ENLARGE THY TENT -PART 2

“Enlarge the place of your tent” means “widen your heart.” God does not want his people to sit around feeling sorry for themselves. He does not want us to be selfish. Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves for good reasons: we have health problems, marriage problems, financial problems, relationship problems. We find ourselves thinking about ourselves and worrying a lot. Jesus summed up God’s commands by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.” God’s people cannot be self-centred or even family-centred. We must open our hearts to the people around us who need Jesus

Stretch your tent curtains wide. This means, “See God’s vision. A near-sighted person wears thick lenses in his glasses. He can only see what is right in front of his nose. He only looks for things that are for his own benefit. He asks, “What’s in it for me? But God is not near-sighted. He has a vision for the whole world. A barren woman has no need for a bigger tent. But God’s command is to „Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide.“ This tells her that she does need a bigger tent. God’s command–„Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch your tent curtains wide“–tells this sorrowful woman, Israel, to have God’s vision.

Lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. If one makes the place of his tent larger, he must have longer tent ropes and he must hammer the tent stakes deeper into the ground. Firstly, we can lengthen our cords by believing the promises of God and acting on those promises. Abraham began his life of faith when he believed God’s promise, „I will make your name great; I will make you into a great nation; I will bless you and you will be a blessing. “ Abraham caught God’s vision. He believed God’s promise and obeyed God’s word. He left his home country and his family and friends and went to the land God showed him. He lengthened his cords. This was the first step in becoming a father of many nations–the first step in becoming a man with God’s vision. Secondly, we must strengthen our stakes by deep Bible study and much prayer. We cannot do God’s work with human zeal. Even if we catch a glimpse of God’s vision for the world, we cannot do anything unless we learn to depend on God in prayer and learn to listen to and obey his word. God’s word has life giving power and life-changing power. God gave us his word and taught us its power. We have received this legacy. We pray that we may be used to share the word of God, the word of truth with a confused and hungry world.

Prayer lengthens our cords and strengthens our stakes. During the study of Acts, I was moved by Peter’s dependence on the Bible. He based every message on the word of God. In Luke 24:45, Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to understand the Scriptures. Jesus was a Bible teacher. He wants his disciples to also be Bible teachers. When we seek to obey Jesus’ world mission command, God blesses us. Isaiah 54: 3 says, For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.“ This reminds us of God’s promise to Abraham, „…Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.“ (Genesis 22:17-18) To be conquered by men is a curse, but to be conquered by God is the way of blessing. Also, God’s people were empty, fruitless and without hope. But God had hope for them and for the world. So they must take hold of God’s hope and not give up. God had and still has hope to evangelize the whole world through his people. Isaiah 54: 5 says, for your Maker is your Husband–the Lord Almighty is his name–the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” We are weak and helpless. But our God is great. He loves us like a husband loves his defenceless wife. Israel was once unfaithful to God, he punished them by sending them into Babylonian captivity. But he didn’t stop loving them. He would bring them back. “With everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” Our God is the Father of the Prodigal Son. He longs for his people to return to him.

We love God because he first loved us. But sometimes we sin. We love ourselves and the world more, so we are unfaithful to our Husband, God. God is very sorry. We suffer for our sins, but God does not abandon us. He welcomes us. He doesn’t stop loving us. Our lives can be fruitful only by the grace of our true Husband and Redeemer, God. When we are united with him through a vine and branch relationship with Jesus, our lives can bear fruit to God. His Holy Spirit indwells us. When his word is in us and we are in the word, we bear fruit. Let us renew our love relationship with Jesus. Let us rejoice in our true Husband, the almighty redeemer and Lord of all the earth. Let us enlarge the place of our tents and stretch our tent curtains wide. Let us strengthen our stakes and lengthen our cords and be a blessing to the world.

ENLARGE THY TENT

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back;lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes" Isaiah 54:2

Prophet Isaiah was addressing the people of Israel who had been taken into Babylonian captivity because of their unfaithfulness to God. They had become like a desolate woman. It is amazing that God gave this command and vision to his people Israel at a time when they were at their lowest point. God spoke through his servant Isaiah to plant God’s hope in the hearts of hopeless and despairing people. God is a God of mercy and forgiveness. Furthermore, God still had a purpose and a plan for his people, even though their situation seemed hopeless. His purpose would take a surprising turn. So in verse 1, Isaiah says to this barren, desolate woman, “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” God had a plan to make this desolate people fruitful. He had a plan to save them and bless them and use them to be a blessing to the world.

The people had broken their relationship with God their Creator and true Husband. Before the relationship could be restored, he had to deal with the sin problem. In Isaiah 53, God gave them the promise of the Messiah. “Isaiah 53:4-8 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, … he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed…and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God’s plan to save his people and the world starts with the promised Messiah who would take all of our sins on himself and give us healing and peace and a right relationship with our God. Jesus would be the great and real fulfilment of this prophesy.

In Isaiah 54, he describes the sorrowful and hopeless situation of the returning exiles. The good news is that he loves them. He would heal their wounds and take away their sins. So, even the sinful people have hope. God’s grace is free to sinners who receive it, but it is costly to God. In Isaiah 54, God plants hope in their hearts, he confesses his love for them and promises to redeem them. So he says, „Sing, burst into to song, shout for joy, because the children of the desolate woman are more than those of her who has a husband, says the LORD. He acknowledges that they are without hope and with joy or meaning in life, then he challenges this despairing woman to do something that seems impossible for her to do. He says, “burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour;” He promises her that she will not end her life as a desolate woman. He gives her hope and vision. He says, “Enlarge the place of your tent.”

Our broken relationship with our God must be healed. We need to claim God’s promised Messiah as our Saviour, Lord and King. We accept his forgiveness and healing. We accept his love. He is our true Husband. Verse 5 says, “your Maker is your Husband–the Lord Almighty is his Name. He alone gives us freedom. He prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our hope is in the Risen Jesus who will come again in power and glory to establish his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. This is our ultimate hope. God’s word gives vision and hope.

Isaiah acknowledges the hopeless situation of God’s people. He says that they were like a barren woman. But in spite of their situation God has vision and hope for them.” He is the one who will make them fruitful. He challenges them to sing for joy, and to enlarge the place of their tent. He challenges them to reach out to draw the whole world into the tent of God. When the promises of God come into our hearts, fear, despair, grudges and bitterness go out. May God’s promises and God’s hope come into our hearts. May he help us to enlarge the place of our tents and stretch our curtains wide. May he help us widen our hearts and minds. May he help us embrace the sorrowful and sin-sick people of our world with his love. How can we do this? How can we enlarge the place of our tent and stretch our curtains wide?