06.17.09
Isaiah - Day 290
Scripture: Isaiah 15:7 (NIV): "So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars."
Thought: To me, a common human reaction to the negative impact of God's judgments is to escape.
Question: Am I trying to run away from God's judgments?
Moab is being judged by God. Isaiah is prophesying what will happen. He is led by God to deliver this "warning message" (oracle) to them ahead of time. Will they heed the warning? Will they change their ways? God would be sending the armies of the Assyrians to assault the Moabites. Our context is a description of the effects of that attack on the people of Moab.
Today's verse indicates one reaction they will have: they will make their plans to move. They choose to re-locate, and, like all of us healthy and wealthy North Americans, they take their possessions with them. Their land is quickly becoming a worthless wasteland, (see yesterday's verse). Now is the time to get out--to get away. Can they run away from the hand of God?
They take that which is important to them: "the wealth they have acquired and stored up..." This brings to mind the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. Jesus began, in that scripture, by giving a warning: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15). He proceeds to tell them the parable of a rich man who foolishly desired to preserve his wealth--the most valued aspect of his life's work. He had run out of "storage space", (sound familiar to today's American way?), for his grain and crops--what would he do? He determined, quite willfully, that he would continue in the same direction and tear down the old "storage units" and build even bigger ones. Having succeeded then, in preserving what was most important to him, he felt he could "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." (Luke 12: 19b). But in the end, Christ says, "...God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12: 20 and 21).
"...they carry [their things]...over the Ravine of the Poplars." Poplars are trees that like water sources, and if growing naturally in a ravine, they would most likely be near an adequate water supply. Thus we see our beleaguered Moabites fleeing the dry land (of the previous verse), and seeking better land. What a burden it is to haul one's possessions around, isn't it? One's "value system" is really on display!
Prayer: Lord God, show me the truer riches. Reveal to me the vanity of acquiring more and more things. Help me to be settled where You have "planted" me instead of looking to "escape" or move on. Keep me from the sin of greed, Father. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
