American Loon

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servant
1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

The implied answer is not all or none. We find in Romans 10:16 Paul says “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?””

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

One of the reasons why the Jews, his own people, rejected him, because he came as a humble carpenter and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He grew up among them, they knew his father Joseph. How is it this man can suddenly talk in such a way and refer to himself as the Son of God.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Nowhere in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied that Christ ought to suffer, and then to enter into his glory, as in this chapter. To this day few will acknowledge that Divine power which goes with the word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners, through the Son of God, is disregarded.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

How is it the Son of God, who is God, who had been given all authority to judge the quick and the dead, this Holy God would submit to this usage? It must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake, but wholly for the sake of sinful men, in whose stead he stood, and for whose sins he suffered.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

This is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ’s head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the afflictions of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him, and to love him who has first loved us.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

The confession of repentant Israel (Psalm 119:176), of repentant humanity (1Peter 2:25), was also the thought present to the mind of the Servant, as in

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

He neither murmured against God for giving him up to suffer for other men’s sins, nor reviled men for punishing him without cause, nor used apologies or endeavours to save his own life; but willingly and quietly accepted the punishment of our iniquity, manifesting, through the whole scene of his unparalleled sufferings, the most exemplary patience and meekness, and the most ready and cheerful compliance with his heavenly Father’s will.
Benson Commentary

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

Jesus appeared in so humble a form, that, though Pilate was convinced of his innocence, he seemed a person of so little importance that it would not be worthwhile to hazard anything to preserve him.

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Although he did not die for his own sins, but only for those of mankind, yet he was willing to die like a criminal, or like a sinner, as all other men are, and to be put into a grave, a pauper’s tomb, which was a further degree of his humiliation. It was said, he made his grave, because this was Christ’s own act, and he willingly yielded himself up to death and burial.

10 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

His God and Father spared him not, though he was his only and beloved Son, but delivered him up for us all, to shame and torture, delivered him by his determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put him in our stead, but he put himself there. Thus he took away the sin of the world, by taking it on himself. He made himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

This last verse pretty much explains itself. He chose this death willingly and was nailed to a cross with the criminals. But this selfless act was not for himself, but for us. And as such, if we accept Christ as our Savior and King, we will reside with Him in Heaven, forever.

We find in our day the pressure of the government, the education system and social whims or our current culture, and I stress the word whims, for it is just a few satan inspired voices that lead the rest of the virtue signalling goats to join in the condemnation of our Christian way of life.

And if we look at our Christian way of life closely, it is not all that healthy to begin with. This week, it turns out that The lead Pastor of a couple of Methodist churches in MN was said to have told the older members of Cottage Grove campus to stay home.

Now, I am not automatically believing what the media tells me on these kinds of things or anything else for that matter, so I did some looking into it. Turns out this Cottage Grove campus has not been doing well. They were down to 30 members and no pastor, so the members were doing the church service on their own. It is the typical story of what once was a strong church, with believers and their families, and as time moved on, so did their kids. With the usual losses due to lack of faith, old age and disease, a couple of decades later they are down to 30 members and no pastor. The leadership of Grove United Methodist Church took a vote and decided to change some things.The plan is to shut down the church in June and reopen later this year with a new pastor, new programming and building updates “aimed at engaging more members of a growing community.” Then comes the unhappy part.
A memo recommends that current members stay away for two years, then consult with the pastor about reapplying, the Pioneer Press reported.

While older members will not be physically barred from attending, the expectation is that they will not.

“We are asking them to let this happen,” Wetterstrom said. “For this to be truly new, we can’t have the core group of 30 people.”

https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/23/minn-church-says-it-never-asked-older-church-members-leave/

What the Leadership of this organization is looking for is newer, younger members. Bodies, not souls. This has been a common theme and problem, these seeker friendly churches who are so accepting of anyone and everyone that happens to fall into their preferred demographic. That in itself is not a problem, people should be welcomed to a church. Jesus accepted all who were contrite of heart when he was on this earth. Contrition is the key however, to those new members being welcomed into the church. Come as you are, but don’t expect to leave in that same condition. You may be drug addicted, think you are gay, lesbian, transgendered, or what have you, and the job of the church is to talk to you about your sin. To come alongside you and help you through these troubled times. Jesus saves, but you must acknowledge your sins and repent. Contrition.
And once you have a contrite heart, you must put away those sins. Otherwise it is just your mouth saying it but your heart not buying it.

