365 Reflections

What a strange mission God sends Isaiah on.  Isaiah 6:9–10 (ESV) And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Texts like this are not our go-to portions of scripture when we need help from God's Word. We don't like to face up to the fact that sometimes people are hardened beyond repair. That was Isaiah's calling. To confirm their hardness. They already stopped their ears to God's voice. They already saw what God had done to discipline and punish and warn but they got to a point where they no longer cared. What a sad state of affairs. What a strange mission. Amazingly, these words are quoted in the New Testament 6 times! That means the most frequent application of this text is in the time of Jesus ...

One of the Bible's most favored sentences comes from Isaiah 6. Isaiah beholds the Lord seated on a throne in the Temple and is so moved by this experience that he is ready to do whatever the Lord needs.  Isaiah 6:8–9 (ESV) And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” How does he get here? First, he's overwhelmed by the image of the Lord. And what an interesting image to consider. The God of Israel is not in a palace but in a temple. He's not standing but seated on a Throne. The Temple of Israel did not have seats. The reason is that the Priest's work was never done. He was on his feet working for as long as he was there. But this Lord will become our final and true High Priest. Isaiah is given an image he may not have fully understood. There will be a final sacrifice to end all sacrifices. And when it is complete, the great high priest and LORD will take his seat. It is finished.  Isaiah 6:3 (...

How do you know what God has called you to do? Perhaps you need to pay more attention to what's missing around you.  Isaiah 6 is the account of Isaiah's calling: Isaiah 6:1 (ESV) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. The context here is the death of Uzziah, a righteous king who was skillful in advancing the nation's national security interests. The Chronicler records his contributions to Israel's prosperity and defense: 2 Chronicles 26:14–15 (ESV) And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped , till he was strong. Earlier in that chapter, Chronicles records this: 2 Chronicles 26:7 (ESV) God helped him against the Philistines ...

Isaiah 5:1–2 (ESV) Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. God creates things to create. You may have never thought about it, but it's true. In the creation narrative, the sun was created to create light. The plants were created to create seeds which create more plants. Mankind was created to create out of creation more intricate and wonderful creations.  Likewise, God enters into a covenantal relationship with people to cause them to create. What must they create? More God-like living and reality in the world. More joy, harmony, justice, righteousness, truth, faith, love, and compassion. Sadly, Israel failed in these creative endeavors and their hearts turned sour by the sins they so readily enjoyed...

Ultimately Jesus is the one who bears God's judgment for us. This is what we forget all the time. After we explore the pronouncements on Israel's sin in Isaiah 1-3 we come to chapter 4 and hear hints of great hope for the people even now.  Isaiah 4:2–4 (ESV)  In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. The branch imagery in Isaiah refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. The beautiful and glorious one who comes to restore what remains in Jerusalem after centuries of her devastation. The promise of verse 4 is "the Lord shall have washed away the filth." Indeed that ...

Israel's demise is a case study for us. What does spiritual decline do to a nation? In the previous post, we saw an absence of good leadership, sickness, and pride in their sin. What else can we expect? Isaiah 3 tells us what kind of leaders will replace the ones God takes away. Isaiah 3:12 (ESV) My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. Notice that God puts children and women in charge. And what do the leaders do? They "swallow up the course of their paths." What does that mean? I like the New Living translation: "they send you down the wrong road." When God judges a nation, immature leaders will replace Godly counsel and lead the people astray. Yet there's still more to come. Isaiah 3:16–17 (ESV) The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they g...

Isaiah 3...  Isaiah 3:1–3 (ESV) For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; 2 the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. When God judges a nation He begins by removing good leadership. He allows the folly of that people to replace wise and noble leaders (both spiritually and civilly) with immature self-indulgent youth. I did not say this. Isaiah did. In Isaiah 3:1-3 he describes the removal by God's hand of the strong leadership in men in all avenues of society - the military, the courts, the religious system, and the community.  In the next verse he stipulates who replaces them: Isaiah 3:4 (ESV) And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. In verse 12 we get another picture... Isaiah 3:12 (ESV) My p...

Isaiah 1 already alluded to Christ. Isaiah 1:27 (ESV) Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. Isaiah 2 is pointing to Him again. Isaiah 2:2–3 (ESV) It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. When scripture speaks of mountains it is not always speaking only of physical heights. Mountains are representative of governments. Even the heavenly throne room is considered a mountain later on in Isaiah: Isaiah 14:13 (ESV) You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne ...

Isaiah 1:21 (ESV) How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. One thing we are going to see in the prophets is the clear evidence of a godless culture. And here's the thing. Most of us think godliness is boring and keeps us from the fun or enjoyment we want. But it's far more sinister than that. It corrupts not only us, but the people around us and the culture those people (and we) make up.  Isaiah describes the condition of Jerusalem. He calls her a whore. He reminds us of her former days of justice and righteousness but now it's a place of crime (murder) and disregard for humanity.  In a godless culture, the economic system is unfair: Isaiah 1:23 (ESV) Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them. Imagine leaders who make friends with thieves! Imagine the injus...

Happy New Year! Let's begin with the final section of scripture that I have yet to cover in this blog. The Prophets! I have longed for this content. Wisdom literature was tough. But the prophets are a wonderful portion of God's Holy Word. In them, we see both God's hatred for sin, coming judgment, and His firm decision to be compassionate and provide hope. What a God of mercy! Isaiah begins.  Isaiah 1:1 (ESV) The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The most notable thing in the first verse of this book is that Isaiah's prophetic career spanned the reign of four kings in Judah. Two of them were good, Uzziah and Hezekiah, the other two, not so much. The nation was corrupt and trending downward. The kings came and went, but God's sure servant, bearing witness to God's Word, stood the test of time.  The diagnosis of Judah is not good.  Isaiah 1:3–4 (ESV) Th...