Isaiah Day 148 - Just Soak In Every Word...
Today I don't want to say
anything. I just encourage you to take in every word. It's obvious we aren't
talking about Cyrus now. We are talking about the One. Note who He is coming
for and who is most opposed to Him. I keep asking myself, "Where am I in
the story? Friend or foe...?"
49:1. “Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3 “And He said to Me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified.’
4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord,
And my work with my God.’”
5 “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One,
To Him whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
Isaiah Day 149 - Where's Waldo? Where's Jesus!?!
Recently in my teaching I have begun using the illustrated childrens
books "Where's Waldo" to show that Bible is about finding Jesus from
cover to cover even though at first glance it doesn't appear to be. So let's
reread the powerful passage we opened yesterday and then let's look for Jesus.
“Listen, O coastlands (Tyre, Sidon, etc...), to Me (Jesus),
And take heed, you peoples from afar(the whole earth)!
The Lord (God the Father) has called Me(Jesus) from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother(Mary) He(God) has made mention of My
name.(Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Jesus, Bread of heaven,
Light of the world, the Word, the Gate, the Good Shepherd etc...)
2 And He(God) has made My(Jesus) mouth like a sharp sword(Truth/Word);
In the shadow of His(God's) hand He(God) has hidden Me(Jesus),
And made Me(Jesus) a polished shaft;
In His quiver He(God) has hidden Me(Jesus).”
3 “And He(God) said to Me(Jesus),
‘You(Jesus) are My(God's) servant, O Israel(Jesus - the One and Only
True Overcomer),
In whom I(God) will be glorified.’(see John 17)
4 Then I(Jesus) said, ‘I(Jesus) have labored in vain,
I(Jesus) have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely My(Jesus') just reward is with the Lord(God the Father),
And my work with my God.’”
5 “And now the Lord(God) says,
Who(God) formed Me(Jesus) from the womb(of Mary) to be His(God's)
Servant,
To bring Jacob(sinners) back to Him(God),
So that Israel(those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb) is gathered
to Him(God)
(For I(Jesus) shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord(God),
And My God shall be My(Jesus) strength),
6 Indeed He(God) says,
‘It is too small a thing that You(Jesus) should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob(sinners),
And to restore the preserved ones(those who choose You) of Israel;
I will also give You(Jesus) as a light to the Gentiles(whole world),
That You(Jesus) should be My(God's) salvation to the ends of the
earth.’”
7 Thus says the Lord(God),
"The Redeemer of Israel(Jesus), their Holy One(Jesus),
To Him(Jesus) whom man despises,
To Him(Jesus) whom the nation(literal Israel) abhors,
To the Servant(Jesus) of rulers:
Kings shall see and arise(the wise men from the East),
Princes also shall worship(the wise men from the East),
Because of the Lord(God) who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel(God);
And He(God) has chosen You(Jesus).”
It's the time of year Jesus'
birth is remembered and celebrated (even though the timing is off). His birth
should have been no surprise. He was mentioned here in one chapter in Isaiah 25
times. Some have counted over 300 prophecies pointing to Jesus in the Old
Testament. I haven't ever attempted an exhaustive count. I'm not sure one is
possible because the more I learn to look for Him, the more I find Him in
places where I had never seen Him before. Like Waldo He gets lost in the chaos
of many other things and we can't easily find Him.
When Jesus was about twelve years
old He traveled with His family and others from His village in Nazareth to
Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When His family left for home again they
assumed He was with them. After all He was twelve, and not the kind of child
they had to worry about.
One day into the journey home
they realized He wasn't in the group. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, neighbours were
all asked but He was not among them.
It took three days of searching
to find Him and when they found Him, He was in the temple essentially teaching
the teachers. One day to lose Him, three days to find Him. They assumed He was
following them when it is we who are to be following Him. How many churches are
full of people travelling together assuming Jesus is among them when He is not?
How many of us have lost sight of Him and discovered it was not easy to find
our way back? How many of us when we did find Him, found Him in a place we
never expected doing things we also found surprising? The disciples left Him
alone for an hour one day only to find Him engaged in deep conversation with a
woman (taboo) from Samaria (extremely taboo).
