Tuesday 6 September

Isaiah 10:20-13:22

Exile - destruction, being lashed with a whip, the lopping off of boughs, punishment from the Lord.  We have been in exile ever since Eve listened to the snake.  We have lived as a race and as individuals in a spiritual exile, separated from our inheritance, living under a foreign power, surrounded by enemy forces, unable to commune directly with our God.  So that pretty much sucks.  But do we really engage with this?  Is this how we see the world?  Is that the lens through which we view our work-colleagues, our neighbours and our friends?  If it is then we quite soon get pretty pumped about ‘letting our people go’.  We try and find a Moses-like figure who can lead us across the Red Sea and into the land flowing with milk and honey.  We want to leave exile behind and breathe the joy-drenched air of the kingdom.  Isaiah promises that one is coming who will indeed take us there.  He will overcome the curse on the Serpent and Eve.  Enmity between their off-spring was promised but soon a time will come when that will be over. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra and the young child will put his hand into the viper’s nest.  He will come from the stump of Jesse.  He will be the Branch who will bear fruit.  Jesus is his name.  He is the Holy One of Israel among us.  He is our mighty salvation and he has done glorious things.  If we really get this will will really shout aloud.  We won’t be able to stop singing for joy.

2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5

It’s a bit mysterious this talk of Titus and “two brothers”.  I reckon Paul was just doing what I often do when I recognise a face but further detail escapes me - call people ‘brother’ while fumbling around for a clue to their name.  One of the brothers is praised by all the churches and the other is a very zealous fellow but Paul can’t for the life of him remember what they are called.  I, for one, love the reality of this.  This book deals with the comedy as well as the tragedy and the glory of life.  I don’t think there is a whole lot else in this peculiar little section.  Maybe one small thing we could pull out is the idea of spiritual authority, of Paul sending people to a church to ‘ensure’ they follow through on their commitments.  Spiritual authority isn’t the most trendy concept in the church today.  A lot of people try to slide away from it, probably because they have seen it grossly abused.  But it is there in the bible and particularly in the letters of Paul.  People going up to other people to remind them of what is required of them in the Lord and gently encouraging them to become all that they are called to.  Are we happy to submit ourselves to authority?  Are we happy to humbly exert our authority over others?  If not the whole body will suffer.  But with it then we will see the triumph of generosity and pride in others and love and thankfulness.  

Psalm 105:37-45

“They asked, and he brought them quail”.  It’s funny because that is not exactly how I remember it being described in Numbers 11.