Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 22-25.

There are two separate sections of today’s passage I want to focus on.  I do not see them as connected, but we will see how it comes out as I write my thoughts.  In chapter 24 Isaiah describes how the people of Jerusalem prepared to defend against invasion by strengthening the walls of the city and securing their water supply.  Yet they did not call out to God.  Further, instead of mourning for the sins they had committed which led them into this position, they partied; taking the attitude that they should take what pleasure they could today because their death was coming.  I see the attitude which Isaiah condemns in this passage taken by many in our society, to the point where they approvingly quote, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  It has been a long time since I have heard anyone quote that phrase who understood that the attitude it represents was being condemned.  There is a time and place for having a good time, but let us be sure we only do so after we have turned to God and made ourselves right with Him, that we are not having a good time at the expense of those in need.

Then in chapter 25, after having discussed the coming devastation upon the whole earth which will come from God’s judgement, Isaiah tells us that the time will come when God will do away with death.  He will completely get rid of death and suffering.  He will do away with our sorrows and the things which cause them.  We will rejoice in His power and praise His name.  No matter what suffering you face in this life, God offers joy to those who put their faith in Him and allow Him to transform them.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 17-21.

Part of me would like to spend some time writing about Isaiah’s prophecy of doom on Egypt and Cush (more or less modern day Ethiopia), but I cannot quite get my head around what to write.  So, instead I want to look at what Isaiah says at the end of his prophecies against both countries.  He tells us that, after a devastating defeat, the remaining people in both lands will come to worship the Lord.  In fact, the Egyptians will partner with Assyria and Israel in an alliance which worships the Lord.  In addition to these prophecies against Egypt and Cush, there is a prophecy against Israel.  That prophecy also ends with God’s promise that the people will finally abandon their idols and turn to God.

I want to put some special attention to verse 14 in chapter 17:

In the evening, sudden terror!
    Before the morning, they are gone!

I think the New Catholic Bible translation makes this clearer:

In the evening terror has spread,
    but by the morning it has disappeared.

We should learn from this not to give in to terror.  God is in control.  No matter how bad things may seem, God will make things better for those who put their trust in Him.  I still remember a time a few years ago when I came across this passage just as my wife and I were facing a terrible financial crisis.  We had debts and bills that there seemed no way we would be able to meet.  The day I had published my blog on this passage, it all came together to seem like we would be out on the streets in a matter of weeks.  There was no conceivable way that we could find a way out.  Yet, God had provided me this message of hope.  My wife was initially skeptical that even God could solve our problems, but before we went to bed she had peace that God would rescue us.  I do not remember how that incident was resolved, except that the next day we were no longer in danger of being homeless.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 13-16.

Many scholars who study the Bible believe that Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Babylon is evidence that the Book of Isaiah was not written by Isaiah, was actually written after his death.  The last king who reigned while Isaiah was alive was Hezekiah.  Yet, when Hezekiah was king, Assyria was still the most dominant power on earth and Babylon was lesser.  In fact, at that time there was no reason to believe that Babylon would ever be a great power.  Yet, here Isaiah prophesies that Babylon will fall from being the greatest power on earth.  However, this prophecy is here to bring home to us what God says through Isaiah in Chapter 14 verse 24:

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.”

While Isaiah was alive no one knew of Babylon as a world power which would take the people of Judah into Exile, except for Isaiah.  He knew this because God had revealed it to him.  He also knew that the day would come when God would bring His people back from that Exile.  So, no matter what terrible experience we may be going through, God knew it was coming before it began, and planned for it to happen.  More importantly, He planned to bring about its end.  Let us trust the plans which God has for us.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 9-12.

Today’s passage contains many elements which point to the coming Messiah, prophecies which were fulfilled with the birth and life of Jesus.  However, I want to start with some aspects of this passage which I see speaking to our society today.  Isaiah speaks of Israel arrogantly planning to build back better what God had destroyed because of their sins.  Despite the suffering which their sins had caused them they did not return to God, nor seek Him at all.  Isaiah goes on to write about how those who guide the people mislead them, which reminds me of today.  Isaiah says that both the “elders and dignitaries” and the “prophets” tell lies to the people.  Despite this, the prophet does not excuse the people for allowing themselves to be led astray.  Everyone, he tells us, is ungodly and wicked.  Isaiah promises that a day of reckoning will come for those who create divisions among the people and stir up anger between groups.   Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come and judge with righteousness, giving justice to the poor of the earth.  The Messiah would unite rather than divide.  He will cause the lion to lie down with the lamb.  Those who call for division do not serve God.  Let us seek to find unity in serving God.

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

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

Usually when I read this passage I am struck by God’s call to Isaiah, and Isaiah’s response.  I feel called and I feel the need to encourage others to feel called.  However, today the message which God gave Isaiah to deliver had more impact on me.  When Isaiah accepted God’s call to deliver God’s message, God gave him this message to deliver:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

While this was worded as a command being given, it is really more of a prophecy.  The targets of this message are those about whom Isaiah said this in the previous chapter:

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 1-4.

I am not sure that it ever struck me before, but three of the four kings under whom Isaiah prophesied are considered among the good kings of Judah, among the kings who “did right in the eyes of God.”  Nevertheless, Isaiah prophesied that God found their sacrifices meaningless and their worship assemblies worthless.  It seems to me when I read today’s passage that Isaiah was talking to the people during the reigns of those good kings with what he was saying here.  The message here is that the people of Judah did not do evil because they had evil kings.  They had evil kings because they did evil.

As I read this and think about how it applies today, I am struck by how many people use this passage to attack others rather than doing what it says.  When Isaiah says “Defend the oppressed,” he is not referring to some anonymous group of people.  He didn’t mean stand up for “sex workers”, he meant defend that prostitute whose pimp beats her when she doesn’t bring back enough money.  When he said, “take up the cause of the fatherless”, he meant, be a role model for the boy down the street whose father is not around, for whatever reason.  Of course, and this is the part that is hard for me and strikes me, in all of this he also meant, don’t buy the least expensive brand, if that brand was made by slave labor in some foreign country.

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