The Book Of Isaiah. Day 171, Who Is This?

I'm happy to finally be back to the Bible study. My laptop was a mess and was so slow I couldn't use it. It still has a few weird quirks but those are due to it being old and low on memory; the computer person can't do anything about that. I really need a new one but right now isn't a good time to purchase one because we've had to spend quite a bit on the house my mother-in-law is moving into.

Today we are beginning Chapter 63. Earlier in the book of Isaiah we talked about the prophecies regarding the advent of the Redeemer and also the glory of His eternal kingdom. Today we will talk about the day of His vengeance.

In our last study session the Lord said He would judge Israel's enemies and vindicate the people of Israel. One of Israel's ancient enemies was the nation of Edom. The Edomites were descended from Jacob's brother Esau but the Edomites felt no affection for their close kinsmen. When the Lord led Jacob's descendants out of Egypt, the Edomites refused them passage on the way to the promised land. The Israelites pointed out that they wanted nothing from the Edomites---that they would drink their own water and eat their own food---but the Edomites came out in battle array against them. The beginning of today's passage makes a reference to Edom.

The prophet Isaiah sees someone coming out of Edom wearing robes that are stained red. He wants to know the identity of the person and, since the person is the Lord, I will be capitalizing the pronouns. "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with His robes stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of His strength?" (Isaiah 63:1a) 

The person in the robes answers him: "It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1b) Who is mighty to save except the Lord? This is a phrase used for Him a number of times in the Bible. So, having established that this person is the Lord, why is He coming out of Edom and why are His robes stained red? 

We know Christ wasn't born in Edom and that He wasn't descended from Esau, but that's not what the vision is about: the vision is about judgment, not the advent of Christ. We can surely say that Edom was judged in antiquity and that there is no nation of Edom in the world today. Of all the people in the ancient world who should have extended the hand of friendship to the Israelites, it was the Edomites, but they cared nothing about their shared roots and they had come to care nothing about the God their shared ancestors worshiped. The Edomites very quickly fell into idolatry after the time of Jacob and Esau. They hated the Israelites, they did not serve the God of the Israelites, and on the pages of the Old Testament they opposed the Israelites time and time again and joined with their enemies against them. 

So we see that the Lord is coming out of Edom, not because He was born there but because He went there to carry out an act of judgement, and now He is emerging from there. I believe that the segment we are studying today and tomorrow is a metaphor. I believe that Edom represents the unbelievers of the world (and the enemies of the Lord's people) and that Israel represents the believers of the world. I think that this segment is about the judgment of the wicked and the salvation of the godly.

As we learn more about the stained garments in tomorrow's study session, we will look at a reference from the book of Revelation about these garments. We will see that the One striding forward in the greatness of His strength can be no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Computer Problems

My laptop got so slow that it was virtually unusable so it's been getting some work done on it. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post. I hope to be back by Sunday. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 170, Zion's New Name, Part Two

In yesterday's study we found the Lord telling the people that the desolation of their land that is coming will not be a permanent state. There will be a near-future fulfillment of His words (when they return from captivity) and a farther-off fulfillment of His words (in the millennial kingdom and then the eternal kingdom).

Someday the city of Jerusalem will be the capitol city of the whole world. The King of kings and Lord of lords will reign from there. No enemy will ever threaten the nation of Israel again. No one will ever be unfaithful to the Lord again. We spoke yesterday about how the Lord often refers to Israel as His "wife" (and as an unfaithful wife, at that) when the people fall into idolatry. It was because of idolatry that He allowed defeat and captivity to occur; this was a "separation", if you will, between the Lord and His wife. But also, as we discussed yesterday, He will take this wife back. Therefore, He said she would no longer be called "Deserted" but would be called "Hephzibah" (which means "He delights in her") and "Beulah" (which means "married"). A day is coming in which the Lord and this wife will never part again due to disbelief or unfaithfulness on her part, so He says the things He says in the verses below.

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth." (Isaiah 62:6-7) She is to keep praying until the promise is fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ talked about how important it is to keep praying. (Matthew 7:7-12) We don't always see our prayers answered immediately but that doesn't mean they won't be answered. The Lord never breaks a promise. We may not know when or how He will bring it to pass, but we can be certain He will keep His word. Praying daily about the matter is important because it keeps us in constant fellowship with the Lord and it keeps reminding us to remain confident in Him.

"The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: 'Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.'" (Isaiah 62:8-9) A time would come when the captive people could return and rebuild, so the prophecy looks forward to that, but a time will also come when "never again" will an enemy threaten them. This doesn't mean that foreigners won't visit Israel or that they won't eat or drink anything there; we know from previous passages that Gentile believers will make pilgrimages to Israel. But it means that no foreigners will take anything by force. No one will ever hate Israel or seek to conquer the nation.

"Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations." (Isaiah 62:10) In ancient times the roads were mostly dirt roads. Workers had to keep them clear of stones and fallen branches. Workers had to fill in potholes. This was especially important when a large caravan was about to come through, or a royal procession. The wheels of chariots could then travel smoothly over the road's surface. 

I believe that two different processions are in view here. One is the procession of the people returning from captivity. In that case the preparing of the road is more symbolic than literal; the Lord will prepare the way for them to be set free. But the most royal of all royal processions will occur as well. This was partially fulfilled when Jesus Christ was able to travel so freely on the roads built and maintained by the Roman Empire during His lifetime on earth. Not only did the Romans maintain the roads, but they maintained the peace on the roads, which enabled Jesus and His followers to travel safely without being attacked by robbers or enemies to His message. The complete fulfillment will occur when He returns to reign over the earth and to maintain peace over the earth, when all the descendants of Jacob can return to Israel and live without fear of enemy attacks, when Gentiles will come to honor Him and to extend the hand of friendship to all the Jewish people. That is what we find happening in our final verses.

"The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your Savior comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.' They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.'" (Isaiah 62:11-12) 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 169, Zion's New Name

Chapter 62 contains more good news for Zion (Jerusalem) and for the nation of Israel. Isaiah has predicted that the southern kingdom will fall to an enemy. In his day it was Assyria that Judah feared, for it conquered the northern kingdom during Isaiah's lifetime, but we know from our study of the kings that Judah was spared for another 130 years until it was conquered by Babylon. Isaiah provided some bad news in his book but he also provides good news: good news for the nearer future and good news for the farther future. We are studying a segment that regards good new for the farther, more permanent, future. Although there will be a return to the land and a rebuilding of so much that has been lost, which is a glorious thing, a permanent state of glorious joy will be theirs someday.

The Lord says: "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." (Isaiah 62:1-2)

Israel has had many enemies throughout the ages. All of these enemies have been Gentiles: "the nations". Even in our own day, Israel has many enemies who would like to see her wiped off the map. But the Lord has always promised to preserve descendants of Jacob and, in the eternal kingdom, to make Jerusalem the capitol city of the whole world---the city from which the King of kings will reign forever. 

Every time He has rescued Israel from an enemy, the world has seen it. No king or regime has ever been able to eradicate the descendants of Jacob from the earth or to completely destroy the nation. Even nations that don't acknowledge the Lord as their God have had to admit that He has provided for and protected the descendants of Jacob and the Promised Land. 

