Isaiah 66: Making a Choice

Welcome to the final chapter of Isaiah! Personally, this is been the most challenging book I have had to write about yet simply because of all of the prophecy and the background knowledge that is needed to understand that prophecy. However, we made it through, and we will be moving on to Jeremiah tomorrow.

In Isaiah 66, we are still hearing about the new heaven and new earth, but I found something very interesting near the beginning of the passage.

Isa 66:3  He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.

Isa 66:4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

This really makes me think about the choices that we have to make every day. We can follow after the abominations. We can continue in our sinful ways, and we can operate like we are the final authority on everything.

On the other hand, we can listen for the call of God, and we can do what He is telling us to do. How do we discern the will of God? Prayer is helpful, and reading the Bible can answer questions. Talking to and getting advice from wise Christians can also help.

The point is that we can make a choice. We can continue in sin, or we can try our best to follow what God would have for us. We won’t be perfect as we follow God; that is a reality. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t try to follow God perfectly. The point of our Christian walk is to walk even closer with God and to become the people that He wants us to be.

Isaiah 65: Finding God

Isaiah 65 is kind of interesting because it begins with a verse that is very poetic, but it is also very true of the modern church.

Isa 65:1  I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

God was being looked for by the Gentiles even though they didn’t originally have any idea they were. Think about the growth of Christianity during the time of the Apostles but even today. The Jewish people were waiting for Messiah. It had been prophesied in the Bible, and even though it seems as if they had a different conception of what that Messiah would be, they were still looking for and asking about one.

The Gentiles were different. Without the Hebrew Scriptures, or at least without a belief in the Hebrew Scriptures, they would not have been looking for the Messiah. Some people like the Magi at least had knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures, but they had their own religions and belief systems. They might have read the Old Testament like I would read the Book of Mormon. I might read it to find out about Mormonism, but I am not Mormon. Therefore, I would read it for the background rather than for the purposes of taking it on as my religion.

This is still applicable today in a certain way. There are people who always find God even when they are not looking for Him. There are plenty of people who convert from other religions or even no religion to Christianity. Most of them probably aren’t necessarily asking the God of the Bible to transform them, but it happens. Maybe they become interested in the Bible as a piece of literature, but while reading it, it becomes something more than that.

I think the main point is that just like the Gentiles found God when they weren’t necessarily looking for Him, a similar thing applies to any unbelievers that we might know. They might not be looking for God, but that doesn’t mean that God is not looking at them and laying the groundwork for them to come to Him.

Isaiah 64: What I Deserve

“My goods outweigh my bads, so I figure that God will let me into heaven.” I am sure that we have all heard this before, and maybe we have even tied to rationalize our own behavior in this way. It seems to be somewhat reasonable on the surface. After all, when we elect a president, the majority vote wins. It doesn’t need to be 100%, but the “good” votes for the winner outweigh the “bad” votes for the losers. A lot of things are determined by the majority, so why will our lives not be evaluated in the same way?

In Isaiah 64, we hear about how God views humanity.

Isa 64:5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

I find the first verse vital. If we were able to live a perfect life, we would be able to theoretically say that we should get into heaven on our own merit. Jesus Christ is an example of that. He did not die for Himself, but He died so that the world could have salvation through Him.

We are fallen people nevertheless. Even when we do righteous deeds, we are still sinners. That is where the above argument falls apart. There have been many people who have done many great things on earth. I think about missionaries who have gone to countries and entirely changed the culture. They have brought thousands of people into the family of God, and that is an amazing thing. I would say that a lot of good was created in that situation.

However, even our righteousness ends up like filthy rags. We are corrupted, and we need to be healed at that point. Jesus Christ provided that healing. He was the sacrifice that was needed because we obviously could not do it on our righteousness alone. Those actions in and of themselves might have done a lot of good in the world, but without the gift of salvation, we don’t deserve much.

Isaiah 63: God of Justice

I think that we have an interesting picture of Jesus in America. Most of the popular imagery we have is of the gentle Jesus. He has children on His knees or might potentially be patting a lamb on the head.

On one hand, I am glad that we think of Jesus this way because it is true. Jesus came to love all of us, and I don’t want to make that seem insignificant whatsoever. However, if that is the only characteristic of Jesus that we know about, our knowledge is severely incomplete as shown particularly by Isaiah 63. Look at some of this imagery.

