“He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. Isaiah 53:3 (NLT)
OUR NATION IS IN A STATE OF SHOCK AS THE HORRORS OF ABORTION ARE FINALLY BEING EXPOSED.
I THINK OF THE SHOCK ON THE FACES OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO LIBERATED THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS AT THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, ALSO THE FACES OF THE GERMAN CITIZENS WHO WERE FORCED TO WALK THROUGH THE CAMPS. MANY TURNING THEIR HEADS AWAY UNABLE TO FACE THE HORROR OF WHAT HAD BEEN GOING ON WHILE THEY HAD ENJOYED THEIR LIVES IN HITLER’S GROWING ECONOMY.
THE JEWISH ZEALOT SAUL OF TARSUS, WHO LATER BECAME KNOWN AS PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES, HAD TO FACE THE REALITY OF HIS DEEDS AS HE WAS TRAVELING TOWARD DAMASCUS. WHAT STOPPED HIM IN HIS TRACKS WAS A SPECIAL VISION AND WORD FROM THE LORD JESUS, “SAUL, SAUL, WHY ARE YOU PERSECUTING ME?”
OUR NATION HAS SHED THE INNOCENT BLOOD OF ALMOST 56 MILLION BABIES SINCE 1973. HAS GOD BEEN DEAF TO THEIR CRY? NEVER! THEN WHY HASN’T HE DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT? HE HAS BEEN DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT AND IS CONTINUING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
ISAIAH 53 STANDS ALONE AS THE GREATEST SOLILOQUY FOUND IN THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES COMPARABLE ONLY WITH 1 CORINTHIANS 13 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. IT IS GOD’S EULOGY FOR HIS HUMAN SON, JESUS.
IT IS AS IF GOD CAN NO LONGER HOLD HIS FEELINGS IN AND POURS OUT HIS HEART TO US. WHO WILL BELIEVE ME, HE ASKS, A MAN OF SORROWS AND ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF. SO I AM SAYS THE GREAT “I AM.”
ISAIAH 52:13-15 REALLY INTRODUCES CHAPTER 53. “HE WAS SO DISFIGURED HE NO LONGER LOOKED LIKE A MAN; HIS FORM WAS SO MARRED HE NO LONGER LOOKED HUMAN.” (NET) THIS DESCRIBES JESUS HANGING ON THE CROSS HAVING BEEN SO HORRIBLY BEATEN AND TORN BY THE ROMAN WHIP. I THINK OF THE PICTURES OF THOSE TINY MEMBERS OF PRECIOUS HUMAN BABIES HAVING BEEN CRUSHED AND TORN ASUNDER LYING LIFELESS IN A PETRI DISH BEING POKED AT WITH LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS – SUFFERING HUMANITY, SUFFERING GOD.
TRULY THE SUFFERING OF CREATION IS A MYSTERY. BUT GOD HAS BECOME A PART OF THE MYSTERY BY ENTERING INTO AND SHARING OUR LIFE, SUFFERING AND DEATH, AND IN SO DOING HAS REVEALED THE MEANING OF THE MYSTERY. “KINGS WILL SHUT THEIR MOUTHS ON ACCOUNT OF HIM; FOR WHAT HAD NOT BEEN TOLD THEM THEY WILL SEE, AND WHAT THEY HAD NOT HEARD THEY WILL UNDERSTAND.” Isaiah 52:15 (NASV)
THE HORROR OF ABORTION IS ANOTHER VIEW OF THE CROSS. THERE IS NO ESCAPE. WE MUST FACE THE CROSS. ONLY THEN CAN WE KNOW THE DELIVERANCE THAT OUR HOLY BROTHER, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, HAS REALIZED FOR US. OTHERWISE WE MUST LIE IN OUR OWN FILTH AND OUR SOULS DIE.
Rosemary E Hyslop
August 5, 2015