A Contagious Cure

“Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called.”  Isaiah 54:4-5

Before Christ came into the world, the state of religion and worship of God was at a low point.  It was like a woman who was barren and who had lost hope of ever having a family.  The Jewish church was basically an empty shell.  The priests and Pharisees went through the motions of all their traditions as though this was what pleased God.  He was their LORD, but they had no interest in building up His kingdom.  To make Him known among the surrounding nations who did not know Him was God’s intent for His chosen people, but they failed to live up to His most honorable desire for them.  What could be a more important task that introducing others to the LORD of heaven and earth?

Each generation was less knowledgeable about the LORD and about their own history of how He watched over them and cared for them.  In Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, the Jewish fathers were instructed to teach their children to love God, to worship and serve Him continually, and to caution them about turning away from God.  Over the years, memories faded, and the Jewish people became lax and indifferent toward their God-appointed responsibilities.  The Gentiles, being the ones not chosen and not given the law, were less inclined to the things of God than the children of Israel.  It is no different today.  There is less and less knowledge about God, less teaching, less preaching the true gospel, and a general falling away from the worship and honor of God, just as Paul foretold in II Thessalonians 2:3.

Even as God’s chosen people drifted further from the law and from the worship and sacrifices that they were to offer, there was a big change to come eventually–the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Many in Israel would come to know Jesus as the Messiah, but many more Gentiles would be converted through the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ.  Revelations 7:9 tells us that “a great number, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”  No wonder the LORD called on folks to “Sing” (verse 1).  God’s people are to spread the gospel so that many more will come under the tent of the Almighty and make room for “whosoever will” come to the Lord.  We are to keep the tent, the church, strong and fortified by the preaching of the word and by encouraging the saints.  We are to warn against false doctrine and those sent by Satan to destroy the godly influence of the gospel church.

The spread of the gospel to all parts of the world is described as a “breaking forth” on the “right hand and on the left”.  The gospel can’t be contained to one area or one people group.  It is contagious, meaning it spreads from one person to another, a cure for sin sickness.  Just like a disease is not confined to a particular place, the gospel was not confined to the nation of Israel only but spread far and wide to the nations of the Gentiles.  After Jesus’ resurrection, most of the converts to Christianity were Gentiles, ordinary, everyday folks.  The Jewish rulers and Pharisees would have none of it, along with a majority of the Jewish people.  This was to their shame that they rejected their own Messiah, this being referred to as the “shame of their youth” and the “reproach of their widowhood”.  Because they had rejected Jesus, they were rejecting God.  As their Maker, He is called their “Husband”.  Believers are portrayed as the “bride of Christ” and Christ is “the Bridegroom”.  Those who reject the Lord are spiritually without a Father and a Husband, making them an orphan and a widow.  But those who come to Him repenting and believing can forget their shame of unbelief and past sins because they are forgiven completely.  The One who forgives is the Lord of hosts, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, and the God of the whole earth.  God is God over the entire world.  His sovereignty does not depend on whether you and I believe Him to be God or not.  He is God.

As Israel became complacent to their spiritual calling, the world today is becoming increasingly complacent and indifferent to our Creator.  We can’t blame COVID for the falling away of church attendance because it was already happening.  COVID just helped to create a pandemic of fear, doubt, and weariness, all of which should have driven folks back to church when things improved, but as I have observed, church attendance has not returned to what it was before COVID.  We can only hope and pray that folks will get hungry for that spiritual food that only Christ can supply.