Isa 63:3  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

Isa 63:4  For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

Isa 63:5  And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.

Isa 63:6  And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

This is a different picture of Jesus, but I think that it is clearly Him. For example, He claims possession of the redeemed. Those are the ones that belong to God. Also, we know that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Our speaker has the day of vengeance in His heart. I don’t know who else this speaker could be, but it is certainly different than the Jesus you often see in Sunday School.

Why is it? Why do we not like this, or why do we not talk about this very often?

If you read the rest of the chapter, you hear about people who have rebelled again God. These are the people that God then decided to redeem. However, you can’t just have that part. Somehow we have to reconcile that with the vengeance from the beginning, and justice is the important part to remember here. Sin needs to be accounted for, and without the propitiation of Jesus Christ, it cannot be reconciled.

He is just, and justice requires standards. We all deserve separation from God and do not meet the standard of perfection, but because of the love that He showed, we can be redeemed. However, without redemption, we get what we deserve, and that is where that justice comes in.

Isaiah 62: Not Forsaken

Isaiah 62 is highly prophetic as well, and we seem to be talking about the eventual future where there will be much better times for Jerusalem.

Isa 62:11  Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Isa 62:12  And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

Again, this seems to be very Messianic on some level. Salvation is coming in the person of Jesus Christ. He certainly brought the reward with Him; He paid the price for the sins of all humanity and rose again to conquer death once and for all.

These people, the daughters of Zion, are going to be called the redeemed of God, and most importantly, a city not forsaken.

I call that one to your attention because how often do we hear people asking where God is. People ask where God is in times of difficulty, and it seems as if the failure of God to answer questions in the way that people want Him to is the immediate proof of His nonexistence. “What, has God forgotten you?”

I think that we see the truth here. God did not abandon the people of Jerusalem. Similarly, God has not forsaken His people who follow Jesus Christ. He has not dropped us on planet and abandoned us amidst the pain and suffering. Rather, we serve a God who is our comfort in difficult times and our shelter in the storm. Rather than abandoning us, Jesus Christ came to earth and suffered in the form of a human. He can identify with us as He was both fully human and fully God.

It is important to consider that God does not abandon people. He might allow things to happen that we don’t understand, and to be quite frank, there are things that happen that we might not ever understand. However, that doesn’t immediately disqualify God from existence whatsoever. We cannot expect to be able to comprehend the infinite God within our finite minds.

Isaiah 61: Who Is He Anyway?

Isaiah 61 provides some Messianic prophecy, and the interesting part about that prophecy is that Jesus Himself claimed that almost immediately after He returned from being tempted in the wilderness by the devil.

First, here is a passage from Isaiah.

Isa 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isa 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

We can see that these things are evident in the lives of Jesus. He did all of these things, and He especially did them in regards to sin. He had rescued people who were captive from sin.

However, when the people of His time heard Him speak about this, they were a little bit confused.

Luk 4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Luk 4:17  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luk 4:20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Luk 4:21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Luk 4:22  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?

These people had no idea who He was. They were amazed that He was speaking like this because after all, He was just the son of a carpenter who lived down the road. He really was nothing special; He was just a normal guy.

However, He came into the synagogue that day in His hometown and began preaching that prophecy was being fulfilled. Of course, the Jewish people would have understood at this time that this is a Messianic prophecy, and if Jesus was saying that it was fulfilled, the Messiah was here.

How would the carpenter’s son know about this? Could He possibly be referring to Himself? We don’t get any indication that the people automatically realized that He was talking about Himself. They seemed to be more confused than anything.

I think that this is another point where we can see that Jesus claimed to be more than just a great moral teacher. He claimed to be fulfilling prophecy set aside for the Messiah. That is a bold claim, but it seems to be one that Jesus made by implication multiple times during His ministry.

Isaiah 60: Changing Times

I think that we sometimes feel a little bit threatened when there is dynamic change. We don’t like it when what we have always known is thrown into turmoil. In Isaiah 60, we have this idea that the Gentiles are also going to be responding to the Gospel, and I wonder if that made the people of Israel nervous.

Isa 60:1  Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Isa 60:3  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Isa 60:4  Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

I have to believe that since Israel spent so much of their early history being threatened at all sides by other nations, this might have been a frightening prospect. God had always delivered them and preserved their people, but as a general rule, it seems as if foreign relations were not necessarily a strong point for the nation of Israel.

