ISAIAH 58-59 “Be Careful Of Your Motives For
Fasting/General Call To Repentance Of Sin”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at chapter 56 and 57 which begin the last section of the book of Isaiah. We saw that it is a section that contains many
exhortations and admonishments for God’s people to apply to their lives and
take to heart while they are awaiting the Lord to carry out the deliverance
that He has prophesied in His word, and thus they can be called “interim
exhortations” which pertain to how we should live in the interim before the
Lord delivers us
1.1.1.
In chapter 56 the people of
God were admonished to walk in righteousness, preserve justice, and observe
justice
1.1.1.1.We noted that when the scriptures speak of men walking uprightly or in
righteousness it simply means to do those things that are pleasing to the Lord
and avoiding doing those things that bring Him displeasure
1.1.1.2.We saw that all of us as Christians today are to be alert and living
our lives as if Christ might return for His church at any moment, for the Lord
could return at any moment and He promises that He will return at a moment when
we least expect Him to return
1.1.2.
In chapter 57 the leaders of
the people of God were rebuked for not watching out for and protecting God’s
people and told to remove any obstacle in the way of their being where God
wants them to be
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to continue to observe Isaiah’s “interim exhortations” pertaining the
things that we need to be doing as we are awaiting the Lord’s return and delivering
us. We will look at chapters 58 and 59
which deal with how we Christians need to watch our heart motives for the
things we do for the Lord, such as fasting, and in chapter 59 there is a
general call to repentance for God’s people
1.2.1.
We will see how important it
is for us as Christians to realize that we must not think that our relationship
with God is OK because we are simply doing things for the Lord, when at the
same time we are allowing rebellion in our hearts against the Lord
1.2.2.
We will see how we have to
be careful to not just go through the motions of serving the Lord, but actually
from our heart and because of our love for God serve Him and be open to Him
speaking to us and leading us in our lives
1.2.3.
We will see how that there
are consequences, both good or bad, for every decision we make and thing that
we do in our life
2.
VS 58:1 - “1 “Cry loudly, do not hold
back; Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their
sins.” -
Isaiah is told by the Lord to cry loudly like the ‘voice of a trumpet’
in declaring the sins of the people to them
2.1.
As we saw last week in our study, it is a bit
hard to pin down exactly to whom these exhortations of Isaiah in this last
section of the book, chapters 56 through 66, pertain specifically to, for they
could and most likely do refer to:
2.1.1.
God’s captive people in
Babylon who have been told that the Lord is going to bring their deliverer and
return them to their land where they will restore their temple, city, and city
wall.
2.1.1.1.The
encouragements and admonishings in this case we saw would be for them to try to
live as much within the law of Moses as they can seeing the fact that they are
living as slaves in Babylon, they do not have a temple in which they can
sacrifice, and they do not have a priesthood with which to mediate their
sacrifices.
2.1.1.2.We
saw that an attitude of heart is primarily what the people would be admonished
to have since the literal keeping of many of the laws to the letter would be
impossible.
2.1.2.
God’s people after their
restoration from captivity in
2.1.2.1.The
encouragements and admonishings in this case we saw would be that since Isaiah
has revealed that God’s ‘ideal servant’ will come and provide for the atonement
for their sins and transgressions, and since they now have their temple and
priesthood functional, that they are to live as much as possible in faithful
obedience to the law of God as they await the arrival of God’s ‘ideal servant.’
2.1.2.2.We
saw that the people did not get involved in idolatry after their return from
Babylonian captivity, so this would mean that much of what they were warned of
by Isaiah they heeded.
2.1.3.
The church after Christ’s
death and resurrection, God’s ‘ideal servant,’ as she is awaiting the coming of
His kingdom and the end of all things.
2.1.3.1.The
encouragements and admonishings in this case we saw would be to walk in
obedience to the Lord as much as is possible always living your life so that
you are ready should the Lord return for His church today.
2.1.3.2.We
saw that it is taught in the New Testament the fact that Jesus could return at
any moment for His church, or the “imminent return of Christ,”
and this should be a motivator to all of us to always seek to be right with the
Lord, doing His will.
2.2.
From Isaiah’s phrasing here, he could be
looked at as addressing God’s people, and the house of Jacob, who are a subset
of God’s people. Certainly these
exhortations apply to the church today who is comprised of God’s people, most
of whom are not of Israelite heritage.
These exhortations have to do with motives of the heart which are deadly
and must be dealt with by God’s people of all times and eras.
3.
