The boys and I were reading in Isaiah today - we read 3-4-5-6.. but 5 was my part and OOOH Boy, it sure spoke to me about God's people needing repenting.
Chapter 5: 1 I want to sing a song for someone I love, a song about my loved one and his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug up its stones and cleared them away,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and carved out in its rock a winepress.
He expected it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3 Now, citizens of Yerushalayim and people of Y'hudah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I haven't already done in it?
So why, when I expected good grapes,
did it produce sour, wild grapes?
OOOH - we're so that vineyard and we're producing sour grapes. Yes, we should look on this "vineyard" as a whole.. the nation of Israel - that includes Natural born Israel (which we call Jews), and those Adopted into the nation.. we Gentiles... we're not the united nation of Israel as God had intended, we're not the United Bride of Christ... not even the Gentile Church... not even the Protestants, .. not even Evangelicals, not even neighbours... and often not even husbands and wives. But don't forget to look at this on your own. Are you producing Sour Grapes? Now if you say to your self.. No - not me.. surely not me, surely I'm the good grape... check yourself again. If God's Word says His vineyard is producing Sour Grapes.. I'd be careful of assuming everyone else is a sour grape, but that you yourself are one of the few good grapes growing in the vineyard.
5 Now come, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge, and [its grapes] will be eaten up;
I will break through its fence, and [its vines] will be trampled down.
6 I will let it go to waste: it will be neither pruned nor hoed,
but overgrown with briars and thorns.
I will also order the clouds not to let rain fall on it.
7 Now the vineyard of ADONAI-Tzva'ot is the house of Isra'el,
and the men of Y'hudah are the plant he delighted in.
So he expected justice, but look - bloodshed! - and righteousness,
but listen - cries of distress!
Are you seeing a little produce of sour grapes in your life? Has God's hedge been removed from around you? Are you feeling a little trampled down? A little wasted, are you feeling in need of a little pruning? How about some refreshing rain, do you need some of that?
8 Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field, until there's no room for anyone else,
and you live in splendor alone on your land.
9 ADONAI-Tzva'ot said in my ears,
"Many houses will be brought to ruin,
large, magnificent ones left empty;
10 for a ten-acre vineyard will produce only five gallons of wine,
and seed from five bushels of grain will yield but half a bushel."
11 Woe to those who get up early to pursue intoxicating liquor;
who stay up late at night, until wine inflames them.
12 They have lutes and lyres, drums and flutes, and wine at their parties;
but they pay no attention to how ADONAI works
and never look at what his hands have made.
Heed the warning. This is talking about the idolatry of self and wealth... the idolatry that we can live on our laurels, that money will save us, that our prosperity is what brings us joy. Return to God, and God's ways. For God does not call us to live this debaucherous life. His Teachings teach us how to live.
13 For such lack of knowledge my people go into exile;
this is also why their respected men starve
and their masses are parched from thirst.
Do you have a lack of knowledge?
14 Therefore Sh'ol has enlarged itself and opened its limitless jaws -
and down go their nobles and masses, along with their noise and revels.
15 The masses are lowered, the nobles are humbled - proud looks will be brought down.
16 But ADONAI-Tzva'ot is exalted through justice,
God the Holy One is consecrated through righteousness.
17 Then lambs will be able to feed as if they were in their own pasture,
and those wandering through will eat from the ruined fields of the overfed.
18 Woe to those who begin by pulling at transgression with a thread,
but end by dragging sin along as if with a cart rope.
God's warning your about the slippery slope here. His Ways are righteousness.. if it's not His ways, it's not righteousness. But you might say.. ah, but it's just a little thing.. or oh, but I'm doing this for His Glory.. but if He didn't ask you to do THAT for His Glory.. then it's not Righteousness.. and you're pulling that transgression along with a thread.
19 They say, "We want God to speed up his work,
to hurry it along, so we can see it!
We want the Holy One of Isra'el's plan to come true right now,
so we can be sure of it!"
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise, esteeming themselves as clever.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for bribes but deny justice to the righteous!
Don't take the first set of verses and think.. it's "THOSE PEOPLE" Or "THAT DENOMINATION" or "THE JEWS" or "THOSE NEIGHBOURS" or anyone else.. stop looking at everyone else.. look at yourself. Where are you not walking on God's path? Do you even know what God's path is? Can you point to it exactly? Do you know what exactly is and isn't sin? Can you make a list? Are you sure you're not walking the path of sin? (I"m not talking about salvation here.. I'm not questioning your faith in Jesus - whether you call Him Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah, Christ, Salvation... this is not a salvation issue.. this is HOW you're living out your Saved Life!)
24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame;
so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust;
because they have rejected the Torah of ADONAI-Tzva'ot,
they have despised the word of the Holy One of Isra'el.
I need to shed a tear here.. Beacause some of you will reject me and my words - I know you will. I know you think I'm wrong.. I know you think I'm taking scripture out of context... I know you think you don't need to keep the Torah. But how can you deny God's Word here? How can you not see God's Word?
25 This is why ADONAI's anger blazed up against his people,
why he stretched out his hand against them and struck them
[so hard that] the hills shook, and corpses lay like trash in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger remains, his upraised hand still threatens.
