YOU’RE A DISASTER…BUT

That’s how I would summarize these 2 chapters.

I don’t know if you’ve ever read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, or watched the 1995 film adaptation by the BBC (the ONLY adaptation that really counts. Come at me.) If you haven’t, you should remedy that ASAP.

Elizabeth Bennet (the heroine) is initially captivated by the very charming George Wickham. So are ALL the girls in town.

He’s friendly, open, interesting, funny, gracious and handsome. But under the surface he’s also a rake.

🤔❓A rake? Was that some kind of historic insult to call someone a garden implement?

No. It’s short for this word:

By Jane Austen’s time in the early 1800’s a “rake” was a man known for gambling, risky behavior, and mostly- womanizing.

Thankfully, Elizabeth Bennet, comes to realize (with help from Mr. Darcy) that Wickham is a scoundrel who has only “an appearance of goodness.”

🤔 Okaayy…. And what does Mr. Wickham have to do with Isaiah 58?

Well… Israel at this time also has “an appearance of goodness.”

They go to temple (WITH offerings!). They practice fasting on top of eating Kosher. They look like a bunch of devout monks on Ash Wednesday in their humble robes and ashes. They absolutely look the part.

But under the surface they oppress their employees and imprison those in debt to them. They are argumentative and pigheaded. They turn away from the homeless and avoid their own family members when they need help. They only engage in philanthropy for show. They don’t actually care about injustice, they shrug at the corrupt judicial system, and blame everyone but themselves.

🤔 Boy, that sounds familiar for some reason.

It’s a common problem.

If a house is falling apart, new siding and a fresh coat of paint don’t fix anything. Those are only cosmetic.

Israel looked good on the surface- in public. But God looks below the surface- at the heart. And that’s where it matters. Who you are when no one else sees is who you really are.

• Do we pray more in public or private?
• Do we worship in private the way we do in public?
• Do we watch things in private we’d DIE to have shown on the big screen at church?
• Do we listen to or sing along with songs that would feel inappropriate at church?
• How do we treat the food service worker who gets our order wrong?
• Do we shirk at work because we know someone else will do it?
• How are we giving or serving to help the most vulnerable in society?
• Do we manipulate, take advantage of others, or use them to get what we want? Do we push to get our way?

God sees. And while He is ready to forgive the repentant, there will be zero tolerance for those who make excuses or think they can buy-off God with religious behavior.

You can’t pray and fast enough to make up for exploiting others and ignoring injustice.

So who is going to help the exploited innocents if the people of God don’t? Who is going to rescue the oppressed? (And, by the way, “oppressed” is unfortunately a much overused term today. People think they’re oppressed if they don’t have a new iPhone and free college. 🙄 Biblical “oppression” is more like what we call human trafficking, slave labor, sexual exploitation, and even heavy taxes that leave people stuck.)

Who is gonna help the oppressed?

There are no volunteers.

So Yahweh armors up and does it Himself.

And while this hints at the day of Judgment, the LORD has a plan to do more than enforce goodness from the top-down. He plans to change people from the inside out. And that’s gonna require Incarnation and sanctification so that His Holy Spirit can dwell within humans.

“‘And this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It has become painfully clear in Israel’s history that just having the Law of God is not enough to make them walk in God’s ways. Even when they DID (some of) the things the Law said- fasting, prayer, offerings- it wasn’t enough to stop the hidden corruption or keep them from justifying selfish behavior.

As we continue to read the prophets from this period of history we’ll hear this message again and in various ways. God wants a people who share His heart; who have His Word and Spirit within them.

He wants a people who aren’t in and out like the Hokey Pokey. He’s going to have a people who are ALL IN.