VS 58:2-4 - “2 “Yet they seek Me day by day, and
delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness, And has not
forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God. 3 ‘Why have we fasted and Thou dost not
see? Why have we humbled ourselves and
Thou dost not notice?’ Behold, on the
day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. 4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife
and to strike with a wicked fist. You do
not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.” - The Lord points out that the
people are going through the motions of religion as if they sought the Lord and
delighted to know His nearness in their lives, and they even fast, however
after fasting they question why God doesn’t deliver them as they thought that
He should, yet, the Lord typifies their fasting as being for the purpose of
‘contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist’
3.1.
In Leviticus 16 and 23, we read that under
the Old Testament covenant the people were required to fast once a year, on the
Day of Atonement. However, this is the
only fast that was required of them.
However, under various special circumstances the people would fast.
3.2.
The heathens in their worship practiced their
rites and perhaps even fasted, but they did so in order that they might
manipulate their god into doing what they wanted him to do. Their worship was all based upon external
observance and rites, and the Israelites had picked up this practice. This is also what the Pharisees in Jesus’ day
were guilty of.
3.3.
Whenever there is an apostasy in religion and
God’s people pull away from following Him with their whole hearts, their
emphasis in their worship and religion begins to focus completely on the
external things that they do without any regard to the state or inward
motivations of the heart. However, this
is never to be what God’s people are to do.
Our motivation for the things that we do is just as important as what we
do for the Lord, and if our motivations for what we do are wrong then God will
not be pleased with what we do for Him.
3.4.
The Lord will not be manipulated by people at
will. He desires “obedience” out of love
and from the heart above our mere external observances and sacrifices.
3.5.
We not only need to have our hearts right with
the Lord and our sins confessed and repented of before we come to Him with a
request of prayer, we also need to get our relationships with people right
before we come to Him. There was so much
strife and contention amongst God’s people that the Lord typifies their fasting
as being for ‘contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.’
3.5.1.
In Matt. 5:23-24,
Jesus taught His disciples to get right with their brothers and sisters before
they come and bring a gift at the Lord’s altar, “23 “If
therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember
that your brother has something against you,24 leave your offering there before
the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come
and present your offering.”
3.6.
In Matt. 6:16-18,
Jesus taught His disciples concerning fasting in particular that when they
performed their religious exercises that they were to be careful to not do them
with the motive of being seen by men, but rather they were to do them just
because they love the Lord and thus do them in secret, “16 “And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the
hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by
men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.17 “But you, when you
fast, anoint your head, and wash your face18 so that you may not be seen
fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees
in secret will repay you.”
3.6.1.
The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were the most
zealous religious party among the Jews, however they performed their religious
activities to be seen of men and thus Jesus openly denounced their piousness as
being pretentious and hypocritical.
4.
VS 58:5-12 - “5 “Is it a fast like this which
I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed, And for spreading out sackcloth
and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a
fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of
wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free,
And break every yoke? 7 “Is it not to
divide your bread with the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into the
house; When you see the naked, to cover
him; And not to hide yourself from your
own flesh? 8 “Then your light will break
out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before
you; The glory of the Lord will be your
rear guard. 9 “Then you will call, and
the Lord will answer; You will cry, and
He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove
the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry, And satisfy the desire of the
afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become
like midday. 11 “And the Lord will
continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give
strength to your bones; And you will be
like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not
fail. 12 “And those from among you will
rebuild the ancient ruins; You will
raise up the age-old foundations; And
you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in
which to dwell.” - The Lord tells His people the true purpose
for fasting and what it accomplishes in our lives as well as the blessings that
will be received those who fast in this way
4.1.
In verse 5, we see that the Israelites were
going through the external motions of a fast, acting like they were humble,
bowing their heads, spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed, etc. However, in their hearts they were truly not
humble and they were not seeking to have the Lord show them how and help them
to really align their lives with Him and His will for their life.
4.2.
The real purposes we, God’s
people, should have for fasting are recorded beginning in verse 6:
4.2.1.
To loosen the bonds of wickedness.
4.2.2.
To undo the bands of the yoke.
4.2.3.
To let the oppressed go free.
4.2.4.
To break every yoke.
4.2.5.
To divide your bread with the hungry and
bring the homeless poor into the house.
4.2.5.1.When
fasting or even observing the Sabbath to the Lord, it is OK and even
recommended to also do good deeds as you see that your hand has opportunity.
4.2.6.
When you see the naked cover him.
4.3.
All of the purposes which the Lord gives for
fasting involve not us trying to manipulate the Lord to do our bidding but
rather for us to get our hearts right with Him and His true program for our
life. This is the real value of
fasting.
4.4.
