It’s our last week with Isaiah! Katie will be bringing you some commentary to go along with your reading of chapters 65 and 66. My job is to give you some homework.
As we’ve been working through Isaiah, we’ve run into certain themes over and over—for instance, God’s judgment. We’ve seen these themes apply to Israel as Isaiah is writing and to us in the present and to the future establishment of Christ’s kingdom.
So, for each of the themes below (and others if you think of any), try to find a verse from any part of Isaiah that represents the theme. To the best of your ability, determine how it applied to Israel, or applies to us or to both.
Creation
Redemption
Judgment
Justice
Messiah
God’s glory
Restoration
Comfort
Outsiders (other nations, non-Israelites)
If I were to continue with my example judgment, I would reference Isaiah 65:6-7 which says, “’See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps—both your sins and the sins of your fathers,’ says the Lord.” He was talking to Israel, specifically to the people who had broken His law and promising them that their sins wouldn’t go unpunished. This verse can also apply to us because it shows us that God takes sin seriously and demands that sin be punished. It also speaks to a coming judgment. I could keep going, but hopefully you’ve got the idea.
Our vision for Thursday is a discussion of these themes, where and how we see them playing out and what they teach us about God’s character and His plan. We are also envisioning chart paper, maybe a chalkboard. So please come ready to discuss!
Also, one last piece of homework. Respond to this question in one sentence: What have you learned from Isaiah?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Isaiah 63 & 64--Finding Balance
Scripture has this amazing power to bring our lives back into balance. We swing from extreme to extreme, but God’s word is true, steadfast, unchanging. This is why we can trust it to ground us when we find ourselves drifting too far to either end of the emotional spectrum.
On one end is the dark place. In this place we pity ourselves, we can’t imagine anyone loving us or any reason why they ever might. Sometimes we stop by this place for a few hours in the middle of the week, sometimes we bring our tents and camp in this place of despair for a season. Unloved. Forgotten. Abandoned. Persecuted.
Isaiah’s audience was camped out in this place of despair as their nation crumbled around them. They believed God had turned His back on them and left them to be swept up by their enemies. The opening verses of Isaiah 63 paint a very different—and gruesome—picture. God has not abandoned His people and left their fate in Edom’s hand. Instead, He reveals a Messiah who will fight Israel’s enemies with His own hands, who will trample them and destroy them, soaking His own garments with the blood of His enemies.
When we are feeling downcast and defeated, that same Messiah will fight for us. He declares us worthy, precious, loved.
The other place we go is to the mountaintop of arrogant pride. From this vantage point we can see how badly others are screwing up. We can appreciate all the great things we do. We are successful. Competent. Independent. Of course God loves us, what’s not to love?
Israel was guilty of this too. They were unrepentant, proud. They went through the motions of worship and sacrifice, but their hearts were hardened. And so Isaiah 64:6 brings us the oft-quoted reality check:
“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
As impressive as Israel thought its worship was, as great as we think our actions are, God sees filthy rags. And that’s our good acts.
God’s word is the fulcrum that keeps us balanced between these sinful extremes. It tells us we are loved and worth fighting for. It reminds us that we haven’t arrived, that our ultimate redemption has yet to come and that it is completely out of our control.
1. The Holy Spirit is mentioned a couple times in these chapters. What do we learn about Him from them? How can His work keep us balanced?
2. Of these two extremes, which one are you more likely to camp in? Think about why and about what truths can pull you back.
On one end is the dark place. In this place we pity ourselves, we can’t imagine anyone loving us or any reason why they ever might. Sometimes we stop by this place for a few hours in the middle of the week, sometimes we bring our tents and camp in this place of despair for a season. Unloved. Forgotten. Abandoned. Persecuted.
Isaiah’s audience was camped out in this place of despair as their nation crumbled around them. They believed God had turned His back on them and left them to be swept up by their enemies. The opening verses of Isaiah 63 paint a very different—and gruesome—picture. God has not abandoned His people and left their fate in Edom’s hand. Instead, He reveals a Messiah who will fight Israel’s enemies with His own hands, who will trample them and destroy them, soaking His own garments with the blood of His enemies.
