Tag Archives: Isaiah 35

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2024 Bible Study — A King Has Come Who Opens the Eyes of Those Who Want to See

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2023 Bible Study — When God Reigns, Fools Will Not Be Considered Noble and Scoundrels Will Not Be Respected

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2022 Bible Study — Who Is Able To Survive In The Presence Of God?

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2021 Bible Study –Listen So That You Can Understand

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2020 Bible Study Stop Giving Respect To Scoundrels

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2019 Bible Study — Do Not Hold Up Ungodly Fools As Heroes, Do Not Speak Respectfully of Scoundrels

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.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2018 Bible Study — Why Do We Respect Scoundrels?

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.

    I was struck at the beginning of this by a couple of things. Isaiah says that the time is coming when everyone with eyes will be able to see the truth and those with ears will be able to hear it. At first I thought, “Well, he didn’t day they would see or hear. Only that they would be able to do so.” However, he immediately followed that by saying that even the hotheaded would be full of sense and understanding. The thing which really struck me was when he said that in that day ungodly fools will not be considered heroes and scoundrels will not be respected. When I read this last bit it occurred to me that maybe this was as much a condemnation of current society as it was a prediction of some future time.
    A righteous King HAS come and those who wish are able to see and hear the truth. But there are still those in our society who respect scoundrels and hold up ungodly fools as heroes. Isaiah reminds us why we should not respect scoundrels or hold ungodly fools as heroes. Scoundrels lie to convict the poor, even when the poor are innocent. Isaiah is telling us something important there. When caught lying, scoundrels will try to convince us that they did so in the cause of justice, but Isaiah reminds us that those who will lie to convict the guilty will have no qualms about lying to convict the innocent. Once you start lying to accomplish your goals, your goals no longer include discovering and revealing the truth. As for ungodly fools, they make evil plans.

    Later, Isaiah prophesies of a time of economic turmoil. A time when the godless will cry out that no one can keep a business going or even make a living. Isaiah tells us that those who are honest and fair will not find this time troubling. Only those who attempt to profit from fraud and deceit will suffer. The key here is that those latter will be so few that there will indeed be a great economic calamity. This prophecy gives us a guideline to avoid economic turmoil and to survive it when it comes. Those who try to game the system to get rich, who seek to manipulate others to their own advantage, and the disadvantage of those others, hasten the day of economic turmoil. When that day comes, those who took part in the deceit will suffer the most. Those who dealt honestly and fairly will pass through it practically unharmed.

Daily Bible Study

July 29, 2017 Bible Study — A Righteous Ruler Is Coming

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.

    I hear people complain about the corruption of government all of the time, but they never think about what sort of society is required in order to have an honest, just, and righteous government. In this passage Isaiah describes those conditions. We will continue to have a corrupt, and even evil, government as long as ungodly fools are held up as heroes and people have respect for scoundrels. As long as we hold up people who lie to convict the poor as people to be emulated we will have corrupt and evil government. Until the complacent among us begin to beat their breasts in sorrow over the evil being done around us, and not just by government officials, nothing will change.

    Later in the passage, the prophet reminds us that most people do not really want an honest and just government. The godless find such a society unbearable. Living in it is like being in a devouring, all-consuming fire for them. Only those who are honest and fair, who do not attempt to profit from fraud and deception will find a society with an honest, just, and righteous government to be a comfortable place to be. If you do not avoid all enticements to do wrong you are kidding yourself if you say that you want an honest government. All too often what people mean when they say they want a less corrupt government is that they want a government corrupt in their favor. However, the day is coming when God is going to bring about His rule upon all of mankind. In that day, only the honest and upright will thrive. Are we preparing ourselves for that day>

Bible Study

Advent Season-Experiencing Joy

The Third Advent Candle
The Third Advent Candle

     It is hard to speak of joy two days after the shooting at the school in Connecticut, but that is usually the theme of the third Sunday of Advent. This morning the sermon was based primarily on Isaiah 35. The passage tells us that on the day of the Lord, the desert and the wasteland will be glad. It will bloom and burst forth into joy. What could be more of a wilderness and a wasteland right now than the hearts and souls of the parents of those children who were killed on Friday? I can not imagine how those hearts could ever burst forth into joy again. However, God promises, and He is faithful to keep His promises, that there will be singing and joy.
     The prophet tells us to strengthen those who have tired hands, to encourage those whose knees have gone weak. We are to tell those whose hearts are fearful to be strong and not fear. For God is coming, our God and your God. He is coming with divine retribution. He is coming to save us, coming to save those whose hands are tired, whose knees have grown weak, whose hearts are fearful. And when He comes He will open the eyes of the blind and give hearing to the deaf. He will make the lame to walk and those who cannot speak will not only talk, they will sing. When John the Baptist was in prison and starting to feel depressed because things were not turning out as he had expected, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the One. Jesus answered them by saying “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” He was telling John that this passage from Isaiah was being fulfilled. Well if the passage from Isaiah was being fulfilled when Jesus was here, why don’t we see more of those things in the Church today? Let us get down and our knees and pray for forgiveness because we have failed to bring the joy of the Lord to our society. There are many reasons why Friday’s shooting took place, but one of them is because I do not spend enough time praying for the souls of those around me. That I do not spend enough time telling them about the joy of the Lord.
     The prophet finishes this passage by telling us of a highway that will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean and the wicked will not travel on it. Predators (human and otherwise) will not prey on those who walk on it. There will be no dangers on that highway (no drunk drivers, no people speeding beyond their ability to control their cars, no trucks careening out of control, no dangers). Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will travel this road as they return to the Heavenly Kingdom. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, even for those who have been victimized by a tragedy like the one on Friday. They will be filled with joy and gladness. I don’t know how, but this is a promise from God. Whatever the source of our pain and anguish, if we turn to the one whose coming the Advent Season is announcing, it will be washed away. Think about the suffering that Jesus experienced, is your pain greater than that? He understands.