We do not need to try to manipulate the Lord
to do our will, we instead need to realize that God has a perfect plan that He
is wanting to accomplish here on earth and through our lives, and we just need
to get ourselves in proper relationship with Him and thus in line with His
plans for us and to use us.
4.5.
Isaiah lists the tremendous
blessings that those who will humble themselves, rent their hearts before God,
and fast in the way that the Lord proscribes here, will receive in their life
as a result:
4.5.1.
Your light will break out like the dawn.
4.5.2.
Your recovery will speedily spring forth.
4.5.3.
Your righteousness will go before you.
4.5.4.
The glory of the Lord will be your rear
guard.
4.5.5.
You will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I
am.’
4.5.6.
Your light will rise in darkness.
4.5.7.
Your gloom will become like midday.
4.5.8.
The Lord will continually guide you.
4.5.9.
The Lord will satisfy your desire in scorched
places.
4.5.10.
The Lord will give strength to your bones.
4.5.11.
You will be like a watered garden.
4.5.12.
You will be like a spring of water whose
waters do not fail.
4.5.13.
Those from among you will rebuild the ancient
ruins.
4.5.14.
You will raise up the age-old foundations.
4.5.15.
You will be called the repairer of the
breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
4.6.
We Christians need to realize that no matter
what external rites or activities that we may perform for the Lord, whether in
church or in person, aren’t going to avail before Him nor be pleasing to Him if
we are allowing sin to have a foothold in our life. If we are allowing sin to have a hold in our
life we need to get rid of it as soon as possible because nothing that we try
to do for God is really going to produce fruit and blessing in our lives while
we are holding back areas of our life from the Lord.
4.6.1.
In Psalm 66:18,
the Lord tells us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts that He will not
hear us, “18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me.”
4.7.
We Christians can also find ourselves just
sort of going through the motions of serving the Lord without really attuning
our heart to Him. I think that the longer
we have been Christians the more we have to be careful not to do this. For instance:
4.7.1.
We can open our Bibles and read out of them
and sometimes even say prayers, and yet we have not even really opened our
hearts up to hear from the Lord.
4.7.2.
Sometimes we can go to the worship service in
church and sing songs with our mouths and yet our hearts are very far away from
the Lord. Sometimes we can even worship
the worship, instead of worshipping the Lord.
4.8.
We Christians perhaps sometimes don’t even
want to hear from the Lord during our quiet and prayer times, or even in
church, because if God speaks to us then that often means that we have to
change or deal with something in our lives, and often that can be painful.
4.8.1.
However, we ought to always try to be ever so
careful to truly open our hearts and minds to hear from God in our quiet and
prayer times each day, and when we are in church.
5.
VS 58:13-14 - “13 “If because of the sabbath,
you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the
sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor it,
desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure, And speaking your
own word, 14 Then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride
on the heights of the earth; And I will
feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”” - The Lord promises blessings
upon the person who regards the Sabbath and desists from his own ways, seeking
his own pleasure, and speaking his own word
5.1.
To the one who delights in the Lord and
honors the observance of the Sabbaths of the Lord, the Lord promises that He
will:
5.1.1.
Make them ‘ride on the heights of the earth.’
5.1.1.1.That is to say that
the Lord will raise them up and exalt in the earth who place Him first in their
lives and seek to please and worship Him above all else.
5.1.2.
Feed them with the heritage of Jacob, their
father.
5.1.2.1.The heritage of
Jacob is to have the covenant blessings of Abraham. Their descendants would then be blessed and
be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the grains of sand on the earth.
5.2.
Notice here that it is not the mere outward
observance of the Sabbath that is important.
Rather, the Sabbath must be observed as God’s people are inwardly
renting their hearts before God and turning from their own ways and sins, from
seeking to go their own way and enjoy their own pleasure, and speak not for
their own selfish and self-centered interests but for the Lord’s interests and
desires (in other words that they might be God’s mouthpiece in this world).
5.3.
For us as Christians, we need to realize that
it is imperative for our growth as Christians that we attend the services of
our local assembly of believers and not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together (Heb. 10:25).
6.
VS 58:1-8 - “1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot
save; Neither is His ear so dull That it
cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have
made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face
from you, so that He does not hear. 3
For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue
mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues
righteously and no one pleads honestly.
They trust in confusion, and speak lies;
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the
spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs
dies, And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth. 6 Their webs will not become clothing, Nor
will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity, And an act of violence is in their
hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And
they hasten to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And
there is no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked;
Whoever treads on them does not know peace.” - Isaiah tells the people that the reason that
the Lord has not saved them yet is not because He does not have the ability to
do so (His arm is not so short that He cannot save), rather it is because they
are separated from God because of sin in their life
6.1.