"You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate." (Isaiah 62:3-4a) The land desolated by ancient enemies would not remain uninhabited by the people who whom the Lord gave the land when He brought them out of Egypt. Many would return from captivity to resettle it. In more modern times, since the reinstatement of Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948, many more Jewish people from all around the world have returned to the land. In a future time, it appears that under the Messiah's eternal reign there will be more people returning than ever before---perhaps all of the people on earth of Jewish heritage. The borders of the Promised Land were intended to be quite large, as outlined earlier in our study of the Old Testament, but the people never conquered and took possession of all of it. But in the Messiah's kingdom all of the land outlined in the Old Testament will be the nation of Israel, allowing for a great number of Jewish people to live there.

The Lord is going to exchange some old names for new names. The land will no longer be able to be accurately called "Deserted" or "Desolate". In exchange for these terms the Lord will call it something else. "But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:4b-5)

The name "Hephzibah" means "He delights in her", and the name "Beulah" means "married". There are many occasions in the Bible when the Lord refers to Israel (the people as a whole) as His wife. When so many of the citizens fall into idolatry, He compares them to an unfaithful wife. In the Old Testament we've seen Him stating His intention to separate from this wife for a while due to her adultery against Him, meaning He intends to allow her to be conquered and carried away for a time. But a day is coming when He will never again find occasion to be angry with her. He will delight in her as a man delights in the woman he loves. He will join Himself with her forever, never again to be parted from her.

A young man who is about to be married thinks his bride-to-be is the most beautiful woman on earth. He loves her so much that he only has eyes for her. He makes his vows to live with her in fidelity his entire life. The Lord is making vows like this to Israel. He thinks she is beautiful, so beautiful He finds her continually a delight to His eyes. He intends to protect her and be with her forever.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 168, Garments Of Salvation

As we study the concluding verses of Isaiah 61 we cannot be certain who is speaking. I don't know if the praises to God are Isaiah's words alone---words with which he interrupts his prophetic narrative because the glory of the preceding verses are so wonderful---or whether they represent Isaiah and all the people of Isaiah's nation who place their trust in the Lord or whether they represent all the believers of all nations.

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of His righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations." (Isaiah 61:10-11) We can be certain that such words can only be spoken by believers, for the words declare that He is "my God". We cannot declare Him as our God unless we have placed our faith in Him.

From the beginning of our chapter until now, Isaiah has been relaying a message from the Messiah. When we place our trust in Christ, our filthy garments of sin are replaced with garments of salvation. The robe of His righteousness is flung about our shoulders and from then on, when God the Father looks at us, He sees the righteousness of God the Son. We have no righteousness within ourselves. We cannot do enough good works to erase our sins because righteousness has always been by faith, not by works. The Scriptures told us way back in Genesis that Abraham's faith is what imputed righteousness to him. Abraham lived long before Christ but he believed in the one true God and he believed that God was going to bring the Redeemer---the One who would bless all nations---through his offspring. Therefore he was saved by his faith in what was to come. He trusted God to bring about what He had promised. 

The Lord promised to bring the Redeemer from Abraham's descendants and He has done so. The Redeemer has been made manifest to the Gentile peoples of the world as well. This is why Isaiah could declare that the righteousness of the Lord and the praise of His goodness would "spring up before all nations". 

What message did the Gentile nations hear? The gospel message. My ancestors and most of your ancestors were Gentiles. They worshiped false gods. They engaged in many immoral rituals. They made offerings and sacrifices to deities that did not exist, and in some cases even made human sacrifices, which is an abomination in the eyes of God. But Christ, who came from the family tree of Abraham, came to rescue not only Jews but also Gentiles from fruitless living. He came to wash our sins away and to clothe us in His righteousness, without which we can never stand before a holy God. And that gospel message spread far and wide, bringing Gentiles into the family of God. 

If not for the gospel message, I would still be lost in my sins. I would still be wearing the filthy garments of useless works. I would still be living a fruitless and pointless life. But because of what the Redeemer did for me, I can praise the Lord and say: "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of His righteousness." 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 167, The Messiah's Message, Part Two

Isaiah has been relaying to us a prophecy in the words of God the Son. When we began Chapter 31 we looked at the words Jesus read in the synagogue at Nazareth when He began His earthly ministry. He talked about how His advent was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2a. He said that this was the beginning of the "year" of the Lord's favor. 

The "year" (or "era", as the word can be translated) began with the advent of Christ and the beginning of His ministry. He did not read the remainder of verse 2b because it was about the judgment of God the Father. That time has not yet come and we are still living in the era of His favor.

Those who place their faith in Him will experience great joy, for in the millennial kingdom and then later in the eternal kingdom He will: "Comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion---to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." (Isaiah 61:2b-3) The people of Israel will be strong and immovable in the power of the Lord, never to be uprooted. In Isaiah's day the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria; approximately 130 years later the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. But nothing like that will ever happen again when Christ sits on the throne at Zion (Jerusalem). 

"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast." (Isaiah 61:4-5) I believe this portion has to do primarily with the millennial kingdom, which occurs before the final judgment and the eternal kingdom, when numbers of Jewish people like never before will accept Jesus as the Messiah. But these verses can also symbolize the way the Gentile believers will join themselves to the Jewish believers. Already we see many of the Christians of the world supporting the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, but they will support them as never before during the millennium. When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will study what the millennium is and how it differs from the eternal kingdom.

"Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." (Isaiah 61:7) Sin doesn't benefit anyone. It will not bring glory. It will not bear godly fruit. As the Apostle Paul phrased it, "What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!" (Romans 6:21) But salvation in Christ brings forgiveness, redemption, rewards, and everlasting joy. Our sin has brought us nothing but disgrace and shame. But salvation in Christ bestows upon us a double portion of joy! The Lord doesn't simply replace our shame with an equal measure of blessing; He gives us twice the amount of blessing. 

I think another meaning is in view here---a meaning which has to do only with the nation of Israel. The Lord called Israel His "firstborn son" in His message to Pharaoh in Exodus 4:22. The firstborn son was the son that received the double portion of his father's inheritance. I believe the Lord is saying to Israel that each person who is descended from Jacob will receive a double portion of blessing when they receive Jesus as the Messiah. They will receive the inheritance of a firstborn son when they believe in Jesus (the literal Firstborn Son): a double portion from the Father.

Today's text concludes: "For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In My faithfulness I will reward My people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed." (Isaiah 61:8-9) Many things in the Bible only involve the nation of Israel but many things involve both Jews and Gentiles. In the kingdom age, no Gentiles will ever hate Israel again. No one will ever say, "The Lord's wrath is upon them and my god's blessings are on my nation." Instead they will say, "Blessed be Israel and the Lord God of Israel!" Jewish believers and Gentile believers will be of the same family, which is why the Apostle Paul said of Christ: "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." (Ephesians 2:14) And Paul says again in another book: "Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family." (Hebrews 2:11a)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 166, The Messiah's Message, Part One

We have been studying some prophecies of Isaiah that have been fulfilled in part but will not be fully fulfilled until the Messiah reigns over the eternal kingdom. Today we take a look at one of the prophecies that has already been fulfilled in part by the advent of the Messiah. We will be looking at this passage in conjunction with passages from the New Testament. It will take us several days to look at this passage and we will begin talking about it today and will pick back up with it on Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend has mostly passed. 

Isaiah has been speaking the words of God the Father. Now he speaks the words of God the Son. He is enabled to to this through God the Holy Spirit, who is mentioned as well, so we see the Trinity at work here. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor." (Isaiah 61:1a) I want to point out that we can be certain Isaiah is not speaking of himself when he says "me"; that is why I have rendered it as "Me". The reason we can be absolutely confident Isaiah isn't speaking of himself is because the Lord Jesus Christ stated this was bout Him in Luke 4.

