(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
What’s up in the Valley of Vision?
Intro:
If you ever do some poking around in annals of well-selling Christian books, you’ll find a curious title called Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. And what’s beautiful about it is that it’s full of poetry that, frankly, reads a lot like Psalms. It’s beautiful stuff, and that’s why it’s been around a long time.
So as you might guess, the title — Valley of Vision — comes from the Bible, and today’s passage in Isaiah is going to speak to it. But there’s a little bit of mystery or curiosity associated with the words ‘valley of vision,’ too, and in the here-comes-one-of-the-not-so-useful-factoids department, I’ll give you a little something that’ll help you the next time you play Bible trivia.
But first, Matthew 25 wraps up the end of a big chunk of red words, so let’s tackle that.
New Testament segment:
Passage: Matthew 25
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 46
Words: ~972
You know, those closing words about eternal punishment to me sound pretty clear. For what it’s worth, there are scholars who argue that it doesn’t really mean punishment without end, and we can’t tackle that here. Suffice it to say that there’s a scholar somewhere who has said just about every twisted thing you can imagine in their own Bible interpretation, including even that Jesus wasn’t a real person. Suffice it to say that I think the best interpretation of “eternal punishment” means just what it says.
But let’s close out this last few days of Jesus’ preaching with this from Michael Green in The Message of Matthew:
The return of Christ is the future dimension of the kingdom. It is of the greatest importance that citizens of that kingdom are ready to meet their King when he comes. These five parables which Matthew has gathered together here show believers what Jesus expects of us in the time between his first coming and his last. He looks for his servants to be watchful, holy, ready to meet him at any time, faithful in the use of their gifts and opportunities, and above all full to overflowing with his self-forgetful, self-sacrificing love. There is no higher calling. And it is open to the humblest disciple.(1)
For our OT segment today we knock down the second series of oracles that occur in Isaiah 13-27. The first series had a sense of hope, and this series, well, continues to pound home the contrast of trustworthiness between a sovereign, loving Creator and the nations.
Old Testament segment:
Passage: Isaiah 21-23
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 60
Words: ~1637
Wisdom segment:
Passage: None today
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses:
Words: ~
The bottom line:
A final thought about Valley of Vision. As you could tell, in one sense the Valley of Vision is a reference to Jerusalem. But there’s a duality of tone, too. On the dark side, they’re being called out for partying when they should be working. And if you ever wondered where that phrase came from — Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die — now you know it goes back to about 700BC. And some commentators think it may also be an inference to a nearby where dead were thrown and children were sacrificed. But on the light side — and this is a good place to end — why are they being called out? Lack of trust.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Michael Green, The Message of Matthew: The Kingdom of Heaven, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 265.