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Isaiah 28:1 - Who wants to join the "Church of the drunkards of Ephraim"? Day 147

Dear friends,

One of the marks of the prophetic voice in Scripture is that it rarely has good news.  The prophets after Judah's return from Babylon gave encouragement to re-build the temple.  But there was a lot of warning as well.  All the prophets leading up to fall of Israel and then Judah are "wake up before its too late."  So as we make our way through Isaiah, we must face this reality.  Part of the answer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism question on what "before me" in the First Commandment teaches us is "God, who sees all things, takes notice of and is much displeased with the sin of having any other god."  Why would I do any thing with which God is much displeased?

Blessings,

Jeff

The drunkards of Ephraim. Fading flower of its glorious beauty.  What a pleasant description for a tribe of Israel.  And not once but twice.  The exact opposite of what Israel was supposed to be.  Referring to the northern kingdom that followed Jeroboam after Solomon's death. These 10 tribes become idolatrous, a long series of bad kings rule over them.  They go from bad to worse.  

The first ripe fig.  Expression is lost on us mainly because we are not really big fig eaters.  Study bible notes say "June figs were delightful because they foreshadowed the September harvest (Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1; Na 3:12). Ephraim with all her possibilities of achievement would be exiled, and the fruit of her labors would be enjoyed by the Assyrians. Isaiah 28:4"  If we think back to Promised Land as "flowing with milk and honey" despite that fact the wicked Canaanites lived there.  The land was productive even though the people who lived there were evil.  Now the same thing is to happen to Israel,  The Assyrians were going to have this land.  

This makes me wonder why the northern kingdom did not repent?  Basically they were unable and unwilling.  

Unable - breaking covenant, not keeping commandments, statutes and rules became habitual.  They were dead spiritually and unable to respond to God.

Unwilling - They were convinced that they were free to do as they pleased in worship because they were God's chosen people.  They divorced themselves from the direction for Levitical priesthood and temple worship.  Convinced that they had found a better way.

Modern "liberal Christianity"  is in the same condition. Divorced from scripture as source of truth and ethics, unable and unwilling to return to orthodox faith as defined in Scripture even though they still want to be called Christian.

It is all very sad. Yet God is righteous in his judgment.

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