Jesus is there on every page but
are we where He is? Are we so connected to Him that we spot Him easily? Are we
so in tune with Him that the things that consume us and hold our attention are
the same things that concern and occupy Him? If we stay away too long we will
learn to love what He hates and when we cross paths with Him we will hate Him
as much as literal Israel did.
2000 years later they are still
waiting for their Messiah because they refused to recognize Him when He came to
them. Now modern Christianity is getting sucked into that Christ less narrative
rather then drawing them into His story. While they all look at literal
Jerusalem, the authentic Jesus is preparing to come and take those who have
been in step with Him to the Jerusalem above.
"Let not your heart be troubled... I will come again and receive
to Myself that where I Am, there you may be also." – Jesus
Isaiah Day 150 – The King is Coming!
49:8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
There is so much hope and good
news here but this morning I have been captivated by the last line of verse 8
and the last line of verse 13. Both speak of restoration. Both speak of
something so unlikely becoming a reality, especially verse 8.
"To cause them to inherit
the desolate heritages."
That word heritage is unique, so
unique that I had to look it up in the original Hebrew language to see what the
word was and I'm glad I did. The word can refer to an inheritance or heritage.
The framing of the context determines its meaning. You can see in verse 8 that
the word is used twice and you can see that even in English the words inherit
and heritage have the save root (herit).
There is a marked difference
between inherit and heritage though. An inheritance is something we receive
from someone else by their choice to give it. I could have a relative or even a
non relative who thinks so highly of me that they leave me something that was
never mine but because of their giving it to me, it becomes mine.
A heritage is different. It
refers to something that was always mine. It refers to the roots of who I am
and where I came from. Those roots can be lost. As generations pass a language
and culture can disappear but it is still part of a person's heritage.
Several years ago I was
privileged to meet a beautiful lady from East Prussia, who grew up in what was
Konisberg in her childhood. The war caused her to flee and she ended up in
Canada. Her homeland was destroyed. Decades later she returned and she told me
with tears as she relived the experience that she wished she had never gone
back because what she remembered as home is gone. She prefers the memories of
her childhood heritage to the reality of what it is now.
Now can you see the deep
significance of verse 8 more clearly? We have a heritage. We are children of
the King. Our home is flawless. No pain, fear, anxiety, depression, hurt,
disease, no death or anything else that puts a blemish on perfect peace and
happiness exists in our true heritage. The place of our roots is so profoundly
lost and destroyed that we can't even imagine such a place in our wildest
dreams. No hospitals, no ambulances, no funeral homes, no cemeteries, no
loneliness, no sense of hopelessness, not even one negative or destructive
thought existed there. There was no pollution, no pressure, no fear. Basically
most of the things we have accepted and experience as normal are not part of
our true heritage.
What does Isaiah 49:8 promise?
That through the love, mercy, and relentless pursuit of us by Jesus we will
inherit what was originally ours. We will return to our heritage, our currently
desolate heritage.
Just imagine as a stranger from
some other world being told what Eden was like and then coming to visit this
planet as it currently is. Indeed our heritage is desolate but it won't always
be so. The King who already came is coming back, this time to receive those He
already rescued by His own blood.
He will have mercy on His
afflicted. :)
Isaiah Day 151 - Amazing
49:9
That You may say to the
prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness,
‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on
all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither hunger nor
thirst,
Neither heat nor sun shall strike
them;
For He who has mercy on them will
lead them,
Even by the springs of water He
will guide them.
11 I will make each of My
mountains a road,
And My highways shall be
elevated.
12 Surely these shall come from
afar;
Look! Those from the north and
the west,
And these from the land of
Sinim.”
13 Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O
mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His
people,
And will have mercy on His
afflicted.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has
forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her
nursing child,
And not have compassion on the
son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on
the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before
Me.
A few weeks ago a friend of mine
who is studying to enter the ministry was sharing with me something she noticed
about John the Baptist. After being thrown in prison for speaking against the
unlawful marriage of Herod he sent messengers to Jesus asking if He was truly
the One. This was of course after he has already announced to the people that
Jesus was the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole
world". Why did John start to doubt? Well it's quite simple really. John's
role in life, his God given assignment was to announce the arrival of the
Messiah. That being the case, John's favourite book would have been Isaiah as
it is the most jam packed book of Messianic prophecies in the entire Old Testament.
