SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 29
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled! Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on. Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth. [Isaiah 29:1-2]
But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. [Isaiah 29:5]
Today’s prophecy reveals God’s short term and long terms plans, as well as why.
God’s people are going through the religious motions (their “festivals go on”) but their hearts are far from God [Isaiah 29:13].
They treat God as something they can manipulate for their own advantage , as if they were the potter and God was the clay [Isaiah 29:16, see also Romans 9:20-21].
Therefore God will turn them into an altar hearth, and sacrifice them as a nation, using an enemy nation.
All those who think they’ve got God figured out will be confounded by what God does [Isaiah 29:4, see also 1 Corinthians 1:19-21].

But their destruction is not God’s long term plan; the time is coming when God will come Himself to set things right, to forgive the guilty and rescue the oppressed and heal the sick and deliver the captives.
In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. [Isaiah 29:18]
Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.” [Isaiah 29:24]
Jesus is the one that will accomplish this; He is the promised messiah Who will set things straight.
John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'” At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. [Luke 7:20-22]
The signs that Jesus performs are intended to let the Jews know that Jesus is the One they are waiting for, the One that will set things straight.

But sadly, the Jews of Jesus day cannot see, will not see it: You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ ” [Matthew 15:7-9]
They fulfill these words of warning from Isaiah, and as we know, eventually the “woe” that Isaiah expresses for Ariel (Jerusalem, where David settled) falls on Jerusalem (70AD); they become an altar hearth.
But even so, God’s will is not to totally destroy His old covenant people, but to restore them too.
God’s heart is open to all nations, including His covenant people, and one day His family will be made up of all people who humble themselves before Him, and honour Him with their lips and hearts.

Today’s reading is an encouragement to make sure that my faith and life are more than just outward ritual, or words that I speak but not believe.
It is a warning against hypocrisy and a call to authenticity.
Those who are open and authentic before God will see the greatness of His love in action – they will be restored, renewed, refreshed, and all evil will become as fine dust and blown chaff.
This renewal is what God ultimately wants for everyone, if we are willing!

PRAYER:

Lord, I want to be authentic and real before You. Open my eyes and ears to You, grant my wayward spirit understanding and replace my complaining with a willingness to be instructed!