Isaiah 1:3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Oh Friends, our Bit is a part of Isaiah’s first pronouncement against his people, on God’s behalf. He began it thus: ‘Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.’ (Is.1:2) Oh my people, many of us can say the same thing of our children; we raised and nourished them as best we could, but in the end, they ungratefully turned against us. But Isaiah’s analogy becomes even more important when we take it the way he meant it against Judah: as a rebellious nation turning away from the God of their fathers. Unfortunately my brethren, Isaiah’s words can also apply to our current generation, especially when he continues: ‘Ah sinful nation, a people laden (heavy, weighed down) with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone (turned) away backward.’ (Is.1:4) And isn’t that the awful truth my people? The same way Israel ‘dissed’ the Lord, the same way we’ve ungratefully turned away from the God who prospered us, to the fleshly lusts and man made idols, conveniently forgetting our original benefactor in the heady times of plenty. I guess it’s just a normal part of man’s innate, sinful nature to forget who brought us to the dance. I certainly like Isaiah’s imagery with the beasts of the field, who know their masters and don’t turn away from serving them when they’re well treated. But sadly we can’t say that about mankind though. ‘The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib (manger, feed trough): but Israel doth not know (understand), my people doth not consider.’ What a shameful but true categorization my people! This generation has turned away from the Holy One of Israel in such droves, that it boggles the imagination! How did that happen eh? What led us to regress so swiftly and in such large numbers? Unfortunately Friends, I can’t answer those questions, but I can certainly see the giant swing away from God manifested in the great glorification of fleshly lusts and inanimate man made objects. Consequently, our society is on the brink of disaster. Just as Isaiah said of Israel, we’re seeing it happen today. ‘Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.’ (Is.1:7) The full force, the full brunt of our downfall hasn’t been administered as yet Friends, but anyone who cares, or dares to look, can clearly see the awesome similarities between Isaiah’s time and ours. And it all stems from our disobedience to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Creator, Provider and Supreme Controller of the Universe. But when yuh really consider the situation mih breddren, just like the Israelites, we real boldface, and stupid too yuh know! They experienced all of God’s mighty miracles when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land that they did not deserve, yet surprisingly, they eventually turned against Him. And if you asked any of our recent forefathers, they’d surely tell you that the Lord God Jehovah was very instrumental in their rise to prominence and prosperity. So where, why and how did we lose faith and trust in Him eh? The prophet Jeremiah made a similar analogy to Isaiah when he mourned the desperate state of the Jews: ‘Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle (turtledove) and the (swift) crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgement of the Lord.’ (Jer.8:7) How heartrending my people! But the truth is that today, we fall into the same category as the Jews of old. Beelzebub has us so fooled, so blinded by the blinkers he’s put on us, that we can’t see the very serious negative effect our ungodliness is having on our immediate society, and by extension, the entire world. The whole world is now gone astray, gone mad! I don’t know if there’s ever been another time in man’s existence when violence and strife, confusion, evil, lies and deceit, distrust, oppression and suppression have ever been so rampant. If you pay too much attention to the news nowadays, you’ll go crazy, with the amount of dissension, dissatisfaction and negative elements being noised abroad. Ole Lucifer must be jumping for joy now, having made us all so fearful, anxious and worried, that we’ve stopped dreaming and having bright visions of our futures. Now hear this passage from Jeremiah: ‘Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth, for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.9:2-3) Oh Friends, doesn’t that sound just like our leaders today? ‘An assembly of treacherous men,’ is a brilliant description of those we have leading our world today. It’s sad, but unfortunately very true. However Friends, that doesn’t mean we should just throw in the towel and give up. Remember yesterday we said that term doesn’t exist in the believer’s vocabulary? Well it doesn’t, so please keep up the fight against evil, stand steadfast and strong, tread quietly and firmly, but also with a big stick over your shoulder to let Lucifer know we mean business! (smile) Tomorrow, God willing, we’ll continue this topic. Till then, go safely, under God’s protection. Much LOVE!…in these evil and arduous times…all believers need to fight the good fight of faith…more intensely than ever before…
SCRIP-BITS 