Today's reading Isaiah 1:1 - Isaiah 13:22
"Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17 KJB
God is expressing anger at Israel for their vain worship (1:13). He wants to destroy them like he did Sodom and Gomorrah (1:9) but for a very small remnant keeping back his wrath. God explains their sin in 1:17. They are not taking care of their people. He mentions it in other places how they grind the poor (3:15) and turn aside the needy (10:2). If you think women would have done a better job if they were in charge, well, they were! (3:12) They got busted for that, too.
By chapter 9, Isaiah speaks to Israel of a child that will be born (9:6). Their king is coming and he will not only rule them but rule the world. What they did not expect was Jesus. When he did come he took care of the sick and the needy (11:3,4) That upset the religious people still.
When will we get it? When will I get it? It is not about titles and positions, money or power. It is about taking care of people. It is about our neighbors, our fellow church members, the sick and hurting, the broken. The child with ADD and the poor. It is all about people.
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 KJB
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