Isaiah 5 & 6 -- From Woes To Friend

Isaiah hears God telling him to pronounce more “woes” on Israel and Judah – that some people would collect houses during the coming bad times as their greed led them to put profit above charity; that people would try to escape the bad times through drunkenness; that people would be brazen about their sins, pulling them around behind them for display; that people would turn the meanings of god and evil upside down; that men would become conceited due to their intellect and could not be corrected; and that people’s sinfulness will cause them to pervert justice by accepting bribes.

The rocksolidness of Isaiah’s faith in God, despite the sure knowledge he’s just been given about what God has already decided to do to his nation glowed brightly in the words Isaiah used to describe his God:  “Now I will sing for my Friend … My Friend …. My Friend….”

That relationship hadn’t always existed at that level, for in chapter 6 Isaiah remembered his commissioning when he was transported into God’s presence and he quickly came to the realization that his own impurity left him utterly defenseless before the holiness of God, saying, “I am not pure … but I have seen the King.”

How did he transition from this fear of being in the presence of God to calling God his friend?  It was the forgiveness of his sins, provided by God – the One who chose love over judgment, and who called him as he was to serve Him.  That is how we know we too can sing, “I am a friend of God ….He calls me ‘Friend’!”

Father, thank You for loving me even at my most unlovely.  Thank You for accepting me as I am and for motivating me with Your love to change.  Help me to show that same love to others.  Purge me of anything that doesn’t resemble You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford