Advent Devotion – December 1, 2010

Scripture – Isaiah 2:1–4

Isaiah’s vision in the early chapters of his book is mostly of the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem. Judah is to be destroyed because the nation is corrupt; pride and wealth have distorted the nation God loved. The leaders have called evil, good. God spurns their worship and asks for justice. But when the Lord looks for justice, God beholds oppression and the cry of the poor for help. Jerusalem is saved for a while, only because of a remnant of righteous people; otherwise they would have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah.

God promises (v. 2) that in the later days a new order “shall be established.” Now Jerusalem is surrounded, but in better days to come many people will learn God’s ways and walk in the way of the Lord. Then peace will be realized. If we believed in this promise of fulfillment we would work rigorously for it and end our mad scramble for greater houses, foolish lusts and immorality, ignorant political leaders, and the honoring of prideful people. With the establishment of international law, religious unity through dialogue, rigorous and disciplined lives, we could, as we must, reduce our armaments and move toward the goals of the transformation of a chaotic order into an order of justice and peace that God would fulfill in the Lord’s own time.

Prayer
Lord, we bless thy Holy Name. We thank thee for Isaiah’s vision of thee seeking justice and peace. We know we are unjust. We pray for a saving remnant to show us the ways of humility and peace so that we may walk in thy way of peacemaking and justice seeking. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Elder Ronald Stone, Ph.D.,
John Witherspoon Professor of Ethics (retired),
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Order Proclaiming the Good News of God's Peace.