Isa 66:5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
There are many things that disturb me about this text. I DO understand the time in which it was written, by whom it was written, to whom it was written, and the circumstances in which it was written, but can we not LEARN practical lessons from historical experiences? Can we not relate in at least some ways to the problem here between those who love the Word of God and lived it, and those who read about it, talked about it, but denied the power of it?
In the Preface to the wonderful book, "The Acceptable Sacrifice", George Cokayn wrote on September 21, 1688, "The day in which we live, and the present circumstances which the people of God and these nations are under, do loudly proclaim a very great necessity of being in this broken and tender frame... Do we not hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of wars; and ought we not, with the prophet, to cry out, 'My bowels, My bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me, I cannot hold my peace' (Jer 4:19)".
The godly and the ungodly alike were taken into captivity into Babylon! There is an interesting term used in our text, which I do understand means "fellow Jews" - "...your BROTHERS hated you..." Even today under the WIDE umbrella of Christendom, there exists in many cases the same problem among the pseudo intellectuals who know about God, faith, Christian history, etc, and who draw near to Him with "there lips, but whose hearts seem to be far from Him."
Let me give you a couple of examples: Several years ago, a fellow pastor's daughter became pregnant by the African American custodian of the church. There was a buzz about it in the "Southern" community. I said from the pulpit to these "Bible totting" Baptists, "Many of you are more concerned that she was involved with a black man than the fact that they were immoral." That is the kind of hypocrisy we sometimes find.
Another example I heard was from the preacher who said, "The world is going to hell and you people don't give a damn, but you are more upset with my use of the word damn than you are about people going to hell." I might not say that from the pulpit, but it is that same self righteous hypocrisy that brings division and hatred in Christendom.
I had a friend say to me recently regarding the election of a United States President, that he didn't care if he were an atheist, if he..." The Bible CLEARLY states that the nation whose GOD is THE LORD is BLESSED! How foolish for one to call himself or herself a Christian and not care any more than that about the nation's leadership. NO nation in the world has been blessed as the U.S. has because our PAST has proven, as do the buildings in Washington, our documents, and our history (without the added lies of recent historians who have sought to rewrite our history), that we have generally acknowledged the GOD of the BIBLE. Go to Washington and read for yourself! Otherwise you may remain ignorant!
Remember this! Not every Jew is a true JEW! There are Jews that are agnostic, atheists, etc. We consider them all Jews, but the Apostle Paul said, "He that is a Jew, is a Jew inwardly." Even so, not every one professing Christianity is a true Christian. There are racial Jews who would flatly deny the faith of orthodox Jews and there are those calling themselves "Christians" who flatly deny CLEAR TRUTH of the Word of God. I know that this is a hard pill for some of us to swallow, but it is true.
What I am saying in all of this is simply that we might all be called upon to suffer "for His Name's Sake". Which nation will then arise to be the "BLESSED" one, whose God is the LORD? Will it be India, or China? What will future historians record about how a handful of "Americans" undermined and eroded the foundational principles upon the bastion of freedom was founded.
Honest to God, do we "tremble at His Word?"
I'm just saying...
BLESSINGS!
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