Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good afternoon, dear ones.

I did the same thing this morning—investing a few hours at the mill before completing my normal morning routine—as an attempt to avoid the heat of the day. I’m not so sure it’s such a good idea, since it seems so difficult to get my head back on course with my earlier inspiration.

I need to run off and pick up more sawmill blades. Maybe the ones I left there for resharpening will be done by the time I get there.

Blessings on what’s left of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The evidence is that I have never really read these passages before with the same focus and concentration that I’m giving it this time through. Perhaps it helps to privately read to myself out loud—sometimes very loud. And maybe it helps to precede the reading with a prayer as I did this morning—something like, “Lord, while Isaiah lived a very long time ago, and the two of us are separated by a wall of culture, language, geography, and time—there is no wall of separation for You—since You are ‘the first and the last’ (44:6)—the ‘Alpha and Omega’ (Revelation 1:8)—'the ‘beginning and the end’ (Revelation 21:6). You have no difficulty imparting the same illumination of Your Spirit to the reader as You did the writer.” All I know is that I feel melted before Him—overwhelmed with what I sense is His presence—with my ego more like an alien intruder than a welcome participant. I’m now inclined to promote this reading not just as suggested, but more like a must-read.

Isaiah represents God as speaking in the first person in much of this passage. I have reason to believe that the representation is authentic—He really is speaking, using Isaiah as His mouthpiece. One theme that He addresses repeatedly is the absurdity of idolatry—the absolute foolishness of a created human being exercising his creative gifts by taking a piece of a God-created tree, cutting it, carving it, shaping it, giving it the form of a God-created man, giving it eyes but they don’t really see, giving it ears but they don’t really hear, a body that doesn’t move, even a head that doesn’t think—then, absurdity of absurdities!—he sets that thing out in front of him and calls it his god—and worships it?!?! Good grief! How can this be? How could this stupid idol be viewed as a substitute for the TRUE GOD—THE SOVEREIGN CREATOR AND LORD OF THE UNIVERSE—the same God who made the functional body, eyes, ears, and brain of this perverse worshiper. The best explanation I can come up with is the Biblical explanation of SIN—“sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13)—which causes human hearts to be “deceitful (and deluded) above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The absurdity idolatry may be closer than we think. I’m seeing a parallel between this kind of crafty fabrication of materials toward creating a god to be worshipped, with the crafty fabrication of words and ideas toward creating an ideology to be believed, even worshipped—forming a lousy substitute for the Truth of God. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen” (Romans 1:25).