Forest Gump is a classic film in which a simple American man found himself attending several of the key events in recent American history, Vietnam, race riots and various elections. At the end of the film he visits his dying mother, Jenny, and asks:
“What’s the matter, Mum?”
“I’m dying Forest.”
“Why are you dying, mum?”
“Its just my time. Don’t you be afraid sweetheart. Death is just part of life, something we are all destined to do. I have to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do your best with what God gave you.”
“What’s my destiny, mum?”
“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forest, you never know what you are going to get. I don’t know whether we each have a destiny
At the end of the film Forest stands at Jenny’s grave and utters some immortal Hollywood words:
“I don’t know if Mama was right or if its Lieutenant Dan. I don’t know whether we each have a destiny or if we’re all just floating around, accidental like, on breeze, but I think maybe it’s both.”
At that moment a feather floats down. Forest is contrasting the philosophy of his mother, who believes we all make our own destiny, with that of Lieutenant Dan, who felt life was ruled by rigid fate.
This film raises some important questions. Do we have a purpose in life? Is there a goal or destiny. Are we each going anywhere or are we simply pawns to be sacrificed, the product of our world and society? Is all that happens to us the random effect of chaotic atoms or is there purpose, or to put it in sophisticated language, ‘Is there a meta narrative?’
For some people the purpose is simply to do with the here and now. People have been willing to make their life’s work the establishment of Communist societies where supposedly the welfare of the individuals matters most, even though history shows that life matters little in those societies. In socialist regimes there is the ideal of caring for all but seldom is there the means to pay for all that people want as well as paying for defence, education, hospitals and everything else. There are those who then abuse the systems for their own benefit. For others the goal is a right wing economically strong society so that there is enough money to care for all in society, though too often it is the fat-cat leaders who benefit most. A society that does not have a ‘big picture’ of where it is going soon disintegrates into atomised individualism where each person says:
“I will do what seems best for me and my family.”
This inevitably leads to fragmented societies and stresses. How we desperately need to rediscover a dependable narrative both for ourselves, our families and our society.
Isaiah’s warning
Isaiah wrote in the 8th century BC, when Israel had lost any big picture. Its faith had largely descended into formal religion and many of the religious and political leaders were in it for themselves. They had forgotten that God is real. Much of our society today reflects the same problems. Integrity and discipline in homes, in schools and often at work is slipping because we no longer have any principles to guide our lives.
Much of the long book of Isaiah describes God’s anger at the way he was being treated by his people though he also stresses that God himself is going to step into his world and remedy the problem. The book finishes in chapters 63-66 with a grand overview of what God is going to do.
This study will particularly look at the final chapter, which is about God’s judgment of his world and the hope he offers us. His answer is that a new kingdom is coming but that the old will be destroyed:
““As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22-23
This new world will be open to all people from all nations. It will be an ideal society. You can just feel how people living in Israel at the time, with the prospect of a deadly invasion by Babylon looming, must have felt home-sick for this paradise.
Who are these people who will be in heaven?
This is the main point of this chapter. He looks at some but rejects others:
“These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2b
Contrition
‘Contrite’ is an adjective that means feeling or expressing deep remorse, guilt, or regret for something wrong you have done. It typically implies not only saying you are sorry but also having a genuine desire not to repeat this.
Humility
What it means to be ‘humble’ is often misunderstood. Uriah Heep was the famously hypocritical villain from Charles Dickens's 1850 novel, ‘David Copperfield’. He is a sniveling clerk who constantly wrings his hands and insists that he and his mother are "ever so 'umble". However, this exaggerated modesty is entirely a calculated mask. In reality, he is a manipulative fraud who schemes to ruin his employer, steal fortunes, and control others. Because of Heep's iconic deception, his name has entered the English language as a byword for a sycophantic, falsely modest hypocrite. Have you noticed how many window cleaners are Jehovah’s witnesses? We had one highly intelligent Jehovah’s Witness deliver a parcel to our door and he accepted that the Watchtower discourages members from having ambitions as this is not to be humble.
C.S.Lewis wisely said:
“To be humble is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”
He believed it is a state of total self-forgetfulness, where a person stops focusing on their ego, insecurities, or the impression they make on others, freeing them to genuinely focus on God and their neighbours. In his book ‘Mere Christianity’, he argued that a truly humble person won’t be thinking about humility at all. They will simply be focused on others. If you are wondering whether you are humble, you are still focusing on yourself. He explains that humility does not mean denying your talents or pretending you are bad at something you are actually good at. It means accepting your gifts graciously, like a present, and giving credit where it is due. Lewis identified pride as the chief sin and puts us in direct opposition to God and others. Humility allows us to be liberated from self-absorption and experience genuine joy.
The person who comes to God humbly, contrite at the way he or she has failed to live as God wants and is determined to live a new life is the only criterion of acceptance. In contrast the pious person who turns up regularly at the temple and thinks his moral lifestyle and religion will save him will be bitterly disappointed.
In Augustus Toplady’s great hymn, ‘Rock of Ages’ he makes this point in the third verse:
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.”
Jesus repeatedly emphasised this same truth that we all must renounce self- dependancy:
“‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
Who won’t be in heaven?