I am quite certain he had the entire book memorized. Printed copies were rare,
fragile, and cumbersome to deal with so students of the Scriptures focused
their energies on memorization.
There are several places in
Isaiah including here in this chapter where the coming Messiah promises to set
prisoners free. Imagine how urgent and precious that promise became to John as
he rotted in Herod's less than accommodating prison! However day after day
passed and the One he had introduced as this great Messiah was doing nothing.
My friend pointed out that Jesus'
response was deliberate and painfully worded. He told John's messengers to go
back and tell him that the blind see, the lame walk, and the poor have the
gospel preached to them. Then He ended with these words "Blessed are they
who are not offended because of Me."
What was He saying? Why did He
repeat all the Messianic promises of healing and help except for the very one
John needed?
John never was freed from prison.
Peter was in Acts. Paul was freed too. John had his head chopped off. Why?
Didn't Jesus love him too.
I want you to note the last words
of the last verse we read today. "Your walls are continually before
Me". If He is a prison opening Messiah, why are behind walls and why is He
just watching instead of knocking the walls down?
Remember that Jesus was not
rescued from Gethsemane. No mighty angels saved Him from the soldiers. No
supernatural Hand blocked the blows or the lashes. No Divine deliverance spared
Him from the nails. The cross was His path.
We don't yet know why John wasn't
rescued but not only can I assure you there was a good reason, I also want to
point out that John's walls were ever before Him. Every day that Jesus awoke to
breath in fresh air and live freely, it pained Him deeply that John was not
free. It required enormous self-restraint on His part to not intervene.
When this war is over and we are
Home at last, when every wall is forever torn down and we are free and restored
at last we will understand why. We will see how God stepped in and held back,
each time for the eternal saving of someone.
It struck me for the first time
this morning that our walls are ever before Him. He knows each binding
circumstance we endure. He feels our isolation, our pain, our deepest agonies.
He would step in immediately if it was best but He doesn't have the luxury of a
short term view. He isn't in this to win battles. He is focused on winning the
war. Had He rescued Jesus from the cross where would we be? He sees, He knows,
and our every wall is ever before Him.
Isaiah Day 152 - Feeling Forgotten?
49:14
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
Yesterday we talked about God
knowing where we are, seeing the walls that threaten not only to keep us closed
in forever but to crush our spirit and perhaps even our lives. Sometimes the
walls seem to cut us off from everyone even though we can see them, talk to
them, touch them, and hear them. We deal with feelings, past experiences,
fears, etc... that no one else knows about and we don't know how to process. It
is suffocating and the greatest temptation in those places and at those times
is to feel that even God has forgotten us.
Let's return to the context so we
know we are reading these verses right and then we can apply them as they were
intended to be. Judah is on the edge of disaster. The Babylonians haven't come
yet but they are coming. When they do, it will turn their lives upside down.
Many will die, some will be taken captive to Babylon and others will flee south
to Egypt and other places. How easy it would be during such an ordeal to
conclude that the Almighty has exited stage left and abandoned them.
This is why prophecy exists. When
Jesus was eating His last meal with the disciples before His death He pointed
out who would betray Him and stated why He was doing it. Judas was trusted and
respected. They couldn't believe he would do such a thing. Jesus wanted them to
know that He knew in advance so that the shock and disorientation was less and
their faith in Him was more.
Imagine being young Daniel and
his friends, somewhere around 13 years old. An foreign army comes crashing into
your world. You are torn from not only your family but everyone and everything
that is familiar. Perhaps you watched your parents die? It's the kind of
nightmare we see in movies or on the news but are sheltered from in our North
American bubble. Imagine being chained person to person, perhaps naked to
increase shame and submission, and then marched for weeks across endless miles
to a city crawling in idol worship. How could God allow this? As bad as Judah
was, surely they weren't worse than Babylon. The thoughts and reasons for
questioning God are pretty much endless at that point except for one thing. He
said it would happen. He said it so clearly that it was like He wrote the
script.
