A Valentine Song

I sit and meditate in springtime scent
On love and beauty, truely heaven sent
A warmth of joy, a caring ever true,
An open soul - my friend, I think of you.
A wind wafts by and whispers its caress
And in return it takes from me a kiss.
It frolics in its joy through skies of blue
And as I watch, I think, my friend, of you.
A sparrow sings his heart - I listen, feel
And share his deepest thrill - he can't conceal
That in his greatest song, a concert few
Could ever match, he sings, my friend, of you.
So as I feel these joys, I make them mine
And ask you, love, to be my valentine.

Copyright 1988 by Robert Grob

"The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 'Listen, O heavens and hear, O earth; for the Lord speaks, Sons I have reared and brought up but they have revolted against Me. An ox knows its owner and a donkey its master's manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.' It is very interesting that the book of Isaiah, which was written by a historical man who lived during the lives of four kings of Judah starts out with a prophecy to the entire world, the heaven and the earth. This was not without design, as much of the later prophecies of the book are in fact for the entire world, not just for the tribe of Judah or the Jews. "Listen O heavens and hear O earth." What an amazing thing to say! Is God indicating here that the planet earth has ears or that the heavens themselves have the capability to hear? Of course not. But He is stating, in poetic language, that those in both the heavens and on the earth are all called to listen to what the Lord is saying. Though come to think of it, I wouldn't put it past the word of the Lord to be able to be heard at some fundamental level by any part of His creation.
Isaiah starts out with this appeal to the heavens and the earth to listen. How important then is it for us to do exactly that. It is said there is only one book of the Bible that has an explicit blessing to those who read the book: the book of Revelation. In Isaiah's day it was not expected that everyone could read. That was the province of the scribes, the priests, the relative few. Judah and Israel had a higher literary rate than most countries. More could read in Israel or Judah than in almost any other country, because of their emphasis on reading the Torah. But the emphasis is not on reading here, but on listening.
What does it mean to listen to the Word of the Lord? If anyone should have been listening to the Word of the Lord, it should have been the Jews, the tribes of Judah. They, after all, had the Torah, read weekly in the synagogues. They had the scribes who were entrusted with the Torah and the prophecies, and the psalms of David. They had a long historical relationship with this One who had given His Word. But it is clear from the context that Judah, the Jews had NOT been listening. God likens them to children who have revolted against their Father. He also points out that animals know their owners, but Israel has refused to accept his ownership and authority. All the tribes that God has worked with to this point have refused to listen and are now without understanding.
Note that God still recognizes His relationship to his wayward sons. He has not abandoned Israel because of their failure to listen: He still calls them Sons. Yet their offense is grevious and cannot be taken lightly. Does not a father expect his sons to listen to his word? Does not a wise son listen carefully to the accumulated wisdom of his father? Yet, these, God's recognized sons, have abandoned His word, have stopped their ears, and have therefore brought about this amazing appeal to all heaven and earth... "Listen O Heavens and hear, O earth, For the Lord speaks."
We know that the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is His very nature to speak: creatively, redemptively, specifically. He will not quit speaking, even if His sons quit listening. But He will address others if his sons deafen their ears.
Have you ever felt like God was not speaking? That He had nothing to say to you? That somehow you were inferior, unworthy of his attention, that somehow He would never talk to you? Don't believe it for a moment. It is a lie of the devil that God has quit speaking to you. He continues to speak. The question is, are you listening.
There are many things which can prevent our hearing the Word of the Lord. For Israel it had been the sin of Idolatry. As God explains in Psalm 115 and 135, anyone who engages in idolatry will become spiritually insensitive, unable to hear the Word of the Lord. Judah also had increasingly turned to idolatry. Listen to what the prophet prophecies immediately following God's comment. "Alas sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evil doers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him." (Isaiah 1:4 NASV)
Here it is the iniquity of His sons that have caused them to turn away from God. If we have sins and iniquity in our lives, we are not going to feel comfortable in the presence of God. His word will bring conviction. Many refuse to be convicted for their sins and instead, choose to walk away. To do so is to walk into ignorance and destruction.
The third thing that I think often prevents people from hearing the word of the Lord, especially in our day, is the vast flood of other words of others. We are often so distracted by all the media around us that we don't take time to really listen to God. How often does the telephone ring when it is time to pray? How often do you watch and listen to the television instead of to God?
To listen to God takes a committment of time. To really listen sometimes takes a commitment of much time. My church has been having a special thing called "Seven days in the secret place". During this time those who participate take their vacations and spend seven days together seeking to hear God, 24 x 7. Amazing tranformations have resulted. Visions, dreams, prophecies, new ministries, have been brought about by this experience. Can you imagine listening carefully for seven days to the Lord, who is always speaking? What kind of life transformation would that bring about in your life?
God here says he is speaking to the heavens and the earth. He is speaking to you. Are you listening?

