Sermon on Isaiah 48:17-22, Lent Midweek 5 2021, "Get Out!"
Part 5 of Lent Midweek series "Singing with the Exiles" by Rev. Reed Lessing “Get out of Babylon , flee from Chaldea , declare it with a shout of joy.” Isaiah 48:20a. Two urgent words are spoken to people in the following situations. Can you guess what they are? Three children are stuck inside a burning home. A family of five is stuck in a minivan plunging into a river. A talented young man is stuck in a dead-end job. Can you guess the two urgent words that are spoken to these people? What are they? “Get out!” In August of 586 BC Israel ’s world caved in. The temple collapsed, the monarchy lay in ruins, the land became a wasteland, and all hope was dismantled and destroyed. Then a massive aftershock brought further wreckage and ruin. Seven hundred miles from home, Israel ’s exiles became trapped in a basement called Babylon . And with every passing year, the Babylonian god Marduk seemed more and more powerful, while Yahweh seemed more and more incidental. Slowly bu...