When Hezekiah was healed and
showed off all his riches to the visitors from Babylon God said they would
return in future generations and carry it all away and make eunuchs of
Hezekiah's offspring. Guess what they did to Daniel? They made him a eunuch.
As Daniel was living the
nightmare he had one comfort. He knew the script. He knew God knew. He knew his
walls were ever before the King of Kings. He knew that in 70 years (imagine
that timeline when you are 13) the walls of Babylonian dominance would be torn
down and another foreign king from far off Persia would set them free. Would he
live to see it? He had no idea.
What's the application for us?
God uses an arresting
illustration to frame His care for us. In the midst of people like Daniel
feeling completely abandoned He asks "Will a nursing mother forget her
baby? Will she not have compassion on the child of her own womb?" We now
know that both the birth process and nursing release a hormone in mothers
called oxytocin that bonds them powerfully to their babies. Yet God admits that
because of how broken we can become it is possible that even this most powerful
human relationship can be severed. There will be moms who abandon their own
tiny newborns. However He promises He will not abandon us. To seal the promise
He declares He has engraved us on the palms of His hands.
Could there be more powerful
imagery? We'll go deeper tomorrow.
Isaiah Day 153 – Cutting Is In The Bible
49:14
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see...
Have you ever noticed that Satan
is a copycat with a twist? Everything he wants or does or tempts us to do is
just a copycat of what God does or wants for us. God is worshipped so Satan
wants to be worshipped only it's twisted because he doesn't want to love
unconditionally or live to serve like God does. He tempted Jesus to perform
miracles which is not a bad thing and something God does all the time but it
was tainted with both selfishness and self-doubt, two things never found in
God. "If you are the son of God make yourself some food..."
He swapped in Sunday in the place
of Sabbath. Both are a day, 24 hours long, and meant for worship. Again though
it is twisted because Sunday holds none of the rich meaning and symbolism that
God built into the Sabbath. Nebuchadnezzar made a huge image in Daniel three
that was just like the one God showed him in a dream in Daniel 2. Well almost
the same...
Truly the list is endless but is
any of this connected to Isaiah 49?
Where did God engrave us? On His
palms. It is a direct allusion or foreshadowing of the cross where Jesus hung
from nails pressed through His palms. Piercings. He referred to an an
engraving.
Have you noticed that truly
broken people often get a lot of piercings? Have you noticed that when the prophets
of Baal were dancing around on Mount Carmel trying to get Baal to send fire on
their altar that they were cutting themselves? Have you noticed the upswing in
recent years of young people cutting themselves? Have you noticed it's almost
always on the underside of the wrist? The lower wrist was considered by the
Jews to be part of the hand. It is believed that Jesus was actually nailed to
the cross through His wrists, not His actual palms. It's not hard to see
Satan's twisted copycat theme at work but why? Why get us to scar our own
bodies in the same place Jesus was scarred to save us?
This year marks 500 years since
Martin Luther turned Christianity on its head by nailing 95 statements to the
church door (bulletin board). Every one of those statements was connected to
the practice of selling forgiveness for cash while continuing to sin unchanged,
unrestored. He saw in the growing practice something very warped. It looked
like forgiveness, it seemed like sin was being dealt with but really it wasn't
and the burden to attempt to remedy our guilt was being put on us. Similar but
again a twisted copycat. The Bible Story says "Behold the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the whole world". The burden is on Him. He carried
the cross. His hands/wrists were scarred. His love was declared. Our names were
engraved on Him.
I've done some research into
cutting. It is primarily an attempt to feel. It is done by those suffering
great pain. It is snowing attempt to self-heal yet it doesn't work. It just
leaves the same emptiness plus new scars, new damage, new signs of pain.
His copy cat schemes don't work.
Only the real, the genuine, the One and Only has the power to heal us. Satan
will do anything to hide that love from us and have us chasing rabbit trails of
false advertising and strategies that look good but don't ultimately do
anything beneficial.
The next time you see scarred
wrists or are tempted to scar your own, remember that His were already scarred
for you. Your pain He carried and your walls, no matter what they are made with
are ever before Him. He sees, He knows, He is working it out, and your life
placed in His scarred hands will become a masterpiece.
