Isaiah 28:14-19
Architects and engineers will tell you that a good foundation is vital to ensure the stability and safety of any building. Building upon good, solid ground is important, as well. Without a good, sturdy foundation, and if the ground isn’t good and solid, the building can lean, and the whole structure will be unbalanced. It can be in danger of falling. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a good example of building on poor soil. Fortunately it hasn’t fallen. Many homes and buildings have fallen when landslides happen because of where they were built. One can watch news videos of some very expensive homes in California go crashing down the sides of cliffs! When a foundation isn’t laid properly, and it begins to crack and crumble, the building can be in danger of falling apart, too.
In our Scripture reading for today from the Prophet Isaiah, we read about having a sure foundation. Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, the people had wavered in their faithfulness to Yahweh, the Lord God. They frequently forsook the true worship of God and began worshipping the false gods and idols of the surrounding nations. The message of Yahweh given to the people from the days of Moses, and through the days of the prophets, was a solid foundation if the people would have accepted and followed it, applying it to their lives. Instead they turned to false idols, and worshipping them. They wanted to be like the other nations, accepting their way of life. However, that was a faulty foundation, one not laid upon good soil, one that would crumble and come crashing down upon them like the houses in a California landslide!
Another faulty foundation that the Prophet Isaiah warned the people about was their tendency to go running to other nations for help, instead of turning to the Lord God, and trusting in Him. In particular at the time of our passage, the nation of Judah was feeling threatened by the nation of Assyria who had been slowly attacking and conquering many surrounding countries, including their sister nation of Israel. Rather than returning to the Lord, getting rid of all idol worship, and trusting in Him for protection, they called upon other pagan nations for help, particularly the nation of Egypt. God called that a “covenant of death” (vs. 15), and it was a faulty, weak foundation. God wanted them to turn to Him, and trust in Him alone, a strong and sure foundation.
In verse 16 we read that God was going to lay a sure foundation, a precious cornerstone. The cornerstone is Jesus, the Messiah, the foundation on whom we build our faith and our lives. The Apostle Paul said that our faith is built upon the foundation of the teachings of the apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), and that no one can lay any other sure spiritual foundation, other than in Jesus (I Corinthians 3:11).
A cornerstone is the basis of the foundation, forming the base of the building, joining the two main walls. Without a good, strong cornerstone, the foundation is out of joint, and the building’s safety is compromised. Jesus is that cornerstone. However the religious leaders of Israel rejected that Cornerstone, preferring instead their weak, crumbling, and unsure foundation (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42).
What kind of foundation are we laying in our life? Are we forsaking the Lord Jesus and turning instead to false religions and philosophies, or to things of this world, and building our life’s foundation on them? When a storm comes in our life, how well will that foundation stand? Will it hold up, or come crashing down? Jesus gave us the example of the wise man who built his house upon the rock, and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand (Luke 6:47-49). If we build our life (house) upon the Lord Jesus, who is the Rock, the sure foundation, it will stand no matter how strong a storm comes. It will stand throughout eternity. If we build our foundation upon anything or anyone else, it will surely crumble and fall. Be sure your foundation is only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment