We
are not promised the wealth and power of the world in the Bible. Instead, we’ve
been rescued from our need to accrue its worthless and corrupted riches. In the
satisfaction of a living God, all hierarchies and titles and systems of power
no longer mean anything.
Isaiah 3:1-3
(ESV)
For behold, the
Lord God of hosts
is taking away
from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and
supply,
all support of
bread,
and all support
of water;
the mighty man
and the soldier,
the judge and
the prophet,
the diviner and
the elder,
the captain of
fifty and the man of rank,
the counselor
and the skillful magician
and the expert
in charms.
Hierarchies
and titles mean nothing outside of the blessing of God. All those who appear
most powerful, who have any ability to control others, only have anything they
have - skill, wealth, and power - because God allows it. By their arrogance
they condemn themselves. When God's hand is removed from the arrogant, all the
heights will be brought low, and the valleys raised. All they once believed was
theirs is vanity. Justice will remove it and expose them as nothing.
Isaiah 3:13-15
(ESV)
The Lord has
taken his place to contend;
he stands to
judge peoples.
The Lord will
enter into judgment
with the elders
and princes of his people:
'It is you who
have devoured the vineyard,
the spoil of the
poor is in your houses.
What do you mean
by crushing my people,
by grinding the
face of the poor?'
declares the
Lord God of hosts.
The
lives of the poor of a nation are the evidence of the corruption of the rich
and powerful. The suffering of the most vulnerable is a testimony to the depth
of corruption of the most comfortable.
Isaiah 3:24
(ESV)
Instead of
perfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a
belt, a rope;
and instead of
well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a
rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
and branding
instead of beauty.
The
upside down kingdom will reverse the order for those who choose worldly wealth
and power on this side of eternity. The great trade has already been made. By
the mercy of God we are offered true and satisfying life now, through union
with Christ. All the riches of this world are stained with blood. The violence
of the way of the world is exposed on the cross. The wealth of the wicked will
become for them its own condemnation.
☠
Tomorrow: 1 Peter 1 - Salvation and the End of Suffering
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