Jesus will preach "good news to the poor". I believe He primarily means those who are poor in spirit (discouraged at heart, bereft of hope, spiritually/morally bankrupt) but I also believe He means those who are economically poor. Spiritual poverty exists in those who have not given their hearts to the Lord. Economic poverty exists because sin created a fallen world in which bad things happen. Another thing that could be going on here is that many teachers charged a fee to hear them preach. The Apostle Paul will speak of this in his epistles, pointing out that he never charged anyone for preaching the gospel message. The Lord Jesus Christ never charged anyone anything either. He came to preach to those who are poor in every way a person can be poor. 

Let us continue. "He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion---to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:1b-3a)

In Luke's gospel account, Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth after spending the time of testing in the wilderness. On the Sabbath day He entered the synagogue and stood up to read to the assembly. Luke says that the scroll of Isaiah was handed to Him. We do not know whether Jesus requested the scroll of Isaiah or if that was the book the congregation was currently studying. I tend to believe that Jesus specifically requested the book of Isaiah. Luke tells us that Jesus unrolled the scroll to Isaiah 61 and read aloud verse 1 and verse 2a. He stopped after reading the portion where He was sent to "proclaim the year of the Lord's favor".

Why did He stop there? Because verse 2b speaks of "the day of vengeance of our God". That day had not yet come. That day still has not yet come. What had come was the year of the Lord's favor. In the original Hebrew, the word translated in the NIV as "year" can also mean "era". It depends on the context as to which it means. If we intended to say "the year of 2024", for example, then that word would literally mean "year". But if we were speaking of a period of time greater than a year, then it would be clear that the word means an "era". So we see that Jesus was telling the people that the "era" of the Lord's favor had come, for this era began at His advent (and even more particularly at the advent of His ministry) and we are still living in the era of the Lord's favor. We are still living in the era where the gospel message about the Lord Jesus Christ is being proclaimed. We are still living in an era in which we can accept Him as our Savior and Redeemer.

It is possible to wait too long to accept Him as Savior and Redeemer. Death can take a person while they are still rebelling against the Lord. A person can reject the gospel message time and time again until a disease or accident (or in some cases, their own hand) takes them out of this life. A person can reject the gospel message up until the "day of vengeance of our God", which we will study when we arrive at the book of Revelation, for in that book we will find people rejecting Him right up until the judgment, during which they are judged guilty for their sins because they have not accepted the Lord's repeated offers of redemption.

As long as we have breath in our bodies, we are living on the earth during the era of the Lord's favor. He longs to save everyone! He paid the greatest price that could be paid in order to set us free from the guilt of our sins. There is no other way to be free of that guilt except to accept the price He paid and to make Him the Lord of our lives. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't even know what the next minute holds. Anyone who doesn't already know the precious and holy and loving Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Redeemer needs to make a decision for Him now, while they still can.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 165, The Glory Of Zion, Part Four

I have been mostly offline for several days with my mother-in-law in town. We've been helping her get the house ready here that she's going to move into and I haven't had time to work on the blog for the past few days.

Today we will be concluding Chapter 60. The Lord has been promising a glorious future for Isaiah's people. Some of these things have been fulfilled in part but the complete fulfillment of them will be during the everlasting kingdom of Christ.

The Lord speaks of how the people will have the very best. "Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones." (Isaiah 60:17a) These "upgrades" are probably more figural than literal. These upgrades in materials symbolize the Lord replacing waywardness with righteousness. They symbolize the Lord making people into something better than they used to be. In our own times, prior to the eternal kingdom of Christ, we who have placed our trust in Him have been made something better than we used to be, although we cannot be completely perfect in these mortal bodies. How much more will we glorify Him when we are in our immortal bodies that are free of sin? 

What do we think is more difficult for the Lord to do: to turn bronze into gold or to save the degenerate souls of mankind? Certainly it must be the changing of ourselves into new creatures! Certainly it must be making a way for us to be at peace with Him! Therefore the Lord goes on to say: "I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler." (Isaiah 60:17b)

We cannot be at peace with God or with our fellow man as long as we resist His calling to be saved, as long as we choose to remain in our unredeemed state. In our current lives we are able to better love God and our fellow man by submitting our hearts and souls to Him. In the eternal kingdom this will be even more the case, when no violence will ever occur again, when no one will rebel against the Lord, when no one will hate or do harm to anyone else. "No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates praise." (Isaiah 60:18) Walls will not be used anymore for protection and security; there will be nothing we need to be protected from. Instead they will symbolize the way the Lord is our source of eternal security and believers will praise Him for that.

This next portion may be literal or figural or both. "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." (Isaiah 60:19-20)

We often refer to bad times as being "dark". When our circumstances change for the better, it feels like the sun came out again, so to speak. In that sense the verses above are symbolic of how we will never again have days of sadness or fear. Our eternal existence with the Lord will day after day of sunshine and happiness.

These verses may also be literal, for they correspond with a passage from the book of Revelation which many scholars take literally. They believe that the remade heavens and earth will not contain a sun and a moon because those things will not be necessary to sustain life or keep the world in orbit. I cannot say whether the passage from Revelation is to be taken literally or whether it simply symbolizes the happiness and peace of the eternal kingdom of the Lord, but this is what the Apostle John said he saw in the New Jerusalem when the Lord gave him the prophecy of Revelation: "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." (Revelation 21:23)

In the prophecy the Lord is giving to the prophet Isaiah, He says: "Then all your people will be righteous, and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of My hands, for the display of My splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly." (Isaiah 60:21-22) The prophecy is primarily spoken about the people of Israel but we know that the eternal kingdom includes Gentile believers too. Time and time again the Lord has spoken about how the "light" will shine on Gentiles too.

This light began to shine on the Gentiles when they began turning away from idolatry and coming to faith after the advent of Christ. In our next chapter we will look at a verse from the book of Isaiah that Jesus Christ said was spoken about Himself. He stated, as He began His ministry, that the passage was being fulfilled that very day.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 164, The Glory Of Zion, Part Three

Isaiah has been relaying the Lord's message about the future glory of Zion (Jerusalem). There is far more in view here than the return from captivity that Isaiah has already foretold. What we are seeing in this prophecy is the prosperity of the nation of Israel during what is known as the "millennial kingdom" and then later during the eternal reign of the King of kings.

Today's verses regard the way the Lord intends to give these believers only the very best of all things. "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn My sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for My feet. The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 60:13-14) 

The superiority of the fine woods grown in Lebanon is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. I believe the mention of these woods in the verses above have to do with the Lord's sanctuary during the millennium (the thousand years when Christ reigns from Jerusalem before the final judgment). We will study more about the millennium when we arrive at the book of Revelation, but we know from the book of Revelation that there is no temple in Jerusalem after the final judgment, during the eternal reign of Christ, because when the Apostle John beheld the city he said, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (Revelation 21:22) This is how we know that the reference to the Lord's sanctuary must have to do with the millennial kingdom. 

Gentile believers from all over the world will glorify the God of Israel and will make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, for it will be the capitol city of all nations. "Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." (Isaiah 60:15-16) 

Many nations throughout history have attempted to wipe out the people of Israel. The people of Israel are still hated by a number of nations in the world today, who would love to see every descendant of Jacob gone from the earth, who would love to take over the land for themselves. But God will be true to His word. No matter how many obstacles have been in the path of the people of Israel, and no matter how many times this future glorious prosperity has appeared impossible, the Lord will do exactly what He has promised.

 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 163, The Glory Of Zion, Part Two

We continue on with Chapter 60 which deals with a prophecy of future prosperity for Isaiah's people.

"Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to Me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with splendor." (Isaiah 60:8-9) Here we see the Gentile nations honoring the Lord God of Israel. They are helping descendants of Jacob to return to their homeland and they are giving valuable gifts to the nation of Israel. There have been times in history when nations have extended a hand of friendship to Israel. There are still some nations, such as the United States, who extend a hand of friendship to Israel. But in the eternal kingdom of Christ, all nations will be friends with Israel. 

"Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion." (Isaiah 60:10) In ancient times the Lord allowed enemy nations to strike the inhabitants of the Promised Land. He did this to discipline them for their idolatry and waywardness. But the discipline was intended to correct them, not to destroy them, just as the discipline of a loving parent is intended to correct the disobedient behavior of a child, not to destroy the child.

The fulfillment of these verses will find their final completion in the kingdom of the Messiah, when He reigns over all the earth from Jerusalem. People whose ancestors persecuted the Jews will recognize them as an honored and chosen people of God. They will love the Messiah and they will love the nation from which He sprang.

The Lord says of Jerusalem: "Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations---their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined." (Isaiah 60:11-12) The Lord will be the king in those days and forevermore, so I think the "kings" mentioned here may be some type of governors under the Lord. In the Bible we find kings appointing various officials whose rank is under that of the king. Or these kings may be people who were leaders of nations and tribes before Christ came to reign over the earth and they may be coming to lay down their authority at His feet.

When the Apostle John was given a vision of the eternal kingdom of Christ, he said of Jerusalem: "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:24-27)

People in ancient times would shut the city gates at night. They did this to secure the city against enemies that might try to sneak in under cover of darkness. But there will be no darkness in the kingdom of Christ. There will be no enemies: none outside the gates, none inside the gates. You and I have lived our whole lives in a fallen world where there are plenty of things to be afraid of, but that will not be the case on the restored earth with Christ as the king. No one will have an enemy. We will live unafraid and at peace. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 162, The Glory Of Zion, Part One

Chapter 60 is titled "The Glory Of Zion" as the Lord talks about the wonderful things the future holds.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1) The Lord speaks of His glory like the sunrise. There is no glory for us apart from Him; He is our glory. 

Isaiah's people have been through some dark times. There are some dark times still ahead. But as our previous chapter stated, the Redeemer is coming to Zion. The glory of Zion was partially fulfilled at the advent of Christ, after which many Gentiles and a number of Jews believed on Him. "See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn." (Isaiah 60:2-3)

The complete fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy will occur when Christ returns to reign over the whole earth forever, but we already see "peoples" and "nations" coming to Him. These are expressions used to describe the Gentiles who have placed their faith in Him. 

This next passage was partially fulfilled when the people were allowed to return to their land and rebuild after their defeat and captivity. It found another partial fulfillment when Israel became a sovereign nation in the world again in 1948, after which many Jewish people returned to their ancestral land. It's complete fulfillment will occur when, presumably, all the Jewish believers return to their ancestral land when Christ reigns over the world from Jerusalem.

"Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come." (Isaiah 60:4-5) The Apostle John foresaw this in Revelation 21:24 when he said of Jerusalem: "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it."

The Apostle John also foresaw the entire earth restored to an Eden-like state in Revelation 22, where he describes the beauty and bounty of the world. The world will flow with milk and honey; Jerusalem will be the crown jewel of the world because the Lord's throne will be there. Isaiah speaks of the prosperity of Jerusalem and of the eternal kingdom. "Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaith will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on My altar, and I will adorn My glorious temple." (Isaiah 60:6-7)

The passage above had some literal fulfillment when the people went home from captivity and rebuilt their ruined temple. They were able to set up an altar to the Lord, consecrate it, and resume making offerings to Him. But I think the passage above is being used figurately as well, to denote the overflowing goodness of the reign of Christ. I think the language used is intended to indicate that no one will do without anything they need. No one will be hungry or thirsty. No one will be homeless. No one will be without clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. No one will ever have an illness or injury. No one will ever die. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 161, The Lord's Own Righteousness And Justice

As we conclude Chapter 59 we learn that, because righteousness and justice were not found in the land, the Lord did what humans were not doing. 

In the previous portions of this chapter we saw that the people were perverting justice, that they didn't have compassion on the needy, that they were trusting in idols, that they were living lives of excess as if life would always continue the same way, and that they were only calling upon the Lord when troubles came---and even then they weren't confessing and repenting of sins. No one stood up for what was right, other than the prophets, and we know that they were scorned. The Lord speaks of this situation below.

"The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm achieved salvation for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him." (Isaiah 59:15b-16) He has sent prophet after prophet to the nation, urging the people to repent. But we know from our study of the kings that the spiritual condition of a majority of the people continued to grow worse. Adversity is going to do what words did not do. In captivity in foreign lands, a number of the people will be sorry for having lost the way and they will turn back to the Lord.

Human armies will bring about the adversity but this is by the will of God. "He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak." (Isaiah 59:17) Here we see Him dressing for battle, for the battle is actually His, no matter what nation comes against the people. If it were not His will, no nation on earth could defeat them. He promised them that very thing before He ever brought them into the land, saying that their security depended on their faithfulness. But He also said that unfaithfulness would bring disaster and that He would remove them from the land.

"According to what they have done, so He will repay wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes; He will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere His glory. For He will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along." (Isaiah 59:18-19) Who are the enemies and foes of the Lord? Those who reject Him. His enemies and foes are also those who persecute people faithful to Him. In these two verses I believe He is speaking not only of disciplining Isaiah's people who have forsaken Him (by allowing Assyria to conquer Israel and by allowing Babylon to conquer Judah) but also He is speaking of the judgment that will fall upon the heathen nations. In time, as He has promised earlier in our study of Isaiah and other prophetic books, He will deal with those who invaded the nation and carried people to foreign lands. The captives will be set free and many will go back to the Promised Land.

An even bigger picture of deliverance is found in today's passage. The Lord will allow the people to return to their land and the Redeemer will come from these people and from their land. The Lord says: "'The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,' declares the Lord. 'As for Me, this is my covenant with them,' says the Lord. 'My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants---from this time on and forever,' says the Lord." (Isaiah 59:20-21) 

The Messiah could not come "to Zion" unless the people are allowed to return to Zion, for the Lord has already made it clear in the Bible that the Messiah will come from the lineage of King David and that He will be born in Bethlehem in Judah. Therefore, the people know that the promise to return to the land is true, for none of the promises following that one can come true unless they are in their land. But it's important to note that the Lord is not promising salvation for all but salvation for those "who repent", as He states in the concluding verses. The entire human race is not saved simply because the Redeemer was born, only those who repent of their sins and place their faith in the Redeemer. 

This salvation is offered to the descendants of Jacob and to the descendants of pagan idolaters. That is why the Lord said in today's passage that people from the east to the west (in other words, all over the map) would revere and glorify His name. We are blessed to be living in the church age, to be living after the advent of the Messiah, so we can believe on Him. My ancestors were Gentiles, no doubt bowing to all sorts of heathen idols and living in all sorts of abominable depravity, but I have found redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone can! He makes His invitation for redemption to every person on the face of the earth. We could not save ourselves, so the Lord accomplished a method of salvation for us through His own righteousness.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 160, Personal And National Sin

In yesterday's study we viewed some of the things that were preventing the people's prayers from being heard. Today we look at some of the results of those sins, of which they have not repented.

