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As Founder’s Week continues, please remember to uphold in prayer Robert Andrews and Jonathan Lute from the Cassette Ministry Department of Moody Broadcasting Network. Due to their hard work, all the messages at the conference are made available to the public.
TODAY IN THE WORDHalf way through Handel’s oratorio Messiahis the short piece, “Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow,” describing the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. This verse from today’s passage (v. 12) originally expressed Jerusalem’s anguish following its ruin. It is not surprising, however, that Handel applied this verse to Christ. When Christ bore our sins on the cross, He bore the full brunt of sin’s shame, isolation, and scorn, although He was sinless (cf. Isa. 52:13–53:12).
As we have seen, however, Jerusalem was far from sinless. Today’s passage reveals another sad reality about sin: despite promises to the contrary, the path of sin leads to isolation (v. 16). So-called friends become foes (v. 17) when deception underlies the friendship.
The passage opens with Jerusalem’s pathetic appeal to onlookers--perhaps even her enemies. The rhetorical question, “Is it nothing to you?” is really a plea to learn from Jeru-salem. It’s as if the destroyed city were crying out: “Look at what happens when the Lord’s fierce anger is provoked! Learn from this calamity!”
Verses 13 through 15 contain terrifying images of the fierce wrath of God’s righteous judgment. Fire often symbolizes God’s judgment--such as the burning sulfur rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah for their unspeakable sin. Fire also figuratively portrayed the fever of sin that burned within the people. Similarly, the image of a net was used to describe Yahweh capturing His enemies. How terrifying it must have been for Jerusalem to realize that it had become the enemy of Yahweh!
In His judgment, God formed a yoke from Jerusalem’s sin. The yoke, a wooden frame for beasts of burden, represented the weighty accumulation of Jerusalem’s sin (v. 14). The winepress of the Lord (v. 15), used elsewhere to trample pagan nations, was now used to crush Jerusalem.
TODAY ALONG THE WAYAlthough God’s justice demands judgment, His mercy provides comfort. As God’s children we can find much comfort from Him when we face temptation.
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