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CHURCH LETTER
`Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child'
As is well known, every living body has many parts, each one with different functions so that the whole body can fulfil its purpose. So it is for the Living Body of the Lord Jesus, for `there are many parts but one Body'. Of the many parts little is heard of those of a more `pastoral nature', and year after year many faithful members carry on with their work. However, over the past few years there has been a rise of `Prophetic Ministries' together with the often-associated `Teaching Ministries', made readily available through the social media network. Increasingly over the past year with world-wide political and social changes appearing, many of these `Ministries' are putting out confusing and contradictory messages, one such centering on the words of the prophet Haggai: `I will once more shake the heavens and the earth . . . I will shake all nations' (then continuing to call for prayer for `the battle for the survival of western cilvilisation) whilst another calls for `the renewal of every area of British life'. And yet both `Prophetic Ministries' accept that both Western civilisation and British life are being shaken by the Lord God in order to usher in the Kingdom of God centered in Jerusalem, with the Messiah Jesus coming to reign and rule over the nations of the world. Surely a confusing and contradictory message is being put out by such prophets! Within the Teaching Ministries there is a growing call to return to our `Hebraic roots', which is paralleled by an growing questioning of the validity of the Pauline Letters as being Hellenised by Greek philosophy with its pagan roots. Such is the cry to `return to Scripture alone', often mixed with man's opinions and causing even more confusion.
With that sombre introduction we turn to Scripture and to the Book of Isaiah. The Book opens with the words:
" The Vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem . . . Hear, O heavens!
Give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken! "
The name Isaiah (the salvation of the LORD) itself gives us the whole understanding of the purpose of the `Vision', for it concerns the ultimate salvation of Judah and Jerusalem through `Judgement and Grace' and their final acceptance of God's Grace in the Person of their Messiah Jesus. It is one complete Vision but with many prophecies outworked within that Vision, sworn as eternal by the Covenanted Name of the LORD Who had spoken. The Hebraic sense of the word `vision' is one which was gazed upon by Isaiah in awe and wonder, sealing his acceptance of his calling to be `the voice and pen' of that awesome Vision, a calling which was spread over 60 years. That which the LORD had `spoken' is immediately seen in the following words: (v 2-4)
" I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against
Me. . . . Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-
doing, children that are corrupt, they have forsaken the LORD. "
The following verse 9 however turns our thoughts to His Grace in the forthcoming Judgement:
" Unless the LORD of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should
have been as Sodom, we would have been like as Gomorrah (that is, totally
destroyed by fire and brimstone). "
Judgement and Grace are clearly foretold in these words, and His Grace is seen even more clearly when in the opening words of chapter 2 we read again of `the word that Isaiah saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem'. This word `saw' has the same meaning as that which Isaiah saw in a vision in his opening words, for he is once again writing of the awe and wonder of what he sees here:
" And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the LORD's
House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. "
It was not until `the year that King Uzziah died' that Isaiah received his anointed commission - written of in chapter 6 - which was to spread over some sixty years: `I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the Temple'. A different word for `saw' is used here - not so much a `gazing upon' in awe but seeing and understanding with clarity the commission he was about to receive: (v8)
" Also I heard the Voice of the LORD saying, `Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us'? Then said I, `Here am I, send me'. "
After such `vision and words' from the Heavenly Temple spoken by the LORD God of Israel, Isaiah's response was immediate; `send me'! He could not then have understood what he was offering, and like all who are called onto such a path he would need to know the total care and protection of the LORD as he was entrusted and commissioned to speak of what he had been priviledged to see: (v 9-10)
" And He said, `Go and tell this people: You hear, but do not understand,
and you see indeed, but perceive not'. Make the hearts of this people fat,
and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and convert and be healed. "
Such words, harsh though they may appear, speak of judgement on the rebellion of the people who would not listen to the `former prophets' and would not listen to the `latter prophets'. This prophecy spoken by Isaiah and repeated in Matthew through to Romans in a total of seven times has been of great significance and importance in the continuing history of Israel. Once again that prophecy reveals not only Judgement but Grace also. Isaiah cries `how long will this Judgement last?' (v11-13)
" And He answered: `Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants, and
the houses without people and the land be utterly desolate' . . . . Yet
in it there shall be a tenth and it shall again be swept away, and yet as
with the terebinth and the oak, whose life remains in them when struck
down, so the Holy Seed shall be the life within it. "
This is the Word of the LORD God of Israel, and it is with this, as yet, unbelieving Remnant that this Letter is concerned for clearly the `Vision and the Word' concerns Judah and Jerusalem and their national salvation in finally accepting Jesus as their Messiah. This continuing prophecy does not refer to those `branches' now re-grafted back into the Olive Tree of Israel' following their acceptance of Jesus, but as it is a continuing prophecy it still refers to the Remnant who are looking for their Messiah within unbelieving Israel today, and therefore to continuous waves of desolation and destruction for the people of Judah and Jerusalem - as seen in chapter 8 which talks of a wave of terror coming from a confederacy led by the armies of Assyria. It is to this continuing Remnant within unbelieving Israel, this tenth, that Isaiah writes: (v12-17)
" The LORD spoke to me . . . `Do not call a conspiracy everything these
people call a conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear, nor be afraid . . . .
