SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 56
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant– these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” [Isaiah 56:6-7]
The Sabbath was a symbol of God’s free grace – not something we work for but something we receive as a gift.
The temple (house of prayer) was a symbol of God’s presence and power, and reminder that they were not alone in this world.
Both symbols were meant to be a blessing for Israel – God’s missionary people – and for Israel’s neighbours.
They were blessed to be a blessing: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. [Genesis 12:2-3]
Sad to say, God’s missionary people forgot their missionary purpose, and they turned the Sabbath into a burden, not a gift; they turned the temple into a barrier and not a blessing.
Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’ ” [Matthew 21:12-13]
In Jesus we see the anger and frustration of God that His missionary people make it hard for people to experience God’s blessing.
The temple, the symbol of God’s loving presence and power, is not a marketplace of greed and selfishness.
They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain. [Isaiah 56:11]
The sad story of the early days of Jesus is that God’s original missionary people did not get this, and so God moved beyond them to the Gentiles, the foreigners who bound themselves to the Lord.
The history of the church is the fulfillment of these words of Isaiah, foreigners experiencing God’s grace.
In Christ we Gentiles enjoy the gift of Sabbath rest in Christ, we are the temple of God, living in communion with Him by His Spirit.
But we are no better than the original missionary people, we are also at risk of forgetting WHY God has blessed us… so that we may be a blessing to others.
As part of God’s new missionary people – the followers of Jesus – we need to always check and make sure that we are not becoming a barrier to people.
Are we are blessing or a burden?
Do we offer sabbath grace to others, or do we impose sabbath guilt on others?
Do we open the way to God’s presence, or do we hinder people from connecting with God?
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for graciously including me in Your missionary people, and for blessing me beyond my deserving. May I not become selfish and self-centered. Help me to help others experience Your grace!
God’s expectations of us are to do what is just and right and keep our hands from doing any evil. For all who do this, will live joyfully in His presence, in fellowship with their God. These will be walking in obedience, dwelling in His presence.
But the watchmen are blind, lacking knowledge and understanding. They go after their own desires and their own selfish ambitions. These shepherd who lack the understanding have lead the people astray. They themselves have become their own happiness with their own appetites.
We are either a stepping stone or a stumbling block by our lifestyle – the way we live in His presence. May others always see Christ Jesus living in me – serving the Master. LightShine.
1. Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me bring you love;
Where there is injury, your healing pow’r,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
2. Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, – only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
3. O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consolded as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul – .
4. Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all that we receive,
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.