God calls us to the pursuit of holiness. It is on us to remove the sin in our lives. There are people out there that profess to believe that it is God’s job to remove all our iniquities, not them. He sent his Son to die on a cross, so that we might have life eternal. These people need to step up the plate and clean their own house, so to speak.

Accepting Jesus does not mean your addiction or mental delusions will magically disappear. Not saying it can’t happen, but most of the time you have to work at getting satan out of your life. He had a comfy home there, he’s not going to let you kick him out easily.

Matthew 12:43-45 43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Getting back to this church in Cottage Grove, it is hard not to look at this and shake your head. It sounds as if they’ve already given in to the demands of this world. Churches become meeting places for like minded people, not houses of God. Our little church in Grove City just added something to their constitution that states you will not be married in our church if you are anything other than a man marrying a woman, both of them born that way and not claiming to be anything different. Is this going to stop misguided people from trying to enforce their will on our little church? Hard to say, but I do believe the good times are over.

If you are wondering the why of any of this, the answer is in Romans 1:24-32
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;

32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Further reading can be found in:
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13
Romans 1:26-27

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3)

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.

We find in Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
This is the Church asking YHWH (How the Hebrews referred to their Creator) to awaken and see to their plight. Which is a lot like the clay making demands to the Potter in Jeremiah 18 and God turns this around and tells them WAKE UP from your drunkenness and clothe yourself in your in garments of Honor and Glory provided by the Lord. The foreign invaders will no longer control the city at the time of the final restoration.
So a double meaning here. God is talking about Babylon and also the Second Coming of our Messiah. Keep in mind that these prophets are probably wondering at the meanings coming out of their own mouths. They are being given parts of the puzzle and may have had insight as to what the message was, but not everything. And that is a very good example of Faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11: 1
The kind of faith that we should have that God will provide our daily bread. And bread is symbolic of those things we need in our everyday life. Food, medicine, companionship, our needs are many and God knows them all. Faith tells us that we trust in God and He will sustain us.
Another aspect of this gift for God is we are told that we have been forgiven our sins if we have accepted our Savior and King, but that takes Faith to believe it, too. Our flesh is weak and prone to remembering all those sins, the great deceiver is very diligent at pushing those sins in our faces, as if to say “no, you weren’t really forgiven.”

I mentioned last week that the citizens of Jerusalem were prone to taking council of their fears. To be down in the mouth and morose at the consequence of their sins.

2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.

To sit on the ground, to sit in the dust, is an expression descriptive of mourning Job 2:13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Jerusalem is here called on to arise and shake off the dust, as indicating that the days of her grief were ended, and that she was about to be restored to her former beauty and splendor.

One thing to keep in mind is Isaiah is speaking of the future here. He is talking about the conquest of Jerusalem that happen around 587 BC. The approximate date at which he speaks this passage is about 650 BC.

Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck – Jerusalem had been a captive, and confined as a prisoner. She is now called on to cast off these chains from her neck, and to be again at liberty. In captivity, chains or bands were attached to various parts of the body. They were usually affixed to the wrists or ankles, but it would seem also that sometimes collars were affixed to the neck. The idea is, that the Jews, who had been so long held captive, were about to be released, and restored to their own land. Once again, released from Babylon from which they had been captured due to their iniquities and then also when Jesus comes to rule as King, released from the bondaged of their sin of denying The Son of God as their Savior.

3 For thus says the Lord, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”

The people had complained that God had “sold them” into the hands of their enemies Psalm 44:12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. “Not so,” is the answer from God. “There was no real sale, only a temporary transfer, and therefore Jehovah can redeem you at His own pleasure.

