2015年12月2 日（水）③ニューイングランドの母校からアドヴェントメッセージの便り　その4

2015 Gordon-Conwell Advent Devotional
Day 4

Isaiah 5:11-12
There are three pithy sayings I have heard that would seem to summarize what Isaiah is communicating to Israel and by implication to us, in this passage pregnant with meaning.

Saying one: “Your perspective determines your priorities and your priorities determine your practice.”

Israel lost perspective. They were to be God’s covenant people demonstrating to the nations around them what it meant to be God’s people. God had put them in the land and blessed them so that they might enhance God’s reputation. Yet, instead of showing generosity to those around them like God, they became greedy; instead of pursuing justice like God, they pursued their own joy and instead of showing compassion like God, they dispensed condemnation. Isaiah is saying you have forgotten your purpose–you are not here to make a name–but here to glorify a name.

Saying Two: “God may not pay at the end of every month—but God pays.”

Isaiah shows us in this passage that God is serious about his reputation and his covenant. Israel broke covenant with God. God was clear that they were to keep covenant with one another and if they did not, there would be judgment. The word “woe” is a term not only of judgment, but of a lament at a funeral. The Israelites who broke covenant would not enjoy their acquisitions (vs. 10-11) because they themselves would be acquired in judgment by the Assyrians (vs. 26).

Saying three: “God’s favorite department is lost and found.”

Advent reminds us that God being God does not end with judgment but seeks reconciliation. The heart of God is to bring us back to himself so that we might “regain our perspective” and fulfill all that he has designed us to be. May this season remind you to thank God for the one who made us his priority, took on the judgment we were to face and whose joy was to reconcile us with the Father.