make alliances (enter into relationships) not directed by
My Spirit. . . . For without consulting me you have gone down to Egypt for help.
. . . You have tried to hide in his shade” (Isaiah 30:1-2,
NLT)
I have written several times in the last couple of
years that I believe we are moving into a very stormy and turbulent period, not
just for the church but for all of mankind. Yes, there may be momentary
respites from the coming storm cycles in business, finance, weather and world
affairs but no observer can deny that serious storm clouds are gathering.
A few days ago I read an article in the New York Post in which they asked, “Why
has there been a rash of suicides among some of the brightest and best
financial executives in the world?” The article, written in the early part of
March, detailed that since January 1 of this year there have been eight (8)
suicides among key financial workers, and seven of the eight have been under fifty
years of age.
As I prepare this article, the world has
been baffled by the disappearance of a Malaysian passenger jet with 239 people
on board. Russia is amassing troops on the Ukrainian border after annexing
Crimea and thumbing its nose at the rest of the world. China is beginning to
awaken and is making its strength known as a major player in business, finance
and military might. The U.S. continues to sink under the weight of a massive,
growing debt and America’s status as the world’s most important nation is
eroding before our eyes! On Saturday, March 22, there were at least nine earthquakes
in the state of Oklahoma that registered between 2.2 and 4.0 on the Richter scale
. . . Oklahoma!
The stormy days are increasing in frequency and will
progressively get more intense as time passes. After Jesus described many of
the events that would lead up to His return for His bride, He described these
events as birth pains (see Matthew 24:8).
I know that messages like this are not popular with
most of today’s church. The majority of messages given in contemporary churches
are on subjects such as “how to cope; how to have a happy and fulfilled life;
how to be successful; how to be free from fear.”
God spoke to Isaiah and gave him a message for a
people much like the crowd in today’s American and Canadian churches. Here is
the message God gave him for a rebellious people (church):
“Now
go and write down these words.
Write them in a book.
They will stand until the end of time
as a witness
that these people are stubborn rebels
who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers,
“Stop seeing visions!”
They tell the prophets,
“Don’t tell us what is right.
Tell us nice [smooth] things.
Tell us lies.
Forget all this gloom.
Get off your narrow path.
Stop telling us about your
‘Holy One of Israel.’” (Isaiah 30:8-11, NLT)
Write them in a book.
They will stand until the end of time
as a witness
that these people are stubborn rebels
who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers,
“Stop seeing visions!”
They tell the prophets,
“Don’t tell us what is right.
Tell us nice [smooth] things.
Tell us lies.
Forget all this gloom.
Get off your narrow path.
Stop telling us about your
‘Holy One of Israel.’” (Isaiah 30:8-11, NLT)
The
word translated “nice” in verse eleven is translated “smooth” in the original.
The rebellious O.T. Israel (church) wanted only to hear smooth things. In
essence, they were saying, “We don’t want to hear anything that would convict us
of our bad behavior; we don’t want to be challenged to change or to repent; we
don’t want any convicting messages that hit us like a bump in the road.” Isn’t
it interesting that we have a popular TV preacher running around saying,
“Because you repented at salvation, you never have to repent again.” That is
the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Tell us nice/smooth things—tell us lies.”
Smooth
messages are not going to get us ready for the hell that is about to break
loose on the world. We need God’s men and women to call us back to the place in
God where we should be, and for many of us this means that we need to repent of
our coldness and indifference. We don’t need lies and happy messages . . . we
need the Word of the Lord delivered to us with directness, love and hope. Hope
is the confident expectation that God is in charge and that no matter what we
are called to face, He will be with us (see Psalm 23:4).
In
Isaiah 30 God went on to say,
“Because you despise
what I tell you
And trust instead in
oppression and lies,
Calamity will come upon
you suddenly—
Like a bulging wall
that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will
collapse
And come crashing down.”
(Isaiah 30:12-13, NLT)
But
for those who will listen God has an answer for the coming catastrophe
“In returning to me and resting in
me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your
strength.” (Isaiah 30:15, NLT)
“Returning to me” means to repent of the previous course of action, and to return to their original place of faith and trust in the Lord. The Jewish people had begun “seeking shade/shelter” in Egypt; in other words, they were going to the world for help instead of seeking the Lord. The word of the Lord is to stop going down to Egypt and return to seeking and trusting Him!