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ISAIAH 3:1-5:30 | 2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-15 | PSALM 53:1-6 | PROVERBS 22:28-29
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The prophet Isaiah speaks of the impending doom and desolation that is to come upon the nation of Israel. Isaiah predicts a time when Israel will be scattered, and the “vineyard” that they have been called will be in ruins. Isaiah says:
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Turning next to our reading of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, we find Paul speaking to the matter of false apostles that the church in Corinth has evidently been encountering.
Paul says to them, 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
Paul goes on to clearly state: For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
We now turn to our psalm for the day, and find the psalmist uttering one of the most simple yet memorable lines:
1 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs which continue with the “sayings” of Solomon, wise king of Israel. These two sayings are as follows:
28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
set up by your ancestors.
29 Do you see someone skilled in their work?
They will serve before kings;
they will not serve before officials of low rank.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
Isaiah was serving his prophetic role at a time when Judah/Israel were in very precarious situations with Assyria, Egypt, and other threats all around them. He vents his outrage against the people’s lack of faithfulness to God and lack of attention to the seriousness of their situation. Instead of working together to survive as a people they’re distracted by “conspicuous consumption” of food, drink, parties, fashion, and other shows of wealth. Imagine if they had stayed faithful to their values, come together, taken care of each other, and worked to strengthen their community as a whole – history might have taken a very different course.
Many thanks for offering insightful historical perspective. I feel as though I have not developed these themes enough in my commentary, and hope to learn a lot from your inputs as we continue with this very long book. Perhaps I’ll even go back and edit some posts to incorporate your views — with your permission, of course.
Very kind of you! Feel free to use my comments in whatever way you’d like. 🙂