International Church of Bishkek
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Sermon Blog
    • ICB on YouTube
  • ICB Staff
  • Visit Us
  • Contact Us

Second Look: Why God Grabbed his Trowel

16/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
photo by Haneen Krimly on Unsplash

​Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
Isaiah 28:15-17

Dear ICB family,

Notice how this single, very long sentence is structured: "Because you have said…; therefore thus says the Lord God…."

So what did Israel say?

As Pastor Neil commented on Sunday, they said they'd taken out an insurance policy against death. They'd cut a deal to escape suffering and defeat. They'd decided to trust that nice-sounding lies could save them.

Because they said all that, therefore, God had something to say in reply. What did God say?

God said he had laid down a new foundation for his people, something (or someone) to be believed. The foundation that God laid is as straight as an arrow and as strong as bedrock. It's not the kind of foundation that will produce so many of the precariously leaning walls that you see all around Bishkek. Righteousness is the plumb line, which is a string with a weight at the end used to see if a wall is actually straight or not. When the wall built upon this foundation is measured against God's righteousness, both the foundation and the wall will be found standing perfectly vertical. All lies will be knocked down, and all other insurance policies will be annulled.

Now what about the "because" and the "therefore"? Remember, the whole sentence is structured, "Because you have said…; therefore thus says the Lord God…." What is the logical connection here between what Israel said and what God said in reply?

A consistent theme across the book of Isaiah is the image of God looking down upon his people and looking for someone, anyone, to guide his people (51:18), to intercede for them (59:16), to declare his truth (48:14), to answer him when he called (50:2), to help and to uphold (63:5), yet in each case, God is left wanting. There is not a soul capable of standing for true righteousness and bringing ultimate salvation to God's people. 

So what does God do? "So my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me" (63:6).

In other words, precisely because no human being can or will save God's people, God rolls up his sleeves and goes about the task of saving them himself.

That is what we have here in Isaiah 28. God's people had begun trusting in everything but God to save them and had become utterly corrupt, so what does God do? He says, "I am the one who has laid a foundation in Zion." In other words, it is because no one else can lay such a foundation that God, in effect, looks down on his people and says, "Well, looks like it's down to me," and he grabs his trowel and gets to work himself.

This is the God we serve. It is because no one else can save that God himself therefore saves us. It is because we are all idolaters and trust in everything else but him that God sent the "precious cornerstone," Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, into the world to be his people's foundation. And what a glorious foundation of justice and righteousness it is, perfectly straight, unimaginably strong! No other foundation can compare.

And who is invited to build their lives upon this sure foundation? "Whoever believes will not be in haste." When you build on any other foundation, you'll spend your life scurrying about and fretting that your house is going to collapse. Not true for those who, by faith, build here. They find rest.

So come. Stop trying to take out your own insurance policies, and admit that precisely because you've already done so God himself must be the one to save you or you're lost. And then allow yourself to be blown away by God's kindness, the kindness that sees all your alliances with Egypt and yet lays a stone in Zion for God's people's foundation anyway. Trust in him, and therein find your rest.

Laura and I are thankful for such a foundation as we prepare to spend the next several months back in the US. We will miss you all, and we are already looking forward to returning.

Grateful that God grabbed his trowel,

Pastor Eric
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    September 2022
    May 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    1 Peter
    1 Thessalonians
    Acts Ch. 13 To 28
    Acts Ch. 1 To 12
    Advent 2013
    Announcements
    Easter 2014
    Ephesians
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Habits Of Prayer Jan2016
    Hebrews
    Hosea
    Isaiah Series
    John
    John Part2
    Jonah
    Malachi
    Micah
    Psalms Of Ascents
    Psalms Summer 2016
    Psalms - Summer 2016
    Revelation
    SALUTATION
    Second Look
    Spiritual Disciplines
    Study Helps

    RSS Feed

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV).
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Sermon Blog
    • ICB on YouTube
  • ICB Staff
  • Visit Us
  • Contact Us