Tag Archives: Isaiah 6-7:25

September 10, 2014 Bible Study — The Lord Asks, “Whom Shall I Send?”

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 23:1-3

    I actually think that the footnote to the NIV makes the most sense of this proverb. When you sit down to a meal with the movers and shakers of this world, pay attention to who else is there and to what they say and do. If you allow yourself to be caught up in the pleasure of eating the food set before you, you may as well kill yourself because you will miss some interaction which is important. Do not become so enamoured of eating with the movers and shakers that you are willing to give up what is important to you.

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Psalm 54:1-7

    God is my helper. He is the one I will call on when trouble arises. I will count on Him when enemies attack me. Those who plot against me because I serve Him will have their plans to blow up in their faces. Even when times are good, I will serve the Lord. I will give to the work of the Lord, not because He demands it but because I love Him.

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2 Corinthians 11:16-33

    Paul points out that whatever others may have to boast about their faith and righteous service of God, he had as much or more. Yet despite all of this, Paul does not want us to believe his message on the basis of any of that. He wants us to judge him on the basis of what God has done through him despite his weakness, not because of his strength. God does not choose us because we are strong, wonderful people. Rather God has chosen us to demonstrate His willingness and ability to heal the weak and broken. It is only my willingness to admit my flaws and failures that has any value to God. If God can use me to accomplish His purpose in this world, then He can surely use you to do even more.

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Isaiah 6-7:25

    When Isaiah found himself in the presence of God he was sure that he was doomed. He realized that he was a sinful man in the presence of righteousness. What is interesting is that Isaiah recognized that his sinfulness was expressed by the words he spoke. When Isaiah acknowledged his sinfulness before God, God cleansed and forgave him. Having forgiven Isaiah, God asks who He can send to deliver His message. God is asking this question today. Whom shall He send? Having been forgiven, will I answer as Isaiah did? Whenever I read this passage, I cannot help but imagine Isaiah standing there going, “Me, Me, send me! I’ll go!” Although sometimes I also imagine Isaiah looking around, seeing no one else there and saying quietly, “Well, I’m here, you could send me.” In both cases I imagine Isaiah having some doubt as to whether or not he was truly qualified, if God will really want to send him. We may feel the same way, I certainly do. But God’s answer to us is the same as His answer to Isaiah, “Yes, go, and say to this people…”
    The question is not whether God wants us to deliver His message. The question is, are we willing to go?

September 10, 2013 Bible Study — Whom Shall I Send?

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Isaiah 6-7:25

     Today’s passage begins with one of my favorite “scenes” from the Bible. Isaiah had a vision of God seated on a throne in the Temple. Isaiah’s response was to express fear and despair because he knew that he was a sinful man in the presence of a holy God. In particular, he expresses concern about his filthy lips. In response, one of the seraphim in attendance to God flew to him with a burning coal taken from the altar and touched it to Isaiah’s lips. The seraphim told Isaiah that his sins had been removed by the touching of the coal to his lips and they were forgiven.
     When Isaiah’s purification was completed he heard God call out, “Whom shall I send as my messenger? Whom shall I send?”
     Isaiah replied, “Here I am. Send me.”
     God gave Isaiah the message he was to deliver. The message to the people was that they would hear, but not understand. They would look, but not see. Isaiah was to tell the people that they would refuse to listen to God’s message and to see the signs He was giving them. If they were to truly listen and genuinely see what was happening, they would turn to God and be forgiven. However, they would not do so.

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     This passage starts by showing how we respond to finding ourselves in God’s presence if we are honest with ourselves. Isaiah responded in fear and despair. He knew that he was a sinful man whose mere presence placed a stain upon a holy God. God responds to Isaiah’s fear in a manner which would be unexpected if not for the revelation of the Bible. God sends one of His agents to purify Isaiah. The method of purification is symbolic in two ways. The first is that a burning coal touched to human lips would be expected to inflict great pain. As the seraphim approached Isaiah, he would have expected to experience a searing pain for an extended period of time (considering that he speaks moments after this, we conclude that the pain did not occur, or was fleeting). The second is that the heat of a burning coal would cauterised a wound and/or kill the infectious agents present where it touched. By applying a burning coal, the flow of sinful words would be stopped, the ability of the sin present on Isaiah’s lips to infect others would be eliminated.
     Having purified and forgiven the sinner in His presence, a purification needed more for the sinner to feel able to be in God’s presence than for God to allow the sinner in His presence, God asks for someone to be His messenger. Having just been purified of his sins, Isaiah responds that since he is here, he is willing to go. We respond in the same way to God’s purifying us from our sins. If we have accepted the purification of our sins, we will find ourselves responding to God’s call for a messenger, not just by volunteering, but by enthusiastically volunteering. Isaiah’s response was not, “Well, if you’ve got no one else, I guess I could do it.” No, Isaiah’s response was “Ooh, Ooh, pick me! I’ll go! Send me! Let me do it!” All the while jumping up and down with his hand in the air. That is what happens to us when God purifies us of our sins, we want more than anything else in this world, or the next, to serve God however we can.

