Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 43-47.

Today’s passage continues Isaiah’s prophecy that God’s ability to reveal what will happen in the future offers proof that He alone is worthy of our worship.  Not because He reveals the future, but because no other “god” can.  God’s ability to tell us about the future reveals that He alone has power over what will happen, and what has happened.  And, because God has powers, we need not fear for He is with us.  He calls to Him everyone willing to be called by His name.  He has foretold what will happen and stands by those who will be His witnesses that He is God.  As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 107 verse 2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”  Let us remember that we are witnesses to God’s power and glory and our job is to tell others about it.  God has forgiven our sins and will heal us of the damage we did to ourselves by sinning.  He does this because it reveals His power even more than everything else He has done.  God’s goal is that from where the sun rises to where it sets, people will know that there is no other god, no thing which can stand against Him.  Isaiah goes on to warn those who choose to oppose God, doing so is like clay arguing against the potter.  They trust in their wickedness, rather than placing their trust in God’s righteousness.  They set themselves up as the arbiters of what is right and good, putting their trust in themselves, their knowledge and their wisdom.  They fail to recognize that they are leading themselves to disaster.  In time, every knee will bow to God, and every tongue will acknowledge His power.  Whether we do so when there is time to follow His guidance to avoid disaster, or after we have suffered complete destruction of all we hold dear is the only choice we have in the matter.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 39-42.

Today’s passage starts with the account of envoys from Babylon visiting King Hezekiah and the prophecy Isaiah made concerning them.  I have never quite understood Isaiah’s response to Hezekiah showing all of his treasures to the Babylonian envoys.  It reads a little bit like a reprimand, but does not make clear what Isaiah was saying Hezekiah had done wrong.  Perhaps it is merely here as a reminder that God had revealed the rise of Babylon long before Babylon was more than just a vassal state of Assyria.  It may serve as an introduction to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the uselessness of idols, which are made by human hands.  God has foretold what will happen and no other god has done so.  God is unique among gods, among the things which mankind worships.  So, this passage starts with Isaiah prophesying the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon when Babylon was just a vassal state of Assyria, then he prophesies about how only God can tell us about what has not yet happened.  But that is not the only way in which God tells us about what has not yet happened.  God goes on and gives Isaiah a prophesy concerning the coming of His Chosen One, Jesus.  Isaiah talks about how God will give sight to those who are blind who turn to Him, and cause those who turn instead to idols to be unable to see the way even though they are not blind.  It seems to me that through Isaiah, God is telling us that those who think they do not God will fail to recognize how they should behave, while those who recognize their inability to know what is right without God will be shown how to act.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 36-38.

I love the various accounts of Sennacherib’s aborted invasion of the Kingdom of Judah.  Today I want to look at how Sennacherib’s field commander pretended at first to have some respect for God, while demonstrating a complete lack of understanding about what God commanded His people.  Often today the enemies of those who serve God use similar tactics.  First, he refers to the Pharaoh of Egypt “splintered reed of a staff,” echoing the warnings prophets repeatedly gave against relying on Egypt.  Then he questions Hezekiah’s claim that God would defend Jerusalem based on the fact that Hezekiah had dismantled the shrines throughout the land in order to insist that people worship God in Jerusalem.  This shows that the field commander is not aware of God’s command to the Israelites that they worship Him at a central location.  However, when Hezekiah’s advisors asked him to speak in Aramaic rather than Hebrew, he reacts by calling to the people on the wall that no other god was able to save their people, therefore God will be unable to save His people.  By doing this, the field commander reveals that his original argument questioning Hezekiah’s faith was disingenuous.  He did not believe that God would hold Hezekiah’s actions against Hezekiah because he did not believe God had any power.  In the same way, many people today make arguments against how Christians practice their faith based on a misunderstanding of what Christians believe, and then reveal they don’t actually think the argument matters anyway because they do not believe that God exists.  Sennacherib followed up his field commander’s blasphemy with a letter supporting it.  God responded to the arrogance of the Assyrians by reminding His people that He had planned, and had His prophets declare, their actions long before they had arisen as a power.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 32-35.

In Chapter 6 Isaiah prophesied that the people would “be ever hearing but never understanding, be ever seeing but never perceiving.”  In today’s passage he prophesies that a king will reign in righteousness then the eyes of the people will be opened and they will listen with their ears.  When that king reigns the fearful will gain confidence, fools (remember, the word translated as fools implies that they are morally deficient) will no longer be called noble, and scoundrels will not be respected.   Look at the world around us and tell me you do not look forward to the reign of the King.  We need to ask ourselves if we can dwell with the consuming fire which this King brings?  Can we walk righteously and speak what is right?  I know the answer for me is a resounding “No”.  Yet, God is coming and when He comes the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lame will not just walk, but leap.  I just preached a sermon yesterday* on Matthew 19 and as I read this I am reminded of what Jesus told His disciples about entering the Kingdom of Heaven: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  I put my hope in that, with God all things are possible.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Isaiah 29-31.

