Angelic Perspective

“Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.” (Isaiah 6:2)

We have been following Isaiah’s difficult and timely call.  As God’s prophet, he must declare judgment upon a people who did not feel especially guilty.  He was to proclaim a way of salvation to a people who did not regard themselves to be lost.  From the outset, his message seemed doomed to receive a miserable reception.

To engage in such a call, Isaiah would have to see things differently, and so God gave to him an incredible vision.  Like almost no one before him, Isaiah was ushered into the heavenly Holy of Holies. We have noted his first view of the God, “high and lifted up”.  Now in this vision we encounter a new and spectacular element.  A collection of “seraphim” surround the throne in a posture of continual worship and adoration.

This new element speaks volumes to us.  We are immediately reminded of the two great cherubim that stood at either end of the Ark of the Covenant, as it rested in the Most Holy Place.  These powerful symbols are now drawn largely and boldly into the prophet’s view.   The collective name of these angels, “seraphim” is found nowhere else in scripture except in these verses.  In its Ancient Near Eastern context, the term may be related to the serpentine images that dotted the contemporary religious landscape.  The prophet did not see stone carvings, however, but living beings, with moving wings and thunderous voices.  One can only imagine the sensory rush that Isaiah must have experienced, surrounded by these winged creatures shouting their praises, with reverberations that shook the doorposts and thresholds of the temple. (Isaiah 6:4)

The posture assumed by these seraphim was also striking.  Two wings suspended each being, while two covered their faces and two covered their feet.  The flying wings remind us of the divine messengers, tasked with hearing the word from the King, then taking flight to the remote corners of His domain to engage their royal mission.  Yet these messengers, before they were dispatched, spent time soaking in the presence of their Master.  The intensity of their exposure to God’s presence defined and propelled their mission.  Immersion in God’s presence, however, does not occur without risk.  Their wings shielded their faces, since human eyes cannot look directly into the glory of God.  Two other wings hid their feet (or lower extremities), perhaps as a sign of respect to divine majesty, but also, I think, because these messengers dared not think of mobilizing until they had grounded themselves in divine worship.

I believe that Isaiah saw these angelic beings for a very important reason.  He was about to be sent into a devastating spiritual conflict, with a message that few would understand and even fewer would accept.  From these divine messengers the prophet beheld a supreme example.  He could not even begin to engage this mission without complete and total immersion in a truly revealed vision of God.  Only full, heart-felt, gut-level worship provides the fuel necessary for such a tumultuous mission.  Normal, disengaged, merely-formal worship will not do.  Worshiping a tame, watered-down image of God will not do.  Power comes from the All-Powerful One, and so we must engage fully and completely with Him.

When is the last time that I engaged in worship so deeply that my soul melted in His presence and my voice quivered and thundered with praise?  Maybe it has been too long, and maybe that is why the ministry entrusted to me too often loses power.  O God, allow me to have the perspective of these angels, who worshiped fully before attempting to serve.

 

High and Exalted

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)

In our previous post, we noted the critical nature of this moment, “the year that King Uzziah died.”  God has deemed it necessary to reveal Himself again to a people who habitually trivialize His presence.  Their full barns and comfortable surroundings have rendered them callous to His more gentle admonishments.  Now He would take a more direct approach, one that could not be set aside.

He first prepares His messenger with a vision of the God whom He will serve.  This was no ordinary vision. Isaiah was permitted to see a heavenly perspective that no human being was permitted to see.  On earth, the most sacred place at that point was the Holy of Holies, home to the Ark of the Covenant, where the High Priest alone could enter once a year, after a thorough rite of purification, to render atonement for the people’s sin.  Though simple in its construction, the Ark’s symbolism was powerful and profound.  Flanked by cherubim, the Ark marked a glorious reconciliation of the Righteous King of the Universe  with a rebellious covenant people.  God had powerfully and publicly entered this sacred space, both as it rested in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34, 35; Numbers 9:15), and then later as it stood within the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11).

This sacred space, however, was only a dim reflection of God’s heavenly temple.  There the true Holy of Holies rested on His throne.  He had assumed this throne on the seventh day of creation, to reign over and to superintend His work. (Genesis 2:2-3)  Into this heavenly throne room, Isaiah was permitted for a moment to gaze. His eyes were immediately drawn by the flowing train of the royal robe.  It filled the sacred space.   It covered and draped everything it touched.  No space remained devoid of His powerful presence.