When we are feeling downcast and defeated, that same Messiah will fight for us. He declares us worthy, precious, loved.
The other place we go is to the mountaintop of arrogant pride. From this vantage point we can see how badly others are screwing up. We can appreciate all the great things we do. We are successful. Competent. Independent. Of course God loves us, what’s not to love?
Israel was guilty of this too. They were unrepentant, proud. They went through the motions of worship and sacrifice, but their hearts were hardened. And so Isaiah 64:6 brings us the oft-quoted reality check:
“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
As impressive as Israel thought its worship was, as great as we think our actions are, God sees filthy rags. And that’s our good acts.
God’s word is the fulcrum that keeps us balanced between these sinful extremes. It tells us we are loved and worth fighting for. It reminds us that we haven’t arrived, that our ultimate redemption has yet to come and that it is completely out of our control.
1. The Holy Spirit is mentioned a couple times in these chapters. What do we learn about Him from them? How can His work keep us balanced?
2. Of these two extremes, which one are you more likely to camp in? Think about why and about what truths can pull you back.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Isaiah 61--Waiting for the World to Change
Isaiah 61 and Luke 4:14-28
A friend told me today that her brother and his wife are expecting a baby. A few years ago, this brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After extensive chemotherapy, his life, and his MRIs, are back to normal. To top it all off, there is now an against-all-odds baby on the way.
When we hear stories like these, we sigh and we think of our God who gives us beauty for ashes; the God who softens painful memories by leading us to good ones. We think about our Redeemer.
And yet, some of our brothers don’t have miraculous baby stories. Sometimes our brothers lose three babies, only to lose four more the following year. Sometimes it seems like God gives us ashes for ashes. I hate to tell my sad story again, girls, but this is where I was when I fell in love with Isaiah 61. I was among the grieving, the mourning, the desperate. I wondered how God could leave us empty-handed and broken-hearted twice. I was waiting for my Redeemer to come.
On a much larger scale, Israel had to wonder the same things. During Isaiah’s ministry, the northern kingdom fell to Assyria and was sent into exile. The southern kingdom watched and waited for Assyria to keep on marching and take it as well. Judah would eventually fall to Babylon, and more of God’s people would be exiled. They would languish in a strange land, waiting for redemption. They would return, rebuild the temple, only to be taken over by the Romans—all the while reading this text in their assemblies, waiting, wondering when their Redeemer would come.
So imagine that day in Luke 4. The carpenter’s son goes into His hometown synagogue. He unrolls the scroll, finds the place He’s looking for and reads,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then, He sits down and tells His audience, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Can you imagine? Just reading it makes my heart soar. I want to yell, “That’s my Jesus!!” The Sabbath crowd in Nazareth reacts differently. What they’ve been waiting for—for generations—is in their midst, but they don’t realize He is the One Isaiah proclaimed. They’re looking for something that matches their idea of redemption—a great political leader, an overthrow of the Romans—not the carpenter’s son.
I have my own plans for redemption too. I want the divine quid-pro-quo. If my suffering is loneliness, I want fellowship. If my suffering is loss, I want gain. If my suffering is injustice, I want cosmic lightning bolts to strike my enemy.
But God’s picture of redemption doesn’t match mine. God’s plan to redeem His people is much grander than the daily tit-for-tat I often long for. God’s plan came to its apex when Jesus died. It was by this act that He freed the captives and released the prisoners. When we are broken-hearted and desperate for redemption, we don’t have to wait for our Redeemer to come. We can point to the cross and know that redemption is done.
At the same time, we also hope and wait for the year of the Lord’s favor; for the ultimate redemption and restoration we will experience when Christ returns. Some stories will have happy endings in this life, some will not be resolved until His return.
Knowing this, how do we wait for the Lord’s favor? Where should we place our hope in the meantime?
What were the Israelites hoping for? Why did they miss Jesus when He was sitting in their synagogue? What can we learn from their example?
A friend told me today that her brother and his wife are expecting a baby. A few years ago, this brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After extensive chemotherapy, his life, and his MRIs, are back to normal. To top it all off, there is now an against-all-odds baby on the way.
