April 26, 2016

Briers and Thorns

In a recent newspaper article on property rights a spokesperson said, “Weeds don’t know a boundary unless they tumble up against a fence.”  The “Song of the Vineyard” gives a clear description of what becomes of the land when the hedge, or the fence, is removed. “Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it” (Isaiah 5:5-6 NIV).

1 comment:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----“And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope…And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth…And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety…I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD…I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth; and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel; and I will sow him for myself in the land. And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘Thou art my God.’” (Hosea 2:15-23)
-----I’ve been able to see three purposes God had for Israel’s disobedience and expulsion from the land He gave her. The first has to do with message. God is a God of message because He is a God of love. Love can not be had without relationship. Relationship can not be had without message. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples…But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find him…in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice, for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.” (Deut 4:26-31) Herein God posed two messages. One to the world in general. Another to His people in detail. Before the eyes of the world He showed He is God; He is in control; things do work His plan, and the Bible is His Word, therefore, sit up soberly, world, and take notes, for God is true. To His people He revealed righteousness -His patience and mercy as well as discipline and chastisement, and through Israel’s response He revealed confession and repentance as well as commitment and devotion, and all the ways to live these, for all men are false.
-----The second is also a message, but is more a process, and is worked through a man because Israel demonstrated no other possible way: Jesus. We have eternal life available because those vineyard tenants killed the Landlord’s Son. And of course, they got thrown out of the vineyard again.
-----And number three: Like Johnny, today Israel sticks its head through the world’s door and announces, “I’m baaaaack!” But not by their own doing. By God’s doing Israel is back. Their first return was for God’s production of our Messiah so that all who desire righteousness will be God’s people through Him. Israel’s second return to the Holy Land after having been expelled a second time is for the turning of the world’s obedience unto Christ’s full authority: “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.’” (Rev 11:15) And He will seat Himself in Jerusalem, and “ every one that survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths.” (Zech 14:12).
-----Hallelujah, Almighty God! Who says what He does and does what He says! Whoever can fail to see will see anyway and die, while those who will to see can inherit the earth with the fullness of life.


Love you all,
Steve Corey