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. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 151, Judgment Against Wicked Religious Leaders

The remainder of Chapter 56 is an indictment against those who should be leading the people in a godly manner but who are too wicked to guide anyone.

The Lord calls to the animal kingdom to devour the soon-to-be slain sinful leaders. "Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!" (Isaiah 56:9) I believe this has to do with the invasion of the northern and southern kingdoms by Assyria and Babylon in the Old Testament. Many of those nations' nobles and priests and other high officials perished. But a similar event happens in the end times in Revelation 19:17 when one of the Lord's angels calls to the birds of the air to come and feast on the bodies of the slain who had rebelled against the Lord and who did not want His kingdom to come.

Why is the Lord inviting animals to feast on the fallen leaders? Because the leaders had a responsibility to remain faithful to Him and to be a godly example to their subjects. He explains that in this next portion. "Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep." (Isaiah 56:10)

In the analogies above, the Lord is comparing the nations' leaders to watchmen and to guard dogs. In ancient times there were watchmen posted on the city walls so they could alert the occupants of the city if they saw an enemy army approaching. But the leaders are so spiritually and morally bankrupt that they are about as useful as blind watchmen. They are also compared to a mute and lazy guard dog. A dog like that wouldn't be able to give a warning to the occupants of the house. In this same way the wicked leaders are useless in warning people that the Lord's judgment is coming if they do not repent.

The remaining verses compare the reprobate leaders to dogs who think only of satisfying their hunger, to shepherds who don't watch over the flock, and to people who live only for today. "They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. 'Come,' each one cries, 'let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.'" (Isaiah 56:11-12)

The verses above paint the picture of people whose minds are focused on carnal pleasures rather than on the kingdom of God. They are materialistic. They are excessive in everything they do. They are living by the motto, "You only live once!" They don't believe the Lord's judgment is coming but instead believe that everything will keep going on just as it is today. They are complacent, not worried about ever having to answer for their idolatry and immorality. 

But judgment did come and things did not continue going on as they always had. The same will be true in the end times, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, who said that many would be like the people in the days of Noah. While Noah was building the ark, people thought he was crazy. They thought everything would continue to go on as it always had. They didn't believe that the Lord was going to judge them. They were "partying hearty", as the saying goes, "until the flood came and took them all away". (Matthew 24:39)

Let us not be like the people of Noah's day or of Isaiah's day. Today is the day for anyone who doesn't already know the Lord Jesus Christ to accept Him as their Savior. We don't know what may happen tomorrow. We live in a fallen, ever-changing world where things will not always go on just as they have been. The time is now.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 150, Salvation For Those Outside Of Israel

We begin Chapter 56 today. This first segment deals with people who would normally be excluded from the temple but to whom the Lord plans to offer salvation. I apologize for no Bible study posts on Monday and Tuesday. I had to leave home early both days to take care of some things at my mother-in-law's new house before work.

"This is what the Lord says: 'Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is close at hand and My righteousness will soon be revealed.'" (Isaiah 56:1) The Lord has made promises to the people regarding their captivity in foreign lands: they will be restored to their own land in time. But they aren't to wait until then to begin praising the Lord and doing what is right in His eyes. You may be familiar with the expression, "Until the Lord opens a door, praise Him in the hallway." What He is saying here seems to be something similar. They aren't to say, "Until the Lord punishes our enemies and restores us to our land, we cannot properly serve Him." Instead they are to say, "I will serve Him every day of my life." 

The prophecy regarding their captors being punished and the people being set free is not too far off in the future in Old Testament times. This will come true just as the Lord said it would. Another prophecy is going to come true in the more far off future when His righteousness (His faithfulness, His trustworthiness, His promise-keeping power) is revealed by the advent of the Messiah. I believe both of these promises are in view in verse 1. He will keep His word to restore the people and He will keep His word to provide the Redeemer.

Keeping in mind that the Lord is faithful, the people are to be faithful to Him. "Blessed is the one who does this---the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil." (Isaiah 56:2) They are to honor the Lord with the way they live their lives. They cannot live perfect lives but, whenever they become aware that they have made a mistake, they are to sincerely repent of it, trusting that the Lord will absolve them of it.

The Lord will absolve not only the citizens of Israel, but foreigners who place their faith in Him. He will turn no one away. "Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, 'The Lord will surely exclude me from His people.'" (Isaiah 56:3a) Those who were not descended from Abraham may have thought that the Lord's promises didn't include them. But the Lord imputed righteousness to Abraham based on Abraham's faith (Genesis 15:6) and that is the way the Lord imputes righteousness to anyone---by faith. He doesn't consider the faith of the Gentile less important than the faith of the Jew.

In Biblical times there were rules about who could enter certain areas of the temple complex. Gentile believers had to remain in the outer court. But when Christ gave His life for all, the veil in the temple was torn in two by the hands of God, and everyone has access to Him now. Also in Biblical times there were rules (Deuteronomy 23:1) about persons who were maimed, such as eunuchs (men who had been castrated), and this next portion deals with them.

"And let no eunuch complain, 'I am only a dry tree.' For this is what the Lord says: 'To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant---to them I will give within My temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.'" (Isaiah 56:3b-5) Some of the men who were taken captive were castrated by their oppressors. Some men became eunuchs due to illnesses or injuries. Some were born with deformations in their sexual organs. Some may even have caused the injury to themselves on purpose. Some were not physically castrated but had chosen a life of celibacy. Jesus said none of that mattered (Matthew 19:12) when it came to the kingdom of God. A person did not have to have offspring and generations of descendants to be valuable to the Lord. They could be remembered by their faith and by their good works rather than for having raised children in the faith.

Foreigners also, who once were treated as "less than" by the people of Israel, will be as accepted by God for their faith as anyone who is of Israel. "And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My covenant---these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Sovereign Lord declares---He who gathers the exiles of Israel: I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered." (Isaiah 56:6-8)

The references to the Sabbath, the covenant, and the offerings and sacrifices have to do with Old Testament times and Old Testament laws. He is speaking of those foreigners who became believers in Him before the advent of Christ. But when Christ comes He makes a new covenant with mankind and His offer of redemption will appeal to people of many nations: the Lord will "gather still others to them". These "others" are people from all over the world. 

No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you've done, the Lord calls to you just as much as He calls to anyone else. You are not "less than" anyone. Christ died for you just as much as He died for anyone and He loves you just as much as He loves anyone and He wants to save you just as much as He wants to save anyone. He is an equal opportunity Savior who says, "Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away". (John 6:37)