When we hear stories like these, we sigh and we think of our God who gives us beauty for ashes; the God who softens painful memories by leading us to good ones. We think about our Redeemer.
And yet, some of our brothers don’t have miraculous baby stories. Sometimes our brothers lose three babies, only to lose four more the following year. Sometimes it seems like God gives us ashes for ashes. I hate to tell my sad story again, girls, but this is where I was when I fell in love with Isaiah 61. I was among the grieving, the mourning, the desperate. I wondered how God could leave us empty-handed and broken-hearted twice. I was waiting for my Redeemer to come.
On a much larger scale, Israel had to wonder the same things. During Isaiah’s ministry, the northern kingdom fell to Assyria and was sent into exile. The southern kingdom watched and waited for Assyria to keep on marching and take it as well. Judah would eventually fall to Babylon, and more of God’s people would be exiled. They would languish in a strange land, waiting for redemption. They would return, rebuild the temple, only to be taken over by the Romans—all the while reading this text in their assemblies, waiting, wondering when their Redeemer would come.
So imagine that day in Luke 4. The carpenter’s son goes into His hometown synagogue. He unrolls the scroll, finds the place He’s looking for and reads,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then, He sits down and tells His audience, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Can you imagine? Just reading it makes my heart soar. I want to yell, “That’s my Jesus!!” The Sabbath crowd in Nazareth reacts differently. What they’ve been waiting for—for generations—is in their midst, but they don’t realize He is the One Isaiah proclaimed. They’re looking for something that matches their idea of redemption—a great political leader, an overthrow of the Romans—not the carpenter’s son.
I have my own plans for redemption too. I want the divine quid-pro-quo. If my suffering is loneliness, I want fellowship. If my suffering is loss, I want gain. If my suffering is injustice, I want cosmic lightning bolts to strike my enemy.
But God’s picture of redemption doesn’t match mine. God’s plan to redeem His people is much grander than the daily tit-for-tat I often long for. God’s plan came to its apex when Jesus died. It was by this act that He freed the captives and released the prisoners. When we are broken-hearted and desperate for redemption, we don’t have to wait for our Redeemer to come. We can point to the cross and know that redemption is done.
At the same time, we also hope and wait for the year of the Lord’s favor; for the ultimate redemption and restoration we will experience when Christ returns. Some stories will have happy endings in this life, some will not be resolved until His return.
Knowing this, how do we wait for the Lord’s favor? Where should we place our hope in the meantime?
What were the Israelites hoping for? Why did they miss Jesus when He was sitting in their synagogue? What can we learn from their example?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Walls of Salvation and Gates of Praise
Today I do not want a palace. I do not want golden rings, diamond earrings, or a new shirt from J. Crew. Today I crave peace, I yearn for righteousness, and I am dying to just be like Jesus. I feel keenly the need for gifts that are eternal.
Reading Isaiah 60 I start to question God's promises-- of herds of camel, silver and gold, the wealth of nations, captives, and people that bow before me. As valuable as these things are, I cannot help but think that I'd far rather have the house of wood and stone, with a peaceful chimney poking out of it, than all of the bronze doors and silver pillars to adorn a castle (ref. verse 17).
Then I read it again. "Although you have been forsaken and hated," and I realize I have not necessarily been forsaken by man but by my own wayward heart, hated not by man but by the ways of the world, "...with no one traveling through," and I realize that a desolate pride roars through the halls of my heart like a vagrant wind carring debris and dead leaves, "I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations," and here the Voice crescendos and tells me that my soul will be full of the wealth of my God.
Isaiah is not promising an earthly kingdom to all the generations to come, but rather a spiritual kingdom. Ladies, this is not a promise of what is to come but of what IS. This is Jesus speaking to my marrow and telling me that while I bask in the sunshine it could be taken away and still His holiness would fill me. "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory."
Meditate on that, sistas.
Some further thought...
1. Read verse 20, "Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." Is this a promise for the future, or is it a promise for now? Think about how Katie has encouraged us to consider Heaven being a present reality.