Bind up the testimony and seal the law among My disciples'. I will
wait upon the LORD that hides His face from the House of Jacob, and
I will look for Him. "
In the face of those coming Judgements hope was given; the LORD's Grace was still seen -`look for Him' - that earlier promise in chapter 7 was for those who understood and believed for in the midst of anxiety and unbelief:
" Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us). "
The king of Assyria did indeed come, `overflowing all its channels, running over all its banks and sweeping on into Judah'. But nevertheless, `there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress . . . for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders'. For those who wait and look for Him, the faithful remnant, even though He tarries He will come for them!
In the midst of ongoing judgements and woes, the LORD's Grace breaks through: `In that Day a remnant of Israel . . . . a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse . . . . In that Day you will say: I will praise You, O LORD'. Even with the devastating, terrifying prophecy of chapter 24 there immediately follows the LORD's Eternal, Covenanted Promise of His Coming and the fulness of His Promise:. (Isaiah 25:9)
" In that Day (of the most devastating despair) they will say:
`Surely this is our God; we waited for Him and He saved us. This is our
LORD; we waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His Salvation'. "
This is the deep truth of Scripture: The Remnant's `fruit' is not in their works! It is not in great ministry but in faithfulness! It is in trusting in the LORD's Promise as we look for and then wait for Him, certain of His faithfulness as the Holy Spirit enables us to be faithful, to `look and wait - and that `wait' will be finally brought to completion. The word of prophecy again bursts out of Isaiah in chapter 54: (verse 1)
" Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child. Burst into song and
shout for joy, you who were never in labour, because more are the children
of the desolate woman than the children of the married wife. "
Sarah's time had come! This prophecy of joy takes us back to Genesis 15 and the LORD's Covenanted Promise to Abram, to which Abram responded: (v2-4)
" O Sovereign LORD, what can You give me since I remain childless? . . .
You have given me no children, so a servant in my household will be
my heir. Then the word of the LORD came to him: This man will not
be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. "
Sarai, Abram's wife, was that barren woman of Isaiah's prophecy! Looking back to the Promise given to Abram and the birth of Isaac, Isaiah now looks forward to the Prophetic Son of Abraham, the Messiah of Israel A son was promised! There were long years of looking and waiting for him to come! Abram's good intention to have a son through Hagar brought only trouble! The LORD's Covenant was again spoken to Abram when he was ninety-nine years old, and He appeared to him as El Shaddai, the Mighty EL Who was watching over Abram and Sarai, providing, protecting, enabling them to remain faithful to the LORD's call upon them. God also said to Abraham: (Genesis 17:15-16)
" As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will
be Sarah. I will bless her and surely give you a son by her. I will bless her
so that she will be the mother of nations; kings and peoples will come from her. "
Sarah's time had come! Yes, they were tested! Yes, Abram laughed in unbelief! But it was as El Shaddai that the LORD spoke! He would turn that unbelief to faithfulness, for their names were changed to Abraham and Sarah - by the inclusion of the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet into their names Abraham and Sarah were henceforth held in their faithfulness by El Shaddai's Grace. In the fulness of God's time Isaac the son of promise was born and the promise was fulfilled! No longer held back by natural doubt through often distressing circumstances they were released by spiritual faith: (Isaiah 54)
" `Sing, O barren woman (your faithfulness in believing God released His
faithfulness or Promise) . . . For you shall break forth on the right hand
and on the left and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited . . . . For if the mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed My kindness shall not depart from you. Neither shall the Covenant
of My Peace be removed' says the LORD, Who has Mercy on you. "
The prophecy continues in the following two chapters:
" Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no
money . . . Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. "
The LORD's promise is to all who have grown thirsty in the long years of looking and waiting - but now Sarah's time has come! Drink to the full what has been freely given to all who are thirsty, and as you continue to look and wait remain faithful, for `My Salvation is near to come and My Righteousness will be revealed'.
In the mystery of God's Providence at the time when Peter stood up in the Temple Compound in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost Sarah's time had indeed come - as Peter proclaimed to the gathered Jews: (Acts 2:36)
" Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. "
Since that time the prophecies Isaiah spoke concerningn Israel's redemption, and those concerning the nations, insofar as they affect Israel, have taken a dual path but soon, at the end of this Age, will converge into the fulfillment of Israel's salvation: (Isaiah 66:22)
" `As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before Me',
declares the LORD, `so will your name and descendants endure'. "
The Vision that Isaiah gazed upon in awe and wonder concerning Israel's salvation has never changed or diminished. The prophecies he spoke were to bring an unbelieving Israel to enter into that vision along with the faithful remnant of Israel. For those who have accepted the Messiah Jesus as Sarah's Seed of Promise for their salvation, the path to Glory is soon to be complete. And so today the LORD's Righteousness will soon be revealed through His sons remaining true to their calling of proclaiming the one Vision with many prophecies for the salvation of Israel, together with His many `Sarahs' who trust in His Promise of a Son -
not `waiting and looking' in a passive way but in anticipation and expectancy of His soon coming.
Selah
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