January 19, 2000

GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"Do you know? Have you not heard?"
Isaiah 40:21
___"Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? " Isaiah 40:21

SCOTT WILLINGHAM

___One wonders about the vocal variables the royal prophet, Isaiah, used as he asked these questions to a people in exile. Was he shouting in frustration? Was he weeping in sorrow? Did he speak sarcastically, "Don't you know (dummy)?"
___Israel had been exiled to Babylon. As refugees, they dreamed of their motherland. And now it seems that God has cracked a window for them to return.
___What would you do? Don't be so quick to answer. Babylon is nice this time of year. Jerusalem is a 700-hundred-mile march through the badlands. Pack light. (Some had become wealthy in Babylon).
___Dr. Isaiah diagnosed the influenza of fear spreading over his congregation. What can a preacher say to a congregation that has voted to relocate but wears concrete waders? In a best-selling book titled "Yes or No" by Spenser Johnson, one of the key questions leading to effective decision-making is to ask, "What would I decide if I weren't afraid?"
___Please pause and ask yourself that question. What would you do for Jesus if you weren't afraid?
___Isaiah's congregation needed a fresh vision of who God is--transcendent, majestic and sovereign. Isaiah, with a soothing voice, asks questions:
___Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket?
___Who has weighed the mountains on the scales?
___Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
___Who taught the Lord justice, understanding and knowledge?
___What idol or image will you compare to him?
___My father has a Central Texas ranch. A few years ago, a grove of trees was flooded, and the trees died. This Christmas, my children and their cousins explored these graven images and found that they could push them over. Tree toppling. What fun! Isaiah asks God's people to seriously question fearing any gods that have to be lashed down with chains to keep them from falling over.
___And what do we fear?
___Impending financial earthquakes? "Do you not know?"
___Moral decay? "Do you not know?"
___Crumbling families? "Do you not know?"
___Divided denominations? "Do you not know?"
___Church splits? "Do you not know?"
___God calls us to himself: "Have you not known? Don't you remember? Think back! Look up! I control this world."
___So often, I make a molehill out of God and a mountain out of my problems. I cup my hands around my faice and myopically peer at the problem, day-in, day-out.
___Isaiah cries, "Lift up your eyes and look up to the heavens" (40:26). We sing, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in his wonderful face..." How does it end? You know, don't you? "And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace."
___Do you not know? Sure you do! You know him. Pack your bags; it is time to leave Babylon for the Promised Land!



Previous Columns: 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20 10/27, 11/17, 11/24, 12/1,12/15, 12/1,1/5, 1/12.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!