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 32-35.

Isaiah prophesies that a righteous King will reign.  When He does, fools will no longer be considered noble, and scoundrels will not be respected.  Isaiah contrasts fools and scoundrels with true nobles by telling us that fools practice ungodliness and scoundrels make up evil schemes, while nobles make noble plans and perform noble deeds.  Isaiah warns us against complacency and a false sense of security, for God’s righteous King will be a consuming fire and everlasting burning.  Only those who walk righteously by humbly longing for the Lord each day can withstand that fiery burning.  When we come into God’s presence it will burn wickedness out of us.  If we cling to that wickedness, we will be burned along with it.  So, let us strengthen those whose strength gives way and tell the fearful that they need not fear because God will come to their aid.  God has redeemed us so that we may walk in His Way.

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.

Isaiah prophesies that a king will rule with righteousness and the rulers under Him will rule with justice.  What struck me was that Isaiah said that on that day the message he had been given when he was called would be undone.  When Isaiah was called he was told to tell the people, “Be ever hearing, but never understanding. Be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”  When the righteous King comes the eyes of those who see will perceive, and the ears of those who hear will listen.  So, now we live in a day where if we look for God, we will perceive His will.  If we listen to His word, we will understand what He wants from us.  God has revealed Himself through Jesus and opened the way to understanding to those who desire it.

Later in this passage Isaiah tells us that when that King comes, people will be terrified of His presence.  They will ask who can survive in His presence.  Isaiah answers that those who fear the Lord and walk in righteousness will dwell in the presence of God and experience joy from it.  The arrogant will be no more, those who speak in ways which make their meaning obscure will vanish.  While those who speak right and reject extortion and bribes will thrive.

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. 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.

Today Isaiah writes of the time when a righteous king will rule.  That righteous king will lift the curse from Isaiah’s commissioning.  At that time, God told Isaiah to tell people that they would be:

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

However, now God tells Isaiah that when the righteous king rules:

“Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
    and the ears of those who hear will listen.”

In those days the fool and the scoundrel will no longer be held in high esteem.  But before that day arrives, God will arise like a consuming fire to bring destruction upon the earth.  The prophet asks, “Who will be able to stand in the face of that fire?” and he answers the question by telling us that it will be those who walk righteously and speak what is right.  The day of God’s vengeance is coming, but those who put their faith in Him have nothing to fear.  God will build a highway for those He has made righteous and those He has redeemed will walk upon it and rejoice.

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 32-35.

Today’s passage describes how to build the ideal society and promises that God will one day implement such a society.  To get there we must stop calling the ungodly heroes and stop giving respect to scoundrels.  Speak the truth in public so that everyone with ears can hear it and act in the open so everyone with eyes can see what you do.  Then we will see that righteousness brings peace.

Isaiah tells us that before God brings about the above kingdom, or perhaps, as He brings it about, He will send judgement and punishment upon those who do evil against His people.  In some ways this reads as a prophecy regarding the End Times, but I think it is more a prophecy about troubled times which come again and again throughout history when Mankind rebels against God.  I see it fulfilled in the world today.  Looking around it is easy to echo the question asked here: “Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”  The answer given in this passage is always timely when such a question becomes common.  Those who are honest and fair, and who refuse to profit from fraud, will have nothing to fear when such times come.

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 32-35.

Isaiah speaks of the day when the Messiah will rule.  As he tells us of that day we learn some things about today which we should seek to change.  In Christ’s Kingdom, ungodly fools are not heroes and scoundrels are not respected.    So, as I look at the world around me I see many ungodly fools who are held up as heroes and see scoundrels being spoken of with respect.  It would be one thing if those doing this were unaware that those they speak words of respect were scoundrels, but the fact of the matter is that they often admire these scoundrels because they are scoundrels.  They speak highly of people they know have lied to convict the poor, even though the cause of those thus convicted was just.  As a servant of Christ I will seek to never hold up a scoundrel as worthy of respect, except perhaps when he abandons being a scoundrel.

Isaiah goes on to speak about the fall of Assyria and its causes.  As is so often the case, Isaiah’s message is for and about more than just the Assyrians.  He transitions into a message for all nations.  Assyria fell and was completely destroyed because the Assyrians did not keep the treaties they made and broke their promises as soon as it was convenient.  Their wealth and power did not come from the productivity of their people.  They took from those more productive than themselves and left rubble in their wake.  Eventually, their destructive behavior meant that they could no longer obtain sufficient wealth to continue to maintain their empire.  Those who profited from helping the Assyrians extract wealth from those around them were terrified by the upending of the economic system they had come to rely on.  They saw the disruption to their lifestyle and were convinced that none could withstand the destruction.  Isaiah reminds us that those who deal fairly with others can easily survive when the economy collapses.  Do not rely on taking advantage of political connections and defrauding those without them for your living and you will be prepared to weather the economic storms which come.