Running Amuck

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

RUNNING AMUCK

Isa 3:1-11

3:1

See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, 2 the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder, 3 the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

4 I will make boys their officials; mere children will govern them. 5 People will oppress each other — man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable.

6 A man will seize one of his brothers at his father's home, and say, "You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!" 7 But in that day he will cry out, "I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people."

8 Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. 9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.

NIV

We could take smaller bites of this, but it would lose its continuity, its whole message, and even this is not the whole, but enough to see something which we should be aware of. The first thing we should notice is the Lord removed his supply and support from Jerusalem and Judah. This is not saying the Lord God is not in control of all the earth or that God does not supply all our needs according to his riches in heaven. What it is saying that in his sovereignty he choose to leave them to their own devices. That means he is still in control of their situation, only their situation is now determined by their own evil plots and plans. Instead of God being their hero, their warrior, their judge and prophet or soothsayer and elder, or even their counselor, he will make all of them from mere boys. Children, those with no credible ability will govern them. That sounds a lot like some countries today, maybe even including ours.   When a country turns its back on the Lord, that country may well except to have all God's supply and support removed. We have to note that at the close of this condemnation against Jerusalem and Judah, he makes sure the righteous do not have anything to worry about. He will not remove his supply and support from them. This is why it is so important for us to remain apart from the ideologies of the world, or our country. Yes, we are to be engaged with them, involved in the affairs of life among them, so that we can be a witness of the supply and support of the Lord God. We are to be the salt of the earth. Consider the two greatest qualities of salt, other than giving us soft water. During the time of the ancients, salt was used to preserve food. Today we have the great salt mines which have been abandoned, not sure why, and have been turned into great halls of preservation for documents, films, pictures of value, as well as many other, what are considered, important items of historic value. We are to preserve the earth, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense, preserve the balance of evil with good. We are to preserve the influence of the Lord in the world. The other use of salt is to awaken the taste buds. It is not a seasoning which changes the taste of food, but rather serves to awaken our taste buds so we can enjoy the fullest flavor of the food. Here too, we are to awaken those around us, so they can taste and see how good the Lord is. We are also the light of the world. Without a light, darkness envelopes the world. If we had no light from the sun, we would have no light, no heat, no life at all could exist in the world. It would be a cold dark planet, void, empty and without form. Sounds just like before God started creation. Light is essential to life. In the Spiritual sense light overcomes darkness, the light of Christ overshadows the darkness of sin. But we have been commissioned to be the light now. We are supposed to shine the light of Jesus upon the earth. If we stay the course, remain faithful to the task, God will never leave nor forsake us, nor remove his supply and support from us. But woe to those who are not faithful, to those who have become infected with the ideologies of the world, who do not remain faithful. However we have to be careful in our efforts of not being infected with their ideologies, to remove ourselves from being able to be the light and the salt. We cannot hide within the walls of our church buildings. We have to be out there among them, but watchful. The wicked have a great stronghold on the affairs of the world, and God has turned them over to their evil ways. He has removed his support and supply to them. There are all alone, like children without a parent, just running amuck.