Wilderness Like Eden

Pentecost +13Rev. Doug FloydIsaiah 51:1-8 In our Psalm today, the psalmist exclaims the faithfulness of God. He writes, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [1] He declares God’s faithfulness and then prays on the basis of that faithfulness. We like the psalmist trust that God…

Photo by Doug Floyd (used by permission)

Pentecost +13
Rev. Doug Floyd
Isaiah 51:1-8

In our Psalm today, the psalmist exclaims the faithfulness of God. He writes, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” [1] He declares God’s faithfulness and then prays on the basis of that faithfulness. We like the psalmist trust that God in His steadfast love will fulfill His purpose for our lives.

I want to look at Isaiah’s song this morning in light of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His purpose in our lives. Isaiah is singing to the exiles in Babylon. Specifically, he is singing to those who pursue righteousness and those who seek the Lord. When Babylon destroys Jerusalem and takes the Hebrews captive, the people are guilty of idolatry. Turning away from God to other gods. As well as oppressing the poor both financially and sexually. At the same time, there are some who will suffer judgment who have been earnestly seeking the Lord like Daniel and Ezekiel. In Babylon, Ezekiel preaches to the captives. While many Hebrews assimilate into the Babylonian culture, we know a community of Hebrews emerges who seeking the way of the Lord.

Some of these exiles will eventually return to Israel. Others will form a community of observant Hebrews in Babylon. We know this because they leave behind the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of writings on observing Torah. Though imperfect, they are pursuing the way of the Lord. Isaiah sings a word of encouragement to this community. He is encouraging them that God is faithful to preserve them, to restore Israel, and to bring His light to all peoples.

In verse 1, he uses a rather odd image. He says, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” [2] The church has often read this passage as referring to Abraham and Sarah who are mentioned in the next verse. The Lord gave a promise to bless the offspring of Abraham and Sarah and through this offspring to bless all peoples.

Abraham and Sarah are the head spring of the entire people of Israel. This nation bears the promise of God even as the complete fulfillment of this promise will only be made known in Jesus Christ. In verse two Isaiah writes, “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.” [3]

If you remember the story of Abraham and Sarah, you’ll remember that they wait and wait and wait for the promise of a child. Sarah is barren. Eventually, God’s faithfulness is made manifest, and Sarah gives birth to Isaac. From this barren couple, God will raise up a nation. Now Isaiah offers this image to the faithful exiles. You may only be a few, but God can multiply you just as He made Abraham and Sarah fruitful.

The next verse captured my imagination. “For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.” [4] Think of the waste places. When Babylon destroys Jerusalem, they salt the land, killing the life in it. The once fruitful city becomes a wasteland. The waste place becomes a haunt of wild animals. The beauty is dried up and it becomes a dangerous place.

The Lord promises to restore Zion and to make her wilderness like Eden. Imagine Eden. A lush garden with streams, watering the land, thick with rich fruit-bearing tress, and animals at peace with humans. In this pastoral scene, joy and gladness echo even as the people lift up thanksgiving and singing. Not only will the Lord restore Israel, He will set His justice as a light to the peoples.

The wisdom of God will go forth from Zion to all the peoples. We know this promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In verses 6, 7, 8, Isaiah says that this promise of restoration and salvation will be fully realized even though the earth wears out and the moth eats them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. What does this odd image mean? It most likely refers to the unjust rulers. They may wield great power now but they cannot prevent the promise of God from being realized. Their kingdoms and the power will fade, but the righteousness of God will only shine brighter and brighter.

I think of this passage in light of Psalm 110:1, The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” [5] Or Revelation 11:15, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”[6] All powers will eventually bow before the last king of Israel, Jesus Christ.

At this point, I want to backtrack a little. We’ve seen the end point, all the kingdoms of man will eventually submit to the kingdom of God. But now let’s got back and consider the transforming of the wasteland into a place like Eden. We might think of this as the kingdom coming. In Isaiah 51:3 we read, “For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”[7] This is a simile. He will make her wilderness like Eden. It is speaking of restoration. But it is also a tangible, physical promise.

