Yesterday while driving from San Diego to Yuma, my wife and I were listening to a very nice sermon (a podcast by Tim Keller) on Isaiah 6. What was new to me was the fact that Isaiah was not only a great prophet, but that he was possibly King Uzziah's first cousin - i.e. his father Amoz was the brother of King Amaziah according to Jewish tradition (Talmud, Megillah 14b - see wikianswers.com). This piece of trivial fact may be relevant to explain his sense of guilt on behalf of the people of Israel when he witnessed the glory of the Lord in the temple:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)
This morning's scripture reading is from 1 Chronicles chapters 1-3. It is full of history of the genealogy of God's chosen people - from the time of Adam and Eve, to the time of captivity of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. What got me interested was the origin of the "enemies" Israel was told to defeat in order to possess God's promised land. These original inhabitants of the promised land were related to Israel from way back!
“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:27-30)
Who were the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites?
The Hivites and Hitties were all descendants of Canaan, son of Ham! (1 Chronicles 1:13-15).
During the divided kingdom (Judah and Israel) there were other enemies like the Moabites, Amorites, Kenites (Midianites), Edomites, Ammonites, and Amalekites (see Nations of the Bible Land). The Moabites and Ammonites were descendants of Lot (Abraham's nephew) through incest with his own daughters: "Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day." (Genesis 19:36-38). The Amorites were descendants of Canaan (1 Chronicles 1:14). The Edomites and the Amalekites were descended from Esau who is the brother of Jacob and son of Isaac. "Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom)." (Genesis 36:1).
As I traced back to the origin of all these peoples who were fighting each other throughout the ancient history, I was struck by the many wars between essentially related people groups, in Europe and in Asia during the world wars, and today, between related people groups in Africa and the Middle East.
These verses of James came to mind:
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. (James 4:1-2)
And what can I do to be a peacemaker in this war stricken world? Isaiah responded by total humility and total surrender to God's call, regardless of how hopeless the situation maybe. It will only happen when I see God's holiness and glory:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)
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