The prophet’s mind was now focused and framed.  From this point forward, earth would be redefined by heavenly truth.  No human statement, no human actions could henceforth have meaning apart from this center. The High and Exalted One would determine the beginning and the end.  This new revelation of God’s place would eclipse whatever view the prophet’s human eyes would see.

And yet, even this glorious vision could only itself be a reflection of God’s true presence.  Isaiah like Moses would not be permitted to see God and live, and so he likewise would see only shadows of the true Light. (Exodus 3:5, 6; 33:18-23)  God’s revelation and God transcendence remain intact even for these intimate servants of His will.

In our culture, we have all but destroyed our sense of the Holy; we seldom cultivate a sense of sacred space anymore.  We have become so fixed on God’s immanence and His relevance, that we too often neglect His transcendence.  This shift, however, will ultimately render God trivial and irrelevant to us.  We will end up defining God, which means that He can no longer define us.  In this respect, we will find ourselves in the same place as the Kingdom of Judah, “in the year the King Uzziah died.”    We too require a fresh vision of the One Who is High and Exalted, whose robes cover and drape us with Holy Love and Divine Power.

Lord, shake me from my lethargy, and do not allow me to take your presence for granted.  Do not allow my full barn and comfortable life to blur my vision of your holiness.  May your High and Exalted presence continue to define, constrain and empower me.

 

Last Call

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)

God’s timing is always impeccable, even if we would prefer another schedule.  The prophet is emphatic about the time of his vision.  It was “the year that King Uzziah died.”  The Hebrew places this phrase first, to emphasize the year.  The vision did not just occur at some random time.  It happened at this particular moment.

So what was so special about this moment, “the year that King Uzziah died”?  Uzziah experienced a comparatively successful reign, 52 years of God’s blessing, c. 809-758 BC. The sacred history preserves many signs of this prosperous era. “He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.” (2 Chronicles 26:2) “As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:5) “The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.” (2 Chronicles 26:8)  The list continues.

All of this changed, however, one fateful day when Uzziah’s “pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. ” (2 Chronicles 26:16)  When confronted by courageous priests for this explicit violation of God’s holiness, Uzziah had the audacity to grow angry.  “While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.” (2 Chronicles 26:19)  The judgment and sentence were final.  “King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 26:21).  The failure of this king crossed some line.  God’s patience had worn thin.

It was time for a new vision of God’s holiness, one that could not be missed or misunderstood.  The prosperity that God provided had failed to attract His people’s attention.  Enjoying their pleasures, they could not be bothered to acknowledge the Giver.  This new revelation of Holiness needed to take a different form.  Apparently only a serve judgment,  a harsh discipline could get the message across.  A loving and caring Father had now to take the belt in hand.  There was to be a lengthy “time out” – old school style.

One indeed wonders whether we again find ourselves within another day of reckoning. Perhaps we also need a new and unmistakable view of God’s holiness.  Have the people of God once again fallen into complacency, taking for granted the merciful provisions of our Father.  Are we now the prodigals that must be abandoned to the pigs before we recognize how far we have strayed?  How much longer can we last until the enemies of God are permitted to overtake us, and we are left no choice but to cry out to the God whom we once worshiped with purity and integrity?   May we quickly come to our senses, and with true humility and repentance revere the holiness of God, before the rod must bring this holiness to our attention in a more painful manner!  May we hear and respond to the prophetic last call before a more severe discipline must be applied!

 

Party Time?

“They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.” Isaiah 5:12

Pleasure has a way of owning us. We spend our lives in its pursuit.  A good meal, a good drink, a good party, a good experience — however we define it.  Such pleasures consume our senses, focus our mind, tickle our bodies.  Immersed in pleasure it is hard to believe anything could be more important, more fulfilling, more enriching.

Pleasure however can become dangerous as an end in itself.  Short-term indulgence can become the source of long-term pain.  Lives devastated by substance abuse and addictive behaviors make this point all too easily.  Many pleasures demand a steep price for engagement. So we humans are poised on an exciting but dangerous slide, between pleasure on one hand and destruction on the other.  How will we survive this ride?  How can we enjoy the pleasure that our bodies crave without falling prey to the dangers that such pleasures can introduce?

The prophet here points to the problem.  The people have pursued their pleasures, but have “have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.” (Isaiah 5:12) Pleasure takes it disastrous turn when it disengages from God.  We forget of course that pleasure has its origin in God.  He created the world and called it “good”.  He created us and called us “very good”.  God told us to “be fruitful and multiply”, so sex was His idea.  He tells us to “fill the earth,” to “subdue” it and to “rule over” it.  (Genesis 1:28)  The earth is created for us.  God gives it to us for our enjoyment.

Since pleasure has its origin in God, it must also have its end in God.  Pleasure that ends somewhere else, outside of God’s will and God’s ways, will not end well.  It may, for a time, have the look and feel of pleasure, but it is really pain in disguise.  Ultimately only pain awaits us outside of God, the eternal pain that we know as “hell”.  According to the prophet, judgment awaits those who enjoy their pleasure while disregarding God.  They are soon to be a branch removed from their root and their vine.  The analogy could not be clearer.  Pleasure removed from its source will cause us to shrivel and die.

God is not the enemy of pleasure. We are our own enemies in this regard.  We seem literally hell-bent to enjoy our pleasure apart from God.  God’s grace, however, promises a different end.  His Spirit can create in us new passions and desires for His beauty and His truth.  Grace therefore makes true pleasure possible.  So, in my own life I pray that God would keep my pleasures tied to their true source, so that “my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in His salvation” (Psalm 35:9)

 

Second-Guessing God

“What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” Isaiah 5:4

Throughout the centuries, God has not been without His detractors, even among those to whom He has been most gracious.  Over and over again He must listen to the ungrateful cries of His people, who protest that they do not receive His fair judgment, His promised deliverance, or His abundant provision.  Nor are we immune from this disease.  I must honestly confess that I have too often questioned the wisdom of God’s plan and the genuineness of His love.

I imagine that the people were surprised by Isaiah’s question. “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” (Isaiah 5:4)  The answer might seem obvious.  The stories of Israel’s oppression were well known among the people.  Even at that moment, their enemy constantly circled its prey.  There was no lasting peace, and abundance only applied to a few.  I can imagine the obvious response, “Yes, God, you could have done so much more for us.”

We are certainly tempted to this same response.  We also want a different world, one less painful and more rewarding.  We want to enjoy our families and our relationships without abuse and brokenness. We want enough provision to enjoy life without fear of poverty and loss.  We want “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  Why won’t God just make this happen?  Why won’t He go this extra mile for us?

We may doubt that God truly desires our good, until we remember that it was His idea to create a Garden of Eden, and He has always wanted us to live there.  Despite our sin, God has sought to bring us there again.  In the story of Abraham and his descendents, we see God’s merciful and gracious hand leading us back to His holy land, the beautiful place of His presence.

Assuming then that both God and we desire the same end, to dwell peacefully and abundantly in His holy presence, perhaps we should acknowledge that God knows best how to get us there.  While we might imagine a more streamlined path, one without the pain and disappointment of this life, God has apparently decided that we need to walk through this moral wasteland that we and our ancestors have created.  He has not allowed His people to escape entirely the layers of corruption and brokenness that our repeated disobedience has secreted.  In some sense, we must own and accept the consequences of our own collective rebellion.

Too often we attribute the impediments of this life to God’s failure to act, when in fact they are linked entirely to our own human choices.  The true miracle is that God still acts at all, that He has not rejected us entirely, but has invested Himself wholly in our lives, to ensure our inheritance in a blessed future.  The testimony that He has left in Scripture, to His faithfulness and to His eternal covenant with His people, should silence all of our objections concerning His commitment to us.  He has in fact gone the extra mile for us.  Time and time again, He has forgiven us, so that He might fellowship with us.  We draw breath entirely because of His long-suffering mercy.

No, we must not second-guess the God who leads us.  His provision by definition must be more than  sufficient for us. If we are ever to reach His presence and the abundance of His garden, we are always best served to follow His path.  Left to our own plans and devices, we will never find our way out of this desert!

