Have you ever witnessed someone being punished for something, properly, for something they did? How about when it was something you had done as well, only you didn't get caught? If you have, as an adult or even as a child, remember that feeling. Were you afraid? Did you look around to see if anyone knew you were guilty as well? Did you get a feeling in the pit of your stomach that told you that you had been spared, but not why?
I remember learning something, an internal process at work, was wrong by witnessing someone else being punished for it. I remember thinking, "Oops, better not do that again!" And I changed, either what I did, or how I did it. I tried not to follow the path that led to being punished. At least, I usually did, but I confess, not always.
Judah, the favored tribe, did not learn from their brothers to the north. The nation of Israel, living right alongside Judah, was taken by the Assyrians, but Jerusalem was spared. As the major empires of the world formed, and convulsed against each other, Judah sort of was left like an island between two major world powers. They witnessed the destruction of their brothers, the Ten Tribes, being carried off into captivity for their sins of rebellion against God.
And yet, for Jerusalem, for Judah, it was different. They had the favor of God, the promise to David of always having a king, of Jerusalem being where God placed His name. They could not be compared with the North, who never again worshiped in Jerusalem, at the great Temple of Solomon. What happened in the north would never happen to them, God wouldn't let it...
The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot.And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the fertile valley,Will be like the first-ripe fig prior to summer,Which one sees,And as soon as it is in his hand,He swallows it.In that day the LORD of hosts will become a beautiful crownAnd a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people;A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
(Isaiah 28:3-6 NASB)
When this passage was translated into Greek, about 200 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the translators used "hope" instead of "glorious beauty". It wasn't actual beauty, but beauty expectantly counted on. Only this beauty was not to be. The crown of Ephraim was cast down and trodden under foot by the Assyrians, and the people of Judah saw it. They nearly succumbed themselves, but narrowly dodged the disaster because of the faithfulness of Hezekiah.
Of Israel's prophets, God says this:
For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.“To whom would He teach knowledge,And to whom would He interpret the message?Those just weaned from milk?Those just taken from the breast?“For He says,‘ Order on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there.’”Indeed, He will speak to this peopleThrough stammering lips and a foreign tongue,He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen.So the word of the LORD to them will be,“Order on order, order on order,Line on line, line on line,A little here, a little there,”That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.
(Isaiah 28:8-13 NASB)
Here, again, hope is used, but now for the babbling of the prophet, "order on order, line on line". For the scholars translating the Hebrew, it was "trouble on trouble, hope on hope". The drunken babbling of the prophets in the north were as the gibberish of a baby. But their God turns it back on them, and they are taken away from the Land of Promise.
Judah witnessed, but did not learn. They saw what happened, but trusted in Jerusalem, believed that God would preserve His beautiful temple. So, they filled this temple with the worship of false gods, but still thought Yahweh would protect it...
Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers,Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,And with Sheol we have made a pact.The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”(Isaiah 28:14-15 NASB)
And where is the hope in this passage? Their "refuge" is their "hope". Think about that for a second. Their hope is falsehood. They think it's David's Covenant, they claim it's Jerusalem and the Temple, but it's not. They think they will escape God's judgement because of those things, yet despise the One having given them. God will not see, He will not act, He will not hold us accountable. The deception is ridiculous, like grown man hiding behind a single leaf.
And so, the tables turn, God arrives for judgement, and it's like no one expects, even the prophet, Isaiah:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.He who believes in it will not be disturbed.“I will make justice the measuring lineAnd righteousness the level;Then hail will sweep away the refuge of liesAnd the waters will overflow the secret place.“Your covenant with death will be canceled,And your pact with Sheol will not stand;When the overwhelming scourge passes through,Then you become its trampling place.(Isaiah 28:16-18 NASB)
Does this begin by sounding familiar? A "cornerstone"? That's Jesus! (Romans 9:33 and 1 Peter 2:6) And He is the Cornerstone established by the measuring line of justice and the level of righteousness. And the very next line is where the Greek has "hope": "And I will set judgement as hope and the charity of Me as a standard." The Cornerstone is placed with judgement as our "hope", and love as the standard.
We are constantly tempted to trust in things instead of the One having made all things. We are constantly distracted by things below away from the face of Him above. The Savior of the world, the Creator of the universe, has, indeed, given us promises. We, as disciples of Jesus, have unimaginable blessings, both now, and for the future. But those blessings and promises are never to distract us from the One making the promise and providing the blessing.
Let's be so weird about our focus and our challenge that we will be called to give an account of the obvious, but confusing, hope we have within us.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation
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