Here is the big surprise. There are some people that the Lord will not listen to - those who depend on their religion. God has no need for human temples - heaven is his throne. Isaiah singles out the religious people who go to the temple, keep the temple rules but fail to listen to and obey what God has said in his word: We have just been told who will be there but now he says who won’t be there. God says that those who rely on their religion will not be acceptable.
“But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations.” Isaiah 66:3
Here God singles out those who regularly go to the temple and obey the regulations but who, in reality ‘have chosen their own ways’. Their formal worship means nothing to God because their hearts are not committed to living as God has taught in is word. God is saying that he detests their religion.
There are churchgoers who think that God must be rather pleased with them as they regularly attend church and help the cause. They contribute generously to the running of the church in both money and time but what is their motivation?. The problem is that they have no concern to live seven days a week according to god’s word. Their life is not lived for the glory of God. They don’t talk about things like that! Such people have forgotten that God doesn’t need, ask for or want our religious activities, he wants our hearts:
“These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2b
Isaiah is preparing God’s people for the destruction of the temple and much that makes them comfortable that was to occur when the Iranians, then called Babylonians, invaded and destroyed the country. He is also warning the Jews about what would happen in 70AD when the Romans would destroy the magnificent temple that Herod had built. Such a structure has never been rebuilt but now God’s temple is the people in his church who are aligned to follow Jesus and his teaching
Their main fault was not to listen to what God has said in his word. How can anyone read this and not understand:
“For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” Isaiah 66:4
This point is again repeated:
“Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word.” Isaiah 66:5
God is not satisfied by us if we turn up at church, attend the prayer meeting and pay towards the upkeep of the church if, at root, we are not taking God’s word seriously. He says our sacrifices are meaningless. He detests our religious efforts to please him.
The churchgoer can inwardly think, ‘God must be rather pleased with me as I regularly turn up and help the cause. I lend my weight to the good cause.
What does God want of each of us?
“These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2b
What do you think, from this passage, is God’s opinion of a cleric who preaches regularly in a church or cathedral yet whose private life repudiates what the Scriptures teach? Jesus was scathing of Pharisees whose motivation was selfish.
The answer God will supply
The rest of Isaiah 66 teaches that God himself will provide a solution, it will be the birth of a baby and this person who will be the foundation of God’s eternal kingdom, he will be the sign that draws people back to God. Much of the book of Isaiah is about God’s judgment of humanity but he keeps reminding us that God will provide a solution and this will be in the person of a special child. Earlier on Isaiah had said,
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
It is the birth of this child that will give rise to this new kingdom:
“‘Before she goes into labour, she gives birth, before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children.”
When Jesus appeared the Kingdom of God was established. Matthew reminds us that Jesus is this child:
“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:22-23
As Jesus is ‘lifted up’ people are drawn to him:
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” John 3:14-15
This is why Matthew and Luke emphasise the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. This baby was worshipped soon after his birth by the shepherds, the wise men, Anna and Simeon in the temple.
Where will God’s people come from?
They will come from nations all over the world as the gospel message is proclaimed to them by God’s people:
“They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord – on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’ says the Lord. ‘They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.” Isaiah 66:19-20
Notice who brings people into this kingdom. This Jerusalem is the spiritual city of God’s people that Relation 21 describes. Isaiah says that people from all over the world will come to the Lord’s own Son. One of the astounding features of the church is how this message draws people to Christ, even in countries when there is political and religious opposition.
The one feature that all these people have is clear:
““These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Isaiah 66:2b
What a wonderful picture this is. We can only judge as God judges. False religion must be opposed because the Lord repeatedly does this.We must however always remain calm and grateful as that is how our Lord lived when so cruelly judged and opposed by others.
Life will not be easy for God’s people - in the short term
Isaiah foresaw that the religious authorities would not take kindly to people who place obedience to the Word of God above obedience to themselves:
“Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: “Your own people who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame. Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple. It is the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies all they deserve.” Isaiah 66:5-6
This specific word from God is that his people will be persecuted, excluded and ridiculed. They will be mocked as they make live hard fro god’s people. Yet in the end it will be those who reject a personal walk with God, lived according to his word who will suffer in the end. God will act to support those who love and follow him.
Jesus also said at the beginning of the Sermon on the mount what was likely to happen to those who follow him and not religious rules:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12
Archaeologists digging in the remains of a school for imperial pages in Rome found a picture dating from the third century. It shows a boy standing, his hand raised, worshiping a figure on a cross, a figure that looks like a man with the head of an ass. Scrawled in the writing of a young person are the words,
“Alexamenos worships his God.”
Nearby in a second inscription:
“Alexamenos is faithful.”
Apparently, a young man who was a Christian was being mocked by his schoolmates for his faithful witness. But he was not ashamed; he was faithful.
When the Roman emperor Valens threatened Eusebuis, the scholarly bishop of Caesarea in the 4th century, with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, the courageous Christian replied,
“He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.”
The answer to Forest Gump’s question is surely that God has taken the initiative in sending his son as our Saviour and Lord but that we have to respond to this news, either by bowing before him in worship or face the awful consequence of rejecting God.
BVP
