Tag: Isaiah

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Isaiah 33: Reap what you Sow

Isaiah 33:1 RSV — Woe to you, destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom none has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously.

Matthew 7:1-2 RSV — “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.

This chapter details how the Assyrians will be laid low for their rampaging.

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Isaiah 32: Faith Through Crisis

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.

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Isaiah 31

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.

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Isaiah 28-30: Misplaced Trust

Isaiah 29:13-14 RSV — And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote; therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”

Isaiah repeatedly warns against trusting in political alliances, rules and rites, and human wisdom.

It feels like a personal warning as a I read and listen to different resources.

How does one keep one’s heart close to God while (over)thinking deeply through His Word?

I try to remember that I will always hold more ignorance than knowledge.

That’s why I choose to trust in God. The unknowable is nearly infinite, but God is omniscient.

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Isaiah 24-27: Destruction and Glory

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.

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Isaiah 23: The Burden of Tyre

Isaiah 23:1 KJV — The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Isaiah 23:17-18 KJV — And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

God humbled those in Tyre who worshipped material wealth over spiritual health.

The city was populated with Christians multiple times in history,  but currently lies barren. It is unclear whether the restoration that was foretold has already come and gone, or has yet to be.

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Isaiah 22: Hubris in Jerusalem

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.

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Isaiah 20-21: Be Naked

Isaiah 20:2-3 KJV — At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

Isaiah protested the unwise alliances Judah was forming by walking around the royal court in (depending on the interpretation) little to no clothing for three years.

He did this at God’s behest.

One sermon (perhaps Jon Courson on the Blue Letter Bible app) recommended a metaphorical lesson in living out loud as a follower of Christ.

I see this as a call to share these posts in more places and to renew my dedication to sharing the Word.

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Isaiah 19: Egypt

Isaiah 19:20 KJV — And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

Near the end of Isaiah’s life, his prophecy of the destruction of Egypt became reality.