Episode 5 Mountain of the Lord
The Mountain of the Lord
Isaiah 58:5-7 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
At a very quick glance, we may think this passage is just about feeding the poor and clothing the naked. That is mandatory – to deny folk in need when we are capable of providing it is grievous to God and a violation of our faith.
V6 makes it very clear that God’s heart is to EQUIP or EMPOWER these people so they can move out of a place of dependency to a place of sustainability – meaning they become self-supporting and take up the place in society that God always intended them to have.
The term in V7 – “bring the homeless poor into the house” is not just about shelter. To take someone into your home during that time was about providing training for them. It is seen clearly in the New Testament too. Paul spends some time advocating this in Titus 2.
God never intended to provide a long-term welfare system for anyone except the aged and infirmed. To see generations of people on welfare like we have today in the Western World is both degrading and dehumanising.
Isaiah goes on in Chapter 35 to describe the in-breaking of the Kingdom and its ultimate fulfilment, which includes the restoration of the planet. Amongst them, we have seen,
- Food for the hungry
- Justice for the poor
- Training to release them from bondage.
- Healing – the blind see and the deaf hear.
- Peace – not just the absence of violence but the presence of a harmony where we are united to God and one another – the Hebrew word is “Shalom”.
- Returning and restoration – the completion of God’s creation by
- His people.
- A major celebration.
Isaiah 35 is the alternative to the dream we in the Western world have wrongly bought into, and is worthy of many studies. This should be our dream and this our calling. Every true disciple has a role to play here. This is our great pursuit as God’s people.
It Starts with a Desert
Take note that this word starts with a desert (V7) in which there is not a single blade of living grass.
Verse 7 – The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
This is what any place looks like that is barren from the way of the Lord. But then, way out into the horizon, we see some small dots. As they get closer we see they are people from every tongue, tribe and nation. Suddenly a mountain arises that transcends every other mountain. Earlier in V2, it tells us that it will blossom profusely. This means it will flourish with a continual, uninterrupted, bloom, which can never fade or pass away.”
As Daniel prophesied, it will continue to increase in regular instalments of improvement; for Christ enriches us in such a manner as to increase his grace in us from day today. This gets expressed beyond us, into the fallen world.
Verse 8 – A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.
This Kingdom will not accommodate fools or those who refuse to conform to the ways of the Lord. It rejects such people and practices. They must repent. Until people come to a knowledge of Christ, they are unable to fully express the Kingdom of God. Any long-term healing or restoration of society has to have the presence of God, as its pathway.
But when God makes himself visible to us, by causing us to behold His glory and beauty, we not only possess His blessings but have the true enjoyment of them for our world.
Verse 10 – And the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
This is the Kingdom that Jesus established at His first coming and here we see it through to its ultimate fulfilment with the second coming of the Lord.
Luke 4:17-21 – “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVOURABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus chose to read from Isaiah 61 here.
Here is Jesus right at the beginning of the mountain. He expects us to begin our work right here too. When Jesus said “It” is finished at Calvary, He did not say that He was finished – He was just beginning. The new heaven and earth began with Jesus ministry. Our calling in God is to continue this work, which will be completed at His return.
Isaiah 58:12 – “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.”
A few hundred years ago, much of the Western society was established upon Biblical principles and as a result, a great blessing came to it. However, this is now being eroded. To use Isaiah’s language great waste places are appearing in what was once fertile soil.
A key role of the church, the people of God, is to rebuild these waste places and to bring back the beauty of the Kingdom of God, which means to extend the blessings of Christ to reappear, at least in part, as we journey through life. The people of God are called to remove the ruins which sin has caused and go out with the intention of bringing righteousness, peace and joy to the world.
This is the pearl of great value that Jesus talks about in Matthew 13 and that it is worth selling all else to obtain it. God desires that all believers would purchase this beautiful pearl.
For such people – this is truly the Right Dream. Let’s allow the writer of the Hebrews to make the final comment.
Hebrews 12:22-24 – “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”