Good morning my son,
Good morning my daughter,
Its my birthday today, and so I was
very expectant as to what the Lord would show to me when I met with
him at 5AM. (“early in the morning will I rise up and seek thee”.
. . you know the drill, look it up . . . it works!). I was not
disappointed, He was there waiting, and He had a Word for me.
See this last year, as you know, has
been very hard for me. And to be quite frank, just last night I was
outside “considering the heavens from whence comes my help . . .”
I cried. I wept. And then I left it there with Him and went to
sleep. And now comes this morning!
Isaiah 65:8-10
This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still found in a
cluster of grapes and men say, “Don't destroy it, there is yet some
good in it, so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy
them all.
I will bring forth descendants from
Jacob, and from Judah those who will possess my mountains; my chosen
people will inherit them, and there will my servants live.
Sharon will become a pasture for
flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my
people who seek me.”
Do you see what verses leaped out at
me? An odd combination if you know the places and the history behind
them. But first you must have some understanding of what is going on
here in this chapter of Isaiah. If you go back to the front of the
chapter you will see that God has been frustrated with His people.
“I revealed myself to those who did
not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a
nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'
All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own
imaginations –
a people who continually provoke me to
my very face, . . .” (Isaiah 65:1-3)
Ouch! God does not seem very happy
with His own. In fact they seem to be not just ignoring God, but
purposefully doing stuff that they know will, shall we say “piss
him off!” And what is God's planned response?
“See, it stands written before me: I
will not keep silent, but will pay back in full; I will pay it back
into their laps –
both your sins and the sins of your
fathers, . . .
I will measure into their laps the full
payment for their former deeds.” (Isaiah 65:6-7)
Can you join me, hands in the air,
pushing up and down, as the shout goes . . . “Whoa! Whoa! The
house is on fire!!!” Wow! This is NOT a good thing that His people
have made God do. I say made because this is nothing more than the
consequence to their evil actions and heart; to their rebellion
against God's ways . . . you did see that right? It reads: “See,
it stands written before me . . .” God could do no different. We
may have the freedom to choose the action but we do not have the
freedom to choose the consequence. And neither does God! (something
we might want to remember when we are considering shucking and jiving
around the dark corner, in the secret place, in the shadows, hiding
out to do what we know we are not supposed to). He said He
disciplines those he loves, so we shouldn't be surprised that he does
so.
And then comes this passage about a
remnant saved, today's pericope (remember that big word that just
means the passage we are studying).
I must admit that I am SO happy He
didn't show me the first part of that chapter and speak words there.
I am happy that He instead included me in the remnant – one in
which there is still some juice worth saving, one which should not be
destroyed, as one of His servants. And yet in the midst of my doing
my own dance of joy, I found myself a little confused as to the words
that leaped off the pages.
“Sharon will become a pasture
for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my
people who seek me.”
Hmm. The place
of Sharon I understood from previous readings. It referred to a very
fertile stretch of land that historically was a land of pasture for
sheep. It had wells and water running through it. It would be just
the type of place I would want to take my sheep and rest. But the
Valley of Achor . . . now I faintly remembered that something just
wasn't right with that place.
I would like for
you to have a good study bible and a good bible dictionary to start
with. I think I have told you that before. However, I must admit
that with today's internet, you may just need to know how to google.
As for myself, I am still a little old school and went to a couple of
bible dictionaries. Oh, and less you wonder why I would take that
time to look it up . . . quite simply I wasn't sure where and what it
was. Any time you do not know a place, especially if it is in the
words that the Lord has leap off the page to you, you should take the
time to look them up. If you do so you might find a deeper meaning
to the passage that you would otherwise have missed. Such is the
case here.
See the Valley
of Achor is otherwise known as the valley of trouble. On your own
time go back and read Joshua chapter 7. Don't worry its not too
long. It tells the story of Achan and his sin, and the history of
this valley and how it came to get its name. See Israelites had
conquered Jericho, and had burned the whole city and everything in
it, except they put the silver and gold and articles of bronze and
iron into the treasury of the Lord house and spared Rahab the
prostitute. [Joshua 6:24 – just a side note – did you realize
that Rahab a prostitute was in the lineage of Jesus?- I wonder what
God can do with me then? You? Just a thought). At least they
THOUGHT that they had burned everything. After they get their butts
kicked in going out to battle in chapter 7, they seek the Lord to
find out why and God tells them that they had sin, evil in the camp:
“The Lord said
to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel
has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I command them to
keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen,
they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That
is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies . . I
will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is
devoted to destruction” (Joshua 7:10-12
Okay, I am
pointing out those words because I will come back to them, so don't
forget them. Thanks.
This was nothing
new. God had told them before not to touch or keep theses “devoted
things” and by that he meant the things and ornaments used in the
worship of other God's; shall we say for our modern day purposes –
those things, beliefs, etc. we hold on to which are against God's
word and direction in our lives. These were to hold no place in the
Israelites or our hearts. Oh, and by the way, neither are we. We are
supposed to burn them too! (See Deuteronomy 7:1-6)
So what happens
God shows them that it is Achan that screwed up, that kept the
devoted things they thought had been burned in Jericho (Joshua
7:20-21). And what do they do with Achan?
Then Joshua,
together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the
robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and
sheep, his tent and all that he had to the Valley of Achor.
Joshua said,
“Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring
trouble on you today.”
Then all Israel
stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.
Over Achan they
heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the
Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore the place has been
called the Valley of Achor ever since.
The Valley of
Achor translates to the Valley of Trouble.
So going back to
our passage for today . . . “ and the Valley of Achor a
resting place for herds, for my people who seek me.”
The Valley of
Trouble a resting place? Really God? Yes really my son, my
daughter. God is going to make the place where you and I have been
troubled by our sin, where we have been brought to judgment, where we
have confessed and repented, where we have brought the “devoted
things” to him and all that it touched and defiled burning them
before him . . . this place . . . this place of cleansing and
sacrifice to the Lord . . . this place where we were troubled . . .
this place He will make a place for blessing, a place where we will
be fed and find rest!!
The blessing
that the Lord gave me today is the very same blessing that He offers
each of us. A fertile land for our sheep, our provision and a land
in which we have been troubled made fertile and at peace by our own
decision to follow Him and obey Him; to destroy, burn and forsake
those things and decisions in our lives that are against His order
and direction in our lives. All of it . . . not just some.
Now if you want
me to elaborate on what those things are I can't. But God can. Ask
Him and then you just keep reading the Word, writing down what leaps
off the pages to you. He will reveal them to you and show you just
how to destroy and burn them up. He will transform your Valley of
Achor, your Valley of Trouble into a place of blessing and rest.
Oh, I almost
forgot, remember the words “I will not be with you anymore
unless you destroy whatever among
you is devoted to destruction” Don't miss it. God wishes
to work for you and to transform that valley of trouble for you. But
you, just like me, must remove WHATEVER is devoted to your own
destruction. Well, come to think about it, perhaps I have already
said this. . .
My bad.
Got Word?
Love yah,
dad
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