But since the people are persisting in sin, they are seeing no relief. They are stumbling and fumbling about like someone trying to find an exit in pitch darkness. "Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead." (Isaiah 59:10) When we give in to our own compulsions and go our own way, we can end up in a very dark place. But what happens when our lives are guided by the Lord? The Lord Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) We don't have to stumble and fumble through life; we can have the guidance of the Lord.

A life not centered upon the Lord is unsatisfying. We can run to and fro and we can look here and there but nothing we try will satisfy the needs of our souls. The Lord compares the unsatisfied soul to the growls of a hungry bear or a bird in distress. "We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away." (Isaiah 59:11) It seems like nothing good is happening. Everywhere the wayward person looks, there is more bad news.

Why is no justice found? Why are people's rights being ignored? Why are enemies increasing on every side? Troubles have increased because sins have increased, as Isaiah confesses on behalf of the whole nation to the Lord. "For our offenses are many in Your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey." (Isaiah 59:12-15)

Isaiah sets an example for us to follow in prayer. Although Isaiah himself hasn't committed the specific sins listed above, since he loves the Lord and is faithful to Him, he is not a perfect man. He has committed some sins, as we all do, and he is also aware of the sins the citizens of his nation are committing. He lumps himself in together with all the people and with all the sins of the people. We can do the same in our prayers, praying for forgiveness for our own sins and praying for forgiveness for all the citizens of our nation. We are not perfect, for no one is, and although we may never have committed sins as grievous as some folks have, we have made our own mistakes. We should deal with our own mistakes first and then move on into praying for the whole nation, just as Isaiah did, and we can ask the Lord for mercy on all of us together.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 159, Rushing Into Sin

We know from our study of the kings that the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria and the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. The fall of the northern kingdom occurred during Isaiah's lifetime; the southern kingdom continued for approximately 130 more years. In both cases the causes of the fall were idolatry, immorality, and lack of compassion for their fellow human beings. As we move on into Chapter 59 we take a look at how the people's feet were swift to run into sin and were swift to run away from the Lord's principles.

"Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2) In our previous chapter we talked about how the majority of the people were only calling out to the Lord when they were in trouble. They were ignoring Him the rest of the time or going through the motions of honoring Him without feeling anything in their hearts. When He ignores their pleas for help it's not because He lacks the power to help them. It's because He will not bless their sin. If He orchestrated a miraculous deliverance from their enemies while they are still sinning against Him, this would not encourage them to repent. Instead it would send the false message that it's okay to keep doing what they're doing.

Folding their hands in prayer is meaningless when they are living in unrepentant idolatry and immorality and cruelty against their fellow man. "For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil." (Isaiah 59:3-4)

Judges are taking bribes to pervert justice in the courts, thereby disenfranchising the poor and needy. Witnesses are perjuring themselves after taking oaths in the Lord's name to tell the truth. They are responsible for people's rights being taken away from them and, in some cases, they are responsible for people's lives being taken away from them.

The Lord compares them to dangerous snakes and spiders. "They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands." (Isaiah 59:5-6) 

The people think they are profiting by their evil schemes. But they are morally and spiritually bankrupt. Their deeds are like poison; they will be the death of them in the end. Their wicked webs of deceit are as fragile as a spider's web; they won't hold up to the Lord's scrutiny. 

"Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace." (Isaiah 59:7-8) Why do they "rush" into sin? Because they enjoy it. If they didn't enjoy it they would be rushing away from it because humans have a very strong tendency to avoid or put off unpleasant tasks. If the people didn't enjoy the way they were living, they would be doing something else, but they take so much pleasure in their sin that they rush to it as quickly as they can.

All of the things we've looked at today are impediments to their prayers. The Lord could save them from their enemies but He won't because they refuse to listen to Him and repent. He is going to allow them to be conquered in order to discipline them for their sin. After the era of captivity is over, on the pages of the Bible we don't see them bowing to false gods anymore, so that is a lesson they learned---and they learned it the hard way.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 158, True Religion, Part Three

Thank you for your patience the last several days while the blogger program seemed to be having some technical difficulties. I think everything is working again as it should.

We are still in Chapter 58 where the Lord talks about what "true religion" is. It's not simply going through the motions. It's not calling on the Lord only when we are in trouble. It's a right relationship with the Lord and with our fellow man. If a person loves the Lord, a person will do a better job of loving other human beings; therefore, a person will do a better job of obeying the Lord and of doing good to others.

The Lord says: "If you do away with the yoke of oppression and the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your light will become like the noonday." (Isaiah 58:9b-10) 

The Lord doesn't tell most people to get rid of everything we have in order to serve the poor and that's not what He's saying in the text above. The only person the Lord Jesus Christ told to give up everything was a man whose wealth was his god. That man's wealth was standing between him and salvation. But if we have more than we need, there is no reason why we can't give some contributions to programs that help the hungry. And even if we don't have much extra, perhaps we can devote some time instead. In the verses above, many of Isaiah's fellow citizens had no concern for the hungry beggars among them. They weren't donating to them. They weren't giving time to serve them. They were living comfortable lives with enough leisure time to have time to gossip about others. They were pointing at the sins of others without acknowledging their own mistakes.

If the people get back to the basics of their religion and form a personal relationship with the Lord, they will naturally care about others. As the Lord Jesus Christ said, the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. (Matthew 22:37-40) If our relationship with the Lord isn't right, our relationship with others won't be right. If we don't love the Lord, we can't love others the way we are supposed to love them. 

If people will heed the Lord's words and get right with Him, which will naturally help them to treat their fellow man right, He will bless them abundantly. "The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." (Isaiah 58:11-12)

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 58:13-14) Obeying the Lord should be a delight to us. When we love someone, we want to do things that please them, don't we? If we love someone, we want to spend time with them. The Lord commanded a day in which we are to focus on Him and commune with Him. It's not too much to ask that we attend a worship service or spend some quiet time in Bible study and in prayer and meditation.

In this whole chapter the Lord is not asking too much of us. We should love and honor Him because He loves us so much that He was willing to do anything it took in order to offer us a means of salvation. In addition to that, He supplies our needs and comforts us and strengthens us and guides us. How can we not love Him? And if our love for Him is real, we can love others. After all, didn't Jesus die for everyone? Jesus thought our fellow man was worth dying for, just as He thought you and I were worth dying for. If He found value in them then we should as well. He's not asking us to like everyone but to value them as human beings who have eternal souls. We can care about the destiny of their eternal souls without necessarily agreeing with them or having much in common with them. 

If we love the Lord and love our fellow human beings, the Lord promises to hear our prayers and to help us through our difficulties in this fallen world. He never breaks a promise, which is why He ends our chapter by saying, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken." When He says something, it can be counted on. 

The Book Of Isaiah, Day 157, True Religion, Part Two

 

(I apologize that the formatting is weird today. I don't know what's causing it.)

In our last study session the Lord said that many of the people were only going through the motions of religion. They were calling on Him only when they were in trouble. Even when they set aside a day to fast and call out to Him, they were doing it in the wrong attitude. They were oppressing their workers, getting in arguments with each other, going through the day however it pleased them, and generally acting in ungodly ways.

Now the Lord talks about what a true fast is. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter---when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)

There is value in fasting and praying but not if we are living in unrepentant sin. If we intend to set aside a day for fasting and for calling upon God, we need to examine our hearts before bringing our specific issue to Him. He has no obligation to recognize our day of fasting if we have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with. The people He describes in the verses above are people who have sin in their lives that needs to be dealt with. We can see by what He says about them that they are allowing injustice to prevail, that they are oppressing their fellow citizens, that they are inhospitable to travelers, that they are not concerned about the needy folks among them, and that they are turning a blind eye even to the needs of their own family members.