4 For thus says the Lord God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

When in Egypt they had protection and sustenance, and therefore owed subjection to the king of Egypt. And yet when he oppressed them God punished him severely, and delivered them out of his hands. And the Assyrian oppressed them, the king of Babylon, who is called the king of Assyria, (2 Kings 23:29,) as also the Persian emperor is called, (Ezra 6:22,) because it was one and the same empire which was possessed, first by the Assyrians, then by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Persians.

Remembering in history, how often the Assyrian has oppressed them also, without cause. Remember the history of Sennacherib, Tiglath-pileser, and Salmaneser, and how they have laid the land waste, and remember also how He has delivered it from these oppressions. With the same certainty, and the same ease, He can deliver the people from the captivity at Babylon. Isaiah refers to different periods and events; and the idea is, that God had delivered them when they had been oppressed alike by the Egyptian, and by the Assyrians, and that he who had so often interposed would also rescue them from their oppression in Babylon.

5 Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

And my name continually every day is blasphemed – That is talking about Babylon. The proud and oppressive Babylonians loved to add to the sorrows of the exiles by reproaching the name of their God, and by saying that he was unable to defend them and their city from ruin. This is the third reason why God would interpose to rescue them. The three reasons in this verse are, that they had been taken away for nought; that they were suffering grievous and painful oppression; and that the name of God was reproached. On all these accounts he felt that he had something to do in Babylon, and that his interposition was demanded.

6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

In that day; when He shall redeem His people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and afterwards carried on, and at last perfected, by the coming of the Messiah.

7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.

9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.

The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with fears. Let those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, and loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold, or corruptible things, but his own precious blood.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.

The context points to a great deliverance. It is a good example of the prophetical habit of casting prophecies of the future into the mold of the past.

12 But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Depart ye, depart ye – This is a direct address to the exiles in their captivity. The same command occurs in Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

It is repeated here for the sake of emphasis; and the urgency of the command implies that there was some delay likely on the part of the exiles themselves. Many of them had become strongly attached to living in Babylon and not all that enthused to going back home. Most of those who were made captive would have died before the close of the exile. Their children, who constituted the generation to whom the command to return would be addressed, would have known the land of their fathers only by report. And since it had been sacked by the Babylonians, why go back to a ruined land.

The Exalted Servant
13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

This is the beginning of a new prophecy. From Isaiah chapter 40 to here has been a message of deliverance of the people of God. This includes in it three distinct parts: the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, the deliverance of the Gentiles from their miserable state of ignorance and idolatry, and the deliverance of mankind from the captivity of sin and death.

Cyrus is expressly named as the immediate agent of God in effecting the first deliverance. A greater person is spoken of as the agent who is to effect the two latter deliverances, called the Servant, the Elect, of God, in whom his soul delighteth. Now these three subjects have a very close relation to one another; for, as the agent who was to effect the two latter deliverances, that being the Messiah, was to be born a Jew, with interesting limitations of time, family, and other circumstances, the first deliverance was necessary in the order of providence, and, according to the determinate counsel of God, to the accomplishment of the two latter deliverances; and the second deliverance was necessary to the third, or, rather, was involved in it, and made an essential part of it. (Benson Commentary)

14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.

Here begins that wonderful and faithful description of the office, character, and glory of the Messiah, which has struck conviction to many of the most hardened unbelievers. Christ is Wisdom itself; in the work of our redemption there appeared the wisdom of God in a mystery. Those that saw him, said, Surely never man looked so miserable: never was sorrow like unto his sorrow. But God highly exalted him. That shall be discovered by the gospel of Christ, which could never be told in any other way. And Christ having once shed his blood for sinners, its power still continues. May all opposers see the wisdom of ceasing from their opposition, and be made partakers of the blood of sprinkling, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost; obeying him, and praising his salvation. (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary)

15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.

