S) "10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine slips of a strange god.
11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will be a heap
In a day of sickliness and incurable pain."
Isaiah 17:10-11 (NASB)
*because there are already entries for each of these chapters, I also read Isaiah 17
O) This is a prophecy against Damascus, but as with many prophetic warnings, the principles are still valuable to us. After all, a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others (I don't remember where I heard that). In this case, the set up is fairly plain. These people had seen the LORD move, even saving them, but they have forgotten Him. In doing so, they had replaced Him. Despite that, they seem to live on securely, prospering. Even all the way to the harvest time, when all seems to be going well, according to plan. Then, in the end, while the harvest is great, they themselves are sick and in pain; they are helpless and hopeless. This passage doesn't come right out and say it, but this seems allegorical to an entire lifespan. Considering that the pain is incurable, it would seem this is the final condition of the people (or individual). The wicked man, who turns his back on God, may seem for a long time to be doing just fine. They may even seem to be doing quite well. But over and over, the Bible reminds us that our time in this world is not all that there is, and in the end is a day of reckoning. At the last, God's perfect judgment will be meted out, and there will be none who can undo what He does. There will be none to make Hos hand relent. And all of the treasures we might lay up for ourselves on earth will mock us by their utter uselessness, no matter how high they heap.
A) The obvious remedy is to remember the God of my salvation. The Bible is full of instruction to remember God this way. Unfortunately, as a species, we humans are flawed and forgetful. Not only that, we have a tendency to misremember, even when we want to remember. This is what makes the unchanging nature of the Bible so important. This is why it is so important for me to keep track, to write down what God has done for me, personally. I should always be ready to share my own testimony. I should be able to give an account, in detail, about what God has done for me. We tend to be deceived that if things are going well in life, if we are successful, then God must be pleased with us. This passage (like others), points out how wrong that thinking is. Forgetting what I might harvest in this life, my concern should always be on my end state. I want God to be pleased with who I am, and what I have done, and most importantly, the state of our relationship, when I stand before Him.
A) The obvious remedy is to remember the God of my salvation. The Bible is full of instruction to remember God this way. Unfortunately, as a species, we humans are flawed and forgetful. Not only that, we have a tendency to misremember, even when we want to remember. This is what makes the unchanging nature of the Bible so important. This is why it is so important for me to keep track, to write down what God has done for me, personally. I should always be ready to share my own testimony. I should be able to give an account, in detail, about what God has done for me. We tend to be deceived that if things are going well in life, if we are successful, then God must be pleased with us. This passage (like others), points out how wrong that thinking is. Forgetting what I might harvest in this life, my concern should always be on my end state. I want God to be pleased with who I am, and what I have done, and most importantly, the state of our relationship, when I stand before Him.
P) Father, I will not forget You; You are my God my King. From the womb, You have preserved my life. As a child, You watched over me, protecting me. As a youth, You drew me in to Your presence, to show me love and provide for me. Even when I was unfaithful, You were faithful to pursue me. As a young man, You restored me, healed me, and blessed me with the life I now know. Let my mind meditate on Your wonders. I don't even have to search ancient history to know of Your providence, faithfulness, patience, and lovingkindness. Only back the last 35 years, I can see a lifetime of reasons to praise You. Let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Be glorified in my life, by my testimony. In Jesus's name I pray, amen.
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