Day 49

What do you imagine when you think of the most Godless place on earth? Many would say Sodom and Gomorrah.

So it would seem quite offensive and a very serious accusation to compare God's people to those who dwelt in Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet this is what God says of his own people, Judah, in the book of Isaiah. Verse 3:9 says "they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not." Now ask yourself this question: "How blatant and open does your sin need to be to win the Sodom and Gomorrah award?" I guess it was pretty bad. But that wasn't the worst part.

It's not the blatant, open, Godless sin that God was angry about; It was the complete lack of remorse and repentance in the hearts and minds of those in Judah. Just consider the opening of Isaiah (vv1:10-15). Even though they continued in wickedness, they still observed the holy festivals, rituals, and sacrifices although ignorantly. They foolishly made the ceremony of worship greater than true repentance.

Now enters Isaiah and God says "Who will go?" Isaiah says "Here am I; Send me." But take careful examination of Isaiah's commission. It is more harrowing than you might imagine. He tells them to preach a message that will harden their hearts (6:9-10). When Isaiah asks God how long he should preach this message, he says "Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land." God effectively commissions Isaiah to be the harbinger of doom.

But there is hope. Keep reading and you will discover the excellency of the majesty of the matchless King Jesus and his infinite mercy and grace. They will not all be destroyed. God promised the throne of David should endure forever. I pray you will take the message of Isaiah to heart as we read through it this week.

In Christ Jesus,

Jay