Tag Archives: Isaiah 52-56

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2022 Bible Study — Do Not Fear Failure, Do God’s Will And Speak His Word And His Purpose Will Be Accomplished

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 52-56.

The beginning of this passage discusses God’s redemption of His people.  In context, the prophet was writing about the return of the Israelites from Exile.  The prophet writes about the joy and blessing of those who tell the people of God that their God reigns, that our God reigns.  From there the prophet predicts that the people will leave their lives of Exile with deliberate, measured pace, not in haste and with no fear of pursuit.  I believe the prophet is contrasting this with the Exodus, not putting a negative light on what happened in Exodus but saying that this will be different.  I find it interesting that the prophet goes right from that to his message about the Suffering Servant.  When we read this we tend to stop at verse 52:12, and then start fresh at 52:13, as if the writer had put a full stop there and was starting new at 52:13.  But that is not how it actually reads.  No, the Suffering Servant described following verse 52:13 and through chapter 53 seems to be the one whose feet were beautiful for declaring the good news that our God reigns.

The writer transitions from writing about the suffering servant to the metaphor of the barren woman given numerous offspring.  From there he goes on to the call to everyone to come to God.  Isaiah 55 is a call and an offer.  God calls us to Himself and offers to fulfill our needs out of His storehouses.  He calls us to seek Him and to forsake wicked thoughts and actions.  He reminds us that He does not think the way that we do.  Just as the Suffering Servant exhibited great power when all we humans could see was weakness, so God’s power, and what He wants from us, does not look like what we recognize as power.  God’s way is above any of our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts.  God’s words will accomplish the purpose for which He spoke them, whether we understand them, or their purpose, or not.  If we speak God’s words and do His will, we will be successful.  We may not accomplish the purpose we thought God had for us, but, as long as we seek God and speak the words He gives us, we will accomplish His purpose, even when we do not understand what it is.

 

 

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

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2021 Bible Study — No Weapon Forged Against You Will Prevail

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 52-56.

Since I am going to be on vacation from July 31-August 9 I have already written my blog posts for these days and scheduled them to be posted.  However, I may not be able to post a link to them on FaceBook, Gab.com, or MeWe.com during every day (or any day) during this time period.  So, please continue to visit my site to read my daily devotional.

There is so much in this passage which I want to write about that it would go beyond the length I wish to keep these entries.  I will start at the beginning and see how far I get.  The beginning of this passage makes me think of some of what is going on today.  In Isaiah 52:5-6 the following is written:

“Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long.  But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.”

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it sure looks like the line “Mu name is blasphemed all day long” applies in our society today.   Yet God promises that He will reveal Himself and those who turn to Him will know His power.  To the point where people will see what they had not been told, and understand what they had not heard about.  We live in a society where the haves are getting more, while the have-nots are finding it harder to make ends meet.  And don’t mistake, many of those talking about this are the haves getting more at the expense of those who have little.  They talk a good game, but use it to exploit those over whom they have power.  Yet God’s faithful love will remain, even when the mountains move and the hills disappear.  God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. Let us seek the Lord while we can find him and call on him now while he is near.  Do not be afraid to speak God’s word because it will accomplish all that He want it to.  Things may seem bad, and they may get worse, but God will bring His people home to Him.  Some of those He brings to Him will be those we consider foreign to Him.

Please read the passage.  When I read what I wrote above it does not convey what I tried to pull from the pasasge.

 

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

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2020 Bible Study Let Everyone Who Is Thirsty Come and Drink

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 52-56.

I love today’s passage.  It contains many elements which are preached and written about often, but usually as individual themes.  For me we start with verses which declare praise to God, and to God’s messenger.  How lovely are those who bring the news that God reigns!  That transitions right into what is often called the “Suffering Servant” prophecy, a prophecy which is an amazingly close portrayal of Jesus’ trial, execution, and burial.  Isaiah describes how He was unjustly condemned by everyone, including us.  Isaiah described how His guilt was assumed by those who were truly guilty of the sins of which He was accused should serve as an object lesson for us.  Isaiah is describing a phenomena known as projection, wherein someone sees someone else as being guilty of the wrongs which they themselves have committed.

