Look for the Seed in the Stump

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Christianity, grace, judgement, kingdom of God, love, Prophecy, seed, stump, Truth

Judgment is coming to the house of the Lord, as an act of grace and as a cleansing. He has to remove our idols, since we have not removed them ourselves. This judgment is going to leave cities desolate, houses uninhabited, and the land devastated. We are already seeing the beginning of this in pockets around the world with the Bokka Horan in Nigeria, the riots in St. Louis, MO, the ISIS in Iran, and the issues between Russia and the Ukraine. Isaiah 6 is the reality in which we are living right now. If you read Isiah 1-5 you will understand the context of Isaiah 6, but here is what Isaiah 6:8-12 says, “8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long ?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”

The Lord is saying, that Christians have become insensitive, dull of hearing and dim of eyes (calloused, deaf and blind). If you read Psalm 135:15-18 it says, “15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.17 They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths 18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” The evidence of our idolatry is plain to see, so our judgment is inevitable. We need this judgment, for the new wineskin to come and the new wine to be poured out. Judgment is an act of grace, it is actually good news, for God loves us so much He has to discipline us, for we have chosen not to repent.

So, as we see these things happening all around the world and the news broadcasts the judgment of God, we are not to become afraid, actually we are to look for the stump. When the land is laid desolate, look for the stump; when the houses are without people (this actually is referring to churches, of which we are seeing a steady decline of church attendance), look for the stump; what is happening to the world is because the church has not obeyed the voice of God, the commands of God, so we are under the discipline of God, but look for the stump. Why? Because Isaiah 6:13 says, “13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

The holy seed is in the stump! God is going to remove all the idols, but there is a seed in the stump, it only takes one seed to start a brand new harvest. The seed is in the stump, look for it in the midst of all the devastation you see, all the desolation you notice. Look for the seed in the stump!