Isaiah 1-8 A call TO something grand!!

July 29th. Isaiah 1-8

       One of the most unenviable jobs in the world is to tell people the truth. It's why we hesitate to do it. Isaiah is stuck in a hard spot, a realization of the where people are and where they should be. Two different points on the map. The greater distance between those tow points the more irritating a prophet can be.
      From American politics here's a little truth telling that will bother both sides. The truth is we are so far in debt we need to tax more AND spend less. For generations we've argued either/or. We no longer have that luxury and the truth can be painful to hear and more painful to put into practice.
       One thing I took hold of early on in our time with the prophets. Isaiah is not just proclaiming doom, we need to hone in on this. The prophet also proclaims a vision for the future. Proclaiming what you're against is a "chicken position." Anyone can rail against something they don't like. It's a whole different thing to proclaim "Here's where we're headed." It is a two-fold message. You and I need to here both messages.

       "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord....who has required this of you, this trampling of my courts?"... "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness."

       "Come now let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow."... "In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel."

       To me, the gift of a prophet is the capacity to see what OUGHT to be which is a great joy. But it's also the cause of great heartache as you begin to notice how far away you are from the ideal. It's in those moments we are to remember that God can make an army out of a valley of very dry bones. A reminder to pray, a reminder to ask God for humanly impossible things, a chance to ask for the things God wants to bring.
       Be attentive to the vision the prophets have for the future, not just the discouragement for the present, maybe you'll see something quite different in this round of reading the prophets.