“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” Isaiah 9:10
At first glance this verse might seem an appropriate statement for post 9/11 speeches. In fact, it was quoted by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle on the Senate floor the day after the twin towers fell. Then in a speech in Washington DC on the third anniversary of the attack, vice presidential candidate John Edwards quoted this passage from Isaiah as the ‘word of the Lord’ for America as we continued to recover and look to the future.
However, there is a problem with this verse as it is read in context. It was actually a statement of defiance against the Lord. God had allowed Assyria to attack a rebellious Israel, but instead of confessing their sin and turning to God, Israel revealed a hardened heart. “The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. All the people will know it — Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria — who say with pride and arrogance of heart, ‘The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.’” Isaiah 9:8–10
Jonathan Cahn is a Messianic Jew who recently wrote a book called The Harbinger. Written in story form, Cahn shows the way God warns nations. A broad lesson of the book is the real possibility that God’s Word can be used in totally inappropriate ways. We know this is true as we notice Satan quoting Scripture to tempt Jesus on the highest point of the temple… “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus was not deceived.
The specific purpose of Cahn’s book is to sound an alarm for our country to turn to God. The historical facts he mentions in his story make the warnings impossible to ignore.
God gives a simple responsibility to those He chooses to voice his warnings. He basically says: “You can’t control whether others heed my warning, but you must speak out. If you don’t speak, I will hold you responsible.” God’s ways don’t change. He loves enough to send wake-up calls to those who are asleep. “The Lord disciplines those He loves.”
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” Ezekiel 3:16-19