The Lord Jesus said that people with these attitudes won't fare well in the judgment. He said that not caring about our fellow man is the same as not caring about Him. Jesus loves everyone and He gave His life for everyone. If we don't have a heart for our fellow man, we are not displaying a heart like Christ's. Indeed, we would have to question whether we belong to Christ at all. When we are cold-hearted about the needs of others, Jesus says this to us: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me." (Matthew 25:45)

What happens when people belong to Christ, love their fellow man, and care about the needs of their fellow man? The Lord Lord will bless them. "Then your light will break through like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I." (Isaiah 58:8-9a)

The Lord is not obligated to answer prayers if we are living in unrepentant sin. He is within His rights only to hear prayers of contrition for those sins. Once we have dealt with what is standing between us and Him, we can come to Him in confidence that He will hear (do something about) our problems.

This doesn't mean He will answer our prayers in exactly the way we expect, but it means He will do what is best about our situation. It means we will have His help, His comfort, His provision, and His peace. He will come to our aid. If He does not answer us in exactly the way we expect, it is because the way He intends to answer us will turn out for a greater purpose. For example, there was a very big problem in my life that I was praying about earlier this year. It was something I really needed solved. It was something I truly felt the Lord wanted to solve. He did solve it, only not in the way I expected. He allowed a difficult situation to come into my life and He worked out this problem and several others at the same time by dealing with everything in a way I didn't expect!of the people were only going through the motions of religion. They were calling on Him only when they were in trouble. Even when they set aside a day to fast and call out to Him, they were doing it in the wrong attitude. They were oppressing their workers, getting in arguments with each other, going through the day however it pleased them, and generally acting in ungodly ways.
Now the Lord talks about what a true fast is. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter---when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)
There is value in fasting and praying but not if we are living in unrepentant sin. If we intend to set aside a day for fasting and for calling upon God, we need to examine our hearts before bringing our specific issue to Him. He has no obligation to recognize our day of fasting if we have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with. The people He describes in the verses above are people who have sin in their lives that needs to be dealt with. We can see by what He says about them that they are allowing injustice to prevail, that they are oppressing their fellow citizens, that they are inhospitable to travelers, that they are not concerned about the needy folks among them, and that they are turning a blind eye even to the needs of their own family members.
The Lord Jesus said that people with these attitudes won't fare well in the judgment. He said that not caring about our fellow man is the same as not caring about Him. Jesus loves everyone and He gave His life for everyone. If we don't have a heart for our fellow man, we are not displaying a heart like Christ's. Indeed, we would have to question whether we belong to Christ at all. When we are cold-hearted about the needs of others, Jesus says this to us: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me." (Matthew 25:45)
What happens when people belong to Christ, love their fellow man, and care about the needs of their fellow man? The Lord Lord will bless them. "Then your light will break throughIn our last study session the Lord said that many of the people were only going through the motions of religion. They were calling on Him only when they were in trouble. Even when they set aside a day to fast and call out to Him, they were doing it in the wrong attitude. They were oppressing their workers, getting in arguments with each other, going through the day however it pleased them, and generally acting in ungodly ways.

Now the Lord talks about what a true fast is. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter---when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)

There is value in fasting and praying but not if we are living in unrepentant sin. If we intend to set aside a day for fasting and for calling upon God, we need to examine our hearts before bringing our specific issue to Him. He has no obligation to recognize our day of fasting if we have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with. The people He describes in the verses above are people who have sin in their lives that needs to be dealt with. We can see by what He says about them that they are allowing injustice to prevail, that they are oppressing their fellow citizens, that they are inhospitable to travelers, that they are not concerned about the needy folks among them, and that they are turning a blind eye even to the needs of their own family members.

The Lord Jesus said that people with these attitudes won't fare well in the judgment. He said that not caring about our fellow man is the same as not caring about Him. Jesus loves everyone and He gave His life for everyone. If we don't have a heart for our fellow man, we are not displaying a heart like Christ's. Indeed, we would have to question whether we belong to Christ at all. When we are cold-hearted about the needs of others, Jesus says this to us: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me." (Matthew 25:45)

What happens when people belong to Christ, love their fellow man, and care about the needs of their fellow man? The Lord Lord will bless them. "Then your light will break through like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I." (Isaiah 58:8-9a)

The Lord is not obligated to answer prayers if we are living in unrepentant sin. He is within His rights only to hear prayers of contrition for those sins. Once we have dealt with what is standing between us and Him, we can come to Him in confidence that He will hear (do something about) our problems.

This doesn't mean He will answer our prayers in exactly the way we expect, but it means He will do what is best about our situation. It means we will have His help, His comfort, His provision, and His peace. He will come to our aid. If He does not answer us in exactly the way we expect, it is because the way He intends to answer us will turn out for a greater purpose. For example, there was a very big problem in my life that I was praying about earlier this year. It was something I really needed solved. It was something I truly felt the Lord wanted to solve. He did solve it, only not in the way I expected. He allowed a difficult situation to come into my life and He worked out this problem and several others at the same time by dealing with everything in the way that was best. By doing it His way, He worked out more things that I had even asked for!In our last study session the Lord said that many of the people were only going through the motions of religion. They were calling on Him only when they were in trouble. Even when they set aside a day to fast and call out to Him, they were doing it in the wrong attitude. They were oppressing their workers, getting in arguments with each other, going through the day however it pleased them, and generally acting in ungodly ways.

Now the Lord talks about what a true fast is. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter---when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)

There is value in fasting and praying but not if we are living in unrepentant sin. If we intend to set aside a day for fasting and for calling upon God, we need to examine our hearts before bringing our specific issue to Him. He has no obligation to recognize our day of fasting if we have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with. The people He describes in the verses above are people who have sin in their lives that needs to be dealt with. We can see by what He says about them that they are allowing injustice to prevail, that they are oppressing their fellow citizens, that they are inhospitable to travelers, that they are not concerned about the needy folks among them, and that they are turning a blind eye even to the needs of their own family members.

The Lord Jesus said that people with these attitudes won't fare well in the judgment. He said that not caring about our fellow man is the same as not caring about Him. Jesus loves everyone and He gave His life for everyone. If we don't have a heart for our fellow man, we are not displaying a heart like Christ's. Indeed, we would have to question whether we belong to Christ at all. When we are cold-hearted about the needs of others, Jesus says this to us: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me." (Matthew 25:45)

What happens when people belong to Christ, love their fellow man, and care about the needs of their fellow man? The Lord Lord will bless them. "Then your light will break through like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I." (Isaiah 58:8-9a)

The Lord is not obligated to answer prayers if we are living in unrepentant sin. He is within His rights only to hear prayers of contrition for those sins. Once we have dealt with what is standing between us and Him, we can come to Him in confidence that He will hear (do something about) our problems.