26 He will give a signal to faraway nations,
he will whistle for them to come from the ends of the earth;
and here they come, so fast!
27 none of them tired or stumbling,
none of them sleeping or drowsy,
none with a loose belt,
none with a broken sandal-strap.
28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung,
their horses' hoofs are like flint,
and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind.
Do you know who this is? Who is it that is ready, prepared, awake and ready to go... to assault and destroy God's Nation?
29 They will roar like lions -
yes, roaring like young lions,
they growl and seize the prey
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day they will growl at them,
like the sea when it growls - and when one looks toward land,
one sees darkness closing in;
the light is dissipated in the obscuring overcast.
If you're feeling despair, go back and re-read and see why this is happening. As we read on, Myles gave me a glimmer of hope.
From Chapter 6: 13 If even a tenth [of the people] remain, it will again be devoured. "But like a pistachio tree or an oak, whose trunk remains alive after its leaves fall off, the holy seed will be its trunk." That grain of hope, I want to be that Holy Seed.. the trunk of the oak... who will remain. And I can only be that Holy Seed that remains, if I keep my eyes on God, and follow His Path.
Now friends, lest you think I think I'm righteous and I'm preaching to you because I think I've got it all right and need to set you straight.. oh.. oh.. I have so far to go. I see my sin - I struggle to keep God's Word, I struggle to feed myself on His Word and to refresh myself with Living Waters. I fail to keep the commandments which I know Adonai has written to keep me from sinning. At times, I don't even WANT to try. At times, I think a life without Torah, without God, would be so much easier.. without having to think about what is right and what is wrong.. and just do things my way, what ever I want, whenever I want... But if I did that... you all know that path and where it leads. And so, I have put my trust in God and His Salvation, and because He has blessed me with HIS salvation, I do desire to keep trying, to keep correcting the sins I've committed, and keep trying to stay on His Path. He gave me my Salvation. I want to give Him my whole life.
So, I know I've taken up so much of your time.. but please watch this video http://www.galileeofthenations.com/forgottenpeoplevideo.shtml
Chapter 5: 1 I want to sing a song for someone I love, a song about my loved one and his vineyard.
My loved one had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug up its stones and cleared them away,
planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and carved out in its rock a winepress.
He expected it to produce good grapes,
but it produced only sour, wild grapes.
3 Now, citizens of Yerushalayim and people of Y'hudah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
that I haven't already done in it?
So why, when I expected good grapes,
did it produce sour, wild grapes?
OOOH - we're so that vineyard and we're producing sour grapes. Yes, we should look on this "vineyard" as a whole.. the nation of Israel - that includes Natural born Israel (which we call Jews), and those Adopted into the nation.. we Gentiles... we're not the united nation of Israel as God had intended, we're not the United Bride of Christ... not even the Gentile Church... not even the Protestants, .. not even Evangelicals, not even neighbours... and often not even husbands and wives. But don't forget to look at this on your own. Are you producing Sour Grapes? Now if you say to your self.. No - not me.. surely not me, surely I'm the good grape... check yourself again. If God's Word says His vineyard is producing Sour Grapes.. I'd be careful of assuming everyone else is a sour grape, but that you yourself are one of the few good grapes growing in the vineyard.
5 Now come, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge, and [its grapes] will be eaten up;
I will break through its fence, and [its vines] will be trampled down.
6 I will let it go to waste: it will be neither pruned nor hoed,
but overgrown with briars and thorns.
I will also order the clouds not to let rain fall on it.
7 Now the vineyard of ADONAI-Tzva'ot is the house of Isra'el,
and the men of Y'hudah are the plant he delighted in.
So he expected justice, but look - bloodshed! - and righteousness,
but listen - cries of distress!
Are you seeing a little produce of sour grapes in your life? Has God's hedge been removed from around you? Are you feeling a little trampled down? A little wasted, are you feeling in need of a little pruning? How about some refreshing rain, do you need some of that?
8 Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field, until there's no room for anyone else,
and you live in splendor alone on your land.
9 ADONAI-Tzva'ot said in my ears,
"Many houses will be brought to ruin,
large, magnificent ones left empty;
10 for a ten-acre vineyard will produce only five gallons of wine,
and seed from five bushels of grain will yield but half a bushel."
11 Woe to those who get up early to pursue intoxicating liquor;
who stay up late at night, until wine inflames them.
12 They have lutes and lyres, drums and flutes, and wine at their parties;
but they pay no attention to how ADONAI works
and never look at what his hands have made.
Heed the warning. This is talking about the idolatry of self and wealth... the idolatry that we can live on our laurels, that money will save us, that our prosperity is what brings us joy. Return to God, and God's ways. For God does not call us to live this debaucherous life. His Teachings teach us how to live.
13 For such lack of knowledge my people go into exile;
this is also why their respected men starve
and their masses are parched from thirst.
Do you have a lack of knowledge?
14 Therefore Sh'ol has enlarged itself and opened its limitless jaws -
and down go their nobles and masses, along with their noise and revels.
