Isaiah 22:1-23:18; 2 Kings 18:7b-8; Micah 1:8-3:12

God said this in 2 Chronicles:

If my people who are called by my name (Christian) will (1) humble themselves and, (2) pray and, (3) seek my face and, (4) turn from their wicked ways, then I will (1) hear from heaven and I will (2) forgive their sins and, (3) heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, parentheses mine)

God was calling the Jews, and He is calling us to repent. We’ve built a pretty good, pretty strong nation in the USA. What started out as a nation under God gradually turned into a nation built by the sweat of our brows, and has evolved into a self-satisfied nation standing on our own without acknowledging God at all.

God told the Jews in Isaiah 22 that they’d done the same. They stored up water, built a reservoir, strengthened the wall, but they didn’t look to the Creator or have regard to the Sovereign God. Isaiah goes on to say the Lord Almighty called them out on their sin of self-satisfaction and told them it was time to humble themselves, time to weep and wail, to tear their hair out and mourn over their sin.

How did the Jews respond? Isaiah said with joy and revelry, feasting and partying. Their theme was, “Let’s eat and drink… for tomorrow we die.”

I kind of see a parallel in our nation. It’s not like there aren’t people who are proclaiming the truth. But the voices of opposition are getting louder and stronger.

“Humble ourselves? Turn from sin? That might be your truth, but it isn’t mine. And I will shut you down if you offend me again,” seems to be the theme of many today in our country and our world.

I believe God still has His offer on the table. If we who are Christians will humble ourselves, if we pray, if we truly seek to know Jesus, if we confess our sins and turn from them, HE WILL HEAL OUR LAND. That promise is straight out of His mouth.

Let’s not make the same mistake the Jews made in Isaiah’s time as they kept on doing what they were doing, ignoring God, partying like there’s no tomorrow. There is a tomorrow. Whether we live another day on this earth or spend our first day in eternity, there is a tomorrow. And God is seriously telling us to shape up. The alternative is unthinkable.