In order for the captives to return to Israel, the land will have to be restored so that they can plant crops. Scripture records the return of the captives as well as the rebuilding of the temple and the rebuilding of the wall. People physically had to rebuild temple and rebuild the wall. At the same time, they would have physically needed to restore the land. Planting trees and crops would have been a part of the restoration process.

As I was thinking about this, I decided to look up reforestation of Israel. When the Jews began to return again to Israel at the start of the 20th century, they were returning once again to a wilderness. Over the last 100 hundred years, Israel has planted over 250,000,000 million trees. I even found Christian ministries that have been dedicated to replanting trees in Israel. There are now lush forests in a land that was once a wasteland, and there is a commitment to plant more trees in the years to come.

In order to plant trees, you need water. Simcha Blass, a Polish Jew who immigrated to Israel in the early 1930s. As a water engineer, Blass came up with a variety of solutions to help with Israel’s water challenges. He planned the first modern aqueduct system in the Jordan Valley. He helped found Israel’s national water company. He developed the modern drip irrigation system. His inventions and leadership played a key role in Israel’s reforestation as well as providing water for the millions of people.

Now I think of this in light of Isaiah 51:3. “For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”[8] God created Eden. He created streams and trees and a garden and animals. Then he invited Adam to participate in this creation in various ways: naming the animals, tending the garden, and so on. So we can say on the one hand that God created Eden, and on the other hand, that Adam took care of Eden. Both are true.

Now we can say that God restored Israel like Eden. We can also say that humans restored Israel: both ancient Israel and modern Israel. God provided the means and created humans with a variety of interests that have taken shape in restoring the land. This might help us to better understand the phrase “personal relationship with the Lord.” He creates us as persons: humans made to live in relationship with creation, with other humans, and with God.

Thus our personal lives have a creational dimension, a social dimension and a religious dimension and all three are interrelated. We serve God in all three areas. While some ancient Hebrews served God by teaching the Law or Torah to the community, other people guarded gates, built structures, wrote songs, and yes planted trees. The kingdom of God is made manifest through the people that trust in the Lord and walk in His way.

Some of us teach Scripture, some of write books, some of us raise children, some of show hospitality, and all of us can plant trees. As I was reflecting on this, I thought about Clifton Strengths Finder. This test uses 34 four themes to identity our top five strengths. It is designed for teams, but what I like is the variety of strengths it identifies.

Some strengths may seem obvious such as Achiever: People who have a great deal of stamina and find great satisfaction in being productive. Or the Command theme: People who can take control of a situation and make decisions. But what about the Arranger: People who can organize how all resources should be arranged for maximum productivity. Or the Deliberative: These people take every decision very seriously and have an eye for potential obstacles. Sometime these people are seen as negative because they are always pointing out problems, and yet we need their insight. Paul realized that people would not always make room for various gifts, so he emphasizes the variety of gifts within a community in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12. A community needs a wide range of gifts. Not all gifts look spiritual. And yet, we need people who plants trees and purify the water.

The kingdom of God is realized through a wide range of gifts that we haven’t even identified yet. But we trust in that God’s timing, these gifts will be revealed.

When William Blake looked at industrial London, he wrote the bleak poems known as the “Songs of Experience.” He considered the Industrial factories in London as Satanic Mills. And yet, he also saw glimpses of the Kingdom of God breaking through. As we look around at our culture, we may see a wilderness, a waste land, a hopeless place. Our God can turn this wasteland into Eden, and He can do it in and through us. So instead of bemoaning the state of things, let’s start planting trees.

Let me end with William Blake’s poem Jerusalem. Even as Blake thinks about England, let us think about America and God’s faithfulness to fulfill His purposes in us.

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen! 

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills? 

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire! 

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 138:8.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 51:1.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 51:2.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 51:3.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 110:1.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 11:15.

[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 51:3.

[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 51:3.