Holy Stumps

In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet himself receives a vision from the Lord in which angels cleanse his mouth with coal and tell him his sins are forgiven. And when he hears the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send?" he readily volunteers. What follows is Isaiah's commission, along with some terrifying prophecies from the Lord.

God describes the majority of people as having "insensitive hearts, dull ears, and dim eyes" that prevent them from understanding His words and returning to be healed (verse 10). Because of their lack of knowledge and their refusal to change the status quo of their hearts, great destruction and desolation will take place until the "forsaken places are many in the midst of the land" (verse 12). However, God then describes a "tenth portion" left behind that actually resonates with the remnant described earlier in Isaiah 4. Here is the verse in its entirety:

"Yet there will be a tenth portion in it [the land], and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump" (6:13, NASB).

Notice that this remnant, though surviving the first burning, will suffer a second burning until only the stumps remain. The NIV says "it will again be laid waste," leaving no doubt that this tenth portion will also suffer devastation. Seems kind of hopeless, doesn't it? If it weren't for that last sentence in verse 13, this would indeed be a very somber prophecy. That little sentence, "The holy seed is its stump," offers hope and restoration for God's people.

Consider the idea of "holy seed." My bible references Deuteronomy 7:6 to expand upon this idea. In this verse, God is speaking through Moses in order to tell His people who they are in Him. He says that they are "a holy people to the Lord" and that God has "chosen [them] to be a people for His own possession [or special treasure]." To be "holy" means to be set apart. So in Isaiah's prophecy, those "stumps" with the "holy seed" are not doomed to face complete destruction. Sure, they will undergo painful trials of fire ("subject to second burning"), but they will not be wiped out completely. If the stumps remain, the roots remain. And as long as those roots dig deep into God's love and provision, these stumps will grow and rise up again as God's special treasures. But if the root dig into the dry land of unbelief, bitterness, and hopelessness, the stump will rot.

Maybe you're facing a painful trial right now. Or you're dreading the next painful trial to come. Or you're fearing the most painful trials of all that are sure to come as our prayers hasten the day of the Lord and the tribulations that precede it. This may sound weird, but remember the stumps of Isaiah's vision. They experienced multiple burnings but still contained holy seed, allowing them to grow again as long as their roots were in the right place. Ask Him for renewed eyes and ears to increase your knowledge of Him, as well as a sensitive heart in order to understand and accept that knowledge. Dig deep into His love, allow yourself to be healed, and know that He is never surprised by what happens to us. And though He may allow pain and trials into our lives, He will always leave a remnant for us to grow on. And we will be stronger because of it.

"For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail." Job 14:7

Whatever Happened to Elihu?

So I finally finished Job today. It ended the way I remembered, of course, with Job confessing that God is sovereign and Job's friends having to make a sacrifice due to their false words to Job concerning God and His will. But one thing I wonder, what happened to Elihu?

Elihu kind of sneaks into the picture at Chapter 32. Before this, Job and his friends are debating whether or not a righteous and obedient life deserves calamity. Job especially focuses on his past, remembering how good he had it and how righteous he was, and bemoans his present state, telling God to give him an answer pertaining to why He allowed these bad things to happen ("Let the Almighty answer me!" Job 31:35). The beginning of Chapter 32 tells us that Elihu, up until now, has hesitated from joining the discussion because he is younger than everyone else. This act of respect is probably the only thing holding Elihu back from asserting himself before now, since by the time he does join in "his anger burned" (verse 5) because of what his elders were saying about God.

In short, Elihu's speech goes on for several chapters. He rebukes Job and his friends for basically putting God in a box as if His ways could be predicted or controlled ("Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?" 34:13). Elihu defends God's justice and sovereignty, saying "His eyes are upon the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps" (34:21). And he also breaks that proverbial box his elders tried to use to contain God by describing His awesome wonders and majesty ("God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend" 37:5; "Stand and consider the wonders of God" 37:14).

After this, God answers Job (in a whirlwind, no less!), and for the next four chapters Job is humbled in the wake of His words that describe His power and might. Elihu isn't mentioned again, and seems to disappear as mysteriously as he appeared earlier. He wasn't rebuked along with his elders, but he didn't receive any reward for his words either (at least none that is recorded). So what happened to him?

You know what God told me? Elihu was taken care of. It doesn't matter that he wasn't praised for his tenacity and faith to stand up for God in the presence of those older and wiser than he. He knew who he was as God's child, did what was asked of him, and then moved on. Often God asks us to do things for His kingdom that probably won't result in any kind of recognition. Sure, we've helped others by acting on what He tells us to do and have become stronger in our faith for doing so, but there are no parades for anonymous donations, leading our children to Christ, or even helping a disabled person cross the street. Acting on His will without regard for accolades keeps us humble and focused on the One who rewards us in Heaven (Matthew 6:1).

So what can we learn from Elihu?

• Respect your elders. He understood his lowly position and waited to act out of respect for those in a position of authority.
• Recognize righteous indignation and act carefully in it. His "anger burned" against the words being spoken, but he did not act out his anger and was careful to only say the words that would further his cause.
• Remember 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example to those who believe." This can even apply to being young in your faith, and not just your age. Even if you just accepted Christ and you're 80 years old, you're young in your relationship with Him, but you still have something to offer to more mature believers if you allow God to direct you.
• Rest in God's love and sovereignty. Basically, Elihu practiced what he preached. He told the others that God's will did not depend on our obedience or works. In doing so, he did what God asked of him without thinking he was entitled to anything for doing so.

May we all become like Elihu; willing to remain behind the scenes until God calls us forth for His purpose, and then humbly doing His will simply because He has asked it of us.

YIELD!!!

"Yield now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you." Job 22:21

I've been painstakingly reading through Job for awhile now. It's hard not to get bored (or annoyed) with verse after verse of discourse about why calamity comes to the faithful. But I know that's what I would be asking, too. WHY??? Sometimes we may not know this side of heaven why God allows difficulties and trials into our lives, but how are we to respond when He does? This verse popped out at me a couple of months ago; I often favor verses that give a command because then there's no question about what I'm supposed to do!

The first directive is to YIELD. Naturally my mind immediately went to the rules of the road. When we yield in traffic, we pause and then delay what we intended to do in order to allow another driver to do what they intended to do. In other words, we put someone else's will ahead of our own. The same thing happens when we put our life in God's hands; we put aside our desires for God's desires. Our ultimate goal should be to pursue such intimacy with Him that His desires will become our desires, and then yielding will be a sweet surrender rather than squealing tires and a bent fender.

So what does yielding involve? I checked a sidenote in my Bible for that. Apparently the word used for "yield" in my translation also means to "know intimately." Interesting. So the more intimately you know someone, the easier it is to yield. Think about it...it's easy to yield to someone if we know what their intentions are. And you know their intentions if you're close to them. If my husband tells me I should lock the front door, it's easy for me to yield to him since we share a close relationship and I know that his intentions are to keep us safe. Same with God...He might tell me to turn the channel if something offensive is on TV in order to keep me pure.

Here's where it gets tricky....sometimes we have to yield to God even if we don't know what His purpose is. He isn't always clear about the "why." Sometimes, like with Job, He allows trials and tribulations to come our way that seem pointless...even unfair. He wants us to still yield to His will, to trust that He knows what He's doing and He'll work everything together for our good. This isn't usually very easy for me....I always want to know WHY something is happening. But you know what makes yielding to Him easier? Spending time with Him, talking to Him, even asking Him questions. Because the more intimately I know God, the easier it will be to yield. And that's where I find my peace.