The “sprinkling” is that of the priest who cleanses the leper (Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 4:17), and this was to be done by Him who was Himself counted as a leper “smitten of God”

The kings shall shut their mouths . The reverence, as in Isaiah 49:7, Job 29:9; Job 40:4, is that of silent wonder at the change which has passed over the suffering Servant. Wisdom Of Solomon 5:1-5 presents an interesting parallel, the reference there being to the person of the ideal righteous sufferer. In that case, as in this, there was, so to speak, a transfiguration “beyond all that men looked for.”

And the last 2 verses are marked change from Isaiah 6:9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

All of which points to “Keep yourself ready for that day, for we do not know the hour. Love one another and accept the joy that is waiting for you to embrace, that we might be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Our home is not here nor should we long for the things of this world. We are children of God, and our inheritance is waiting in heaven. Be patient and waiting with great hope and expectation.

I listened to an interesting Sermon by John MacArthur on Monday. It was on Paul talking to the Galatians.
We find in Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

And in the course of things Paul schools them in righteousness. Tells them when the flesh is in control, and it is obvious. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing.” And that’s not an exhaustive list, and so he adds, “and things like these,” which is kind of an et cetera.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” The fruit of the Spirit is put in the singular because it is a virtue, it is not a list from which you pick. You don’t say, “Well today I’m going to show joy. Next Tuesday I may show gentleness. Couple days after that I may try to love somebody.” Doesn’t work like that. This is not a list.
You can do that in your sin. You can say, “Tomorrow I’m going to be impure, and then I’m going to go to a party and tell some lies, and then I’m going to get drunk.” I mean, you can plan your sin; it comes in bits and pieces. But when you walk in the Spirit, it comes as a package.
So sin is a list to choose from, but virtue is produced collectively.

The point I am coming to is of this package of virtues, Love and Joy is what I want to talk about. Love is first in the list because love is the greatest, according to 1 Corinthians 13. It’s the word agapē, familiar word from the verb agapaō. It is love, “to love,” and “love at the highest level.” This is the supreme word for the noblest of loves. There are other words for love that speak of friendship, and marital love, and even an erōs kind of love. But this is the word that speaks of the noblest kind of love, and this is the kind of love that is characteristic of God

What is love like? “Love is patient,” – verse 4 – “love is kind, is not jealous; love doesn’t brag, is not arrogant, doesn’t act unbecomingly; it doesn’t seek its own, is not provoked, doesn’t take into account a wrong suffered, doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;” – and then – “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” That’s the nature of love.

And Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This is the love that is the noblest love of all loves. It means you seek only the best for everyone around you. You endure anything and everything. You believe the best about everyone. You speak the best about everyone. You sacrifice yourself even to the point of giving up your life for others. This is the essence of agapé love.

John 15:12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another,” – said Jesus – “just as I have loved you. I want you to love the way I have just loved you.” How had He just loved them? By washing their dirty feet.

And then we have Joy. What is its nature? It’s not superficial. It’s not related to circumstances. It’s not the kind of joy that you feel when something good comes along in your life. It’s joy unrelated to shifting circumstances. It’s joy that has nothing to do with whether you’re healthy or sick, nothing to do with whether you’re alone or in a crowd, nothing to do with whether you are paid enough or not enough, nothing to do with whether you have enough food or not enough food; not related whatsoever to whether your circumstances are positive or negative; not related at all to whether you have trouble in your life. No, this word is not related to that.
The word related to that is “happy.” Happy is related to the word “happen,” which is related to “happenstance.” Happy means you like the circumstances you’re in. We understand that. This is not that, this is chara. This is deep down, settled joy. This is miles below the surface of the troubled sea. This is in the dead calm of the depth of your soul. It doesn’t move, it’s unassailable, it’s immovable. It’s the deep-seated joy that provides for you constant – listen to these words – constant satisfaction and contentment.
Jesus actually said in John 15:11, “My joy I give you; you have My joy.” The very joy that the Son possesses in the promise of the Father, we possess in the promise of the Son.

