Isaiah 57:1-2

Question: The bracelets in remembrance of Thomas Culp (teacher at HarBer) have Isaiah 57:1-2 written on them. What does this passage mean?

 ¹The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. ²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. Isaiah 57:1-2

 Then & There: Isaiah is a prophet, meaning God speaks through him to His people. Isaiah writes and speaks to Judah, the southern kingdom of Israelites, during the Assyrian captivity of their northern brothers Israel. Assyria also lay siege to Jerusalem, the holy city for both the northern and southern kingdoms. As they are watching their northern brothers being taken into captivity, God’s main message is this attack was judgment because they, as a people, had turned their back on Him. It was a warning of the coming judgment for the Judah. However, this little caveat is saying that there were a few righteous people, who were a part of the captive Israel. They were suffering all kinds of injustice while the evil men could do whatever they liked. But death, rather than being a punishment as some thought it to be, was a relief and escape from that injustice and evil.

Here & Now: For today, this passage means that while injustice is everywhere, and as a people often turn away from God, there are still a few righteous mixed in there. They suffer injustice undeservingly, but in death, they find relief from the injustice of this world. Thomas Culp experienced an untimely death and will be missed by many, but this passage is one of hope. Rather than death being a punished, he is experiencing relief and escape from injustice and evil. And while he will be missed and we should definitely allow ourselves to grieve his loss, we should also be glad to know that he no longer has to deal with the fallenness of our world.

 What are your thoughts?

The Fall

Tonight we talked again about the fall of man in Genesis 3. One interesting question came up about the whole story of Adam, Eve and the trees in the Garden. We the trees literal trees, did this story literally happen? Or is this a figurative story meant to explain the separation between God and humanity in terms that are simple and easy to understand? Is it necessary to believe one or the other? If we believe that it’s literal, why? Are there reasons that the rest of our faith rest on? If it’s figurative, metaphorical, or alegorical, how does that affect our faith? Does it change anything? What do you think?

Veritas

So we just got back from Veritas yesterday afternoon and it was great! The speaker, though he was slightly cheesey, had some awesome things to say about rising up and getting out there doing the work of God. Things aren’t right in the world, but God in the process of fixing them. We need to join with God, to be God’s hands and feet, in order to bring about that change and right the wrongs that sin brought into our world. Plus we had fun with karaoke, learned about tattoo’s, talked about being leaders, found out some spiritual gifts. So check out these pictures!