Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah chapter 27

Hello there. :) It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, it wasn't intentional. Anyways, I'm excited to jump right back in where we left off.
As always you can read Isaiah chapter 27 here, and then come right back so we can talk about it. I'll wait here.

Isaiah is an interesting part of the Bible to read because so much of it can be connected to how we live now. We can pull truth out of prophecies that were meant for people two thousand years ago. Before we dive into the meat of this chapter I want to talk about what's going on in verse 1, it's a bit abstract so I want to separate it from our discussion about the rest of the chapter. The first verse talks about The Lord defeating Leviathan with his mighty sword. There is a lot of controversy over what (or who) "Leviathan" is but to me if you line it up with other scripture there isn't much to debate over. Lets look at what we know. First of all we know that Satan is the enemy of God and in this verse Isaiah portrayed Leviathan as being defeated by God. I don't think God is in the business of going on random harpoon hunts for sea monsters. This is not a meaningless battle. This is the defeat of Satan by God. The second thing that we know from scripture we get from Genesis 3:14-15,

So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Satan was cursed to crawl on his belly for the rest of his days, the very definition of a serpent. We also know from scripture that Satan has power, that's evident enough in our world as well. So who's to say that Satan didn't become Leviathan, his own version of a serpent, after the curse. It's not a stretch at all then for us to conclude that the "dragon of the sea" that The Lord will defeat with His sword, is Satan himself. 

All of that, the entire prophesy of Satan's defeat, wrapped up in one verse. 

Now that we got verse one out of the way let's talk about the rest of the chapter. We really see God's heart poured out in these next verses and what a picture of love He paints. I want you to really let the idea of the vineyard being you, God's child, sink in and read those verses again. With that perspective, this is what it looks like to Me.

V2 (paraphrased) I will sing about my precious child. 3 I, her father, watch over her, carefully tending to her needs. Day and night I watch over her so no one can harm her. 4 I am not angry any more. If I find dangerous or harmful things or people in her life I will defend my child from them. I will remove any threat, personally. 5 Let these people come to Me, let them come to Me and I will decide if they belong in my child's life. 6 I know the time is coming when my child will set roots of her own and prosper in her own life. 7 Yes, I have punished her, but never in harshness. Not like I would punish anyone else. She is my own. 8 No, I only discipline her to make her accountable. She had walked to places she didn't belong. 9 My punishment was to bring her back and purify her heart. Because of that she is pure of all sin. She is where she belongs.

Obviously I've taken some creative liberty here, I just want you to see how personal God's word can become. I didn't change any biblical truths or characteristics of God, but the text transforms from an old prophesy about an ancient culture to a very real and new and personal message from God. If we took time to let God's word speak to us, how differently would we face life? Think about it, just by letting this single passage seep into your heart I bet you have a new perspective of God as a father and protector. If we took the whole Bible personally, as it was intended, how would our lives change? Drastically? Definitely. Ask God to let His words come alive to you. When you read the Bible as a personal letter, a connection to God the father, change happens. God's heart becomes real, and your heart is never the same.

Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 17

Read Isaiah Chapter 17 here.
At first glance this chapter seems to start out pretty similar to how a lot of Isaiah has sounded so far. Isaiah is delivering a message to Damascus and Israel about God's coming punishment. However as the chapter progresses I found a couple of nuggets that make the repetition of the chapter become a stepping stone into some great glimpses of God's heart. God has plans of punishment in place. He says everything that makes Israel glorious or beautiful will waste away. The people who are left after the destruction will be scattered, and the harvest will be desolate. Then, God's heart shows through all the darkness. Previous to God's intercession of their lives the people of the Northern Kingdom were worshiping Idols and were involved in some pretty horrible stuff. God desperately wants His people to return to Him. He was willing to do whatever it took, even if it meant He was going to have to punish them to get their attention. Verses 7 and 10 say this,

"Then at last the people will look to their creator
and turn their eyes to the Holy one of Israel."

"Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you
You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you."

God does not punish us for revenge or to slaughter the sinners. God is not full of malice or anger waiting to exact His perfect plan of destruction on us. When God decides He needs to punish His children you had better believe it is to remind us of His love and is a last resort to get ahold of our hearts. God punishes us to remind us that He is where we should be. To show us that the path we have chosen is going to hurt us. To open our eyes to realize we have turned away from our Rock and Salvation, only He can protect us, only He can hide us and we are not safe until we are with Him. In His love He brings us back to the God who saves and the Rock that hides.

The second nugget I pulled from this chapter begins in verse 12. Here is what verses 12-14 say,

"Listen! The armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces
as they rush forward like thundering waves.
But though they thunder like breakers on a beach,
God will silence them, and they will run away.
They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind,
like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.
In the evening Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of those who plunder us,
a fitting end for those who destroy us."

We have seen the paternal love of God as He teaches us a painful lesson to protect our hearts, and now we see His love as a big brother. Yes God was going to teach Israel a lesson, yes it was going to be painful, but no one was going to do it for Him. God would not let anyone in hatred and greed do to His people what He was going to do in wisdom and love. If God was out to punish us just to see us suffer He would let the first opposing army that came by get the job done for Him. God intended to teach His people a lesson in love to win their hearts, not destroy their lives to punish their sin. That is my God. That is the beauty of His complex, unconditional, Abba Father, Big Brother love. That is His heart.