However, as I'm reading through the Old Testament again, somehow I seem to notice more than I ever had before how--well--really modern the prophets sound in their judgments against nations and kingdoms. Take Isaiah 31:1 for example: "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord." Now, at first glance, I'm tempted to glaze over when it comes to the part about horses and chariots since those haven't been used as weaponry for centuries and when it talks about wanting Egypt to help since nobody gets help from Egypt today (in fact, there the ones that need help now...). However, that misses the point of this verse entirely. Perhaps recent events in the news regarding toppling governments and economic uncertainty around the world have given this verse fresh vigor for me. What Isaiah is saying here if you peel back the layer of historical terms is really, "Trusting in alliances or modern weaponry--including (especially nowadays) the power of money--isn't going to save your nation when you've turned away from God." In fact, the verse states that woe will come to those who trust in those things. Sounds rather modern, doesn't it?
In short, when one peels back the layers of names of countries and cities that have been dust-piles for the longest time, one finds that the prophecies have lost none of their fire at all. In fact, they seem to be refulfilling themselves today. Once again, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun" (Eccl. 1:9). God hasn't changed his attitude toward nations who, like Israel, have forsook him as a nation or are forsaking him (think "America"); nor has he changed his attitude toward the heathen nations like Assyria, Babylon, Edom, Moab, Philistia, etc., who have never as a whole worshiped him as the one and only God (e.g., the Muslim nations of the Middle East). This is the part when I get that shiver up and down my spine because of what history teaches happened to those nations: utter destruction. The city of Tyre, which was viewed at one time as the harbor of the nations, was torn down and literally dragged into the sea. Today, it's just a fishing town (fulfilling Ezek. 26:14). Jerusalem was burnt with fire and the temple was destroyed, first by the Babylonians and finally by the Romans. To this day, it has never regained its magnificence and splendor. With all this in view, what does that mean for us? Are we to suffer their fate? God's word is clear: our nation's destruction will come, unless we repent. Countless times in the Old Testament Israel is instructed to turn and repent to save herself from destruction, but she did not during the final days of the kingdom of Israel first and the kingdom of Judah afterwards, and was destroyed. We would do well to take heed to that warning.
The following is a poem that I wrote after reading through Jeremiah 9, one of the saddest passages of that book, yet a glimmer of hope (from verse 24) remains at the end:
Jeremiah's Lamentation:
A Poetic Paraphrase of the Ninth Chapter of the Book of the Weeping Prophet
O that I could but weep and cry,
For on my nation God's wrath doth lie!
O that I could fly from the vile,
E'en if to some deserted isle!
But God is just; He sees their work--
He sees that they His laws do shirk.
From evil they cannot be still,
And regard not Him on Zion's hill.
They lie, they all; there's not a soul
Whose reputation is all whole.
E'en family one can't believe,
For lies abound, and truth doth leave.
A bond, a pact, is worthless now;
They teach their tongues lies to allow.
Fatigued and tired are they from sin,
Yet do they walk e'en more therein.
For th'land I weep--it is on fire;
The flames do rise continually higher.
The beasts and birds, they all do flee.
No person in the towns I see.
Who is the wise one who doth know
For what the land doth perish so,
And why the wilderness is burned,
That travelers from it must turn?
Yet saith the Lord, "My judgment's right,
For from My laws they do alight,
And after their own hearts do walk;
To bow to idols they do not balk.
"Yea, verily may they weep and cry,
For I cruel waters do apply.
Yea, verily may they mourn and wail,
For I their false hopes do assail!"
Cruel death is come into our land,
And there is none to lend a hand
To bury all the dead around,
For dead men shall so much abound.
"Let not the wise their wisdom boast;
Let not men trust in pow'r and hosts,
And let not rich men's glory be
Their wealth, their great prosperity.
"But let their glory ever be
To understand and to know Me,
The great Jehovah, Adonai,
And to me let them send their cry.
"In lovingkindness, judgment right,
And righteousness I do delight,
But let them not trust in their work,
For punishment in that way doth lurk."
And that ends yet another post that is much longer than I ever anticipated, but I hope it still remains thought-provoking although rather (all right, very) wordy. Goodbye for the present!
