Isaiah 24:10,12 “The city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. … The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces.”
These words are from Isaiah the prophet. They follow a long series of prophecies against the nations surrounding Israel, but now his attention turns to the entire world. He laments that the earth is defiled by its people for rejecting God’s ways. All joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth. Cities are ruined. The earth is laid waste and plundered. It dries up and withers.
Pondering this vision, Isaiah cries out in 24:16 “I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me!” He sees treachery everywhere and human inability to escape its own evils. If we manage to flee terror, we fall into a pit. If we climb out of the pit, we get caught in a snare (24:18). “The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.” (24:20).
This is exactly how the past days have felt. Though much of the doom foretold in chapter 24 is yet future, we human beings doom ourselves every day in repeated attempts to bring peace on earth on our own terms instead of God’s. We inflict injuries and calamities upon ourselves – the inevitable outcome of our stubborn and willful rebellion against the good ways that God designed life to be lived.
Who is not weary of the lies, posturing, self-righteousness, violence, hypocrisy, fear-mongering, noise, cruelty, arrogance, manipulation, hatred of human against human, accumulated past sins always poisoning the present, the chaos, illogic, and brutality? It all plays into Satan’s aim to defeat and devour us because we are beloved by God and made in the Creator’s image.
No human cleverness or effort has ever produced what the gospel produces in lives around the world and throughout the centuries. We must ask God to rescue us and awaken heart-deep transformation by the power of Jesus Christ. As life keeps showing us again and again, there is no other answer to the predicament of the human race.
Jesus, thank you for taking my sin and my wickedness upon yourself. You let your perfect life be valued at a mere thirty pieces of silver, evil amassed itself against you as you stood alone, and you voluntarily took up the cross to suffer horribly and die on my behalf. I am struck once again with awe. How you love me; how you love us.
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This week: On a long bike ride yesterday, I cycled past a group of ballfields, the adjacent parking lot jammed with cars. Boys in full uniforms competed under sunny skies while their teammates perched on dugout benches, forgoing any semblance of social distance. Parents and siblings watched from the stands in a full array of skin tones representing God’s glorious pallet. Then the sound of an aluminum bat – not smashing a windshield but smashing the stitched horsehide of a baseball. To this day, I can’t help feeling a tingle of joy at the sound of bat on ball. Life suddenly felt normal. If you’ve been cooped up, whether in fear for yourself or for others, consider taking a step outside. Find time this week to take a bike ride or a walk. Don’t just wave to your neighbor but engage him or her in conversation. Start to live freely again.