I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 5-8.

    Isaiah warns against those who spend their efforts accumulating wealth at the expense of others and their time pursuing pleasure. They do these things without even thinking about God or noticing what He is doing in the world. When discussing the accumulation of wealth, Isaiah focuses on those who acquire more real estate than they can truly use, while leaving the poor with no place they can afford to live. The result is unproductive land, both because there is no one to work the land and because the environment breaks down. In the middle of oppressing the poor, these people mock God by asking why, if God is holy, He is not doing something for the poor?

    Isaiah warns us against those who say that evil is good and that good is evil. Those who insist on doing so will reap great sorrow. Today in our society we have many who claim that things long recognized as evil are actually good, and things long recognized as good are evil. Many of them compare this change to the change which recognized that slavery was evil. However, only a small number ever argued that slavery was good. The argument had been that it was not evil. In time, any society which insists on calling that which is evil good and that which is good evil will face destruction. Its own internal conflicts will tear it apart.

    One of the most inspiring stories in the Bible is Isaiah’s account of his calling by God. First, Isaiah recognized his complete unworthiness to be in the presence of God. He recognized his terrible guilt, a guilt which all of us share. But God cleansed him of his crime, of his sin, just as He offers to do for each and every one of us through Christ Jesus. Upon being cleansed of his sin, Isaiah heard God calling for someone to carry His message. I think we often miss that it was immediately upon being cleansed of his sin that Isaiah heard God’s call. This does not mean that we may not receive a call later, merely that when we experience God’s forgiveness, we immediately feel the desire to serve God. Isaiah was not cleansed of his sin because he faithfully conveyed God’s messages to His people. Isaiah faithfully conveyed God’s message because he was cleansed. We should be the same way.

    Isaiah told King Ahaz not to fear the alliance of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and Syria. While the kings of those two nations were plotting to conquer Judah, the Southern Kingdom, and had gathered their armies to that end, it would never happen. God was going to bring the Assyrian army to crush both of those nations. There are two aspects of Isaiah’s prophecy I have never noticed before and I have never heard anyone comment on. First, Isaiah condemns the people of Judah for rejoicing over the destruction of those kingdoms. We should never rejoice over the sufferings of others. And here is the thing which I find interesting. Isaiah prophesied that as a result of Judah’s rejoicing, Assyria would invade Judah, but not quite conquer it. Isaiah predicted that the Assyrian army would sweep into Judah and there would be nothing the people of Judah could do to resist it, but the flood of Assyrian conquest would recede before Judah fell.