Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Scripture:  Isaiah 5:19 (NIV):  "to those who say, 'Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it.  Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it.' "

Thought:  To me, it is very easy but quite unfortunate that mankind mocks God.

Question:  Do I feel I have the right to know all God's plans?

Under the control of sin, as described yesterday in verse 18, men may say that God really has no plan.  They rationalize that God never "rises up" to resist them, so they may do as they please.  But they fail to understand that the fruit of their own rebellion will destroy them.  God need not ever "destroy" them--sin does that itself.  Their arrogance is unlimited here.  In a way, they acknowledge God's existance, yet by their wrong choices, they truly deny Him in the deepest sense.  The new testament verse 2 Timothy 3:5 comes to mind:  "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..."  To empty God of all His power is to strip Him of His basic nature--it is to reject Who He is in every sense of the word.

This verse has an arrogant, mocking tone:  "let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it."  As if "we" were in charge!  God's plans are not subject to man's knowledge nor to man's timetables!  "Let God hurry, let him hasten his work so we may see it."  This is a blatant attitude of entitlement and control.  As if "we" needed to see and know God's plans!  Wo do they think they are?  By saying this they imply that because God does not openly or quickly act He therefore must not be taken seriously at all.  This is an inflated ego at work--this is ultimate selfishness. 

It is much more appropriate for God's creatures to meditate on the fact that God is the eternal Creator and humans are but temporal beings.  Let's get back under God's Holy authority!

They mockingly call God "the Holy One of Israel" when, in truth, He is indeed the only and very Holy One!  What is meant by God's Holiness?  Definitions of holy all seem to simply come back to the pure and perfect character of God.  But one ancient definition states:  "that which must be preserved whole or intact, that cannot be transgressed or violated."  It's meaning is here connected to a sense of health and wholeness.  So we are not off track to say that the words "holy" and "whole" are somewhat synonymous.  God is "holy" in the fact that He is completely, whollly, without flaw and all that He does is equally pure. 

It is this Divine Holiness that separates us far and away from God.  He is high, very high, above us; we are low, extremely low down, and it is the worst of sins to put ourselves on the same plane as God.  "Woe" comes to those who act and think this way. 

Prayer:  Oh, Holy God, forgive me when I am even tempted to begin to demand from You Your plans, Your timetable, Your intentions.  Help me, rather, to humble myself appropriately as Your servant, a cleansed sinner and object of Your mercy.  Help me to trust You instead, and to rest peacefully in Your powerful care.  Amen.   

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