I have to say that since I have accepted Christ, I have experienced this Joy. And it is not a heady emotional kind of thing that is always talked about. What it is to me is contentment with my circumstances, happiness that transcends my growing inability to care for myself or to be self sufficient to any extent. I have no worries, none. I know God is in charge of all, and there is no downside to what the future holds. And that Joy is available to everyone of you. If what I just described doesn’t sound like much, I have to tell you, that not having any worries or concerns and waking up content each morning is a very great blessing to me. As for Love, I can do that kind of Love that was described. I can think the best of people, I can listen to their troubles, help them when they need help, hope the best for them, not be judgmental. I was concerned that Love was what I knew, between family or husband and wife. No, this is a greater Love. Think about these things. They are important and they will have an impact on those around you. And that’s really the point.

All Glory to God the Father.

Let us turn to Isaiah 51

1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the quarry from which you were dug.

Isaiah is addressing the godly Jews, those that believed and looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. Of which there were not all that many of them. They had been influenced by their godless leaders. The tribes of Israel, their neighbors, which had fallen into idolatry and had been carried off into slavery and submission by Assyria (722-721 BC), never to return. We remember from last week’s Chapter 50 that God had issued a writ of divorce to Israel. That was referenced in Jeremiah 3:8. And her sister Judah had gotten haughty, seeing their defiled sister being kicked out while they remained; now they started to play the harlot. However there are always some that listen to God and adhere to his ways. It is the same now as in Isaiah’s day. I think we have many more distractions now than the Jews ever did. Instant communication is a blessing and a curse.
Looking at the second half of verse one, the rock you were hewn from and quarry from which you were dug. The Jews being a practical people and one that loved using similes. The rock refers to Abraham and the quarry refers to Sarah. They were very proud of being of Abraham’s. Infact, I think most of them were pretty sure that by claiming Abraham, they thought they had an easy in to heaven. Such was not the case. Matthew 3:7-10 John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, addresses a group of Pharisees and Sadducees.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Oh how we could use a man like that today. Read verse 8 to yourselves again and ponder it. For the ax is already laid at the root of the tree.

2 “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

God is calling to mind that HE took one man and made him the father of all Jews. And He did it when Abraham and Sarah were well, and I mean well beyond childbearing years. We also have the birth of Ishmael by Hagar, before Isaac. Ishmael is counted as the father of the Arab tribes.
We also have a reference to Genesis 3, God putting curse on Woman. Multiplied pain in childbirth. And Adam got cursed because he listened to his wife. Which plays out in our lives with just a bit of tenison, now and then, in married life. Your mileage may vary.

3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

4 “Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness. From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary.

5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.

God is always near. That is something that we tend to forget when our lives go south. It is not possible to live a charmed life with nothing to stir you up. Where would God be if you could do it all yourself? Job is a good example. He had a good life. Wealth, wisdom, children to pass everything on to. He is held as our example of when life throws you a curveball. When he got news of the death of all his children, he fell on his knees and said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20
This has been something that I have latched on to, and I am so thankful that the Bible gave me the very phrase to repeat, when it is truly needed. When that metaphoric piano falls out of the sky and land somewhere in your life, God is there. This is not our home, heaven, with Jesus is. And He went there to prepare it for us. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3
My wife made a comment to me the other day. She said she had heard many people angry at death or cancer or something like that. If you believe, truly believe, how could it be such? Oh death, where is thy sting?
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55
Jesus conquered death and sin. And yet we forget. Oh fatih, where art thou? God created you, knows the hairs on your head, Luke 12:7. Death and cancer have no power over the Lord. God is the rock onto which we cling. Now the real tragedy that we can be in sorrow over is losing a friend or loved one that is not a believer. This is why He commands us to go out and spread the good news. You don’t want to lose anyone you love to eternal damnation, so tell them about our Messiah and Savior. It is not up to us to save anyone. That’s God’s job. But you might think to yourselves, “Oh, I am too old.” Let me remind you that Abraham and Sarah had a child at an advanced age. Abraham was a just a year or two younger than Leroy Johnson who went to Jesus at 103 and Sarah was about Carol Nelson’s age. You are never to old to do God’s work.

