June 29 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Isaiah 1:21-5:30.

There are two commentaries on bible.org that give an overview of the entire book of Isaiah.  Isaiah Overview, Part 1 and Isaiah, Part 2: God's Redemptive Plan for Mankind. 

The following excerpt is from the first one commentary, under the heading God Runs the Show.  Always Has.  Always Will!

Another theme running prominently throughout Isaiah: God firmly controls all rulers, kingdoms, and all world events. Nothing escapes His notice. No one pulls the wool over His eyes. No one challenges the Lord and gets away with it.


Listen up, those who march today on the gay and lesbian parades, those who live only for the next “rave” party, and those who take away the unborn’s right to life. Look at chapter 5:18-23:


Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood,
and sin as if with cart ropes;
Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it;
And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near
And come to pass, that we may know it!”
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight.
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing strong drink;
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right.


You can march in your parade all you want, pulling along your sin behind you as if on a cart for all to see. You can hide behind the laws and courts to support your views about your lifestyle or the right to take an unborn baby’s life. You can even shake your fist in God’s face, daring Him to do something about it, and then laugh when lightning doesn’t strike you. Just remember what Isaiah says.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, … is too difficult for our Lord to control, solve, or correct. His word to you is “Woe!” … and that’s not what you ever want directed at you from the mouth of the Living God. Nothing is impossible for Him.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read the verse about those who call good evil and evil good was those who condone things we KNOW to be wrong under the guise of "political correctness" - such as homosexuality and abortion - and encourage others to "live your truth".  ???  That was a popular catchphrase of Oprah's a couple of years ago that actually made me wince.  Live your truth?  Really?  What about the truth?  I more or less quit watching her show around then.  She is just one example of someone who has used her power for tremendous good, but also for some astonishing evil - unintentionally, but still to the detriment of those who believe everything that comes out of her mouth.  

That's why spending time reading the Bible and studying it with others is so important, and why I've been so thankful both for this blog group and my Bible study group at church.  It's important to know what God says about all these things so that when we hear some very sensible, plausible-sounding politically correct argument for something, we know why we need to stand against it. 

Tomorrow's reading is 2 Kings 16:19-20; 2 Chronicles 28:26-27; Isaiah 13-16:14.