21.b. “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level”

 

 

Isaiah 28:17   “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge and hope of lies. And waters will flood over the secret [hiding] place.

Measuring things has always been important. Through the years, there have been various standards of measure. There has to be a standard by which to measure.  It does not matter if it is measuring volume, temperature, speed, distance, weight, etc…. Standards allow us to measure, compare, and know with accuracy that which is being determined.  We also use standards by which to establish a society and cultural rules, morals, and laws.  In measuring there are international standards that are published and used to keep international accuracy.

Take the Kilogram, As originally defined, the kilogram was represented in the late 18th century by a solid cylinder of platinum. Measurements of the mass of a volume of water proved to be imprecise and inconvenient to make, however, and the platinum artifact itself became the standard. It was superseded in 1889 by a standard kilogram, also a solid cylinder, of height equal to its diameter, made of the same platinum-iridium alloy as the bar then in use as the standard for defining the metre. The standard kilogram was kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures laboratory at SèvresFrance. However, in 1989 it was discovered that the prototype kept at Sèvres was 50 micrograms lighter than other copies of the standard kilogram. To avoid the problem of having the kilogram defined by an object with a changing mass, the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) agreed in 2011 to a proposal to begin to redefine the kilogram not by a physical artifact but by a fundamental physical constant. The constant chosen was Planck’s constant, which was to be defined as equal to 6.62607015 × 10−34 joule second. One joule is equal to one kilogram times meter squared per second squared. Since the second and the meter were already defined in terms of the frequency of a spectral line of cesium and the speed of light, respectively, the kilogram would then be determined by accurate measurements of Planck’s constant. The proposal was accepted at the 2018 CGPM and, effective from May 20, 2019, the kilogram would be defined by Planck’s constant.  To scientists and physicists, this makes sense but to the rest of us, it is words on a page that has no practical application for us other than to know there is a standard and when used there is accuracy and application for everyone to use across the globe.

There are standards that are defined in the bible too.  They have accuracy and application for everyone to use across the globe but each of them has one more aspect that has eternity woven into it.  There is one God. Standard.   God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Standard.  God is the Creator of all there is.  Standard. God is holy, righteous, and absolutely just and true.  Standard. God, the creator of all there is, made Himself known to man.  Man sinned by disobedience and fall short of God’s expectation and is separated from God. Standard. God searches the hearts and tests the mind of everyone.  Standard.  God weighs the motives and intents of man.  Standard. None have done good, no not one.  Standard. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Standard. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to God but through Him.  Standard.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned.  Standard.  Whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Standard. Everyone will face the judgment seat of Christ.  Standard.  The results of these standards will determine eternal heaven or hell. 

It is when we mess with standards that we get into trouble.  We dilute the absolute standard into something that it is not.  Sometimes we apply our standards to make it easier for us to meet God’s standards. In essence, we change God’s holy, righteous, true, and perfect standards to somehow make us right before Him in our own eyes, in our own minds, in our own effort.  God does not change.  His standards do not change. Everything thing He has made known has not, will not, and does not change no matter what we think, say, or do.  

People say there is no God. False standard.  People will say there is more than one way to eternal heaven. False standard. People will try to earn their way to eternal life. False standard. People will try to perform their way to eternal life. False standard.  People will pick and choose what they believe out of God’s Word. False standard. People will deny Jesus Christ was the Son of God. False standard. People do not believe there is a heaven or hell. False standard. People don’t believe in eternity. False standard. People don’t believe there will be a final judgment. False standard. All of these man-made standards fall short. 

Why is it so easy to believe man-made absolute standards and not those of God, the Creator of all there is???

12.n. “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah: Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord, “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests— those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.”

Psalms 10:4    In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Isaiah 1:4     Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Jeremiah 2:17     Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Jeremiah 15:6     You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.

Hebrews 10:38-39    but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”  But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

2 Peter 2:21-22   For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.  What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

 Zephaniah was almost certainly born during the long, wicked reign of Manasseh, whose reign began 55 years before the start of Josiah’s reign. Josiah was a godly, young king who brought great revival and reform to Judah but Josiah reigned for 10 years before he led his great revival. Zephaniah was likely written in the years before the revival, and God used this prophecy to bring and further revival.  Zephaniah didn’t waste any time getting to the point. Delivering the message of the LORD, he warned of harsh and complete judgment that would consume everything before the LORD. God addresses the royalty of Judah in a way they aren’t used to hearing. He tells them to “shut up” and listen to His pronouncement of judgment – a sacrifice of judgment made against a wicked nation. Our ability to proclaim our innocence when we are deep in sin is pretty amazing, but through it all God tells us to be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD.  This warning came to a godly king during a time of reform. God warns Josiah and the whole royal community what will happen if they don’t follow through on their turning to God. (Enduring Word)

The bible is clear in its warnings of judgment and the reason for it.  Why do we insist on our innocence and act as though we are not guilty?  Why do we shun the true words of warning and cling to lies of self-assurance?  Be silent and listen!  We are born again, a new creation, adopted children of God.  Our new birth requires food and water for growth.  The food and water of this new birth is the bread of life and the living water of Jesus Christ.  How often do we come to the table of Jesus Christ and eat and drink of Him and with Him?  How is there growth without this bread of life and living water?  There isn’t.  There is only stagnation, withering, drying up, and weakness.  Zephaniah, David, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Paul, Habakkuk, Solomon, Peter, James, John, and nearly all of the writers of the Word of God give the warning to neglect, complacency, being lukewarm, trueing away from fully committed to following, obeying, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, and trusting Jesus Christ.  Our ability to proclaim innocence when we are clinging to and dancing with sin is a direct result of the intentional choice to live this way.  Renew your commitment to Jesus Christ.  The warnings are clear.  Judgment is certain.  It is close at hand.

153. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

1Kings 15:33  In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Isaiah 1:4     Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Isaiah 30:9    For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;

Acts 7:51-52     “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you

Jeremiah 2:17    Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Do you ever wonder what would be said about our country, our leaders, or our individual lives in comparison to what is said in these verses?  Are we a country that is led astray by our leaders?  Is our leadership leading us toward sinning against God?  Are we rebellious individuals and easily swayed by those who do not follow after God?  Are we able to discern what is acceptable and right in the eyes of God or are we confusing what is culturally accepted as being right?

Leaders who tiptoe through and around Christianity are way more damaging than one who blatantly disregards God.  Leaders who tiptoe seem to be able to smoothly talk through their lukewarm positions as though they are commandments from God.   They easily lead others to these same thoughts and soon a nation thinks it is not wrong to abort babies, or it is wrong to speak of God publicly.  Their moral compass is directed on paths that are culturally accepted.  Nations are made of people who may blindly follow leaders.  If these leaders are stiff-necked and always resisting God then soon the people will follow thinking this is normal and has to be right because everyone is doing it.

As Christians, we are not called to blindly follow leaders who try to water down Christianity.  We are told to follow God with our whole heart, mind, and soul with our eyes and ears wide open to the word of God and leading of the Holy Spirit.  This only happens when we are intentionally desiring and seeking to live in humble service and in and through God’s word we seek His leading in our lives so that we honor and glorify and follow and obey Him.  The problem is when people lose their daily desire and no longer hunger and thirst for His word and leading.  Their lives of obedience, reliance, and trust become a watered down soup of, at best, meaningless attempts at being good enough and at worst never even giving God a passing thought on most days.

Life is not to be lived in a void or daily vacuum apart from God.  Intentionally choose to live each day serving and honoring God.