Slices
Prepare
If you were queen or king of the world, what laws would you pass to make the world a better place? (You can give your real answer because no one else is listening!)
Bible passage
Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
so that it rolls upwards in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath of the Lord Almighty
the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
they will not spare one another.
20 On the right they will devour,
but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
together they will turn against Judah.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
10 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
Explore
Regularly these days the news contains pictures of wildfires – often in Australia or North America – and the devastation they cause. These fires move with ferocious speed, consuming everything in their path. They are virtually unstoppable, even with the helicopters and fire engines of the modern Western world. Imagine the terror they must have held to Isaiah’s hearers.
No wonder Isaiah uses wildfire as a picture of wickedness: it might start small in briers and thorns but soon sets forests ablaze (v 18). Greed is the next example: it can never be satisfied but gets worse and worse, until we end up (metaphorically) devouring one another (vs 20,21). God’s judgement is to give them over to this wildfire of wickedness (v 19). His vineyard will be destroyed (5:5,6).
This awful punishment is a consequence of the wickedness of Israel’s leaders who have been preying on the very people who most need their protection, even manipulating the legal system to benefit themselves (vs 1,2). Such rottenness at the top had then spread like wildfire through the nation, so no one could be excused.
Respond
Whether or not you are actively involved in local or national politics, how often and what do you pray for the leaders of your area and nation? Use 10:1,2 as a starter to pray for them today.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Corinthians 9; Psalm 148
Pray for Scripture Union
Over 20% of 8–16s in the UK suffer with their mental health and most commonly anxiety. Pray for wisdom as we continue to journey with children and young people in the daily reality of this, and as we create space for them to meet Jesus in the midst of their challenges.