Tomorrow we're going one level
deeper...
Isaiah Day 154 - He Knows You
49:14 But Zion said, “The Lord
has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 Lift up your eyes, look around and see...
It's easy in this broken world to
feel that God has forgotten us. Disease, pain, grinding poverty, despair, and
the deaths of those we love all make Him seem distant, unconcerned, aloof, or
simply gone. However we have seen over the past few days that His power to
rescue us, to fix things, and to make things right cannot always be used in the
way or at the time we see fit.
However is there evidence that He
has engraved my name on His hands? When the walls seem ever higher and closer
to crushing the life right out of me can I be sure He sees my walls? Is my
little life ever before Him?
When Jesus stopped at a well in
hated Samaria for a rest a woman came for water. At first their unexpected and
"inappropriate" conversation was on impersonal matters but suddenly
it shifted. She said she had no husband and Jesus revealed that He knew that.
In fact He knew about all five husbands. He saw every tear. The abuse. The
reasons why she was deep in a cycle of dysfunction. Indeed her walls were ever
before Him and who was she? A nobody. So low and such an outcast that she went
to get her water at noon in the hot sun when she was sure not to cross paths
with the other women from her village.
How about the woman caught in
adultery? Did He know her? He didn't reveal what He knew about her background
but He certainly didn't withhold His mercy from her. With walls of angry men
pressing in on her to kill her for their warped religious/political agenda,
Jesus silently wrote in the sand. Whatever He wrote it struck a nerve in every
accuser and finally He asked her "Woman (a term of endearment) where are
your accusers?"
Look at the promise of verses 17
and 18 above. Those who build walls against us will be sent packing. He may not
come when we think He should or wish He would but He will come and in the end
we will discover He was right on time.
"Your walls are continually before Me.
Your sons shall make haste,
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
Lift up your eyes, look around and see..."
Isaiah Day 155 - Deliverance Is Coming
49:19 “For your waste and
desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children you will have,
After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
25 But thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine.
All flesh shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
We live in a land of freedom. It
is difficult for us to imagine, much less relate to the idea of political
dominance by another nation. To live as the property of foreigners is unknown
to us. How can we relate to Judah as a captive of Babylon crying for freedom?
How can we appreciate and apply these incredible promises from God made to
Judah?
It is a lot easier than we may at
first believe. One day Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem and things got pretty
heated. The religious leaders were in His face as He explained with tears in
His voice and pain in His heart that they were not Abraham's children. He told
them they were in bondage and only Truth could set them free. To this they
replied with all the pride they could muster that they were already free and
had never been in bondage to anyone. Strange words for a nation that emerged
from Egyptian slavery. Strange words from a nation that was at that very moment
under Roman rule. How could they be so blind? How could they make such a
statement?!
Well truth be told Rome was very
good to them. Rome allowed them to live under the appearance of freedom. They
seemed free. They even felt free most of the time until the tax man came
calling or Rome needed something.
What is my point? We think we are
free. We appear to be and most of the time we feel free but are we? How many
times has your brain screamed at you "Don't say that!!!" but the
words tumbled from your mouth anyway? How many times have you vowed to do something
and never followed through? How many times has it felt like there is some
unseen force you can't control that says things and does things or doesn't do
things that don't line up with the person you wish you were?
Do you know why?
We are under a foreign
government. The ruler of that dark regime is Satan and we are all in bondage.
Now read those verses again and see if they have more meaning. The King is
coming! Our King is coming! He will rescue and He will restore.
For me the best news is that God
will save my children despite the dark lord they live under and the imperfect
parents we are.
Indeed our King is coming!
Isaiah Day 156 - Strong Words From Jesus
50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness,
And I make sackcloth their covering.”
4 “The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
7 “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.
10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment.
