Isaiah 10:1-4
"What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws. They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans. What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land?
To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe? You will stumble along as prisoners, or lie among the dead. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike."
Sometimes politics, religion and the culture wars can seem unreal. People all the time talk about this life being a simulation. We're all just pawns, prisoners in chains, dogs on a leash being led around by the media and a cabal of corporate elites trying to control our minds and bodies. Uber rich oligarchs manipulating our lives for more and more power and wealth. So sin sick are these politicians and corruptocrats they'll risk everything for another little bit of advantage. But the risks they take, are really just the corrupting of the liberty of the masses and the justice system that's supposed to protect their rights. They send in their lobbyists to trip up the judges and buy the officials. Everyone is bought and paid for. And not a one of them fear the Lord. They only fear the truth coming out. They only fear the devil in them, the sins they love, being made known. They are convicted by their conscience, but not unto repentance, instead they run to the father of lies. This is the way of the world. Even the rebel conservative media is a grift in many ways, just another cabal of people trying to make a buck and find an advantage. Everyone knows it. Most ignore it and try to appeal to a kinder more positive reality. And it's this natural human trait that lends people to believe we're all living in a simulation, pod people living in a matrix battery. No one can be trusted it seems. No one that is, but God.
Being wrong in politics can make your life seem like Hell on earth, but being wrong about religion can damn your soul to the real Hell forever. It is a good thing to talk about and analyze your views on both issues frequently. It can help you to square your thoughts and find a level perspective on your conversations and experiences. Too often people will get to thinking that the Bible teaches a sort of political neutrality since Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. As if to say that God isn't interested in the nitty gritty stuff that's going on among the human governments. This couldn't be further from the truth.
God sets up and tears down both the righteous and unjust kingdoms of the world. God instructed the righteous kings of Israel and judged the wicked ones. And not just the kingdoms who follow God, he also took issue with the pagan kingdoms. It's true that Jesus’ mission was to save that which was lost, not set up or even directly interfere with the established governments. His mission of truth telling was a much higher priority than governing Rome, or directly punishing Herod. Jesus was focused upon establishing the power of the Gospel.
The Gospel love of God will overcome the hearts of men, but it will not change society just because it changes the hearts and minds of some. The corrupted hearts of many remain. And the Devil keeps them in power. The demonic influencers infiltrate the world. The Devil plants them among the righteous. And they will not be removed until the final days. It is not going to peace on earth in this age. There has not been a moment in history that wasn't filled with war and unrest somewhere. Here and there the righteous effect change for a time. Justice finds itself alive again for a time, maybe a generation. But commerce, greed, always overtakes the good and perverts justice in order to gain power and control wealth.
We are in the world but not of it, yet we must use this world without abuse. If the world allows us to have any righteous influence on our government via the ballot box then we can use it, but not abuse it, nor see it as the primary method of influencing the government or the nation. The ballot box is corrupted. The primaries and elections are rigged and perverse. Only the regeneration of the individual can bring about salvation a nation, and frankly, we the people, have been falling down on that job. We've been buying into the corruption. And in doing so we've made ourselves complicit in the criminal justice enterprise. We go from one compromise to another, digging our graves deeper and deeper.
That's our way.
What about God's way?
What should we expect?
In the scripture above, we learn something about PRIDE and how God responds to our PRIDE. You might recall that Jesus makes reference to this passage in Isaiah when he clears the Temple in the Gospels. He lifts up his righteous fist against the compromises. He literally lifts up his fist against the ugly, unjust, thieving men who have perverted his house of prayer. And he whips them into shape. And later they killed him for it.
Religious practice had become a joke to the people of Isaiah’s day – including those who were priests and prophets – and so God sends a godless nation (Assyria) to ‘spoil, seize, plunder and trample’ down another godless nation (Judah). Both were corrupted people. One pagan, the other God's people, both wicked and ungodly. So in fact this passage in Isaiah is all about God.
So what can we learn from this?
We can learn that God IS CONSTANT in his judgements. And God’s threats are NOT IDLE.
Application:
We observe the way God uses Assyria to bring justice. And we discover that PRIDE is a type of idolatry. Oh sure, we can turn back, repent, and be reconciled with God. But PRIDE, over an extended period of time, dethrones God in our own minds and hearts. Something other than God becomes the object of our worship. I've observed it's always linked to commerce, greed, envy. Show me the money. Follow the money. It's always about the love of money. Everything falls prey to "the grift". And no organization, righteous or unjust is purely managed without partnership with the grift. Yes even the church. It's business as usual. And a righteous God cannot endure this forever in the systems of mankind. He can use and well abuse it.
God is Sovereign ultimately, but today, here and now, we have great natural disasters; terrorist attacks; the tragic death of a child; human trafficking; pedophiles abusing children; mothers murdering their children in the womb; corrupt judges and prosecutors; and I could go on and on. Where is God in all this.
Has evil really overcome goodness?
Are we fooling ourselves. What are we to make of all this?
Let me encourage you friends. God is absolutely involved in ALL of it.
Think about this, we cannot conclude that God is no longer sovereign...that God no longer cares. Think about this story in Isaiah. The Assyrians had absolutely no awareness of being agents in God’s plan. Right now we can read the story, 2700 years later, alongside the prophecies of Isaiah and in the light of the New Testament, and we can see how God does what he does. And we can begin to make some sense of it. And ultimately we study the prophets so we can understand God's ways which are obviously not our ways.
Today’s passage calls us to reject evil in our own lives and to trust that God is at work in all things. Romans 8:28 reminds us that ‘… all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.’ And we cling to these gospel messages of hope, even now we cling tightly to it.
Justice is coming. God’s ultimate plan for the world involved sending his only begotten Son, who would endure the worst of human evil and suffering and the most heinous execution as a criminal in order to restore humanity to himself. Much of this was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years earlier and God used it ALL because of his great love for a godless people. And His Son, our Lord has promised his return and coming restoration of the righteous kingdom.
It's coming. His righteous fist is coming.
Are you ready? Or are you compromised, participating in the grift? The second temple cleansing is coming. Do you want to be found selling your soul at the temple money changers tables? What will he find you worshipping?