This doesn't mean He will answer our prayers in exactly the way we expect, but it means He will do what is best about our situation. It means we will have His help, His comfort, His provision, and His peace. He will come to our aid. If He does not answer us in exactly the way we expect, it is because the way He intends to answer us will turn out for a greater purpose. For example, there was a very big problem in my life that I was praying about earlier this year. It was something I really needed solved. It was something I truly felt the Lord wanted to solve. He did solve it, only not in the way I expected. He allowed a difficult situation to come into my life and He worked out this problem and several others at the same time by dealing with everything in the way that was best. By doing it His way, He worked out more things that I had even asked for! like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I." (Isaiah 58:8-9a)
The Lord is not obligated to answer prayers if we are living in unrepentant sin. He is within His rights only to hear prayers of contrition for those sins. Once we have dealt with what is standing between us and Him, we can come to Him in confidence that He will hear (do something about) our problems.
This doesn't mean He will answer our prayers in exactly the way we expect, but it means He will do what is best about our situation. It means we will have His help, His comfort, His provision, and His peace. He will come to our aid. If He does not answer us in exactly the way we expect, it is because the way He intends to answer us will turn out for a greater purpose. For example, there was a very big problem in my life that I was praying about earlier this year. It was something I really needed solved. It was something I truly felt the Lord wanted to solve. He did solve it, only not in the way I expected. He allowed a difficult situation to come into my life and He worked out this problem and several others at the same time by dealing with everything in the way that was best. By doing it His way, He worked out more things that I had even asked for!

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 156, True Religion, Part One

As we move on into Chapter 58 the Lord points out that many of the people are not practicing true religion. They are going through the motions of following the rules, sometimes only partly, and they are doing these things while their hearts aren't right. It will take us several study sessions to look at this chapter.

The Lord says to the prophet Isaiah: "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to My people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1) The people think they are basically okay because they are still (at least partially) following the laws the Lord gave them. A lot of them are still bringing the prescribed offerings they were commanded to bring. But something has gone very wrong in their hearts. This is like someone who attends church every Sunday but who isn't living according to what they hear in church on Sundays.

Have you ever known anyone who pretty much completely ignores the Lord in regard to how they are living but who call on Him only when they are in trouble or only when they need to make a big decision? That's what we see happening in these next verses. "For day after day they seek Me out; they seem eager to know My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commandments of its God. They ask Me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?'" (Isaiah 58:2-3a)

They ignore the Lord until trouble comes, then they pause and take a day to fast and call out to God. But they don't acknowledge and repent of the ways they've been rebellious. They don't forsake their wrongdoing. Even while they are fasting, they are sinning, as He points out below.

"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high." (Isaiah 58:3b-4) They call out to the Lord but they keep on living as they please. They don't repent of anything that may have brought this trouble upon them. They even get angry and irritable while fasting and get into fights with each other and mistreat their workers.

Because their hearts aren't right, no amount of putting on a show of humility is going to help them. Rending their clothing, lying on the ground, and flinging dust on themselves---which are intended to symbolize sorrowful hearts---means nothing if their hearts aren't really sorrowful. The Lord sees through all of this. "Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" (Isaiah 58:5)

In our next study session we will see what the Lord considers an acceptable fast and an acceptable display of sorrow.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 155, The Lord Will Heal

The remainder of Chapter 57 deals with the healing---spiritual healing---of those who turn back to Him.

"And it will be said: 'Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of My people.'" (Isaiah 57:14) The Lord will orchestrate a return to the land, which is partly in view here in this promise, but primarily He is speaking of their spiritual return to Him. He wants no stumbling blocks in their way. In ancient times, whenever a great caravan of people was coming, the road would be prepared ahead of them. The potholes would be filled in (built up) and obstacles such as rocks and fallen tree branches would be removed from the roadway. 

"For this is what the high and exalted One says---He who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" (Isaiah 57:15) Although the Lord is greater than all things, He wants fellowship with us. As David said in Psalm 18, the Lord stoops down to make us great. The Lord reaches down to us to lift us from the mire of sin. The Lord enables us to grow spiritually into what we were created to be. 

"I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of Me---the very people I have created. I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid My face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways." (Isaiah 57:16-17) Not being able to have fellowship with the Lord should seem to us like the most dreadful thing of all. Because the people were wallowing in sin, He was silent to them. The only thing He wanted to hear from them was prayers of repentance. He would not have been silent to repentant prayers but, since they kept doing what they were doing, He did not answer their prayers for help against their enemies. He allowed them to be conquered and taken into captivity. But that wasn't going to be a permanent situation. If He had turned His face away forever, their enemies would have made an end of them as a race and as a nation, and He did not intend for that to happen.

"I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel's mourners, creating praise on their lips." (Isaiah 57:18) It's possible to fall so far into sin that we have no idea what to do when we realize we are ruining our lives. Just as someone can become so addicted to drugs or alcohol that they can't stop using substances on their own, no matter how much they want to stop, the person who has dug themselves a pit of sin may want out but cannot get out. The Lord takes the initiative for the one who has a willing spirit. He says here that He has seen the wicked ways of Isaiah's people but that He will hold out a hand of reconciliation to them. He will lift them out of the pit when they become tired of it. He will cure them of their immorality when they see it has brought them no satisfaction.

What about the one who feels no remorse? What about the one who rejects the Lord's helping hand? What about the one who never has and never will want anything to do with Him? "But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'." (Isaiah 57:19-21) Chapter 57 began with the Lord promising peace to those who are faithful to Him and we see here that there is no peace for those who refuse to accept Him as Lord. 

I want to close by backing up to look at verse 18 again. The Lord used that verse in my life to let me know He was about to perform a tremendous and miraculous act of healing for someone. There was someone who had fallen into a deep pit of sin, a pit of immorality and of addiction and of dabbling in an occult practice. I had prayed for years for this person and they seemed to only be growing worse and worse. One morning I was sitting in the waiting room at the allergy doctor's office and with a heavy heart and with this person on my mind I picked up the Gideon Bible and began reading it. It was in the KJV and the KJV renders verse 18 like this: "I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners." Why is this KJV translation significant? Because the person I was praying for was a male and because the Lord refers to Israel as a female more often than as a male, especially when accusing Israel of not being true to Him, but here He uses the words "him" and "his".

When I read that verse, the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit so strongly that I felt like jumping out of my chair in the doctor's waiting room and dancing and shouting with joy. When I got back to work I printed out the verse and carried it in my purse, taking it out often and reading it, until the Lord healed that person and restored comforts to him and to his mourners (to those who love him and who were grieved by his actions). That person is still healed today, for he accepted Christ as his Savior and has forsaken all the immoral, addictive, and occult practices of his past. He is in fellowship with the Lord, who reached out a hand to him just as the Lord said He would when I was reading Chapter 57 of Isaiah that day. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 154, The Righteous Versus The Unrighteous, Part Three

In the beginning of Chapter 57 the Lord spoke of the peace that is the inheritance of those who love Him. Then He moved on to talk about those who hate Him. We studied the first portion of that text yesterday and now we pick up at verse 11.

"Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to Me, and have neither remembered Me nor taken this to heart?" (Isaiah 57:11a) Who did they fear (reverence, stand in awe of, regard as supreme) more than the Lord? Did they fear their fellow man more than God and join in with idolaters in order to make treaties with them? If so, this is what the Scriptures say about that: "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." (Proverbs 29:25) "The Lord is my light and my salvation---whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life---of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1) If they had remained faithful to the Lord, no enemy could ever have defeated them.

Or perhaps they persisted in wickedness because they didn't believe the Lord would do anything about it. He says: "Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?" (Isaiah 57:11b) They thought that because He did not immediately punish them for sins, He would never punish them. But the Lord, like a loving Father, appeals to mankind before taking punitive action because He does not want to have to be severe with us. He says: "Come now, let us settle the matter. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18) He reasons with us first. He gives us several opportunities to repent of our rebellion. As the Apostle Peter said, the Lord is "patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance". (2 Peter 3:9b) He doesn't remove sinners from the earth the very instant they reject Him because He wants them to be saved, not destroyed. But some interpret the delay in action as a lack of strength on the Lord's part or as a lack of morality on the Lord's part. That's why He asks the people of Isaiah's nation, "Is it because I have not already destroyed you that you think I will never discipline you?"

