He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land yet there will be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.” Isaiah 6:9-13 (NASB)

When I read the Old Testament, I see it fading from view, like the roll up to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace:

 A long time ago in a dimension all too familiar… Turmoil has engulfed God’s Creation. The fall of  man has fueled a revolt by the creation itself. While hoping to resolve the matter with a covenant made with the Jewish race, the commerce between heaven and earth has ceased. While fallen men endlessly debate their alarming situations, the King of the Universe has secretly dispatched His Son, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life to settle the conflict. His name is Emmanuel. His message will convey that all the hopes and promises of the older covenant have not been negated: they all will be fulfilled in His Son. With this New Covenant, which provides a new heart, a new race of men will be formed, and they will be given the opportunity to be transformed into the image of the King’s Son. These are the stories that you are about to witness. This is your destiny, should you decide to choose it.

Sorry, I changed movies. That last bit was from Mission Impossible—which is not entirely inappropriate. Our mission is utterly impossible. Becoming children of Light, being little brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, doing God’s work, in greater measure than Jesus Himself, will require the impossible, more accurately—the supernatural.

To find our supernatural destiny, we must put the Old Testament in perspective. Simply put: it is inferior to the New Covenant. It was but a prelude and foretaste. Think about it: the Old was administrated by priests with the blood of animals, dominated by conditional promises: “If you will do this, then I will do that.” The New is accomplished by the blood of God’s Son. Those embracing His Son become children of the King, objects of His unconditional love. Yet many clamor for Abraham’s promises. Very unwise.

Perhaps some contrasts drawn from today’s Old Testament passage and Jesus’ life will assist us in transferring our allegiance from the Old to the New.

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. Isaiah 6:1-2 (NASB)

In contrast, the disciples saw the Lord sitting, exhausted, asking for help from an unprincipled and compromised woman of a despised race. While angels covered their faces, this poor lost woman looked at Him eye to eye as He longed for her, knowing she was but one “Yes” away from becoming his sister and a child of the Father. The one who was high and lifted up had come into the Earth on His mission to exalt her to heights unimaginable.

 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I have lived among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. Isaiah 6:3-5 (NASB)

In contrast, the disciple’s saw Jesus, the radiance of the King’s glory, and the exact representation of His nature, who upholds all things by the word of His power, permit children to scamper up on his lap and undoubtedly maul Him with their childish adoration. Without a word, Jesus is saying, “The Old has passed and the New has come. Look upon these children. This is what you need to know about My holiness and My glory. You are not ruined. You are rescued.”

If you have read our passage, you see Isaiah’s words are intended to bind men to judgement; yet in other places, this same prophet makes pronouncements of liberty, which the Messiah Himself will adopt as His mission statement. These will bond men to redemption;

The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generationsIsaiah 61:1-4 NASB

I believe Isaiah’s hard words were spoken to the Jewish people, not us. God was done with them, at least for the time being. With us, He has just begun. We are a part of the new creation – God putting things right. They too had stolen His heart, but He was going to come at them again later, from another direction—the New Covenant—and He would use a people who might show them what Yahweh had intended. This is the mission of His Son, in us, and He shall win the battle.

Father, we pray that flesh would not prevail. In Your mercy, end the revolt. Resolve this matter in Your Son. In us, through us, reestablish commerce between heaven and earth. Once the necessary demolition is complete, let us see the holy seed prevail. May this earth soon behold us as the mighty oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that You may be glorified. Amen.

 

 

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap