July 27, 2016 Bible Study — A Fortress of Lies, Or Build On the Cornerstone Which God Has Laid Down?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 26-28.

    The beginning of today’s passage is one of hope for those who trust and obey God. He will trample the proud and arrogant, but will smooth out the path in front of the righteous. The wicked will keep doing wrong even when all others do what is right. They pay no attention to God’s threats of destruction, but He will defend His people. God’s people are those who seek Him and accept His discipline. They will be granted peace.

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    What Isaiah wrote in chapter 28 reminds me of the leaders of today. First comes the complaint of being treated like children. They claim to be grownups ready for grownup truths. All the while wallowing in the results of sins of the most basic sort. I see so many today who echo the leaders of this passage. They believe that they have made a bargain with death and that their fortress of lies and deception will protect them from the coming destruction. God responds by telling them that He will start over again from the basics. He lays out the foundation and tells them to build upon the Cornerstone He has given us if they want to build something which will last. Lies and deception are like sand. Anything built on them will be washed away in the coming storms. However, if we build on the Foundation which God has given us, measuring out with justice and aligning with righteousness, what we have built will stand the test of time.

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    Then at the end of the passage Isaiah reminds us that God knows what He is doing. Yes, He is going to bring judgment and discipline upon us, but He knows what we can bear. Just as a farmer very carefully calibrates the tools and force he uses to thresh grain, so too will God carefully calibrate the discipline He uses to turn us back to Him. He will not send against us more than we can bear.