All of a sudden, everyone is going to have the potential to become brothers and sisters in Christ. That trumps your nationality. We all became one family through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

This is a major change, and change is never easy. It was a change of perspective for the people of Israel. They were still the chosen people, but God was also going to open His family even farther. Obviously, it is a very positive thing, but it would have been a change. However, when God is in charge, we don’t need to be afraid of times like this. Even if it might force us to change our perspective, if God is behind it, that is a good thing.

Isaiah 59: The Choice of Following

I know that there is sometimes a major divide in the church between those who would believe in Calvinism, Arminianism or something in the middle. I still haven’t entirely figured out where I come down on it, but as I was reading Isaiah 59, we hear a little bit more about this division between God and man and why it is there.

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Isa 59:3  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Isa 59:4  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Isa 59:5  They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

Isa 59:6  Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

Isa 59:7  Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

I know that there were a lot of verses there, but I found this passage incredibly interesting because in terms of basic formulation, it begins a lot like the general problem of evil. People ask if God isn’t powerful enough or not aware enough to prevent evil. We have kind of a similar question here. Is it not possible for God to save the people, or does He not realize that the people need saving?

It seems as if the problem is the choices that the people have made. For example, in verse four, they end up trusting in vanity. They are running to evil, and there has been destruction. At least to me it seems that we are talking about some dimension of human choice here. It is not that God cannot provide the deliverance they are looking for, but the people have made a choice to do other things, and God is allowing them to have the outcomes they are chasing.

Obviously, I am still processing this entire concept in my head, and I seem to go back and forth quite a bit, so this isn’t meant to be my definitive position. However, I found it very interesting that they formulate this argument very much but the problem of evil. God is more than able to provide deliverance, and He is certainly a personal God who knows what is going on around the world. Nevertheless, sinful people have made their choices, so they are being allowed to follow that path as well.

Isaiah 58: Living the Life

We are good at talking about what is wrong with the world, and we are quick to complain about it. However, we don’t always work on that change. It seems like that was what was happening with Israel in Isaiah 58. At the beginning of the chapter, they are thinking that they are righteous, but they are really not doing what God had wanted. He set them straight near the end of the chapter.

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

Isa 58:10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

Isa 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

It seems to me that it isn’t just going through the motions that pleases God. He doesn’t tell the people of Israel not to fast, but He tells them that they were doing it wrong. They don’t have the right attitude while doing it, and they are not reaching out and helping their neighbor.

We can fall into this routine pretty easily. We go through the motions and we do the things that are supposed to do. We read the Bible, we go to church, or we have our daily devotional time. Those are all great things just like fasting was for the Israelites (and is still done by people today). However, it is possible to do all of that and still not to be doing what God wants you to be doing. There should be some evidence of our relationship with God in our lives.

Isaiah 57: The Peace of God

I think that it’s kind of interesting to think about the idea of peace. I know that we have a chorus that talks about letting the peace of Christ rule in your heart. It seems as if peace is something we get from having a relationship with Jesus Christ, and today in Isaiah 57 we see that reinforced negatively.

Isa 57:20  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

Isa 57:21  There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

I think this is interesting though because there are plenty of nonbelievers who will say that they have peace. They are comfortable with who they are, and they are in general satisfied where they are in life. Contrarily, there are some Christians who seem to be anything but peaceful. They don’t seem to have the kind of comfort that we are talking about here.

What is this peace then? It is something that Christ can give us, and it is something that the wicked do not have. However, it is also something that Christians have the potential to have, but we don’t always live like we have ithaven’t.

I think that we ought to go to the primary passage in question.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Interestingly, it seems as if this is something that we can’t necessarily understand but is also undeniably there. It also seems to come through prayer on some level. It seems to come after we have given our problems to God. In other words, we don’t have to handle our problems entirely on our own.

I think that that makes some sense on some level. There are a lot of things in our lives that can be hard to deal with. I don’t know where all of you are coming from, but I am willing to guarantee that your life is probably not perfect. How do we find peace in these kinds of circumstances? If we have to do it all on our own, we will just keep fighting. If we give it over to someone else, we don’t have to bear the burden alone. God can help us, but we also have to be willing to let it go.