 

Promising Branch

“In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious….” (Isaiah 4:2)

Branches live an important but tenuous life.  Each serves a dual purpose.  Its leaves spread out to gather water and light, providing nourishment to the entire plant.  In return the plant pours nourishment back into the branch, producing fruit that becomes the new seed. But many branches will not achieve their end.  The ravages of nature cripple their growth.  They may wither rather than flourish.

The prophet now sees this powerful “branch” image.  At first the context confuses us.  We have been hearing of God’s coming judgment, recompense for an arrogant and rebellious people. Then suddenly we read of a glorious and fruitful Branch. The transition is abrupt.  We might be tempted to think that the prophet is changing topics entirely, except that he deliberately links the two subjects together.  Both the judgment and the blessing occur “in that day” (Isaiah 4:2).

What lies beneath this study in contrast? Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of the analogy itself. Having focused upon a branch of people who were withering away, the prophet now sees the branch that flourishes. For centuries, God had been cultivating His people, that one branch of humanity that He elected for special attention, who would receive the grace of His special revelation, who would know him more intimately than any other nation.  Yet, despite this wealth of spiritual nourishment, they had not produced fruit.  They consumed all that was given to them for themselves, and now, because of their selfish foolishness, they are about to be torn from their tree, and discarded to the fire.

However God would not allow the failure of this branch to endanger the entire plant.  He would grow a new Branch, into whom He would pour new nourishment.  This new Branch would not fail to produce fruit.  This new fruit will be “will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” (Isaiah 4:2)  Unlike the current branch, destined for destruction, the new Branch would not glory in its own pride.  It would glory in the fruit that God Himself produces, the fruit of true righteousness and holiness.   “Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 4:3)

Because there are survivors, “this day” of judgment is also a day of promise.  The severity of God’s judgment will not eclipse His grace.  After the withering branches are pruned, seemingly small and significant twigs can grow into full maturity.  The faithful few, those who will not abandon their God, those who continue to worship and trust, will in the end realize their fruitful destiny.

This message of hope and promise should resonate with us as well.  As we look around us, we are well aware that humanity has fallen far short of its potential.  Everywhere we see dry branches that have detached from their living source, and are quickly withering in the heat of an evil world.  Each day we see the judgment of God revealed at some level and in some degree.  In the same day, however, we also see those few fruitful branches who, despite the ravages of this world, cling to God for their life, who blossom with abundant fruit, and feed many with the fruit of their devotion.  May we by God’s grace always cling to our life-giving source and be numbered among these branches of promise!

 

Victim Accusers

“‘What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 3:15

Poverty in Scripture is not merely a social problem. It is a sign of immorality, a witness to human corruption.  Poverty is the evil byproduct of oppression.  No wonder then that the prophet must pronounce God’s judgment upon leaders who have presided over a society that had declined to such moral depths.

The presence of the poor points to a fundamental brokenness in our soul.  Our time-bound bodies are quickly addicted to amusement.  When we move into positions of power, we are too easily tempted to use our authority to increase our amusement.  But this increase of our amusement often comes at a cost.  We must take from others the pleasure due to them, so that our pleasure can be maximized.

This robbery of others is quite often subtle.  Few of us openly break into homes and walk away with stolen goods.  However, we steal in smaller measure.  We detract from another person’s reputation, cutting and demeaning, so that we look bright by comparison.  We manipulate spouses and friends, so that they cater to and flatter us as often as possible.  We barter our favor for theirs. We cannot resist taking advantage of our employees, making them do work that we are no longer willing to do.  We leverage our power to build our own accounts, rather than to fill the need of others.

For a while, society may succeed in keeping its greed wrapped within this subtle garb.  Over time, however,  our desires can easily overflow these boundaries of conscience, until we no longer need to pretend.  Very quickly, we freely flaunt our mastery over others, veiling it with the only barest mist of concern for those in need.  Before too long, we openly boast of our conquests, of others depending upon us for their daily bread.

How far are we in our time removed from these proud statements?  To what extent do we ‘haves’ complement ourselves because we are not among the “have nots”?  We have risen above them.  Clearly we have poor among us, and they bear witness to some level oppression here in our own back yard.  When we look for the source of that oppression, it is easy to blame the wealthy, the corporate moguls or the government.  But perhaps we should find the source of oppression much closer to home, also within our own back yard.  Perhaps our own sin has given rise to the class division among us.  All of our individual sinful decisions, to demean the other and glorify ourselves, have conspired together to produce an unholy culture of oppression.  Our own sins have given rise to leaders who become the public voice of the oppression, while secretly, we desire to be in their place.  Perhaps we covet their authority, we want their power so that we may enrich ourselves.

The prophet brought a word from the LORD.  God looks upon the land and hears the cry of the poor, the victims of oppression.  He is angered and troubled,  They bear witness against the leadership of His people.  They have failed to provide the moral leadership that would exterminate oppression, and thus liberate the poor.  He had no choice but to judge their failure of trust.  When God looks upon us, how I wish we would not force Him to judgement. How I wish He would find that each of us has already judged our own acts of oppression, that we have already championed the cause of the poor, and come to the aid of the oppressed.  May our own ears hear intensely the cries of the victims, before their accusations reach our heavenly Father, and force Him to rescue them by judging our land.  In that day of judgment, we will no longer be numbered among the ‘haves’.  Rather we just might be among the victims of other oppressors, and perhaps then we will humble ourselves enough to cry out to our Father to rescue us again.

 

Defining Presence

“Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence.” (Isaiah 3:8)

Does it matter at all whether God is present among us?  Apparently in Isaiah’s day, it did not matter enough.  In the early days of this people, God’s presence meant everything.  The first man and woman hid from God’s presence when they disobeyed. (Gen. 3:8; Heb. lit, hid from the “face “or “presence” of God, reflected in the ESV).  Even Cain feared that “I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” (Gen. 4:14, NIV)  God commanded Abram to walk “before me” (Heb. lit, “before my face”), to be “blameless” in His presence, in order that God might bless him, that he might become “Abraham”, a father of many nations. (Gen. 17:1-6)

The cloud of God’s presence meant everything to the children of Israel as they were delivered from Egypt.  The LORD promises Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)  The pillar of cloud and fire went “before them” (Heb. lit, “before their face, in their presence”) (Exodus 3:20-21)  This same cloud filled the tabernacle, “and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle,” so that even Moses could not enter it. (Exodus 40:34-35)  This scene was later repeated, when, under King Solomon, tabernacle became temple.  “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.” (1 Kings 8:10-12)

Some 200 years after that glorious moment, the prophet Isaiah must observe that the people no longer marveled at the presence of God.  They had grown used to it.  The temple no longer inspired sacred fear.  And, because of this indifference to God’s presence, the people were poised for destruction.  The seeing prophet had just cause for alarm.  Yet, in just a short while, God will give to Isaiah a reassuring sign that His presence will not depart, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel;” i.e, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14)

In this Christmas season, I am reminded that the story of God’s presence continues. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)  Unfortunately, we too have often failed to honor this Glory who dwells among us.  Immanuel has come to us.  Let us truly feel the significance of this event.  May it cause us to re-evaluate and realign our lives.  Forgive us Father, for we too often defy your glorious presence.  Instead, may we continually allow your presence to define us.

 

Unraveling Trust

“Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?” (Isaiah 2:22)

The prophet in these early chapters has been warning God’s people.  They have misread their times.  They have assumed that their relative security and prosperity had chiefly to do with their own efforts.  This self-assurance had rendered God practically irrelevant.  He came a religious option, an add-on retained in case of emergency. With clear spiritual eyes, the seer must now paint a proper picture of their true state of affairs.  In this more accurate picture, these contented people stood on the brink of disaster.

Isaiah pauses his work to reflect, “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?” (Isaiah 2:2, NIV)  The Hebrew here has an edge to it. The people must “abandon” their reliance on human support, for this support is truly worth nothing.  It will evaporate as quickly as the air that we breath.  A single breath, a single word from God will soon collapse the entire structure.

The tentative nature of human relationships repeatedly reveals itself, then and now. This should not surprise us.  Imperfect people will always form imperfect relationships. Israel had formed supportive alliances with surrounding nations, but these alliances would not ultimately protect them.  In a similar way, we move through life collecting “friends” of all sorts, ranging from intimate partners to unconnected virtual avatars.  We surround ourselves with this network of connections, and it begins to define us.  We become a product of all these interactions.  Our connections push us and pull us as the tidal shifts of relationships roll over us.  Before too long, we can begin to loose track of ourselves.  This complex network of relationships may rip us from our roots, and we discover that we are no longer grounded.