"Then you shall see this, and your heart shall be glad, and your bones shall flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the Lord shall be made known to his servants, but He shall be indignant toward His enemies. For behold the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh and those slain by the Lord will be many. Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat swine's flesh, detestable things and mice, shall come to an end altogether," declares the Lord. "For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come to see My glory. And I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Mesheck, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain in Jerusalem," says the Lord, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offerings in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites," says the Lord. For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me," declares the Lord, "So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the Lord. "Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind." Isaiah 66:14-24 NASV

What an awesome conclusion of an awesome book of prophecy! God here declares to Isaiah His purpose in this universe and His purpose in the new universe! That His glory would be revealed. This revelation will be as a coin with two sides: One side is mercy and grace, the other side is judgment and eternal suffering. Notice the response of those who choose mercy and grace - they shall be glad, their bones shall flourish, and they shall be restord to those who also have chosen God's grace and mercy, becoming priests and Levites (and kings)of the Lord. On the other hand, the Lord describes the judgments and eternal suffering which will be bestowed on those who choose to refuse His grace and mercy: their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and all flesh shall abhor them. How those who choose mercy will be able to look upon such sights without pain and sorrow, I for one do not understand, but we know it is true for the Lord also tells us that they shall forget such things.
It is, I think, important to note those the Lord specifically singles out as those on whom He will execute judgment by fire: "Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center." This refers to the worship of the goddess of sex, who had gardens filled with temple prostitutes. Going to the gardens was a euphenism meaning having sexual relationships as a form of worship. God also singles out those who eat swine's flesh, detestable things, and mice. Why exactly God mentions these things as essential causes for God's judgment by fire I don't know though I suspect they have to do with idolatry. Someone has suggested that one of the reasons for the prohibition against eating pork is that swine are one of the most intelligent of the animals. They were definitely proscribed in the levitical law as an abomination to God, as were the abominable things and mice. God's words are eternal, and although the New Testament teaches us that it is no sin for Gentile Christians to eat pork I suspect during the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus, that Christians will learn to forgo the pork and other abominable foods. Our desire will be to keep God's word, even if our taste buds say otherwise.
But the judgments of God that are spoken of here and their causes are not the main emphasis of this end section of Isaiah's prophecy. The main emphasis is that GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED BY ALL. Even the victims of his eternal judgment and fire, in the midst of their suffering, will fall on their faces and give glory to God. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (GOD). ALL NATIONS and ALL TONGUES shall come and see God's Glory.
The Hebrew word for glory is Shekinah, and it is translated as Doxa in the Greek. Both words mean radiance, brilliance. Jesus and His Father will shine with such internal light that in Revelation John writes "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, fort he glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev. 21:22-27 NASV)
But more than light, the concept of glory includes the idea of mental brilliance. God's wisdom will be recognized by ALL. God's foolishness is greater than the greatest wisdom of mankind. And when He and His mystery are finally revealed for all to see and recognize, then finally all will know the depth of His wisdom and amazing intellectual brilliance. Mankind's smartest don't hold a candle compared to His blazing intellectual furnace. He has "forgotten" more than mankind will ever know. So let us kneel and fall flat on our face in recognition of Whom He IS - I AM THAT I AM!

