Taken Away

Isa 57:1 The righteous perishes, and no man

lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken

away, none considering that the righteous is

taken away from the evil [to come].

2 He enters into peace; they rest in their

beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.

3 But draw near here, you sons of the

sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the

prostitute.

4 Against whom do you sport yourselves?

against whom make you a wide mouth, and put

out the tongue? Aren`t you children of

disobedience, a seed of falsehood,

5 you who inflame yourselves among the oaks,

under every green tree; who kill the children

in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?


Isaiah preached a message that few wanted to
hear. From the passage above, you might say
that he didn't sugar coat his views either.
He wasn't out to win a popularity contest. He
did his best to point out that the lifestyle
chosen by those around him was offensive to
G-d.


It was not as if there was no reason for
concern. The Assyrian Empire, called the
Neo-Assyrian Empire in the wikipedia article,
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria )
was expanding it's territory in the days of
Isaiah. Isaiah was concerned about the future
of his nation and the future of those who were
faithful to the G-d of Israel. His message
was a warning to both groups. You can tell
he was no fan of the crowd that was not loyal
to the G-d of his ancestors.


As I read these passages, I am left with the
idea that the long term history of the world
is one of conquer or be conquered. You can go
into the assessments of the how's and why's
and goepolitical implications. Seems to me
that the bottom line, is the bottom line.
It's always about economic competition. It's
not just a matter of expanding an empire, it's
a matter of hanging on to what you have
already. Then seeking a margin of comfort in
knowing that you have the upper hand. One way
to do this is to create instability. It's a
counter productive effort, but it allows the
(temporary) consolidation of power. And for
most megalomaniacs, that seems to be reward
enough.


But Isaiah was concerned with justice. His
sense of justice was informed by scripture --
the law of the Lord. He saw that there was
little regard for the 'old way' of doing
things. There were new and improved gods to
be served. And he warned that there was going
to be a certain day of rekoning, because the
new ways were not just and right. They were
not going to work out well, even though they
had alot of appeal.


Isa 57:11 And of whom were you in fear, so

that you were false, and did not keep me in

mind, or give thought to it? Have I not been

quiet, keeping myself secret, and so you were

not in fear of me?

12 I will make clear what your righteousness

is like and your works; you will have no

profit in them.

13 Your false gods will not keep you safe in

answer to your cry; but the wind will take

them, they will be gone like a breath: but he

who puts his hope in me will take the land,

and will have my holy mountain as his

heritage.


The issue in Isaiah's day was idolatry -- the
rejection of Yhwh, and the acceptance of other
forms of worship. If you look into history,
you'll see that human sacrifice was involved
in some of the idol worship ritual. This was
strictly against the law of the Lord. And the
government was unconcerned, apparently. But
there is also a few remaining believers.
'...he who puts his hope in me will take the
land...' They were left to enjoy their true
heritage, after the Assyrians and then the
Babylonians cleaned things up a bit.


So in verse 1, Isaiah points out that it's an
advantage to the righteous to be taken away
from all of this. 'He enters into peace.'
In other words, Isaiah did not look forward to
the rule of the Assyrians any more than he
admired the indifference of his fellows. He
saw that 'evil' was coming upon the nation and
that it was a reward to the faithful and just
followers of Yhwh to be 'taken away', rather
than being caught up in the storm looming just
over the horizon. There is another time of
severe crisis mentioned in the book of
Revelation. It will take place at the end of
time. And current doctrine has it that the
righteous will also be taken away before that
'evil' comes upon the world. It begins with
this verse:


Rev 5:1 I saw, in the right hand of him who

sat on the throne, a book written within and

on the back, sealed shut with seven seals.


As of today, it is believed that the seals
have not yet been broken. The day draws near.
After the Jesus Bus makes its last stop here.
After that last stop, it's an express ride to
the final destination.

--->

Looking around the WWW the other day, I saw
this quote by Ann Coulter.

'If the mainstream media are burning with

curiosity about what critics of Darwinism have

to say, how about asking me? I can name any

number of mathematicians, scientists and

authors who have also rejected Darwin's

discredited theory and would be happy to rap

with them about it. '

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucac/20071220/cm_ucac/
theresahuckabeeborneveryminute;_ylt=ArX7QEvb08
vtH4nq0SWwNhHSos4F


So, I guess it's not just me. It seems that
there is no interest on the part of the
popular media to give an accurate account of
issues surrounding the creation versus
evolution doctrines. There is a bias in the
popular media, but I'm left wondering, exactly
what is it that they are trying to sell us? I
really can't tell. And even more than that, I
can't imagine what it has to do with politics.
I told you before, that politics just doesn't
make any sense to me.


When I think about it, the only suggestion
that comes to mind is a possible connection
between the vast funds available from various
endowments and trusts whose managers believe
they have an interest in maintaining a secular
status quo. Which immediately strikes me as
a totally rediculous situation. But then, I
don't pay much attention to the popular media
and find it hard to imagine why anyone would.
Unless there is a promise or threat of
financial interest involved, there is no
apparent reason for looking the other way.
Just doesn't make any sense.


But then, if you look at what was going on at
the time that Isaiah preached, people didn't
act completely sensible then either, now did
they. I wonder what the popular media of his
day was trying to sell the public on? Did
they really think that they were going to be
able to escape the Assyrians? Or were they
just too distracted by other things to care?