The Plumbline

1 God said to Moses, "Now you'll see what I'll do to Pharaoh: With a strong hand he'll send them out free; with a strong hand he'll drive them out of his land." (Ex. 6:1) Try as we might, we cannot resist the powerful hand of God on our life.  Many have tried to escape his plans, but in the end all they do to escape is get deeper and deeper into bondage to something they didn't want or like either.  Even the hardest of hearts and the one who just demands there must be a different way can be tamed and softened under his mighty hand.  Moses was coming to realize that the God he served was the "El Shaddai" - the Lord Almighty - not just "one" of the run-of-the-mill gods of the land, but the mighty God of all - creator of all that exists.  When we begin to come to a revelation of the one true God in our life, there is no denying his power or his ability.  God never forgets his covenant with his people. His truth will endure. It will make ...

Isaiah is an Old Testament prophet sent to Israel to encounter them for their "drift" into becoming "like the other nations".  If you have never really read the entire message of Isaiah, you will have missed special words such as:       -  Though your sins are like scarlet,  they will be white as snow.   If they are red as crimson,  they will become like wool.  (1:18 CEB)       -  Then they will beat their swords into iron plows  and their spears into pruning tools.   Nation will not take up sword against nation;  they will no longer learn how to make war.  (2:4 CEB)       -  Doom to those who call evil good and good evil,  who present darkness as light and light as darkness,  who make bitterness sweet and sweetness bitter. (5:20 CEB) The list could go on and on, but I would like to focus us on one of the latter chapters of this great book.  There we find these wor...

16-17  And me? I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse,    For you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide.  Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you—God, my dependable love. (Psalm 59:16-17) Understanding the background of this Psalm might help us understand these words even more clearly.  David, as King of Israel, was in heated battle with the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.  The Edomites were descendants of Esau, one of the sons of Jacob.  Esau is probably best known as the son who sold his birthright for a pot of stew (Genesis 25).  As the firstborn of Jacob, he had the full right to the inheritance of his father (a double portion).  In a time of weakness, hungry and weary, he "sold out" to his twin brother.   Esau's family became a band of nomadic raiders settling in the region just south of the Dead Sea - the land that Israel would realistically pass th...