"'Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?' says the Lord. 'Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?' says your God. 'Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her. That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.' For thus says the Lord, 'Behold I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on the hip, and fondled on the knees, as one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.'" Isaiah 66:7-13 NASV

Remember the setting as Isaiah is making this prophecy. The prophet is looking at the coming destruction of Jerusalem, but God is comforting Isaiah with the promise that after a period of punishment and destruction, He will suddenly restore Jerusalem. This restoration will be sudden, "in one day". God draws the parallel between Jerusalem's restoration and a mother giving birth. A mother prepares for 9 months, bearing the pains of pregnancy until the time of labor. But when the time comes, The child will be born. God may have preparations that have to be made before Jerusalem is restored, but when the right time comes, He will restore Jerusalem as surely as a mother will give birth. God further likens Jerusalem to the mother who gives suckle to her child. Those residing in Jerusalem and its environs will receive comfort at the breasts of Jerusalem. And the nations will send gifts to Jerusalem, and of their glory to support her. God tells Isaiah to tell His people that those who love Jerusalem shall be comforted, nursed, and it will cause great gladness.
It is a dangerous thing to hate Jerusalem and Israel. Those who do will be cursed of God. Those who believe in God are called to rejoice in Jerusalem and Her Lord, and to pray for her. I pray all of you are doing so. But we need to notice secondly that this is not just referring to the restored earthly Jerusalem that Jesus will restore as the throne of His kingdom for a thousand years. This prophecy also refers to the New Jerusalem which is to come down from heaven, 1500 miles cube. It also will suckle believers, and will be the throne of God for eternity. What glorious promises for those who believe. I pray you all do.

"But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine's blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations, So I will choose their punishments and I will bring on them what they dread, Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke but they did not listen and they did evil in My sight, and chose that in which I did not delight." Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name's sake, Have said 'let the Lord be blorified, that we may see your joy.' But they will be put to shame. A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, The voice of the Lord who is rendering recompense to His enemies." Isaiah 66:2-6 NASV

Notice what God says here. In spite of the old testament commands to sacrifice, during the time of the millenium God will NOT condone animal sacrifice. The sacrifices of the old testament were only for that period, looking forward to the sacrifice of Jesus. At the coming of the Messiah, God will show his revulsion regarding any kind of violence by man, including violence toward animals. The sacrifices of the Old Testament will NOT be restored during Jesus' Kingdom. He has fulfilled the sacrifices once for all. No more will be needed. And God HATES violence.
Yet God Himself WILL respond with violence and justice to those who persist in being violent and practice their abominations. Offering grain offerings will not be accepted and will be seen as abominations. Likewise the burning of incense, which is so much a part of so many religions and idolatry. The incense that God values is the incense of the prayers of the saints. Instead of responding with pleasure at the grain offerings, incense offerings or blood offerings, God promises He will choose their punishments and bring on them what they dread. Think about that a moment. The very thing they fear the most will be visited upon them. What a horrible but just punishment. They insist in their own way instead of God's so God allows them to walk into what they most dread. God hates pride and self will, but he will allow us to walk it out if we choose so. He will not take away our free will, but he will also make sure we receive the just consequences of our self will if we choose to walk in it. He will make His will clear, but the choice is up to us.
Verses 5 and 6 indicate that there are costs to following God's will. Many will think the believer unjustified in their positions, will turn on them and will even hate them. Sometimes the believer walks a lonely solitary life (except Jesus walks with him) and has to go against the voice of the crowd. It is the choice between the broad road that leads to destruction with the crowds thereon, or the choice of a narrow road, with few on it. Many will criticize the choice of the narrow way. But the narrow way leads to life and the broad road leads to destruction. Jesus is the Way that leads to Life.
I pray that none who read these words choose the road of pride and self will that leads to destruction.