The fall of man in the garden of Eden caused
sin and its effects and consequences to be passed on to mankind as Adam acted
as our federal head. Thus, people are
born separated from God because of their sin.
It was at the cross of
6.2.
God’s people sometimes fall back into sin
however, and in that state though their sins are forgiven by the Lord, they are
not in the place of being in the blessing of God. The Lord instead will deal with them in
discipline as a loving father disciplines the child he loves when he goes
astray and gets into trouble.
6.3.
The people of
6.4.
The Lord describes the nation’s
sin in rather graphic terms in these verses:
6.4.1.
Their hands are defiled with blood, and their
fingers with iniquity.
6.4.2.
Their lips have spoken falsehood.
6.4.3.
Their tongue mutters wickedness.
6.4.4.
No one sues righteously and no one pleads
honestly.
6.4.5.
They trust in confusion, and speak lies.
6.4.6.
They conceive mischief, and bring forth
iniquity.
6.4.7.
They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the
spider’s web, and he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is
crushed a snake breaks forth.
6.4.8.
Their webs will not become clothing, nor will
they cover themselves with their works.
6.4.9.
Their works are works of iniquity.
6.4.10.
An act of violence is in their hands.
6.4.11.
Their feet run to evil.
6.4.12.
They hasten to shed innocent blood.
6.4.13.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.
6.4.14.
Devastation and destruction are in their
highways.
6.4.15.
They do not know the way of peace.
6.4.16.
There is no justice in their tracks.
6.4.17.
They have made their paths crooked.
6.4.18.
Whoever treads on them does not know peace.
6.5.
As we look at this long and graphic
description of the sins of
6.6.
Are you in the place in your walk with the
Lord where God can truly bless you and use you as He would like to do? Or, are you in the place where the Lord has
to first discipline you so that you will finally be willing to deal with some
sins in your life that are keeping Him from being able to bless Him?
6.6.1.
What a sad thing it is to be a child of God,
have the hand of God on our life, have a calling from God, and yet never truly
be able to enter into the promised land of blessing because of the stubbornness
or hardness of our hearts toward the Lord and what He is wanting to do in our
lives…
7.
VS 59:9-14 - “9 Therefore, justice is far from
us, And righteousness does not overtake us;
We hope for light, but behold, darkness;
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have
no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the
twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. 11 All of us growl like bears, And moan sadly
like doves; We hope for justice, but
there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied
before Thee, And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: 13 Transgressing and denying the Lord, And
turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and
uttering from the heart lying words. 14
And justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And
uprightness cannot enter.” - Isaiah writes down the consequences which he
and those in Judea were experiencing as a result of the sins they were allowing
in their lives and which were separating them from the Lord and Him hearing and
delivering them
7.1.
Being an intercessor to the Lord in behalf of
his people, Isaiah speaks in the third person in these verses in describing the
sins that the people were allowing to remain in their lives, saying ‘we’ have
done each of these things.
7.2.
There are hard consequences that people face
as a result of turning away from the Lord and going on in their own way. Isaiah again graphically
describes the many consequences of the sin of the nation:
7.2.1.
Justice is far from us.
7.2.1.1.There was much
injustice in the land as the rich and powerful took advantage of the weak and
helpless.
7.2.1.2.There was also
injustice amongst the nations as the strong conquered and dealt harshly and
inhumanely with those whom they conquered.
7.2.2.
Righteousness did not overtake them.
7.2.3.
They hoped for light but beheld darkness, for
brightness but walked in gloom.
7.2.4.
They groped along the wall like blind men,
like those with no eyes.
7.2.5.
They stumbled at midday as in the twilight.
7.2.6.
Among the vigorous and strong they appeared
like dead men.
7.2.7.
They growled like bears.
7.2.8.
They moaned sadly like doves.
7.2.9.
They hoped for justice, but there was none.
7.2.10.
They hoped for salvation but it was far from
them.
7.3.
Isaiah sees the sins of the
nation as they truly were before the Lord.
He sees that their sins are standing out as “crimson” and as being
something which everyone was aware of:
7.3.1.
Our transgressions are multiplied before
Thee.
7.3.1.1.The sins of the
nation were many or manifold, and there were almost too many for Isaiah to
list.
7.3.2.
Our sins testify against us.
7.3.3.
Our transgressions are with us.
7.3.4.
We know our iniquities, transgressing and
denying the Lord, and turning away from our God.
7.3.5.
We are speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.
7.3.6.
And we have turned justice back, and
righteousness stands far away.
7.3.7.
Truth has stumbled in the street.