Isaiah prophesies against those who speak of their love for God and desire for righteousness, but do not do the things which God asks of us.  Instead they use human made rules to create loopholes in what God asks of us.  They hide what they do, thinking that no one will know.  If they believe in God, they think He doesn’t care.  They use their wisdom to make confuse others, and their intelligence to make things obscure.  But God will uplift the humble so that those who are deaf to the words of the “wise” will hear His words, and those who are blind to the “knowledge” of those who claim to be experts will see His will.  Isaiah warns those who make plans which are not God’s plans, while telling those who listen to God to be quiet about His will.  He warns that people will insist on being told pleasant lies rather than God’s hard truths.  Isaiah warns against trusting in the political powers of this world.  They will fail us time and again.  We will not build a righteous society by making more laws.  We will not solve our problems with rules and regulations.  God longs to be gracious to people and He will show compassion.  He will teach those who think they do not want to learn.  If we listen to His words, turn our hearts to Him, and seek His help, He will answer.  Let us do as God has asked of us and love our neighbors, doing good to those who have wronged 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 26-28.

Isaiah calls on us to trust in the Lord forever, because He is the Rock and He is eternal.  His judgements, as severe as they may be, teach people about righteousness.  Peace comes when God establishes it and He does so when people, when we, turn to Him.  He is the one who accomplishes the things for which we strive.  Those who die serving the Lord will live again, not just in a spiritual sense, but they will be raised in physical bodies.  They will wake up with joy.  The day will come when the enemies of God, and the enemies of Israel, will turn to God and worship Him together with God’s people.  Towards the end of today’s passage, Isaiah warns us against those who see God’s commands as “do this, do that, a rule for this, and a rule for that.”  That is not what God intends.  His commands are designed to give us rest.  Yet, all too many people think that they can make a deal with death, that they can use lies to keep themselves from facing death.  They think that the lies they tell themselves will prevent God from holding them accountable.

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.

Isaiah begins today’s passage by talking about how when Jerusalem was threatened with attack the people put a lot of effort into building up its defenses, but they did not take time to turn to God and ask for His aid in their defense.  In the face of trouble brought about by their sin, they did not mourn and seek the Lord.  Instead, they partied.  In a way what’s going on in the world around us is similar.  Too many people are reacting to the judgement they see coming by saying “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”  When they should be crying out to God for forgiveness and help.  Instead of facing the fact that God is trying to get them (and maybe us) to change their ways (our ways?), they spend their time having fun.  Do we mourn for the suffering?  Do we mourn for those who do not know the Lord?

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.

In today’s passage, Isaiah prophesies about the fall of several nations, nations which were firmly established in his day.  In a way it was similar to prophesying the fall of Canada, the UK, and China today.  Isaiah spoke of the suffering and violence which would be part of the fall of these nations.  However, he also prophesied that the experience would turn people to God.  In response to what they would experience, people would turn to God and alliances would form between those who had been enemies for generations.  Isaiah prophesied that there would be a period of suffering, but that people would turn to God and work with one another to serve God.  As people turned to Him, God would work on the earth to bring about blessings on all people.  So as we look at the world today and see people acting in ways which seem likely to bring God’s judgement, we need to remember that God will use that judgement to bring people to Him and thus to transform the world into a better place.

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.

Today’s passage contains prophecies concerning the downfall of three nations: Babylon, Philistia, and Moab.  The one about Babylon gives no context about when Isaiah made the prophecy.  The one about Philistia says that it was made the year that King Ahaz died.  The final one against Moab says that it will take place within three years, but only tells us that it will happen within three years of being made.  All three prophecies have one point in common.  They all stress that nations and powers rise and fall at God’s whim.  The first tells us that the rulers of Babylon thought that their power would last forever and that they needed to take no thought to doing what was right, or even that there were any actions they needed to take.  They thought their power meant they could do only what they wished and needed to take no thought to maintaining their power.  It serves to remind us that we all will die, and none of our power and wealth in life will aid us after our death.  The second warns us that we should not rejoice over the fall of our enemies; they may be replaced by those who do even worse to us.  The third warns us against the pride of thinking that wealth, and not being one who wields power, will protect us when the powers of the world are shaken up.  To a degree, each of these prophecies reminds us that only putting our faith and trust in God will give us any security.  Only God can give us safety.

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 starts with Isaiah prophesying that God will send someone to rule over His people, someone who will be a light shining in darkness.  He concludes that portion of his prophecy by telling us that the arrival will come about by God’s power, not by any action by humans.  In fact, Isaiah goes on from prophesying the coming of the Messiah to speak against the sins of the people.  Despite all that God has done, people have not turned to Him.  Disaster is coming upon the people and all will suffer.  Even those about whom prophets usually prophesy God’s protection will suffer, because there are no innocents.  Even the widows and the orphans do evil against any over whom they have power.  Those whose job it is to guide the people to do what is right, direct them to do evil, both the secular leaders and the religious leaders.  But, it does not matter because the people seek leaders who will teach them to do evil and reject those who call them to righteousness.  We have wicked rulers and wicked leaders because we have chosen such.  Nevertheless, God will hold those leaders accountable for their wickedness.  And despite our wickedness, God has sent Christ to redeem us, to shine light in the darkness.  God will transform a remnant into people who will put their trust in Him.  So, when we perceive the leaders of our nation behaving wickedly, the first thing we need to do is examine our own hearts for wrongdoing.  We need to turn to from our sins and ask God to cleanse us.  Let us walk in the light which God has given us.

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