Isaiah
is one of my favourite books. Its declamatory, energetic, earnest, and
outreaching style is attractive in its aim to bring rebellious people back
under God’s protective wing. What caught my eye in chapter 46 was the call
to older people who had been carried by God throughout their lives to remain
faithful. The chapter points out that older people are susceptible to the
temptation of turning gold into a god.
Our
modern-day parallel would perhaps be the dangers of putting too much store by
the accumulated savings and pension entitlements that some older people have
access to.
The
chapter warns that though the mature may “cry out to it (gold), it does not
answer” - a misplaced trust in financial wherewithal that produces no fruit.
For
sure, over-satisfaction with wealth can lead to a state of “stubborn
heartedness” and a standing that is “far from righteousness” (v. 12).
God’s
stark response is “I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none
like me” (v. 9). Only God himself has a license to be so arrogant!
But
at the same time, the chapter finishes with the makings of a solution: in his
compassion, God makes the move towards sinful people, saying he is “bringing my
righteousness near” - a foretaste of the later offer of salvation through
Christ perhaps. Let’s be inspired throughout our lives, and especially as we
get older, to remain clear-headed about where our true gold resides.
Le chapitre 46 d’Isaïe nous avertit du danger, tant
qu’on devient plus âge, de se fier à l’or physique et pas à l’or spirituel, qui
survient de Dieu.
Attribution:
Death and the Miser, by Thomas Rowlandson, December 20, 1801,The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959, www.metmuseum.org.
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