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2 Corinthians 11:16-33

     Paul says that he does not wish anyone to think him foolish, but since some apparently do think him foolish, he will indulge in some foolishness. He has been called a fool and others have boasted of how the believers should follow their teachings rather than Paul’s because of the credentials they have. Paul tells the Corinthians that whatever credentials these “super-apostles” (as Paul referred to them in yesterday’s passage) claim to have, he has it in spades. He is just as much a Hebrew, an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham as anyone. Paul goes on to tell them that he has worked harder and suffered more in service to Christ than any of these men would even claim, let alone have actually done. Paul makes all of these boasts almost under protest.

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     Paul taught through almost all of his writings that we should be humble and only boast of God’s working in and around us. Here he breaks from that. He does this because apparently teachers have arisen who are claiming great credentials and are claiming to have greater understanding of the Gospel than Paul. However, they are teaching things which are contrary to what Paul had taught. These were not people from among the disciples that had followed Jesus while He was preaching in Galilee and Judea.
     In this passage Paul gives us a standard by which to measure people who claim to be speaking on behalf of God. First, he asks us to measure what they preach against what we have already learned. If it is consistent with what we already know, all well and good. If, however, it contradicts what we already believe regarding the Gospel, he provides us with standards by which to compare those who teach the competing doctrines. What kind of fruit does each preacher bear? Do they demonstrate concern for those in need? Have they suffered privation themselves in order to reach the lost? Paul continues this in tomorrow’s passage.

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Psalm 54:1-7

     A psalm to remember when we face troubles and difficulties. If we put out trust in God and serve Him to the best of our ability, we can cry out to Him and know that this will be true for us:

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.
He will recompense the evil to my foes;(NASB)

I will praise the Lord, for He will help me in times of trouble.

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Proverbs 23:1-3

     When invited to dine with the politically powerful, pay attention to what you are fed and who you are eating with. Do not let the food and entertainment distract you from what else is going on.

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September 10, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Isaiah 6-7:25

     Today’s passage includes Isaiah’s calling. Isaiah finds himself in the presence of God and his response is instructive.

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”(NASB)

We should all feel this way when we find ourselves in the presence of God, and the message of Christianity is that we always are in the presence of God. In addition to my other sins, like Isaiah, I am a man of unclean lips. I say things that I should not. I lie. I brag about myself. I say things about others that are hurtful. I say things that bring disrepute to the Gospel. But there is good news. God will send one of His seraphim to bring a coal from the altar before God and place it against my mouth, cleansing it. I am forgiven because Christ died on the cross, but sometimes there is still pain involved in accepting that forgiveness. Sometimes I have to go to those I have wronged with my words and ask their forgiveness. That is not easy for me.
     There is more to this passage, because immediately after having his lips seared Isaiah hears God say, “Who will be my messenger?” Isaiah at once responds by calling out, “Here I am. Send me.” This was not a quiet little statement, hoping that no one heard him. This was a loud calling out of his willingness to serve God. I pray that when I hear God calling for someone to perform some service that I too will cry out, “Here I am. Send me!”
     Isaiah then tells us how when the kings of Israel and Syria allied themselves together to conquer Judah, God sent him with a message to King Ahaz. Isaiah’s message was that the invasion they were plotting would never take place. If Ahaz’s faith was firm, God would make him stand firm. Then Isaiah tells King Ahaz to ask for a sign that God would do as He said He would. Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. This was not because his faith was such that he did not need a sign to believe the message, but because his faith was weak and he was afraid that any sign he asked for would not happen. Isaiah gave him a sign, and that sign became a sign for us as well. Isaiah told Ahaz that a young woman, a virgin, would conceive and bear a son. By the time that son was old enough to know right from wrong, the two kings that Ahaz feared would be destroyed. I am sure that such a child was born while Ahaz was king, but this prophesy also referred to another child. One that was also called “Immanuel” or “God is with us”.

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2 Corinthians 11:16-33

     Paul confronts the Corinthians about the teachers who had come among them and taught them things contrary to what Paul had taught and contrary to the gospel. He tells the Corinthians that whatever they claim as a basis for their authority, he could match it, or surpass it. If they claim authority from their Jewishness, Paul is just as much a Jew as they. If they claim to be servants of Christ, Paul has done more. He has suffered more persecution than they because of his ministry. Paul then lists the things he has willingly suffered in order to spread the gospel. We do not know who these other teachers whose teachings Paul is trying to counter. But, based on what Paul says about them here and in some of the passages I read on previous days, I am pretty sure that it was obvious to anyone who looked at them that they had suffered little for their teachings. In fact, they probably looked as if they prospered from their teachings. This once again shows how the Christian standard of success differs from that of the world. The world’s standard of success is fancy clothes, a nice house, and a fine car. The Christian standard of success is going without, persecution and suffering.

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Psalm 54:1-7

     God will come and rescue us in our times of trouble. If we rely on the Lord, the plans of those who plot against us will be turned against them. We must remember to praise the Lord and turn to Him with free will offerings.

Proverbs 23:1-3

     Today’s proverb tells us to pay attention to what is going on around us when those in authority over us provide us with a meal. This applies at company parties and if your boss takes you out for a meal. Pay attention to his or her behavior. Base how much you eat or what you order on his or her choices. Do not order the most expensive item on the menu.