6 “Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not wane.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 “For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

Those who have God’s law written in their hearts vs those carnal Jews whose laws are written on mere stone tablets. Let not the mewlings of the idol-loving countrymen concern you. Those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?

Isaiah appeals to God on behalf of his people, to exert his power as He did in former times. That hath cut Rahab – That is, cut it in pieces, or destroyed it. It was that arm which wielded the sword of justice and of vengeance by which Rahab was cut in pieces. The word ‘Rahab’ here means Egypt.

10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?

Art thou not it – Art thou not still the same? The crux of the appeal is that the same arm that dried up the sea, and made a path for the Jewish people, was still able to intervene and rescue them.
Which hath dried the sea – The Red Sea when the children of Israel passed over Exodus 14:21. This is the common illustration to which the Hebrew prophets and poets speak of, when they wish to refer to the interposition of God in favor of their nation

11 So the ransomed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
And of the son of man who is made like grass,

We whose lives are but a puff of breeze on a warm summer day, whose home is not here, but with our Father in Heaven. What do we have to worry about when we are children of God and inherit our place in heaven? A God that loves us so much that he sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross, thereby removing the sting of death to us, We just have to have Faith. Ask and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7

13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the oppressor?

These verses are designed to rebuke that state of the mind, all too common, even among the people of God – where they are intimidated by the number and strength of their foes, and forget their dependence on God, and his promises of aid. In such circumstances God reproves them for their lack of confidence in him, and calls on them to remember that he has made the heavens, and has all power to save them.

14 The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.

15 For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).

Isaiah has been telling them they are about to be carried off into captivity, whether any of them understood that is not known. But he is also telling them that God will not let them wither on the vine.

16 I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

He had committed his truth to the Jewish people; to Zion. He had entrusted them with his statutes and his laws; he had given them the promise of the Messiah, and through him the assurance that the true religion would be spread to other nations. He would, therefore, preserve them, and restore them again to their own land.

17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

Those hard headed, stiff necked Jews are being called to awaken from sin and cast off the despondency and despair that comes from drinking deeply from God’s chalice of anger. When the Jews were in captivity they were so overwhelmed with the sense of their troubles that they had no heart left to mind any thing that tended to their comfort or relief; and therefore when the deliverance came, they were said to be like them that dream. Psalm 126:1 A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream.

18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

Neither princes, nor prophets, nor priests were able or willing to lead out of their misery.

19 These two things have befallen you;
Who will mourn for you?
The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
The city of Jerusalem had suffered not only property (devastation and destruction) but life and limb (famine and sword).

20 Your sons have fainted,
They lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.

The inhabitants lay helpless in the streets, having expended all their strength in fighting against God’s wrath. And I am pretty convinced we have not learned that lesson yet.

21 Therefore, please hear this, you afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God
Who contends for His people,
“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,
The chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.

This verse contains a promise that they would be delivered from the effect of the wrath of God, under which they had been suffering so long.
Thou shalt no more drink it again – Thou shalt no more be subject to similar trials and calamities. Probably the idea here is, not that Jerusalem would never be again destroyed, which would not be true, for it was afterward subjected to severer trials under the Romans; but that the people who should then return – the pious exiles – should be preserved forever after from similar sufferings. Isaiah is trying to console them, and this he does by the assurance that they should be subjected to such trials no more.

23 “I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict you – The nations that have made war upon you, and that have reduced you to bondage, particularly the Babylonians. The calamities which the Jews had suffered, God would transfer to their foes.
Which have said to you, Bow down, that we may go over – This is a striking description of the pride of eastern conquerors. It was not uncommon for conquerors actually to put their feet on the necks of conquered kings, and tread them in the dust.

Isaiah concludes this chapter with news that should hearten some, those that listen. And it should hearten us too. Surely God’s chalice of anger will come upon us. We, who have turned from God, kicked Him out of our Government, out of our Schools and are pressuring our churches to bow to the whims of a pagan and carnal society, we will drink from that chalice of wrath and feel remorse and abandonment from our Creator. However, if we repent and accept His Son as our Savior and King, this cup will pass too, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 50

1 “Where is the certificate of divorce
By which I have sent your mother away?

