Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 29-31. I want to note for any of you who come to this from the links that I post on social media sites (FaceBook, Gab.com, and MeWe. com) that I will be going on vacation from July 31-August 9 and may not be able to post my links to those sites during that time.  I will, however have written the blogs for those dates and scheduled them to be posted.  So, please continue to visit my site to read my daily devotional.

Early in today’s passage Isaiah says the following:

These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

This is a continuation of the theme I talked about yesterday.  Isaiah goes on to say that they think they can hide their plans and thoughts from God.  They wish the benefits of appearing righteous without having to treat others with dignity and respect.  I say that as if all of those who do it realize what they are doing.  We must be careful not to fall into this trap.  Isaiah goes on to tell us that those who do the above will tell the prophets to stop telling them God’s word.  They will seek to silence those who tell the truth and seek salvation by earthly power.

Isaiah further tells us that the social structures they build will collapse suddenly similar to that condo collapse in Miami a few weeks ago.  Those who looked saw warning signs of imminent disaster, but for most it seemed strong and sound.  In the same way, those who create human rules of righteousness will build a society which seems to them strong and sound, but it will collapse upon them suddenly.  However, God will be waiting for those willing to return to Him.  Isaiah has a message for those who do so:

Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left.

I took the above from the New Living Translation because I think their wording conveys the sense of this verse most clearly.  Those who hear that Voice will throw away the idols they have made for themselves and be glad to be rid of 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 26-28.  I want to note for any of you who come to this from the links that I post on social media sites (FaceBook, Gab.com, and MeWe. com) that I will be going on vacation from July 31-August 9 and may not be able to post my links to those sites during that time.  I will, however have written the blogs for those dates and scheduled them to be posted.  So, please continue to visit my site to read my daily devotional.

Once again as I begin to write I am not sure how the things I want to write about will tie together.  Isaiah begins today’s passage by telling us that God will provide a safe place for those who steadfastly put their trust in Him.  He will keep them in perfect peace.  However, all too often we rest in that peace He gives us and fail to bring God’s salvation to others on this earth.  It is important that we bring God’s message of salvation to the people we love who have not heard it because God is going to punish the people of the earth for their sins.

Which brings me to what Isaiah wrote in chapter 28.  When people do not truly listen to God’s commands, those commands become “Do this, don’t do that.”  People begin to see them as a bunch of rules to be followed instead of being about loving God and others.  Some people even think they have found loopholes which allow them to mistreat others because the “rules” do not specify that what they are doing is wrong.  Then they come to the point where they believe that they can protect themselves with lies and falsehood.  We have come to that point in our society.  Many powerful people (and many not-so-powerful people) have decided that truth can be whatever they say it is and if they can prevent people from hearing anything different, it will become the truth.  Isaiah has a warning for them.  God has established the truth.  Those who think that they can replace God’s truth with their own will discover it swept aside when the scourge of God’s judgement sweeps through.  They have built their mansions and fortresses on sand and when the storm of God’s judgement arrive they will be swept away.  Perhaps a better analogy would be the hillsides of Southern California. God has laid a solid stone of truth for us to build upon and given us justice and righteousness to use as the tools to build upon it.

Which brings us back to the first part of this blog: put your trust in God’s truth, measure your life with justice,  and line it up with righteousness .  This is going longer than I usually want, but I think this is important.  A lot of people today speak about the importance of justice, but they do not see the other two parts that must be present.  You must start with truth.  You cannot build a just society on a lie.  However, justice built on truth is not enough.  A stable society (even one of a group which associate together voluntarily) must be lined up with righteousness.  I do not feel like I have worded this quite right, but I trust that if you read the passage the Holy Spirit will show you what I am trying to say (or, perhaps, what I should be trying to say).

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

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.

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 64-66.

Isaiah tells us that God welcomes those who gladly do good, but that we are not godly.  We are constant sinners, every one of us.  We call to God for help, but not really.  God stands ready to respond, but no one actually asks for His help.  Instead of asking God to transform us into godly people whom He can bless, we ask Him to accept our sinfulness as righteous.  We do things which God has declared as detestable, then tell others not to get too close to us because they might defile us.

This passage reminded me of the news around us.  There are people who will beat someone up for not wearing a mask in public, and others who will beat someone up for asking them to wear a mask.  Both think they are more righteous than the other.  But Isaiah tells us that those whom God will bless are those with a humble and contrite heart.  If you think that you are holier, more righteous, better than others, you just haven’t been listening when God speaks.  There is more in this passage I would like to write about, but doing so would dilute that message.  I will come before God with a humble and contrite heart.  I am not better than you, or anyone else.  I am but a sinner whose only redeeming features come from the grace of God.

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 60-63.

There are three thoughts I want to emphasize in today’s passage.  I am hoping I can write about them in a way which shows how they are connected in my mind.  So, I will begin with the beginning of chapter 61, which Jesus quoted and said that He fulfilled.  Jesus certainly fulfilled that prophecy, but there is a way in which each of us should also be a fulfillment of this prophecy.  The Spirit of the Lord, the Sovereign Lord, should be upon us.  For God has certainly anointed those who choose to imitate Christ to bring good news to the poor.  The captives will be freed if they choose to accept the salvation which God offers.

But there is more to this passage than just good news.  The time of the Lord’s favor for those who worship Him will also be the day of His anger against His enemies.  We get to choose which group we wish to be in.  Chapter 63 verse 3 says the following:

I have been treading the winepress alone;
no one was there to help me.
In my anger I have trampled my enemies
as if they were grapes.
In my fury I have trampled my foes.
Their blood has stained my clothes.

This reminds me of the first verse of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.  The writer of that song saw the horrors of the American Civil War as a fulfillment of chapter 63, and I would not disagree with them.  There are some who think she was implying that the Union Army was acting as God’s agent in bringing judgement against the Confederacy.  My take on the lyrics, and on this passage, is that both sides in that conflict were suffering God’s judgement in that horrible war.  Let us pray that we do not live to be on the receiving end of God’s judgement in a similar manner.  God rose up to avenge those who had been oppressed.  He will do so again, and when He does the suffering will be immense.

Which brings me to the third point I wanted to discuss.  In between the two passages I have discussed so far, Isaiah writes that he cannot stop praying for Zion, Jerusalem, because he loves her so much.   He writes that he cannot remain silent and will not stop praying.  But what does he pray for?  He prays that Zion’s righteousness will shine like the dawn.  We should do likewise for the land in which we live.  Let us pray that the people we live among will turn to God and accept His salvation. That they will allow His Spirit to come upon them and shine through them.  However, before that can happen we must allow the righteousness which comes from God’s Spirit to shine through us.  Let us choose to pray that God’s Spirit will come upon us and shine through us.  And then let us pray that God’s Spirit will transform us, and those around us, so that He does not need to come down in His wrath upon our neighbors and ourselves.