Wow, the book ends on a really gruesome note and almost in the middle of a thought. And I know I sound like a broken record but does the last line not sound like zombies? "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." Yuck. I definitely do not want to be in that camp.
I was curious as to why we have all this detailed instructions in the Mosaic section of the Bible regarding sacrifices and then we get to Isaiah and he totally disapproves.
Now, I have heard the arguments that sacrifices should be done with a clean heart and that is why the Jews were exiled 9-- they had no clean hearts among them.
But surely, this was also true during Moses' time, after all, Moses had 2 dudes smote for just touching the rails of the altar.
And I am fairly certain, based on the newspaper yesterday, that hearts have not changed now either. We still have greed, murder, jealousy, hatred and dishonor.
We don't even pretend to sacrifice.
I posed my questions to google and got some very interesting responses. Just a disclaimer -- normally I poke through folks' website and background info before I link to it. Tonight, I am doing about six million things while waiting on Don to call saying he has touched down from visiting his parents in Illinois. Before you go believing anything, you might want to check THEIR references and resources. Already, I can tell you I disagree with the Jewish rabbi-- Isaiah was NOT written by one man.
The Christian doctrine is that Moses did indeed command sacrifice. Once, Solomon sacrificed 10,000 bulls at one time. This was after he had killed all his brothers and the remnant of Saul's family, finished the Temple and built two ginormous palaces -- one for himself, one for Pharaoh's daughter, his wife. The sacrifice was not a guilt offering, it was in joy. Just saying -- 10,000 dead bulls, heck 10,000 live bulls don't smell so good...
However, by Isaiah's time, the people (read, the KINGS) hearts were unclean and God was not pleased with the sacrifice. Therefore, God, through Isaiah, asked for no more sacrifices.
Click here if you want more information.
The Jewish doctrine is somewhat different and speaks much more to today's actions. The purpose of the sacrifice, originally and in Isaiah time, was to honor God. The Jews that were doing the sacrificing were also worshiping idols. This does NOT honor God. Therefore, the sacrifices were not acceptable. God asks us to reduce our sin while increasing our good works. The rabbi also gives a brief biography of Isaiah.
Click here if you want more information.
I am not sure I agree with either position.
NT -- Philippians 3:4b-21
Paul gives his biographical history here. But not by his highborn Jewish birth does Paul consider himself rich. It is by the death of Jesus that he considers himself rich. And while he does not consider himself perfect, he does consider himself mature in his faith and exhorts those who are also mature to live that way.
Proverbs 24:15-16
Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
Well, in my world, folks are brought down by lack of planning. Take my chicken house, for example. I have 35 baby chickens. 19 of them are eating chicken and they grow at amazing rates. I have affectionately named them velociraptors and they deserve it.
They currently live in the broken down chicken shed in an enclosed pen.
It rained today. A lot. there is only the most rudimentary roof on this shed with several tarps over it. Did I mention that it rained A LOT.
Wet baby chickens.
Now, I knew yesterday it was going to rain. But failure to plan. Or maybe, failure to execute a plan and I ended up with wet baby chickens.
It is currently raining right now and so I will continue to have wet baby chickens.
Now, these little guys are a month old. They can handle a day of rain. But that is not always the case and I need to get busy, fix a more appropriate place for them to live and do a better job planning for the rain that will eventually come.
One of my blogs that is about the end of all things had a post today regarding planning. Click here to read it.
I hope you are out of the rain, literally and figuratively, and in the Word.
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