I am not quite sure how the verses between Isaiah’s description of the Suffering Servant and his description of God’s bounty in Chapter 55 connects to those two sections, but its placement means that it is connected.  We start today’s passage with the messenger and then in Chapter 55 we have the message: “Come and drink, even if you have no money!”  God invites everyone to come and enjoy His bounty.  And this is where it gets complicated.  God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts, so we should not be surprised that we do not understand what He is doing.  However, we can be sure that God’s words will accomplish what He intends.  It will not fail to produce the fruit which God sent it forth to produce.  Share God’s love with those around you, even when you don’t understand why you should.  Share the words God gives you, even when you do not understand what they mean.  One of the things Isaiah says here is both a message we should heed and a message we should share: Seek the Lord while He can be found.  The time is coming when we will no longer have that opportunity.

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2019 Bible Study — God’s Words Will Accomplish The Purpose For Which He Sent Them

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I am going to be on vacation through August 10th.  I have prepared my daily Bible Studies for each day throughout that time in advance since I will have limited access to the Internet during this time.  The timing on when I publish these blogs may be erratic during this time.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 52-56.

I have always seen the portion of this passage about the messenger who brings good news (chapter 52 verses 7-12) separated from the portion about the suffering servant (starting with verse 13 and continuing through the next chapter).  However, as I read today I saw that the suffering servant was also the messenger who brings good news (chapter 53, verse 1).    His suffering made it possible for us to be healed.  He bore our sins so that we could be counted as righteous.

I love reading this whole passage.  It is incredibly powerful.  We separate it into parts because the prophet includes so much that we cannot possibly cover it all at once.  Chapter 54 tells us the results of the actions of God’s suffering servant, the Messiah.  Then chapter 55 explains the message which God’s servant brought and why He brought it.  Jesus has invited all to come and drink of the Water of Life.  God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts.  Stop trying to put Him in a box.  Stop trying to take God’s words and use them for our ends.  Isaiah tells us that God’s words accomplish God’s purpose, every time, all of the time.  I just wrote that we should stop trying to use God’s words for our selfish ends.  I meant that, but for our own sake, not for the sake of those who hear us.  We are the ones who suffer for misusing God’s words.  When we speak God’s words ,even if we have distorted them, they accomplish God’s purpose.

Isaiah tells us to be accepting of everyone who commits themselves to God, because God has already done so.  God calls us to be just and fair to everyone, to always do what is right and good.  If we reject any one who has committed themselves to God, we reject God.  There was so much more I wanted to say about this passage, but it just is not coming out.  Well, I wrote of how God’s words accomplish His purpose.  So, read the words He gave the prophet Isaiah and see the power they possess.

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2018 Bible Study — God’s Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways

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 52-56.

    Those who bring the news of God’s salvation to people are beautiful to those who receive their message. We should never forget this because the reverse is true as well. Those who know the news of God’s salvation and fail to pass it on are ugly to those who suffer for not hearing it. If we do not share what we know about God’s saving grace to those we know, they will, rightfully, condemn us in days to come. Let us not fail in our duty.

    I have been really stuck for a bit figuring out what I want to write about chapter 53. It is a very strongly prophecy of the Messiah and for Christians it clearly points to Jesus and His suffering. The word pictures which Isaiah paints here of what Jesus went through in order to reconcile us with God should touch our souls. They are meant to touch our souls. God seeks to restore our relationship with Him, and through Jesus He has made that possible. And yet, so many of us still refuse to listen to the love He offers us.

    Then we come to chapter 55, which gives us a great idea of how good God will be to us. Communism tries to embody what God is offering here. The problem is that Communism wants to do it without turning to God. If you are hungry or thirsty, come to God and He will provide what you need. If we turn to God, He will do great things for us. In order to enjoy God’s offer of bounty, the wicked must change their ways, and, from what was written earlier in today’s passage, the “wicked” includes every one of us.
    Communism fails because God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts and His ways are not like our ways. Communism only works if everyone buys in wholeheartedly, but it provides no mechanism to transform wicked humanity into the godly people needed for it to work. God’s system on the other hand only requires each of us individually to “buy in”, and God will transform those who allow Him to do so. We do not, and cannot, understand how it works, but God sends out His word into the world and it transforms people. We can never predict how that transformation will take place. God’s Spirit reaches out and transforms people we would never expect. His words never fail to accomplish the purpose for which they were spoken.
    I want to write more, but I must move on to other parts of my day. Read the passage, especially chapters 53, 55, and 56. If we wish it, God will give us a place in His family.

