Isaiah 1:1-17.  I will have the reading schedule updated tonight and hopefully have the “Intro to Isaiah” also written and posted.  We are returning to the Old Testament and this is going to be a long run.  I think this is probably the second longest book in the Bible but it is full of some very good stuff.  One expert said it is the most quoted book in the New Testament, 44 times.  I will also post a page “What Profit?” that you will want to read.

We will get into who all the players were and who Isaiah was and all of the rest of what is going on in the introduction. If you have read “The Old Testament Connection” you might remember that Israel was at one time a great nation under David and Solomon.  After Solomon’s death his son made some unwise choices as a ruler and the nation was divided into two kingdoms.  The Northern Kingdom was called Israel and the Southern Kingdom was called Judah.  Jerusalem, the capital of Israel (the whole nation), became the capital of Judah.  Shechem, a town that played an important part during the time of Joshua, became the first capital of the Northern Kingdom, Israel.

Isaiah’s tells us that he had visions about the Southern Kingdom during the reigns of four of it’s kings.  The first, Uzziah reigned from 791-739, the last Hezekiah, reigned from 728-686.  Judah was very prosperous under the leadership of Uzziah.  It is generally agreed among Bible scholars (at least ones who actually believe what the Bible says) that Isaiah began active ministry near the end of Uzziah’s reign.  In 753 Jereboam the second, king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) died.  He had been a powerful king who expanded the northern kingdom and made it rich.  After his death the kingdom began to decline and had several kings in a few years.  In 743 Tiiglath-Pileser the Third, king of Assyria, started to move his armies to the west, approaching the territory where the two kingdoms were.  On the outside both kingdoms looked well but inside they were moving away from God, Israel had been for years and Judah was not far behind.

In today’s reading Isaiah is not bashful about scolding Judah for turning their back on God.  Sinful nation, children of evil doers, rotten sons, these are some of his descriptions of what the Israelites had become.  In verse seven he talks about desolate land.  Since the vision is about Jerusalem and Judah, and they were not subject to invasion yet the description of destruction in verses 7-9 is probably a vision of the future.  Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities destroyed in Genesis 18-19 because of their great wickedness, in this first vision Isaiah recognizes that Judah too deserves to be destroyed.  It was only God’s mercy that they still existed and would continue to exist.  But the spiritual decline was current.

Isaiah then went on to condemn the religious activity of Judah, describing Judah using those same two cites which were a part of Judah’s territory.  The religious activities which God condemned through Isaiah were actually things He had ordered in the law, all of the sacrifices and burning of incense.  Even prayer was condemned (v. 15).  Verse 16 and 17 give us a clue about the problem, the rest of their life did not match what they were doing with their offerings and prayers.  There is an old saying that goes something like, “They go to church on Sunday and live like the Devil the rest of the week.”  That is what the problem was.  God, the LORD, Yahweh, never wanted a bunch of dead animals he wanted the love and a devotion of the people he had created, not just Israelites but all of us.  The “religion” of the Israelites was always designed to show all of us our desperate need (Romans 3:19-20).  But the Israelites were not learning the lesson.  “Throw another bull on the barbeque and god will be happy, then I can go do what I want.”  God cannot be paid off for sin.  On the other hand God does want us to try to do good.  Isaiah was warning the people about both.  Lord help me realize that I have failed.  Help me see that my evil actions need your mercy.  Help me respond to your love for me by being merciful to others.

James 5:13-20.  James has been talking to both sides in a church going through change.  The word church in Greek (the language of the New Testament) is ekklesia, it means “called out ones”, like a team chose to be together.  The address to the twelve tribe scattered got everyone’s attention long enough so that he could encourage both the haves and the have-nots.

At the end of yesterdays reading he encouraged them to be faithful to the commitments they had made, they had committed themselves to Jesus and they must live by His “royal law” (James 2:8).  In today’s reading James continues to encourage both groups.  He tells those suffering to talk to God and to those whose life is good to give God the credit.  But he doesn’t stop there.  We are God’s hands and feet often times (see Romans 10:15).  So along with prayer the suffering person needed to let the church know he is in trouble.  The leaders of the church were to pray for and anoint (pour) oil on him.  In the Bible anointing is a sign of choosing or a way of identifying.  After a big football game you often see the winning team sneak up on their coach and dump Gatorade on him.  They have anointed him, identified with him, they are saying, “We won, we won, and our coach is the man.”  In James the choosing is “in the name of the LORD”.  They are saying this guy is one of us, he’s on our team, and recognizing that they need God’s help.   According the James this prayer and anointing would restore, save or heal the sick person (Different translations translate the word differently.  It can also mean “make whole” or “rescue from destruction”).  The person may actually die like Lazarus did (John 11) but death is no obstacle for God.  Like Lazarus whether sickness or death Jesus can fix it.  But when and how the fixing gets done is completely up to God and his plan.  In Mark 2:1-10 Jesus healed a paralyzed man but the purpose and outcome was that the people recognized who Jesus was and gave honor to God.  Eventually we all die, and that is a tragic result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience (and our own).  The greater tragedy is if we die with out having our relationship with God fixed.  James focuses on that too when he tells us that part of the restoration will include forgiveness of sin.   When people who are right with God work hard at prayer much is accomplished.  This show of team unity brings many people to God.  The letter ends on that positive note.  Proving God’s presence in our lives by knowing and living and speaking God’s truth rescues people from eternal separation from God, unnumbered sins will be obscured on the day of judgment, but only if we make the effort in the lives of others.  Lord help me see the desperate situation we are all in.  Help me appreciate the price you paid for my sins, but not only for mine but for the sins of the whole world (John 2:2).  You loved the world that much, help me love them that much too.  Give me your heart and passion for the lost.  Help me be a light to the world.  Help me use all that I have for your glory and for your honor.