A lot of people think they are basically good people, even though they have not made God the Lord of their lives. They compare their morality to the morality of their fellow man and decide that they look pretty righteous in comparison to others. But we were never meant to compare our righteousness to that of our fellow man; we were meant to compare our righteousness to that of Almighty God! We will always come up short when we do that, which is intended to bring us to repentance so that our sins can be covered by the One who gave Himself for us. 

The Lord will expose self-righteousness for what it is. "I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you." (Isaiah 57:12) We cannot obtain salvation by our own righteousness or by doing a lot of good works. Isaiah will say later in our study: "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:4) This doesn't mean that the believer isn't to do good works but that good works don't save us. We should do good works because we are saved, not in order to get saved.

The one who has trusted in his or her own works or who has forsaken the Lord for idolatry will reap what he or she has sown. "When you cry out for help, let your idols save you! The wind will carry them all off, a mere breath will blow them away." (Isaiah 57:13a) Idols are powerless. They will be no help to those who worship them. In contrast, those who trust in the Lord will inherit the beautiful things He has planned for His children. "But whoever takes refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain." (Isaiah 57:13b) 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 153, The Righteous Versus The Unrighteous, Part Two

In yesterday's study the Lord talked about how the righteous find peace, even in death. Now He moves on to talk about the unrighteous.

"But you---come here, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! Who are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?" (Isaiah 57:3-4) The Lord often compares idolatry to various forms of sexual immorality. In the Old Testament we sometimes find Him speaking of Himself as the husband and of Israel as His wife, charging her with committing unfaithfulness against Him. Although a number of the people did live sexually immoral lives, idolatry is primarily the sin in view here, as we see below.

"You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and underneath the overhanging crags. The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; indeed, they are your lot." (Isaiah 57:5-6) These verses speak of how the people carried out pagan rituals in the groves, even resorting to human sacrifices upon the altars of their false gods. Because they have rejected the one true God, who was the source of all good things, their "portion" will only be these false gods who can do nothing for them. Their prayers, offerings, and sacrifices to those gods are useless.

This next segment reminds us of the saying, "You've made your bed; now lie in it," because they will reap what they have sown. They have rejected and blasphemed the living God and will have to face the consequences of their actions. "You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices. Behind your doors and your doorposts you have your pagan symbols. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked with lust on their naked bodies." (Isaiah 57:7-8) They "got in bed", so to speak, with pagan idolaters. They tried to hide some of their sin, painting occult symbols where they thought the Lord would not see them. They committed a lot of their immoral acts behind closed doors where they thought the Lord would not see them. They believed neither He nor their fellow citizens (some of whom had remained faithful to the Lord) would not take them to task for their sins.

They spent their energies on things that could never help them. They were so depraved that they gave their children to the abominable god Molek, and there is nothing more depraved than sacrificing those who are to be protected. They poured out offerings of oil and perfume in adoration of false gods. They sent ambassadors to make friends with heathen nations and engaged with those nations in their idolatrous acts. In the final section we study today, the Lord talks about these things and about how the people grew weary appealing to gods that don't exist. But because they'd rest and gain a second wind, they'd go right back at their futile attempts to contact deities that cannot help them.

"You went to Molek with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the very realm of the dead! You wearied yourself by such going about, but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint." (Isaiah 57:9-10) They kept doing what they were doing, deceiving themselves that their futile works would produce results any day now. Just because in our modern age we aren't bowing to Molek (or to other images) doesn't mean we can't fall into various types of idolatry. Many people run after money or pleasure or relationships or all the things this modern world offers them, thinking that any day now they will feel better, but there isn't anything that can satisfy the human soul other than a relationship with the one and only God. 

When we have the Lord at the center of our lives, the good things He bestows upon us are like the icing on the cake. But without Him, no amount of things in this world will ever satisfy our deepest needs. Let's not weary ourselves by running after those things while leaving the Lord out. Only He can give us the peace and satisfaction and comfort we long for.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 152, The Righteous Versus The Unrighteous, Part One

As we begin Chapter 57 the Lord makes a contrast between the fate of the righteous versus the fate of the unrighteous. In today's portion of those verses we find a partial answer to the question, "Who do bad things happen to good people?" In tomorrow's portion we will talk about the fate of the wicked.

You and I know that we live in a fallen world. Sin has polluted it. The best way I can describe the way sin has had a bad effect on the creation is to compare it to a pollution that has grown worse and worse ever since the first man and woman disobeyed God. Sin has had an effect on the environment, on plant life, on all land animals and sea creatures and insects, and on the human race. Why do natural disasters happen? Because of this pollution. Why do diseases affect crops and animals and humans? Because of this pollution. Why do animals prey on each other and why do humans prey on animals and why do humans do bad things to their fellow man? Because of this pollution.

In our first segment today we talk about the fact that bad things sometimes happen even to the godly. Their fellow man may persecute them for their faith or for other reasons. They may fall victim to illnesses or accidents. But their fate is different from those who reject the Lord, and this is what the Lord focuses on as we begin our text.

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death." (Isaiah 57:1-2) The death of our loved ones brings us sorrow. When they leave the world we think of it as a bad thing. From the Lord's perspective they are entering into rest. They are finding peace. They are being spared the troubles of this world.

The Lord allows some believers to reach a very old age, while some may die in youth or in middle age. By faith we believe He has a reason for the time of a person's death, although it grieves us far more when we feel like a person left us too soon. The Lord doesn't always explain to us why one person leaves the world at a younger age than another, but in the passage above we are told that sometimes it is to spare them from evil. Something in the future might have happened to them that was worse than having them leave this world suddenly and unexpectedly. We don't know what that thing was but, since the Lord can see every event that will happen in the future, He knows what it was. He knows that events on the earth or things that are done by mankind would have brought that person worse troubles than what He intends to allow to happen to them. 

A woman from my church said that Isaiah 57:1-2 was a great comfort to her when her fifteen-year-old son died unexpectedly. He'd been fine when he left for school that morning but when he came home he told her he'd had a headache all day. I believe his intention was to take some aspirin or something for it, but before he could do that he suddenly collapsed unconscious to the floor. By the time the ambulance got him to the hospital he was losing the ability to breathe on his own and had to be placed on artificial respiration while the doctors frantically rushed him to a brain scan only to find he'd already lost all brain activity due to what turned out to be meningitis. It was extremely sudden and extremely mysterious, since no one could ever determine how he'd contracted it due to not knowing of anyone else who had it, but his mother said that she firmly believed that Isaiah 57:1-2 explained why the Lord allowed him to be taken so unexpectedly. She believed that this was a humane passing compared to what might have been in his future. Taking comfort from these verses doesn't mean she won't miss her son every day of her life, but it does mean that she knows her son (who had accepted Christ as Savior and who loved the Lord deeply and tried to live a life that honored Him) was spared some sort of evil on the earth and that he is at peace in the presence of the Lord.

Both of my parents passed away far too young, in my opinion. They weren't significantly older than I am now. I don't know how their deaths fit into the Lord's plan but I know that, because they believed in Him, they are at peace in His presence. And I know that, no matter how much they loved their family, they wouldn't return to this world for anything. After resting in the presence of the Lord, even if there was a way they could return and be with their loved ones again, they would not choose to do so because being in the presence of the Lord is so much better than living on this earth. They will wait for their loved ones to come to them where we will all know the peace and joy of beholding our Savior's face forever.