15 The masses are lowered, the nobles are humbled - proud looks will be brought down.
16 But ADONAI-Tzva'ot is exalted through justice,
God the Holy One is consecrated through righteousness.
17 Then lambs will be able to feed as if they were in their own pasture,
and those wandering through will eat from the ruined fields of the overfed.
18 Woe to those who begin by pulling at transgression with a thread,
but end by dragging sin along as if with a cart rope.
God's warning your about the slippery slope here. His Ways are righteousness.. if it's not His ways, it's not righteousness. But you might say.. ah, but it's just a little thing.. or oh, but I'm doing this for His Glory.. but if He didn't ask you to do THAT for His Glory.. then it's not Righteousness.. and you're pulling that transgression along with a thread.
19 They say, "We want God to speed up his work,
to hurry it along, so we can see it!
We want the Holy One of Isra'el's plan to come true right now,
so we can be sure of it!"
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who change darkness into light
and light into darkness,
who change bitter into sweet
and sweet into bitter!
21 Woe to those seeing themselves as wise, esteeming themselves as clever.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, men whose power goes to mixing strong drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for bribes but deny justice to the righteous!
Don't take the first set of verses and think.. it's "THOSE PEOPLE" Or "THAT DENOMINATION" or "THE JEWS" or "THOSE NEIGHBOURS" or anyone else.. stop looking at everyone else.. look at yourself. Where are you not walking on God's path? Do you even know what God's path is? Can you point to it exactly? Do you know what exactly is and isn't sin? Can you make a list? Are you sure you're not walking the path of sin? (I"m not talking about salvation here.. I'm not questioning your faith in Jesus - whether you call Him Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah, Christ, Salvation... this is not a salvation issue.. this is HOW you're living out your Saved Life!)
24 Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame;
so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust;
because they have rejected the Torah of ADONAI-Tzva'ot,
they have despised the word of the Holy One of Isra'el.
I need to shed a tear here.. Beacause some of you will reject me and my words - I know you will. I know you think I'm wrong.. I know you think I'm taking scripture out of context... I know you think you don't need to keep the Torah. But how can you deny God's Word here? How can you not see God's Word?
25 This is why ADONAI's anger blazed up against his people,
why he stretched out his hand against them and struck them
[so hard that] the hills shook, and corpses lay like trash in the streets.
Even after all this, his anger remains, his upraised hand still threatens.
26 He will give a signal to faraway nations,
he will whistle for them to come from the ends of the earth;
and here they come, so fast!
27 none of them tired or stumbling,
none of them sleeping or drowsy,
none with a loose belt,
none with a broken sandal-strap.
28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung,
their horses' hoofs are like flint,
and their [chariot] wheels like a whirlwind.
Do you know who this is? Who is it that is ready, prepared, awake and ready to go... to assault and destroy God's Nation?
29 They will roar like lions -
yes, roaring like young lions,
they growl and seize the prey
and carry it off, with no one to rescue.
30 On that day they will growl at them,
like the sea when it growls - and when one looks toward land,
one sees darkness closing in;
the light is dissipated in the obscuring overcast.
If you're feeling despair, go back and re-read and see why this is happening. As we read on, Myles gave me a glimmer of hope.
From Chapter 6: 13 If even a tenth [of the people] remain, it will again be devoured. "But like a pistachio tree or an oak, whose trunk remains alive after its leaves fall off, the holy seed will be its trunk." That grain of hope, I want to be that Holy Seed.. the trunk of the oak... who will remain. And I can only be that Holy Seed that remains, if I keep my eyes on God, and follow His Path.
Now friends, lest you think I think I'm righteous and I'm preaching to you because I think I've got it all right and need to set you straight.. oh.. oh.. I have so far to go. I see my sin - I struggle to keep God's Word, I struggle to feed myself on His Word and to refresh myself with Living Waters. I fail to keep the commandments which I know Adonai has written to keep me from sinning. At times, I don't even WANT to try. At times, I think a life without Torah, without God, would be so much easier.. without having to think about what is right and what is wrong.. and just do things my way, what ever I want, whenever I want... But if I did that... you all know that path and where it leads. And so, I have put my trust in God and His Salvation, and because He has blessed me with HIS salvation, I do desire to keep trying, to keep correcting the sins I've committed, and keep trying to stay on His Path. He gave me my Salvation. I want to give Him my whole life.
So, I know I've taken up so much of your time.. but please watch this video http://www.galileeofthenations.com/forgottenpeoplevideo.shtml
posted by Sombra | 5:24 PM
2 Comments:
I ran into your blog at Homeschool Etc. I also have 5 children, one that has Autism (actually Aspergers Syndrome). My oldest son. At church, some people would also tell me to just spank. Or they would say, "He doesn't have Aspergers!" They don't live with him, so they always saw his best side. It's frustrating when they don't just encourage you instead. Anyhow, nice to meet you. :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. We do live in Great Falls and the header photo is of Rainbow Dam here in Town. I took the photo as we flew around it back in August. My dh friend took us up in the air in a Cessna. We had a great time and I was able to snap photos of all the dams in town.. Many blessings <><
Post a Comment
<< Home