Isaiah 2 is all about the Mountain of the Lord and the Day of the Lord. I'm gonna make this a quick post, not because it needs to be rushed, but this Word is very concise in its message. In lame man's terms, we should glorify the right one.
The first five verses talk about going to the Mountain of the Lord and walking in the light of the Lord and in His ways. THEN, we get to verses 6 through 22 where it talks about who will be exalted in the Day of the Lord. Which, most people would agree that it would be GOD!!! Seems like of like a "duh" moment, but if we really think about it, do we really even exalt God now? That's what this Word is trying to convey.
We may be doing everything right according to the Law (which is the Covenant of Love for the New Testament Christians as compared to the sacrifices, rules, and rituals of the Old Testament), but when we expect praise from men, we aren't going to be getting praise from God. When we give of ourselves and expect some one else to see, we are really trying to exalt ourselves.
"Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made" (NIV, v 8).
If you really think about this verse, and what our idols are these days, this is quite a kick in the butt! "Idol: a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered." (From Google definition search) So, anything we put before God is an idol. And in Scripture, it says that God is a jealous God! (See Ex 20:3-6.) What are our idols? Yes, some even have images like little statues, but others admire money, success, exaltation, pleasure, career, power, influence, control, position, and even SELF!!! I'm not perfect at this either...
Back to Isaiah - SEVERAL times it says that the arrogance of man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day...Verse 9, 11, 17. But in verse 18 it continues saying "and the idols will totally disappear" (NIV). So the money, career, influence, control, self, that we worshiped and took such delight in will vanish. We will be brought low and God will be brought high.
This Word will not come to fruition until we the people can begin to bring God's kingdom here on earth. If we were trying to establish a kingdom, we would not all be kings and queens. There would be one. There would be obedience and respect brought to the King and we would be as servants. This is what we must do here on earth. We must put God as the center of attention and honor Him and obey Him. We must deny any traitors (idols) that may rise up against Him.
"Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" (vs 22, NIV)
How often are you trusting in the things of man or mankind itself? Are you trusting in those idols more than in God? Are you worshiping (bowing down, spending time with, exalting) them more than God? If so, repent and start anew. Begin to look for ways to establish God's kingdom here on Earth and for ways to exalt Him rather than the idols of today's world. If you're having trouble, ask God in prayer to show you, and be assured He will. Let's glorify the Right One rather than the idols and ourselves.
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Mt 23:12, NIV)
No comments:
Post a Comment