Isaiah 40 ends with a verse (v31) that proclaims a specific and superior strength/revival/stamina/energy among those who twist themselves together with -or become one with- the Lord. (many translations say wait for the Lord, but the Hebrew describes a deliberate union/oneness of self + Lord.) this verse is a startling ending to a chapter that declares the Lords sovereignty and unsearchable glory so boldly! it inspires me to read the chapter again in reverse to digest... just five verses before this startling assertion that one can bind oneself to God, is a proclamation that He created the stars, calls their host by name, and by His might and greatness not one is unaccounted for. could we have union with such a God? and just three verses proceeding this, after declaring that He spreads the expanding universe out to be His tent in which to dwell, He reminds us of how perishable our egos are by alerting us to His continuing capacity to reduce our prideful identities to nothing (v23)... now, help me understand how one could unite oneself- ones tiny tangible egotist self- to a God of such supreme power and incomprehensible magnitude. and as I continue back just nine verses, im reminded of the astonishing fact that amid our egos struggles to perceive the vast universe, and amid the perpetual dissatisfaction thereof which leads us to a calculated and focused striving for enlightenment and spiritual awareness, God required no advisor to direct Him to enlightenment and sought no counsel for understanding (v14). are we to dare to try binding ourselves to the God who birthed, by His own imagination, our very consciousness that strives for understanding? but as I creep back yet three more verses, I am reminded that He is a shepherd as well- and I can reason that when He declares that He will feed the very flock into which He breathed life to begin with (v11), He must certainly know exactly what it is His flock should eat. so... aside from the startling suggestion that one could become united with the Divine Creator of all things, could there be a less startling way to achieve such union? stepping back another few verses puts me back to the alarming declaration that this flock that God birthed is like the flowers of the field- withering, fading, perishable, temporary (v6)... or, at least the flocks ego is such. after all, the flock feasted on the withering, fading, perishable, temporary fancies of the tangible world to affirm its insatiable ego... the flocks ego has been banqueting in a grave. if you are what you eat, then I suppose the flock became but a passing, inconstant season at the very moment it chose to eat of inconstant, seasonal fruit. but the God who promises to feed the very flock He created, while upholding the astonishing expectancy that the flock who feasts on the offering will become one with Him, must have an imperishable, eternal food to offer. a food that doesnt serve the flocks ego at all, but serves the flocks eternal identity instead. the grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand for ever.... In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. what kind of God is this?... who would spread the expanding universe, then bend down to serve Himself for breakfast? (Psalm 49; Hosea 11:4; John 1; John 6:35; Isaiah 30; Isaiah 40)
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 05:57:17 +0000
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