Today’s reading starts out by continuing to talk to those listening to that false wisdom.  They were unplugging their day to day lives from God.  To them God was “out there”, “far away”, and what they did each day was not connected to Him.  James’ advise to them was to realize that God is right hear and in control.  If they decided to move somewhere they needed to consider what God wanted first.  Moving would not necessarily put more money in their wallets.  And that might not even be what he wanted anyway.  To think that we know what is going to happen in the future is prideful anyway, we don’t even really know what is going to happen a few moments from now.

Remember that James’ started the letter by addressing it to “the twelve tribes scattered.”  But it has been clear that he is talking to believers.  These displaced (like aliens living in a foreign land) Jewish believers would not have had the advantage of “roots’ in their new community.  They would have most likely been fairly poor and easily taken advantage of.  But the letter is also written to “those who had the world’s goods” and “saw their brother in need”.  I can see what James has been saying about friendship with the world and the part today about going to one city or another to make a profit discussion applying to both groups.  The rich wanted to stay connected in the community (by the way that was part of the problem Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about several years later) and the poor probably wanted to get connected.  I’m talking hear about the community of the town not the church, the world.  I can also see the rich making decisions, about where to live, based on how much money they can make rather than on their connection to the church community.  They would think of themselves as a disconnected individual rather than a necessary part (1 Corinthians 12:18-27) and money might have been their goal.  The poor too might have money as their goal and make similar disconnected decisions.  James encourages them to look for the right thing to do (James 4:17).  Don’t be prideful and think you know the way life should be, look to god to guide you.  Only God knows God’s will we need to ask and act, or as our youth theme this year has put it, ”Hear and Do” (See James 1:22-25).

Some Bible experts think that the first part of chapter five (James 5:1-6) is talking about rich people outside of the church who are not treating some of the believers right.  But it is clear in these verse that James is talking to these people.  These are probably the same people who were trying to argue that their faith and their actions had nothing to do with each other (James 2:17-18).  Based on verse 18 the people James was talking about or to thought that they had faith, it just didn’t need to be related to any actions.  So here in the first part of chapter five James continues the thought of doing what is right (James 4:17) with some examples.  James does not just tell them to “get some wisdom” or “live for God” he stops and points out what they are doing wrong.  In James 2:15-16 he tells the readers that they need to help each other if they can, they are not to tell a person, “Hey I hope you find a warm jacket and get some lunch today”, when they have both available to give.  In the same way James doesn’t just say, “Get some wisdom, brother, and live it”, he gives it.

As I said yesterday and the day before James seems to be a master at getting his point across.  He has written to a church that seems divided, the haves and the have-nots, the Non-Jewish believers and the Jewish believers.  He started the letter kind of fast to the “twelve tribes scattered” an address that would have made it seem like he was talking to the Jewish believers, an group that would listen to him, and he started by telling them to “suck it up”, put up with what they were going through. Remember that at this point in church history some Jewish believers, and probably Jewish non-believers, were going to these churches telling the non-Jewish believers that they needed to follow Jewish laws and customs.  Some of theses “Judiazers” claimed to be sent by James.  So the non-Jewish believers would not have wanted to listen to a letter from James.  Telling the “scattered twelve tribes” believers to put up with their troubles would have made the non-Jewish believers a little more eager to listen to a letter from James.   But pretty quickly (James 1:10) he started talking to those who seem to have been having an easier life, the rich.  That would probably have mostly been the “locals” not the “scattered” ones new to the churches.  Most of these “locals” would have been non-Jewish believers, though not all.

So James weaves back and forth between these groups giving them both advise.  Really the advise is very similar, remember who God is and what he is doing, and have the attitudes and actions that match.  But the now I am saying, “Be wise, brother.”  James advise is way more specific than my summary.  In the end of today’s reading James talks to the “have-nots” again and encourages them to be patient.  He reminds them that God is gong to return and that in the mean time God is helping us grow up in our faith.  He tells them not to complain about each other but to trust God.  The path may be rocky but it leads to a great place.  God is in control and He is compassionate and merciful.  Again words for both groups, compassion for the needy and mercy for those who had been selfish.

The last verse of today’s reading returns to the tongue (remember way back in James 3:1-12) and the idea from James 4:13-17.  Don’t make big huge promises, “I swear I’ll…”.  You don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so listen to God humbly today and say yes to what God wants you to say yes to and no to what God wants you to say no to, then follow through as best as you can.  And remember that one thing God want you to consider is the connection between you and your brothers and sisters in God’s family.  Lord help me listen to you better as I make plans.  Help me remember that I am a part of something bigger, Your family, Your body.  Help me live like those in my church are part of my family, caring for them with all the things I have.  Help me live like I am part of a body.  Let me take seriously being connected to those in my church.  Thank you for your mercy when I fail.  Thank you for caring about my needs.  Help me endure and help me remember the good eternity you have secured for me.