Thirty-Nine

In our overview or walk through the bible in Sunday School, we are ready to begin the section of the Old Testament called “The Prophets.” At this point in class, I would hold up my hand with fingers spread and remind the disciples that the first five books are the “Law” (reminded by the hand showing “Stop in the name of the law!”) I then stick that thumb in my ear, point to my face, and explain that the next section is “History” containing 12 books (like the face of a clock).  Holding up the other hand, fingers spread, I remind that the next 5-book section is called “Poetry.” In class, we have considered lightly those first 22 books (5+12+5=22).

Moving back to the first hand, I again hold it up to indicate the next section called “Major Prophets” (I know there are really only four people, but since Jeremiah wrote two, we count them as five)—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. We will learn that the five are called major because of their length, not their importance. Thumb in ear again reminds us that we have another face-full of books—12 minor prophets. And that is the organization of the Old Testament (5+12+5+5+12=39).

Next Sunday, it will be time for Isaiah. It is tempting to think that especially these Old Testament pages were good for that time and even important for the times Jesus lived, but have little to do with today. Well, I ordered a book yesterday based on Isaiah which suggests that we are in a time of progressive judgment on our nation.

I don’t know how to take much of what is “prophesied” these days, and yet I hungrily seek the voice of God’s prophet. One of my favorite verses is Amos 3:7 “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” The most difficult but important thing is to know just WHO is speaking the words of God.

I’m sorry to admit that God certainly could and may well be bringing judgment on the U.S. for turning away from Him and from its founding principles. We, as a nation, used to be “one nation under God,” but now we are a mess—spiritually (more and more dismissing God and His word from our midst while displaying a cavalier attitude toward sin), physically (hurricanes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes), mentally (lower test scores, higher dropout rates, child hunger, and school violence), financially (who even knows the national debt let alone the future of health care and coming tax levels), and socially (divorce, violence, terrorists, drugs, prison populations, and expressed hatred).

Are we seeing the results of a nation who has chosen to move out from the hand of God’s provision? In our class, we want to look to the prophets of and strain to hear any messages God may be revealing.

Isaiah 3:8-9, 10

Jerusalem staggers,

Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.
 The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They have brought disaster upon themselves.

So, is it woe for us?  I’d say join me in holding on to the next verse:

Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

♫ “He didn’t bring us this far to leave us

He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown
He didn’t build a home in us to move away-
He didn’t lift us up to let us down.”  ♫