Prophet @ MindSay

            I was reading the words of Isaiah the prophet last night.  Chapter eight, verses eleven and twelve.  “The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people.  He said, ‘Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.  The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary…’”

 

            Let’s pause here for just a moment.  I’ve posted about this before.  However, I want to emphasize that the Lord strongly warned Isaiah not to follow the way of people that weren’t following God.  He strongly warned him to dread only God.

 

            I believe we are being strongly warned, as well.

 

            Isaiah continued: “…but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.  And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.  Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”

 

            What struck me, and what I think the Lord was telling me, was that one of the reasons God is a stumbling stone to us is because we who believe in Him do unfortunately fear what they fear and we do dread what they dread—instead of fearing only God. 

 

            And why would we fear in this way? 

            Because we too often have a myopic view of life.  Too often, like those who don’t know Him, we think it will end when our bodies die.

 

            We are too firmly rooted in this earth.

 

            Why would we fear what they fear? 

 

            We would fear because our goods may be spoiled when God sweeps through. 

 

            Isaiah continues, in verse 21: “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.  Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.”

 

            I’m not sure what “they will look toward the earth” means.  Other versions say, “they will look to the earth.”  You’d think it would say, “they will look at the earth and see only distress and fearful gloom.”

 

            Lord, please help me to fear only You.  Help me not to fear what those who don’t know You fear.  Help me release the roots that have become too firmly planted in the earth.  Help me, Lord, to release my hold on my goods, so that when You bring distress upon the nations, I will willingly, easily, release them as the worthless objects that they really are.

 

           

             

            The prophet Isaiah’s ministry was to tell others what God was saying to him, concerning Judah, concerning the Messiah-to-come, and future events.  The Lord told Isaiah that Judah was, well, in deep weeds.  Because they had turned away from Him, there had been several results.

 

            One was that they began worshiping things made of wood and gold.

            Another was that they descended into immorality.

 

            Another was that the leadership of their country, both spiritual and political, since there was no difference for them, was corrupt.

 

            Another result was that their country was no longer secure from attacks from foreign enemies.  In fact, God raised up enemies because they had rejected Him.

 

            Sound familiar to anyone?

      In the midst of this recent talk about prophesying with brandre, revcathian, bonniegirl and velvetdreams, I remember a prophecy that was given to me thirty years ago or so, up in Okanogan, Washington.  It was, “I will put iron in your backbone.  I will make you like Jeremiah.”  Laurie and I thought that was pretty cool.  Jeremiah was an awesome guy.  However, after a little thought, I realized something.

Almost no one listened to Jeremiah!