Judah's mother is of course
Israel. Israel was Jacob and God changed His name. He and his four wives had 12
sons. One of them was Judah. When the family was rescued from slavery in Egypt
they returned to Canaan, the Promised Land, and there each tribe that had come
from each of Jacob's sons inherited a piece of the land. Generations later
under the leadership of Solomon's son King Rehoboam, there was a dispute over
taxation. That dispute split the tribes into two kingdoms. Those who left were
the ten northern tribes and were called Israel. They chose a new king and
essentially started a new religious system similar to what they had but with
idolatry infused. That kingdom never prospered, never had a single faithful
king and eventually were conquered and assimilated by the Assyrians. They
became known ever after as the Samaritans or half breeds because they
intermarried with the Assyrians.
Why the history lesson? Because
when God refers to divorcing Judah's mother you need to understand what that
means. They left Him. The "marriage" was over. Notice that God
(actually it's Jesus speaking all through this chapter) wants it clearly known
that the divorce was not initiated by Him. It was never what He wanted but He
was forced to concede to the wishes of His wandering "wife".
Why is He bringing it up? Because
He wants Judah to clearly understand that the captivity they are to experience
is due to their own choices. They have brought misery upon themselves, misery
that could have been avoided.
The rest of the chapter is a
series of incredible prophecies about Jesus right down to the details of them
plucking His beard and spitting on Him all while He was dying for their rescue
and ours. Jesus is a faithful husband far beyond the loyalty of any human
husband. So complete is His faithfulness and devotion to save us that even the
most hardened rebel will confess on bended knee that He was good, right, and
just in all His ways and the misery and loss they are about to experience is
all their own.
He will never forsake us. The
choice is: we will refuse Him or embrace Him.
Isaiah Day 157 - I'm Not Like Him
50:4 “The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
It's Christmas morning and I was
planning to share a passage of Scripture related to the birth of Jesus. However
I was drawn back to Isaiah and I just had to share this verse. It speaks not to
His birth, but to His mission and it's extremely humbling.
For those of you who don't know
me that well, my wife and children can tell you I'm much quicker about pointing
out what's wrong than I am to compliment or encourage or affirm what is right.
It's an area God has been bringing to my attention more and more so you can see
why this verse jumped out at me.
Not last night but the night
before the Lord spoke to me in the middle of the night. This is a rare
occurrence although I'm sure He wishes it was more common. He had a message of
encouragement for me to deliver to a specific person. I haven't done it yet.
I'm praying the right opportunity will present itself today.
I want you to note from the verse
above that it refers twice to Jesus having the tongue and the ear of the
learned and the result of having these two things is the ability to speak
encouragement to the weary. Jesus is awakened every morning by Words from His
Father about this very thing.
It's wild to think about that.
It's amazing to consider that God's number one daily priority in the mission of
Jesus when He was here as one of us was to speak a word in season to the weary.
Nicodemus was weary of empty
religion and Jesus was ready to speak the right words at the right time. The
man by the pool was weary of the mess he had brought on himself and Jesus came
to him just when he was finally ready to stand up and make different choices.
The Samaritan woman was weary of her cycle of dysfunctional relationships and
Jesus was there to affirm her, and set her on a new course. "If you had
asked Me I would have given you Living Water...".
Neither of these three were
deserving of what Jesus said to them and did for them but they all had one
thing in common. They were weary. Humanity is weary. The most common thing I
hear people say is "I'm so tired" yet I don't think it's really the
kind of tired nightly sleep fixes. It is deeper than that. It's weariness of
soul.
That's why Jesus came and every
morning Jesus was awakened by His Father before the riding of the sun and God
continued His ongoing course about how to speak to and listen to the cries of
the weary, both spoken and unspoken. He taught Jesus how to watch for the right
moment to speak into their weariness and how to know when to say nothing.
Remember earlier in Isaiah when
we read another prophecy about Jesus and Isaiah wrote: "...a bruised reed
He will not break and s smoking flax He will not quench."?
We are those bruised reeds. We
are those smoking stalks of flax. We're weary and He knows it. He sent His Son
to speak hope, life, and love into our weariness.
I want to enter the same school.
I want to take the same course. I want to be a voice of encouragement and an
ear for the weary.
"Father save me from myself
and make me more like You."
Merry Christmas everyone. If ever
there was a celebration rooted in hope, it is the truth that Heaven came down
to lift us up.
