Isaiah 29 contains both judgment and promise for Jerusalem. The judgment extends to the enemies of Jerusalem, for after a preliminary pronouncement of judgement against the city, Isaiah moves on to prophecy the destruction of any who come against “Mt. Zion.” As we read some of the words of judgment, we find words Jesus would later use to describe the Pharisees. He tells us the people honor the LORD with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. How easy it is to honor the LORD with our lips, to praise Him in worship, to tell people how much we rely on Him, and then to live in the flesh, in the desires of our sinful nature. I have often spoken of the “hypocrisy factor” in our lives, which is the distance between what we say and what we do. If I say I love Jesus, but I dishonor my parents, for example, there’s a great hypocrisy factor, because my words and actions are opposite. Jesus didn’t tolerate the hypocrisy of the Pharisees; Isaiah didn’t tolerate the hypocrisy of the people in his day, and we ought not to tolerate hypocrisy within our own lives. How important it is for each of us to examine our hearts, to be sure we are living in the power of the Holy Spirit and our words and actions are coming closer and closer into alignment. In that way, we bring glory to the LORD through our lives!
Isaiah 30 starts with a rebuke of God’s people for trusting Egypt to deliver them from their enemies instead of relying on him. It moves next to calling out the people of Judah for their unfaithfulness. But as with so many of the chapters we read, it ends with a promise for the LORD to be with His people, to deliver them, and to guide them back to Him so long as they return to Him. In addition, the LORD promises to destroy their enemies.
As we return to the final chapter of Mark, Mark 16, we read of Jesus’ resurrection! As we mentioned in our first reading of Mark, chapter 16 offers us two endings one that’s shorter and one that’s longer. The longer ending wasn’t included in many of the earliest manuscripts of Mark, yet there is no reason to doubt its validity. The message we find there is consistent with Jesus’ message to the apostles through the other gospels. The key point of Mark 16 is Jesus is alive! One of the details we find in Mark’s resurrection account is the angels tell the women to go tell the apostles and Peter that Jesus has risen. Peter was an apostle, and yet the angels singled him out to be told Jesus was alive. Why? We can’t say for sure, but it seems likely the message was intended to encourage Peter. After all, the last thing he did “for” Jesus was deny three times he had ever met Him! This pointed message from the angels might have been saying, “Look, Peter, you messed up big time, but Jesus is still for you. You are still one of His apostles.” We know from John’s gospel, when Jesus met with the apostles on one occasion He took Peter aside and “reinstated” him as an apostle. What we learn from this is Jesus doesn’t hold grudges. He doesn’t abandon us, because we deny or abandon Him. He gives us additional opportunities. How many additional opportunities? As many as it takes. Jesus’ resurrection tells us He did, indeed, die in our place, to pay the penalty for our sin, and He does have the power to overcome any sin, any denial, anything we have done against Him in our lives. That is good news, and it makes all the difference!