Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58: 12, NIV.
Merciful God, we are Your people. We want to live in accordance with Your will. Please instruct us as we enter the study of Your Word, we pray, in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The book of Isaiah was obviously composed during different periods of Israel’s history. It is supposed that the chapter from which we took our Scripture for today, was written when some of the exiles returned from the Babylonian captivity. During their captivity in Babylon, word had been received that the city of Jerusalem, as well as the temple had been destroyed. Now that some of the captives had returned, it is being prophesied of them, that they will be the ones who will rebuild the walls that were broken down, and that it will be their privilege to make the streets of Jerusalem habitable once more! Shouldn’t that have been a reason to humble themselves before the LORD, and to rejoice in His mercy? But, as was their custom, we hear Israel murmuring, and God responding to their complaints:
ISRAEL: ” ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’
GOD: ” ‘ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD” ‘ “(Isaiah 58: 3-5, emphasis provided)?
The branch is telling the Gardener the way He is supposed to judge their behavior, even though the Gardener has the power to cut off the branch and cast it away as chaff! Just as He dealt in mercy with Israel of old, His mercy has endured even unto our day! We come to God with our well memorized speeches and try to impress Him to do things our way. “I need a job LORD, so I am going to fast for three days, or a week. Well, God, are You not proud to see how long I am going to be without food? Do you not see how pious my behavior has been lately?” My friends, that is precisely where the problem lies: God does see why we do what we do! We have made the means an end! As parents we raise our children to strive for accolades, not for growth! To be “good” in order to make themselves worthy of our love! We give them a sticker for memorizing their Bible verse! And according to their performance in front of our neighbors and friends, they are deemed either “good” or “bad.” We are raising miniature Pharisees, who like to be seen by other human beings! For us it is all about behavior. And please do not get me wrong, there are few scenes that are more becoming to me than that of a well behaved child! But improvement in behavior should only be the means, to an end, which is growth, spiritual growth! They are our up and coming leaders!
We bring the same script to God, in the twenty-first century, forgetting that it is human beings who see the outward appearance, while “God sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16: 7)! Listen to what Jesus thought of the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees: “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5: 20). Dearly beloved, God has called us to do a work of repair. I believe He is calling us, in this generation, to rebuild the covenant that He made with us. He has not faltered on His part of the bargain. It is we, who have caused the breach in the relationship! We have broken our promise to be faithful to Him. We have become caught up with what human eyes can see, and have totally neglected the care of the heart, that only God can see.
Therefore, in love, He has called us to edify His church, by renewing the covenant! Edification means growth! When there is growth in character, and in His righteousness, God’s church will be on the march! We are His hands, and feet, and lips, and heart, to the world, to facilitate the repairing of the breach. This is no time to be having a form of godliness only! This is no time to be seeking the praise of human beings. This is the time to be seeking the Lord and His righteousness, in order to finish the work that He has given us to do! And everything else that we need, “will be added unto [us]” (Matthew 6: 33)! So let us arise and build!