people of the pit

For the first time I really kind of see the incredible nature of the prophecy of Isaiah. It is wild, if you really think about it, to read about Jesus... In Isaiah. I was at work talking with a fairly anti-Christian coworker and he stated that he had read the Bible through twice. That's more than me by the way. How is it that we can both read it and I see reality and he sees historical fiction? How is it that this connects to my very soul, and the way I see the world and he sees antiquated dust? He says the Bible shows how far mankind has progressed, while I see it showing that mankind is stuck in the same condition as it was then. Such is the prophetic passage I find today. It is about lost Israel, but truthfully it describes the condition of all humanity concerning their hopeless need for a Savior. Isaiah 42:

"21 It pleased the Lord

for the sake of his righteousness

to make his law great and glorious.

22 But this is a people plundered and looted,

all of them trapped in pits

or hidden away in prisons.

They have become plunder,

with no one to rescue them;

they have been made loot,

with no one to say, “Send them back.”

There it is: the human condition. Trapped in a pit, hidden in a prison, the booty of an evil cosmic pirate. When I'm out in the world working, looking for a better job, building a house, grocery shopping, searching craigslist for a good used refrigerator etc... it's easy to forget that this little verse is the simple reality of everything I see. Back in Norwich, some people crudely referred to the town as Norhole. Maybe they were right. It can't just be that one town, though, it's every town, every city, every country, every square foot of ground you can place your feet. It's all a part of the "pit". It's just another cell in the prison where we're all hidden. I like how it follows verse 21. God made a beautiful glorious way to live. It pleased him. It was perfect. But ... we are people wholly incapable of even breathing the air up there. We are people of the pit. And we'll die here.

Know that. Understand that. Believe that. Fully. Then go out and decide how you will live your life. Decide how you will view the world. Decide how you will relate to the people you meet each day. Decide what you will value. Spend your energy in the light of this reality. I have known this so long. It's shameful. If my life doesn't revolve around this reality, then I am an ungrateful scumbag. To have once been a permanent resident of the pit, without hope of freedom, and then to be recued must change you. How can you find value in the pit any longer? How can you see the hopelessness, know the solution, and do nothing? How can you continue to live the same way and seek the same things as the people of the pit?

When I was trying to start a college age ministry (unsuccessfully) I came up with the term "guilty victims" to describe the relationship of that age group with the church. Maybe they had been ignored. Maybe they were raised in a legalistic environment. Maybe they had received a skewed view of the faith. Maybe they were victims. But they were also guilty. Because the truth is still there for the taking. Step up. Seek it for yourself. Stop living like the hopeless people of the pit. Stop trying to blame your dislike for God and your love of self on the way you were raised. This verse actually describes everyone. The way of truth is not hidden, at least not in this area of the world. You can find a Bible in every thrift store in the county. People of the pit are guilty victims. Yes, they have been plundered and looted. Sure they have been imprisoned in this pit. But the way out is clear. Redemption is free and readily available. So there it is. The gospel and the reality of the world in the book of Isaiah, written long before the arrival of Jesus. Amazing, and yet it barely draws a rise from anyone anymore. How has the gospel been declawed in this way? How will I live life understanding the reality of my condition, the hopelessness of the lost, and the pit that is my world?