Feb 28 Isaiah 55
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The issue of theodicy God and human suffering haunts most Christians. How do we work through the tension of a god of power and justice and a god of love? in Lk-don;t lose the fig tree in the midst of the terrors Jesus sees both natural evil and human evil. He knows that they befall us.No they are not due us. They are not signs of a specific judgement. Put differently don't congratulate yourself that you think you deserve blessings and others s deserve curse. What follows is an illustration not of a punishing God, a God who uses the evils of nature and human cruelty to make points. The fig tree story is a patient God, one who doesn't give up on working with us. It is the stable confident faith that knows that the tree will produce just give it TLC and the great gift of time.this is wisdom offer of a banquet. It is a direct assault on our consumer, materialist society in v. 2
God is a giver of gifts.water image of celebration God as Bernie Sanders-Do these verses refer to material provision or spiritual provision? The answer seems to be "yes." Earlier in Isaiah (8:7; 12:15), the joy of Israel is said to be eating and drinking before the LORD--basking in the fullness of God. (Tucker) my thoughts are not your thoughts The bold exhortation embedded in verse one’s thrice-repeated imperative verb “come … come … come” is to choose well. . In other words, don’t take what has value and waste it on nothing. Don’t settle for what doesn’t feed; take only what is good.. Soon the food imagery recedes, and returning to the land is merged with returning to God (verses 6-7). Clear distinction between seeking God’s ways and failing to seek them is made in verses 8-9. Because God’s ways are so radically different from human ways, because God’s thoughts are not human thoughts, they won’t be found by any other means than through this Godward journey.Tull.With all of the romantic talk of finding the god within, of erasing distinction between the human and divine-this is of huge spiritual value for humility-god is god and we are not.
I have heard this ( I Cor. 10) chanted at far too many funeral homes and hospital rooms.Paul’s often misattributed words Why claim Christ as the spiritual Rock, the source of sustenance? The church is at no advantage over the Israelite ancestors. The same Spirit that sustained the people of God in the wilderness period is the Spirit that sustains the church. If some of the Israelite ancestors, who experienced God’s blessings, God’s deliverance, and God’s covenant, could be overcome in the wilderness by their unfaithfulness; it is also true that the Corinthian believers could rouse God’s jealousy with their participation in ceremonies at an idol’s temple (10:22). Furthermore, the “knowledgeable ones” could inadvertently lead their weaker brothers and sisters down the path of idolatry and destruction.(weeks) H too, will have consequences.Again far better to read this as trial or testing than temptation.The critical assumption is what does God give directly? What is a consequence of my decision? What is the consequence of social decisions as they have an effect on me? Can accidents be included in this? In the end, as we move toward Holy Week, we recall that God’s own suffered. God worked that evil toward good, made good out of a senseless act.God may well be a God of punishments, especially in having us face consequences of our actions. God is also a generous God of uncounted gifts with all the time in the world for us
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