Isaiah 29:9-12 – Be passionate for God

In Isaiah 29:9-10, the prophet turned to directly address the participants of the feast in Jerusalem, which he referred to earlier in verse 1. Those people did not seem to understand the seriousness and enormity of the discipline that they would be going through. They were largely nonchalant and unmoved by what was told them. When Isaiah said that “the LORD had poured over them a deep sleep”, it did not mean that God caused them to be indifferent. What he meant was that God had given up on them and allowed them to stay in their dispassionate state.      

God obviously had a plan for His people in Judah. He was understandably concerned with building them as a people He had called to Himself. While He would discipline them, His goal was to have a nation of restored people who would move in tandem with His plan and purpose for them. Here Isaiah lamented that God’s entire vision for His people had not been understood. The people who were literate were given the book of the vision but complained that the book was sealed. The illiterates were given the same book and told to read but they, unfortunately, were not able to read. What good would it do, when a  message is given and the people, both the literates and the illiterates, could not decrypt its meaning.

 

Like Judah then, we are the people of God. We are a privileged lot because He loves us. He will reveal His plan to us if we are sensitive to His leading. It would be sad when we, His privileged people, choose to live in a state of spiritual coma like the people in the day of Isaiah, and unable to decode His message to us. Isaiah 65:12 shows us the sorry state of the prophet’s audience when God said, “I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen. Instead, you did evil in My sight and chose that which I did not delight.” This is also a warning to us. As God’s beloved, let us not live in a state of spiritual coma. Let us make up our minds to stay connected to God and be sensitive to His leading and warning. Have a passion for God and for His Word!