Quick Note – Isaiah 22:8-11 – Time to Repent

Isaiah 22:8-11 – He has taken away the covering of Judah.  In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many.  You collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.  You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool.  But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. 

We have been dealing with the coronavirus, COVID-19, for over a year now.  Although things seem to have improved from when it first started rearing its ugly head in early December 2019, we are still dealing with its ramifications.  People are still contracting the virus.  Some countries are still having intermittent lockdowns, and many people continue to have to wear masks.  Even here where I live, Los Angeles, the mask mandate has been reinstated due to rising positive COVID cases.  Society has tried its best to combat this virus through the wearing of masks, social distancing, and vaccination, but it seems to just come back stronger and stronger.  There are preliminary studies that seem to show that even vaccinated individuals can catch the newest variant of COVID-19, the Delta variant.  And because of this, many people have just decided that it will continue to be here forever and to just live their lives the best they can under these circumstances.  Nothing that we do seems to work. 

But I have noticed that one thing has not been tried, one important thing has been ignored by most people – prayer and repentance to God.  Now, before anybody crucifies me for “ignoring the science,” I myself am a scientist, working towards a Ph.D. in pharmacology.  I believe in the use of vaccines.  I believe in the use of masks and the importance of social distancing.  I in no way am against any of these things and highly recommend them.  But what I have noticed is that we have focused only on these physical things.  We have tried everything we as human beings can do to fix this problem but have not once turned towards God.  Rather than trusting the One true God, who can heal all diseases, we have placed our faith on the things of this earth.  We are acting just like the people of Israel in our passage today. 

In Isaiah 22, God reprimands the people of Israel for placing their trust in their own strength rather than on Him, when they are besieged by opposing forces.  Jerusalem was on the verge of being conquered by opposing forces, but instead of turning to God, the Israelites tried to do practical things to defend themselves.  They rebuilt their walls.  They prepared water for a siege.  They amassed weapons.  But what they failed to do was turn to God in repentance.  God had sent these conquerors as a punishment for their sins and wanted them to turn back to Him, but instead, they continued to revel in their sin.  Verses 12-14 describe what would happen because of this choice, “In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine.  ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’  The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: ‘Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,’ says the Lord God of hosts.”  Israel failed to repent.  Rather than simply trusting in humankind and science, we need to place our faith in God.  I am in no place to say that God sent the coronavirus to punish the world.  I am not God and would not presume to make those claims.  But what I can say is that this world seems to become more and more wicked each and every year.  Things that were considered good and have now been considered evil and intolerant.  Things that were considered evil are now considered good.  Mankind seeks to lift himself up on a pedestal rather than worship the one true God.  It is about time that we repent.  It is about time to turn to Him who planned this long ago.  Let us turn our eyes toward God. 

Quick Note – Don’t Procrastinate when It Comes to the Work of God

2 Kings 12:4-8 – 4 Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money that a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, 5 let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” 8 So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

Most times when I write one of these quick notes, they aren’t very quick.  They actually are quite long and drawn out.  But today, something was pressing on me as I read my daily devotionals, and I wanted to share it without writing much more than necessary.  The reason for this is because what I read today directly applied to what I am doing now by writing this blog entry. 

In the passage today, Jehoash, the king of Judah, had asked the priests and Levites to use the money taken as a tax from the people to rebuild the Lord’s house.  The Temple, the place of worship to the Lord, had gone into disarray due to the previous kings and queen who did not serve God.  So the priests and Levites were given the simple job of repairing the parts of the Temple that needed to be fixed.  But rather than doing the work quickly, the priests did not make the repairs.  They kept sitting around and doing nothing instead.  In 2 Chronicles 24, which recounts the same incident, it sounds as if the priests and Levites didn’t even collect the money.  They did not do the work of God given to them when they had the opportunity.  So when Jehoash realized this, he rebuked the priests and gave the job to someone else. 

We as Christians and disciple of Jesus Christ are often prompted by God to do something for His kingdom.  Sometimes it is to share a devotional you read with a friend.  Sometimes it is to directly speak to someone about the Gospel.  Sometimes it is to pray for a loved one or even an enemy.  It could be to provide a meal for someone hungry, to drive a person who is in lack of transportation, and to even write a quick blog post to encourage fellow Christians to do the work of God.  When God gives us a job, we should not tarry and wait and procrastinate.  Rather we should quickly do the job, He has given us to do, lest that job be given to someone else.  I don’t know why God wanted me to write this blog post today, at this time, when I feel like I’m in a rush to do other things.  But nevertheless, He has a reason and that may be to prompt you to do something He’s been asking you to do as well.