The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
Isaiah 47:10 RSV — You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray.
This is an example of the descriptive nature of the Old Testament. God doesn’t bring Babylon low out of vengeance, but rather Babylon’s arrogance and refusal to see its limited role in history.
Isaiah 46:1 RSV — Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts.
I have to laugh at myself. I’ve been stressing all morning about loading up for a camping weekend. Scripture is magic. The Word shows up in humbling ways.
This weekend I will focus on not carrying false idols into the woods.
Isaiah 43:22 RSV — “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
Isaiah 43:25 RSV — “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Although Jacob’s people deny and forget God repeatedly, he does not withhold forgiveness.
The phrase “for my own sake” stands out for the human truth that when we forgive those who wrong us, we are blessed.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV — Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
In this chapter, Isaiah foretells the rise of king Cyrus and God’s continued guidance of Jacob’s people.
Isaiah 32:1 RSV — Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.
1 Peter 2:9 RSV — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
In this chapter, I hear God calling His people to be righteous and just leaders in difficult times.
After the Assrian invasion fails, Judah will suffer economically. God commands the complacent to rise up and prepare to receive the fruits of His Spirit.
Isaiah 31:1 RSV — Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!
Jerusalem is besieged by Assyria and King Hezekiah is panicking. He wants to call out to Egypt for help, but Isaiah assures him that God will deliver the city to safety.
Isaiah 24:1-3 RSV — Behold, the LORD will lay waste the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word.
Isaiah 25:1 KJV — O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah 25:7-8 RSV — And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.
This is a prophecy for all the world.
It’s hard to escape the clarity that everyone on Earth will suffer before God finally defeats death.
I’ve started a list of videos I’ve watched during my reading of Isaiah. While the audio commentaries on Blue Letter Bible are my main resource, these talks have been very helpful.
Isaiah 22:11 KJV — Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
The people and rulers of Jerusalem knew that trouble was coming. An Assyrian attack was inevitable. They denied the invaders their unprotected cattle by feasting on them. They built a brilliant tunnel from a well outside the city walls to a reservoir on the inside.
They forgot something in their preparations…God.
God created us to be creators like Him. To create is to honor our own Creator. The hazard lies in forgetting the Creator and thinking that we are the source of innovation and inspiration.
It becomes easy to worship the product of our industry. It becomes easy to worship ourselves as designers and builders.
When we forget the source of our abilities, we forget our proper place in the Universe. Without orientation, we become lost and invite disaster.
Isaiah 12:2 KJV — Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
I’ve been feeling just strong enough. That’s a precarious place to occupy. I don’t ask God for strength as often as I should, but I regularly thank Him for the power He has graced me with.