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2017 Bible Study — God “Gets It”…Even When We Don’t

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 52-56.

    Starting in chapter 52 verse 13 through the end of chapter 53 is the passage that is often referred to as the “Suffering Servant” passage. It is one of those clearly messianic passages which as a Christian I see as a reference to Jesus. However, there is a lesson not directly related to the Messiah for us in this passage. It tells us that God’s Servant had nothing about him to attract us to him, that he was despised and rejected. No one cared that he died. Yet, it was because of Him that we are counted as righteous. How many other people do we treat as the prophet tells us that the Messiah was treated? How many of them are, also, God’s servants? Truly understanding this passage should cause us to seek to be friends with the outcasts, with those whom society says are “untouchable”.

    Isaiah 55 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. I absolutely love the way it reads in the NIV. The first couple of verses are a foreshadowing of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6. Actually, I suspect that what Jesus said there is partially derived from the beginning of Isaiah 55. However, the key part of Isaiah 55 begins with verse six. Each one of us has a window of opportunity to turn to the Lord. I will not pretend to understand how it works, but if we choose to turn away from God when He makes His present felt by us, we may never get another chance to turn to Him. Never pass up an opportunity to do God’s will, you may not get another one.

    I am hoping my thought processes here make sense to you. There is a connection between what I wrote in the first paragraph of yesterday’s blog and chapter 55 here. We often think that we know better than Scripture how to do God’s will.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

The idea is continued and expanded on through the rest of the chapter. God promises that if we stay true to His word, listen to His word, and preach His word, as He has given it to us in Scripture, it will accomplish the purpose for which He gave it. It is important to remember that this means actually reading and teaching what is actually written, not what we think what was actually written means. It is OK to do the latter, but only as long as we start by recounting what it actually says. I cannot emphasize that enough, we need to make sure that when we teach God’s word we refer to the written word and not rely on what we think it says.

Daily Bible Study

August 3, 2016 Bible Study — God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways

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

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 52-56.

    Yesterday I wrote that I thought the suffering servant references in the passage could be applied to those who serve God today as well as applying them to Jesus. I still think that is true. The same cannot be said for the suffering servant described in today’s passage. The suffering servant whom Isaiah describes in today’s passage is Jesus, the Messiah. I am forever grateful for the suffering to which He submitted. And I am shamed by the way I have failed to acknowledge Him at times in my life (“turned my back on Him”). I am shamed by the things I have done which required Him to suffer as He did.

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    Now I come to chapter 55, which is God’s call to us, and our call to those around us.

Is anyone thirsty?
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

If we come to God and listen to what He says we will find life. God is calling us to seek Him now, not next week, not tomorrow. Drop what your doing and seek Him. Let us change our wicked ways at once and turn to God. “Seek the Lord while you can find Him.” That phrase contains the implication that our time is limited. But I want to point out that not only is our time limited, but so is that of those around us. If we do not call them to turn to God NOW, it may be too late.

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    I thought that what I wrote above was going to be the thread I followed as I wrote about the rest of this passage. But then I came to chapter 55 verse 8 (I prefer the NIV here because its phrasing more clearly expresses what I am feeling about this passage today):

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

How true this is! When we look at the wicked in this world, our tendency is to hate them and desire them to experience the full weight of God’s judgment. But God tells us to give them the same message which He gave us: “Come, all you who are thirsty.” Let us not be afraid to speak God’s word, to teach God’s word, and to preach God’s word. He has sent His word out and it WILL accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. It has the power to transform the evil in this world. Even the vilest of offender will be transformed by hearing God’s word. Let us take every opportunity we are given to spread that word.