7.3.7.1.The people had lost
sight of truth and they had not made sure that truth always triumphed. Instead falsehood and every wrong way was
gaining in popularity and practice in their land.
7.3.8.
Uprightness cannot enter.
7.4.
In our lives as Christians there are
consequences, good or bad, that accompany every decision that we make, each and
every day. What incredible and great
blessings can be ours as an agent and ambassador of Christ, and yet what
painful and agonizing discipline also, depending upon the choices we make.
8.
VS 59:15-20 - “15 Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes
himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it
was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. 16 And He saw that there was no man, And was
astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; And His righteousness upheld Him. 17 And He put on righteousness like a
breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for
clothing, And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 18 According to their deeds, so He will
repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make
recompense. 19 So they will fear the
name of the Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He
will come like a rushing stream, Which the wind of the Lord drives. 20 “And a Redeemer will come to
8.1.
Isaiah writes that when a person tried to
stand up for what was right and to live for the Lord as he should that that
just made him easy prey for the strong and powerful. This means that the prophets of the land and
those who were truly committed to the Lord were taken advantage of.
8.2.
Not only would one who tried to walk
uprightly become prey in
8.3.
The Lord says that since the people did not
have the ability to save themselves, He Himself decided by His own arm to bring
salvation to Him.
8.3.1.
In Isaiah chapter 53 we saw that God’s
‘ideal’ or ‘suffering’ servant is ‘the arm of the Lord.’
8.3.2.
The Lord in His love and mercy decided that
since fallen man could never pay an infinite debt of sin which they owed to Him
that He would pay that price Himself and thus God the Son from all eternity was
born to be the sin bearer for all mankind.
He is the ‘redeemer’ prophesied here who would ‘come to
8.4.
As the Lord decided to bring salvation by His
own arm, He put on proper armor for warfare: ‘righteousness like a breastplate,
a ‘helmet of salvation on His head,’ ‘garments of vengeance for clothing,’ and
‘wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.’
8.4.1.
This description of the Lord’s armor must be
where Paul conceived his armor for spiritual warfare for the Christian in
Ephesians chapter 6.
8.5.
Not only does Isaiah tell us
that the Lord would bring salvation to His people, He also tells them that He
will judge their enemies (and His) in the following manner:
8.5.1.
According to their deeds, so He will repay.
8.5.2.
Wrath to His adversaries.
8.5.3.
Recompense to His enemies, to the coastlands
He will make recompense.
8.6.
As a result of judging His people’s enemies
Isaiah tells us that ‘they will fear the name of the Lord from the west And His
glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream, Which
the wind of the Lord drives.’
9.
VS 59:21 - “21 “And as for Me, this is My
covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words
which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the
mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,”
says the Lord, “from now and forever.”” - The Lord tells His people about a new
covenant that He would make with them
9.1.
This covenant is the new covenant in the
grace of God which Jesus inaugurated for mankind on the night before He was
betrayed when He had His last Passover Supper with His disciples. This covenant is meant to supercede the old
covenant of law inaugurated through Moses.
9.2.
This description of the new covenant that
Jesus came to inaugurate is described in a very interesting fashion by
Isaiah. The Lord says that in this
covenant He will put His Spirit upon us, and His words in our mouth, and in the
mouths of our offspring’s offspring forever, and that His words would not
depart from us.
9.2.1.
This covenant is superior to the previous
covenant which the Lord made through Moses because under that covenant the
people did not have the Holy Spirit come upon them, and they did not have His
words put in their mouths. The old
covenant did not guarantee any kind of a personal relationship with the
Lord. In fact, the people were kept
separate from the presence of the Lord by the veil in the temple separating the
10.
CONCLUSION:
10.1.
Questions to ask yourself
from this study:
10.1.1.
Are you going through the
motions of serving God, but not truly doing so from your heart, and not really
opening up your heart to the Lord and what He wants to teach you?
10.1.2.
Are you content to merely
externally look like you are serving the Lord while inwardly your heart is a thousand miles away
from the Lord?
10.1.3.
Are you trying to serve the
Lord and yet allowing unconfessed sin to take its hold in your life and thus it
is keeping you from receiving the full blessing that the Lord wants to pour
into you?
10.2.
If the answer to any of
these questions is affirmative, don’t let yourself suffer the consequences of
hardening your heart to the Lord or be stubborn or rebellious to Him. Come back to the Lord and ask Him to reveal
to you the things that are keeping you from being in the full channel of His
blessing for your life, and what He shows you ask forgiveness for as you vow
that by His strength and enabling that you will turn from going your own way
and recommit your way to Him