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.

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 57-59.

Isaiah condemns those who mock both God and those who worship Him while worshiping their idols with great passion.  I see a connection with those in today’s society who have made a sacrament out of abortion while laughing at those who follow the traditional practices of Christianity.  Isaiah refers to how they keep seeking after new and different idols, yet refuse to consider God when their idols fail them.  And yet I also see a warning to those who have continued to worship God when Isaiah tells us to clear the road for their return.  We must seek out what obstacles we have placed in the way of those who may turn back to God.  Each of us must examine our lives to see if there is something we have done, or are doing, which presents an obstacle to others turning back to God.  If we find such a thing in our lives, we must immediately remove it, we must humbly seek God and change so that He can call the sinners back to Himself.

We must examine ourselves to see if we are the ones to whom Isaiah is referring when he talks of those who act pious, but are not.  When we follow the traditional practices of Christians, are we doing so in order to serve God?  Or, are we merely putting on a show for those around us?  Do we do the things which God commands in order to demonstrate God’s love? Or, are we seeking to be honored by others?  Rather than seeking honor for our piety, let us be humble and contrite about our sins.  Then, and only then, God will forgive us, welcome us, and bless us.

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 52-56.

I love today’s passage.  It contains many elements which are preached and written about often, but usually as individual themes.  For me we start with verses which declare praise to God, and to God’s messenger.  How lovely are those who bring the news that God reigns!  That transitions right into what is often called the “Suffering Servant” prophecy, a prophecy which is an amazingly close portrayal of Jesus’ trial, execution, and burial.  Isaiah describes how He was unjustly condemned by everyone, including us.  Isaiah described how His guilt was assumed by those who were truly guilty of the sins of which He was accused should serve as an object lesson for us.  Isaiah is describing a phenomena known as projection, wherein someone sees someone else as being guilty of the wrongs which they themselves have committed.

I am not quite sure how the verses between Isaiah’s description of the Suffering Servant and his description of God’s bounty in Chapter 55 connects to those two sections, but its placement means that it is connected.  We start today’s passage with the messenger and then in Chapter 55 we have the message: “Come and drink, even if you have no money!”  God invites everyone to come and enjoy His bounty.  And this is where it gets complicated.  God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts, so we should not be surprised that we do not understand what He is doing.  However, we can be sure that God’s words will accomplish what He intends.  It will not fail to produce the fruit which God sent it forth to produce.  Share God’s love with those around you, even when you don’t understand why you should.  Share the words God gives you, even when you do not understand what they mean.  One of the things Isaiah says here is both a message we should heed and a message we should share: Seek the Lord while He can be found.  The time is coming when we will no longer have that opportunity.

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 48-51.

Today’s passage contains a Messianic prophecy, much of it can be seen as applying to Jesus.  However, elements of it may apply to Cyrus the Persian and other elements could apply to Isaiah himself.  And in some ways this prophecy contains directions for those who choose to follow the Messiah.  The place I want to start at in this is chapter 49 verse 4:

But my work seems so useless!
I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
I will trust God for my reward.

My first thought on that is that it seems so accurately to sum up Jesus’ ministry on earth.  He spent three years teaching, never traveled more than 100 miles from where He grew up, and left behind a few hundred followers, at most.  Yet, 100 years later His name was spoken and His teachings followed as far away as India, Ethiopia, and Spain by large numbers of people.  In a similar way, we should not view our success or failure by how rich or influential we become in our lifetime.  Let us do as God teaches us and follow the paths to which He leads us, then leave the results to God.

Later, Isaiah tells us that God’s Law will be proclaimed and His Justice will become a light to all nations.  If we have allowed God to teach us right from wrong we need not fear the scorn of others.  If we determine to do His will we will not be disgraced.