Isaiah 23-27

Isaiah continues to write about the coming destruction of nations but also of restoration.  Thinking about restoration makes me think of cooling off in a pool in a wretchedly hot day…or about standing under a cool waterfall, feeling the water run down my back, washing away the heat and bringing a blast of refreshing calm to my soul.

The conference I went to last week dealt with the idea of liberty and how our children will find liberty through the Lord, and through the building up of both wisdom and virtue.  As I read through the Bible, I find messages about the consequences of a lack of knowledge all over the place, like this one, from Isaiah 27:

For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.”

Whoa.  That’s rough, isn’t it?  In the above passage, Jerusalem is said to be standing desolate and forsaken.  The trees are stripped bare, the twigs broken off and burned for fuel.  The question arises: what knowledge did the people lack?

It seems that the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom is important to God.  Therefore, it should be important to you and to me, right?

Knowledge and wisdom arise from the truth, which sets us free.  And the truth is this: Jesus is alive!  Death has no sting!  Therefore we can pursue the Lord with our whole hearts without fear of those things that would harm the body.

When I read the above passage, I cringed and inwardly asked God to not let me be one of those who lack knowledge.  I crave knowledge and wisdom like water.  And today, I need my Maker’s compassion for those things on my heart big and small.