All human relationships, no matter how noble, are nonetheless tentative.  They come and they go.  They form, they change, and they end … one way or another.  The tentative nature of these relationships means then we cannot always trust them.  We know they will change.  We know they will end.  How can we then base our lives upon them?

We can only achieve certainty in any relationship if we add a third-party to it, but not just any third party.  This third Person must never change.  His faithfulness, His unfailing love, His constant river of understanding and grace must feed into the shifting tides of our relationships.  Without this sure foundation, we will not survive all the forces that seek to divide us, the collective failures that will inevitably occur when imperfect humans connect with one another.

When we get lost in the complex web of our relationships, we can lose track of the God who ultimately is the only force that can hold us together.  The prophet therefore calls us back to this center. Let’s hear his warning.  If we ignore and marginalize God in our lives,  the complex web of our relationships with one another will inevitably unravel.

 

Indispensable Fear

“Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.” (Isaiah 2:19)

Why is it that we no longer fear God, even those of us who claim to know Him?  Our views of God have obviously rendered Him more palatable to our indulgent tastes.  Too often the “god” that we have defined winks at sin, or is too soft to do anything about it. Apparently we have resigned ourselves to a world in which God is minimally involved, where evil is allowed to have its play.  Have we all essentially become practical Deists?

Fearing God is a difficult concept to grasp, especially in our time.  We have gone to great lengths to minimize threats, or at least to isolate and hide them from public view.  Fear like pain is regarded as an enemy to be eliminated from our emotional vocabulary.  Yet, fear will not disappear regardless of our efforts.  It remains a stubborn constant of post-modern life.

The random powers that seem to dominate our life threaten at any moment to render us victims,  Financial meltdowns, terrorist attacks, environmental disasters, violent and disturbed individuals, constant health threats … these dangers intermittently yet consistently raid our daily reflections.  Sane people will understand that there is reason to fear.  Rather than denying and suppressing our fears, are we not better served to face them?

In confronting our fears, we are at once aware of our limits.  We cannot control these powers that threaten to victimize us.  It is this sense of powerlessness that pushes us to deny the danger, to mask the fear, to numb the anxiety.  Facing our fears will therefore require strength that we do not seem to have.

In this context, it is no wonder that we cannot process our fear of God.  In our rush to cope with fear, we are hardly going to reflect on another Power that threatens to undo us.  So why does God dictate these words to the prophet, this “promise” that dread will accompany the splendor of His majesty?

God points to a fundamental weakness that underlies our fear.  We are naturally afraid of our potential oppressors; but we have no fear of the God who made us for Himself.  We have taken for granted His long-suffering and patience.  We sin believing that a merciful God will not judge us.  However this decision, to  fear the world and ignore God, has drastic consequences.  This decision traps us in our fear.

If we are honestly to face our fears, then we must align ourselves fully and completely with the only One powerful enough to deal with these insidious and constant threats.  Our intimate communion with God is our only hope of comfort from this dread.  If we should fear anything, let us fear separation and alienation from God.  If we lose God, we truly do have a reason to panic.

Fearing God is therefore entirely different than fearing the oppressor.  Our fear of God should draw us toward Him; it should not drive us away.  Unlike the oppressor, our Heavenly Father seeks only to redeem, protect and restore us. We fear God as we would fear a parent whose guidelines for us are only intended for our good.  Children who abuse their parents’ patience will only bring disaster upon themselves.  Our fear of God should therefore inspire us to love Him more, as One who knows the danger that sin produces.  The word of the prophet reminds us that God never changes His judgment of evil.  We can fear Him now, as the Father seeking to protect us from our own sinful foolishness, or we can fear Him later, as One whose patience with us has just run out.  If we choose to fear Him now, then we experience the joy of His love, and the comfort of knowing that our God is a power greater than any force that seeks to destroy us.  This type of holy fear will only result in our salvation.  This kind of fear remains indispensable to our well being.