Isaiah Day 158 - Jesus the Human Student
50:4 “The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
If you are wondering if I found
the right time/opportunity yesterday to speak to the person I need to speak to,
I did not. I also haven't forgotten the message, nor the deep implications of
this passage.
Jesus was born into the human
family fully as one of us. He had no advantages. After 4000 years of
degradation He was tasked with succeeding where Adam and Eve failed. He, like
them, was a student. God was the teacher. The only two possible
"grades" was O for Obedience or R for Rebellion.
When He was just twelve, God gave
Him the assignment of staying behind in Jerusalem to meet with the religious leaders
in the temple. He likely had no money. He likely had no place to stay. He
didn't know how or when He would get back home, a journey of great distance and
great danger. He had multiple legitimate reasons for not obeying the
instruction to stay back in Jerusalem while His parents went unknowingly home
without Him. If you are wondering how it was possible for His parents to be
leave without Him on such a journey you have to know they were traveling in a
large caravan of relatives, friends, and neighbours. You also have to remember
Jesus was an obedient, trustworthy child/young man. They had no cause to worry
about Him.
Now come back to our verses
above. Jesus was a human student. God was His teacher. The main subject He had
to master was how to listen to and speak to weary humanity. Have you ever had
someone come along "beside" you and you truly felt they understood
how you felt and spoke hope and encouragement into your situation? It's a rare
and beautiful thing. On the flip side have you ever been in a situation where
you could see someone needed that hope and encouragement but you didn't know
how to help them? I have been there... lots.
It is humbling and frustrating to
realize that the lessons I have yet to learn that would make me a greater
blessing to others are my fault. God is not an unwilling Teacher. The Holy
Spirit is not skipping classes or slacking off. The delinquency is on my part.
Too busy on my own agenda. Too many excuses for not choosing obedience. Too
unaware of what the subject matter that matters really is: "Hearing and
speaking into the lives of the weary."
I'm sadly not alone in my
delinquency and rebellion. Decades in church and years of education and not
once do I remember any fellow human telling me that our mission as followers of
Jesus is to hear and speak life and hope into the lives of our fellow man.
To the crippled man let down
through the roof Jesus said "Your sins are forgiven you." Did his
doctors or his sincere friends even realize that was the real problem? I wonder
how many people today are suffering and being diagnosed by their symptoms while
the root cause is never addressed because we don't have the wisdom to hear and
recognize what that root cause is.
"Father help me be a willing
and cooperative student in Your school of compassion. Give me ears that hear
the heart of others, even if their mouths never utter a word. Give me eyes that
see the right time to listen and/or speak. Give me a heart that seeks after the
weary. Give me boldness to say what You would have me say when You would have
me say it. Help me spot the Zacchaeus in the crowd, the man in the hospital who
is ready to be made well, the woman who is ready to change course, the child
who is eager to find and follow his or her Lord. Give me a heart like yours and
help me to be willing to receive it."
Isaiah Day 159 - He Knew Who He Was
50:5 The Lord God has opened My
ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
7 “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
9 Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Different can mean a lot of
things. Two identical cars can be painted two different colours. Now they are
different but really they are the same. There could also be two cars that are
in the same class, similar size, similar engine output, similar gas mileage
etc... Totally different from a parts and manufacturer perspective but very
similar in function and capability. Keeping on the same theme, a small fuel
sipping or electric car and a large, lifted, turbo charged, 4x4 truck are
vastly different yet both are transportation so similar in that way. As we said
from the top, different can mean a lot of different things. Are you ready for a
different focus now? ;)
How about opposite? What we need
to come to terms with as people seeking after Jesus is that He is not just
different, He is opposite. Everything we think of as normal and right and the
thing to do in any given situation is pretty much the opposite of Jesus.
When I was in upper elementary
school a kid punched me. I punched him back. It's not what Jesus would have
done. I could come up with a long colourful list of things I have done that
Jesus wouldn't have and things I did not do that Jesus would have. I will spare
you the time and agony. It is sufficient to say that our natural reaction in
pretty much any difficult situation is the opposite of what Jesus would do because
His Kingdom is opposite from the kingdom of this world.
