Wasted Favor

Passage: Isaiah 26:7-15

The greatest obstacle to accessing the Old Testament is all the violence.  Christians and critics alike stumble over stories in which God sanctions the wholesale slaughter or displacement of Israel’s political enemies.  Many decide either to ignore those sections as aberrations, or to write off any biblical faith that considers these passages God’s word.

Among other commentators, the prophet Isaiah presents an explanation that is, albeit unpalatable to non-believers, at least consistent with the complete story the Bible tells.

Isaiah argues that God’s purpose is always to reveal his full goodness and glory to all humanity.  And that God’s goal for any person is to become a person of righteousness – a person who embraces God’s intended framework for human life.  This includes accepting God as Creator and Master as well as enjoying God as loving parent and companion.  Implicit to this is acknowledging that God’s way is better than ours, and submitting to God’s power and authority.

This is where we get hung up – and always have.  There have been and will be to the end of human history individuals and societies that cannot submit.  That would rather die than be ruled.  If in fact this were a godless world – one in which the only rulers were flawed and fallible fellow humans – then refusing to submit would be natural and reasonable.  If however the world was ruled by a loving and all-powerful God, then submission would be the only fitting response and the way to live with genuine peace and prosperity.  When God enters human space, people have two choices: God’s way, which ultimately leads to life; or their own way, which inevitably leads to death.  Isaiah and the other authors of the Old Testament argue that there is nothing unmerciful in God willing death upon those who have already chosen it. 

Isaiah, the historic nation of Israel, and the new nation of the church assume a world governed by an all-powerful and loving God.  Isaiah argues that if you embrace God as ruler and Father, you are in a unique position.  Those events that others would consider merely good fortune you see as gifts given by a gracious God.  Those events that others would consider unfortunate you accept as means by which God is guiding you and shaping your character.  Experiences of every kind make you more righteous – that is, bring you closer into step with God.  On the other hand, Isaiah argues, even good fortune is wasted on the wicked – that is, people who have rejected God and God’s ways.  Good things, let alone bad, are ineffective in convincing the wicked that God is real. 

The takeaway?  Trust the wisdom of Isaiah.  Believe that there is a God who is so great – and so loving – that we do best when we submit to him.  And live by a faith that trusts God’s hand in every experience – delightful and difficult. 

A note from a very old-fashioned confession of faith, the Heidelberg Catechism (Lord's Day 10):

27  Q.  What do you understand by the providence of God?

A.  Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty – all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.

28  Q.  How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?

A.  We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.