To the Jews in Babylon, who were suffering under his hand, and who might be apt to complain that God had dealt with them with as much caprice and cruelty as a man did with his wife, when he gave her a writing of divorce, and put her away without any just cause.
Let us now go to Deuteronomy 24 and look into the Law concerning divorce.
Deuteronomy 24: 1-5
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,
2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,
4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
5 “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

This custom of divorce Moses found was probably in existence among the Jews, and also in surrounding nations, and as it was difficult if not impossible at once to remove it, he permitted it on account of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews.

Now let’s go to Matthew 19 and see what Jesus tells us about the subject.
Matthew 19:3-9
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

So why is God is talking about divorce? The Jews were in a sense the woman or bride that God had wedded to.
Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
They were his people and he was their God. But once the Jews moved into the Promised Land, they began to play the harlot. We find that the people who had been living in the Promised Land, before the Jews got there, were living in sin. God had told Joshua to remove or kill these people. This makes many believers and unbelievers uncomfortable. And I have to wonder, have they really read the Bible?

It brings to mind 2 other Isaiah passages,
Isaiah 29:16 You have everything backward! Should the potter be thought of as clay? Should what is made say of its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Should what is shaped say of the one who shaped it, “He doesn’t understand”?

Isaiah 64:8 But now, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand.

People who think that God was wrong to kill these poor Canaanites are ignorant clay talking back to the Potter.

In Joshua 11:14 All the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one who breathed.

There are at least two reasons why God did this. The first is evidenced in what came to pass when Israel did not obey God in this command. God wanted the land cleared of all temptations to His people to turn from Him, His worship and His law. The Canaanites were a threat to the purity of God’s people. He had set them apart, consecrated them, adopted them. In giving this order, He was protecting them.

Joshua 11:20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

If you are still troubled by this, I recommend you go and read the book of Joshua. The Canaanites knew of God, but rejected Him. Rahab the prostitute confirmed this. The wages of sin is death and we are very good at forgetting this.

Joshua, for all his faithfulness, left the job unfinished. Once Israel had taken the land, once they began to feel safe, they started to think it might be helpful to leave some of the Canaanites around, to fetch their water and chop their wood. The book of Judges reveals the results. Those few who were spared became a snare, just as God predicted they would. Soon, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

God had not formally thrown out the wife (Judah) whom he had chosen as he had done her sister Israel.
Jeremiah 3:8 “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

Israel was given up to her iniquities. I think here in American, we are inches away from that very thing we are talking about with Israel.

If you are keeping track, we are not even through with verse one yet. When I first looked at Isaiah 50, I thought, hmm, short lesson. We might have to all go out and shoot some hoops in the gym to fill in the rest of the time. To those reading this online, our room is connected to the gym. This building used to be the Grove City School back in the day.

Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your iniquities,
And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Among the Hebrews, a father had the right, by the law of Moses, if he was oppressed with debt, to sell his children. In like manner, if a man had stolen anything, and had nothing to make restitution, he might be sold for the theft. God is being quite clear here. Ye have sold yourselves; You have gone into captivity only on account of your sins. It has been your own act, and you have thus become bondmen to a foreign power only by your own choice.

2 “Why was there no man when I came?
When I called, why was there none to answer?

God was calling them to repentance, but no man of the nation yielded to obedience. He sent them prophets, but they did not listen. Isaiah was told this, from the lips of our Lord.

Isaiah 6:9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.

Isaiah 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,

They had not been punished without warning. But no one was listening. Are we listening now? We have the whole story. We cannot say we have not been warned, yet we will. Do not sit passively in your church pew. It’s an amazing attribute of ourselves. We get comfortable, we start taking things for granted. And the older we get, the more lethargic we become. Willing to let things be, even if we aren’t really happy with what’s going on. With the pressure of the world, demanding that Christianity change to meet the social whims of our society, you do know that your church can change from something that it once was to something that it now is not. All the while you’re sitting there in your pew. So you have to wonder, how much satan is too much satan in your life? It’s between you and Jesus.

Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Or have I no power to deliver?

God is asking, what is the reason of this contempt and rebellion? Is it because you expect no good from me, but think I am either unwilling or unable to save you? God never deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the covenant; and they were at last rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory. God called on them to leave their sins, and prevent their own ruin. Last of all, the Son came to his own, but his own received him not. When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. Are you now in this position? Are you unhappy with your life and circumstances? This is not the fault of God. He has his hand out, still. Why is it you don’t take hold of it?

Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water
And die of thirst.

It is tragically ironic that we have a large number of people today that are claiming God does not exist. Some by exclaiming it and some by apathy. Yahweh, our Creator, could at a breath, dissolve this universe and start over if that be his will. But, in spite of our sinful ways, He does love us and expects us to love Him back. We go back to the clay yelling at the Potter.

Jeremiah 18:1-8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,
2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,
6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.

God in his Mercy and Grace will relent from punishment if you repent. That has always been the lesson. If the Canaanites had repented, they would have been forgiven and allowed to live. Nineveh did. Much to Jonah’s disgust. And as a people, if we got our sackcloth and ashes on and repented, the Lord would turn from punishing us for our many iniquities. If we would only act like we are children of God, with an inheritance of Heaven.

3 “I clothe the heavens with blackness
And make sackcloth their covering.”

This next part, to my mind, is Jesus speaking.

4 The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.

Mark 14:32-42 32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”
33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.
34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”
35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.
36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”
37 And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?
38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
41 And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

This would be at this time in Mark 14:65 Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.
Our Lord and Savior, our Messiah, was degraded and put up with persecution and savagery from the people he came to save.

And yet…

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

7 For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have set My face like flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.

Luke 23:9 And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.

Since Jesus did speak before the High Priest and before Pilate, His not speaking before Herod is the means by which Isaiah 53:7 was fulfilled.
Each of the trials was before a different authority:
Religious authority – the High Priest and Sanhedrin
Political/legal authority – Pilate on behalf of the Roman Empire
King of over Galilee and Peraea – Herod the tetrarch (Antipas)

Herod was “king” over a limited territory of Israel and over a limited number of Jewish people. Jesus was ultimately executed for this reason:

Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19 NKJV)

This declaration by Pilate recognized Jesus as King of the Jews, a legal title which would include those Jewish people scattered throughout the Roman Empire. This contrasts with Herod whose kingship was over a limited part of Israel (Galilee and Paraea). So as a sheep is silent before its shearers, Jesus was silent before Herod who “shearing” Him of a limited kingdom (Herod’s). But Jesus is not silent before the High Priest who cannot take away His position as the True and Great High Priest and He is not silent before Pilate who will recognize Him as King of all Jewish people.

8 He who vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other;
Who has a case against Me?
Let him draw near to Me.

The words are the strongest assertion of His absolute freedom from anything that an adversary could lay hold of on which to found a charge, and not merely so, but they also dare to assert that the unerring and all-penetrating eye of the Judge of all will look into His heart, and find nothing there but the mirrored image of His own perfection.

9 Behold, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;
The moth will eat them.

Not exactly following the line of this story, but instructive all the same,
Acts 12: 18-23 “At break of day, there was consternation among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.

19 Herod made a search for him, but didn’t find him, so then he examined the guards, and commanded that they be executed. Herod then went down from Judea to Caesarea, and spent time there.”

“20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Their country depended on the king’s country for food, so they came to him with a united front to make peace —they’d been able to win over Blastus, the king’s personal aide.

21 On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and made a speech to them.
22 The people shouted, ‘The voice of God, and not of a man!’
23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and died.”

You go against God and moths will eat you, worms will eat you, sometimes dogs will eat you. That was a reference to Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:10.

10 Who is among you that fears the Lord,
That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

God is light. John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with firebrands,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the brands you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in torment.

God is light, yet we try to make our own light. Go forth, realizing that we are children of God, and act as such.  And by your fruits, they will know you. Matthew 7:16