Here's the kicker. Jesus had the
same inclination as us but He stuck to the Kingdom plan His Father was teaching
Him, always. How did He do it? That's the question. What was it about Him that
enabled Him to hold His tongue when I would lash out and to speak when I would
not?
He allowed His enemies to lash
His back. He who walked on water and raised the dead submitted to our fury. He
gave His cheek to be struck. He allowed them to pluck out His beard without
resistance or complaint. We would call Him a loser. Hollywood would not feature
Him as a hero. Here is a window into why and how He did it:
“For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed."
He knew who He was and He knew
why He was here and He knew where He was going. Do we live with that kind of
purpose? Do we see that far ahead? Are we that committed to the welfare of
others, even our enemies, that we would be willing to lose in the hope that
they will eventually see and choose differently?
Jesus set His face like a flint.
It's a colourful way of saying He was pointed in one direction and He wasn't
swerving right or left. He was as unchanging as the relentless tides. The tides
may seem erratic and hard to figure out but they have a set pattern and no one
can stop it or even alter it.
In the kingdom of this world you
fight to win or die trying. If you run it isn't for some grander purpose, it's
just for self-preservation. Jesus never ran and never fought back. He didn't
come to save Himself, He came to spend Himself. He came to live and teach that
losing is winning and surrender is strength. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are they who hunger
and thirst after a different Kingdom.
That wimp on the cross from that
loser town who has a bunch of uneducated hillbilly followers; the Guy who
claims He can do all kinds of things and says He is God's Son yet was reduced
to a human punching bag, He's your Saviour? Not much of a movie script.
"Come down from the cross if You are Who You say You are. Come down and
show us what you've got and we'll believe You!"
He didn't move. He didn't react.
He didn't even say anything witty or ask a question they couldn't answer. He
just hung there as if that was His reply...
"Who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising it's shame and is set down at the
right hand of His Father..."
There is a new Kingdom coming. It
has already begun. It's not just different, it is opposite...
Isaiah Day 160 - Your Fire Will Burn You
50:10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment.
Today's message is short but not
sweet:
Fire is symbolic in the Bible for
purifying. Remember how Isaiah was unworthy to speak for God when he received a
vision of God's Holiness in the temple? He felt so small, so inadequate, so
unholy. Then an angel took a live coal from the fire and touched his lips and
then Isaiah shouted "Here I am Lord, send me!".
It's the reason why the New
Testament tells us to do good to our enemies and then it says "By so doing
you will heap coals of fire on their heads." Isaiah didn't get burned lips
and no one is setting heads on fire. It's the Bible's way of representing
cleansing. All impurities are "burned" away. When we treat our
enemies with love, love awakens love, and their inclination to hurt us lessens.
It doesn't always win them over but love is the only thing that has a chance.
So what is Jesus telling us here
in Isaiah? It's a warning to those who kindle their own fire. Are you catching
it? It's a warning to those who attempt to purify themselves. Notice all they
can generate are some sparks. Ever tried to light your way with sparks? Keep
warm with sparks? Cook something with sparks?
There is a reason why the Bible
declares that all our righteousness is like filthy rags. We are not purifiers.
It isn't in us. How can a dirty rag make anything it touches clean?
Jesus warns here that anyone who
attempts to make him or herself better, nicer, holier by their own fire will
end up lying down in their own mess.
Satan's mission statement for His
life was "I will." We already read about it earlier in Isaiah:
14:13
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
God's mission statement seems
similar but is entirely opposite:
Ezekiel 34:11 ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search
for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day
he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them
from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And
I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and
will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel,
in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed
them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel.
There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the
mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,”
says the Lord God. 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven
away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the
fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
Both mission statements are full
of "I will" but the focus is completely opposite. Satan's efforts are
all about himself, Jesus is all about others, namely us.
Jesus said: "Those who seek
to save their lives will lose them but those who lose their lives for My sake
will find them."
Love is other centered and we
don't get a life until we give ours away. Stop kindling your own fire and live
in the Light provided by the Light of the world. He will give you life more
abundant. You will lose nothing but empty selfishness and gain everything else:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control.
Don't find yourself dead in your
own fire. :(
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