Reading Isaiah 60 I start to question God's promises-- of herds of camel, silver and gold, the wealth of nations, captives, and people that bow before me. As valuable as these things are, I cannot help but think that I'd far rather have the house of wood and stone, with a peaceful chimney poking out of it, than all of the bronze doors and silver pillars to adorn a castle (ref. verse 17).
Then I read it again. "Although you have been forsaken and hated," and I realize I have not necessarily been forsaken by man but by my own wayward heart, hated not by man but by the ways of the world, "...with no one traveling through," and I realize that a desolate pride roars through the halls of my heart like a vagrant wind carring debris and dead leaves, "I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations," and here the Voice crescendos and tells me that my soul will be full of the wealth of my God.
Isaiah is not promising an earthly kingdom to all the generations to come, but rather a spiritual kingdom. Ladies, this is not a promise of what is to come but of what IS. This is Jesus speaking to my marrow and telling me that while I bask in the sunshine it could be taken away and still His holiness would fill me. "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory."
Meditate on that, sistas.
Some further thought...
1. Read verse 20, "Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." Is this a promise for the future, or is it a promise for now? Think about how Katie has encouraged us to consider Heaven being a present reality.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Isaiah 56:9-59: Savage Grace
“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.” ~Isaiah 56:21
This is the crux, the converging of two roads. In Isaiah we witness the cosmic, raw, and savage dance between our sin and God’s redemptive hand. To read it is to open up deep wounds in our hearts, and to accept it is to cry out much like Eustace did when the scales were ripped from his dragon body. It is simpler to reconcile these two contending themes when we understand God’s ultimate goal: His restored relationship with us via our understanding of His majesty.
What is it that makes us unable to look at our own sin? Do we not joke with each other about our imperfections constantly, even gloat about the ways in which we are imperfect? Read Isaiah 56:11. “…They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.” I think perhaps looking at our sin is much deeper than looking at our flaws, looking at our sin is acknowledging that there is more wrong with us than simple failures. We can gloat about not getting the laundry done right because ultimately it says nothing of our heart, and we can mock ourselves for being lazy because at the end of the day we know weren’t really that lazy.
If, however, we read Isaiah 57:11, “Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me,” we are called to account. This is the true nature of our sin, not our everyday failings but the fact that we fear something, anything, more than Him.
God knows how we are, He knows us and He takes us in anyway. It is more than acceptance that which He offers, it is welcome. We must understand our evil nature to understand how truly welcoming He is. When I cry out, “Lord, take me as I am,” it is not a humble request but rather a desperate and foolish begging.
Enter Isaiah 58. Once we understand how profoundly messed up we are, the notion of being righteous is a bit laughable. Read verses 1 & 2 and notice the “as if”. The prophet continues, describing what the Israelites call fasting and honoring the Sabbath, and makes Israel see that even in these rites they are failing. The truth stings like a hornet—you aren’t all you are cracked up to be.
Can there be an “and yet”? I have to accept that after stripping me of all my self-esteem there could be something left to be hopeful about. Most days I can’t accept that, and I continue to strive for His approval of my own accord. Isaiah 59 contains the most beautiful reality, but it is also painful like hydrogen peroxide in its sizzling purge of our iniquity.
“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” ~Isaiah 59:16.
God takes care of it. He sees our ugliness, he sees our failings and our futile striving for righteousness, and He sends a Savior. The hardest and most precious truth is this: You don’t have to save yourself, in fact you can’t. But God, as Isaiah says at the beginning of Isaiah 59, hears and understands. He comprehends our struggle and takes care of it. Do I accept that?
In summation/application:
1. Separate your emotions from the truth you read in Isaiah. First figure out how this makes you feel… what is your gut response to Isaiah 56-59? Second, what is the reality? For instance, do you feel deflated and sad yet recognize the grand gift? Sometimes our emotions are deceptive and hide from us the reality that is written in the Bible.
2. Read Isaiah 57: 1-13. What title does your Bible give this section? What are the idols being described?
3. Read Isaiah 59:12-15. What truth is lacking? How has it stumbled?
4. Read Isaiah 59: 21. What is the promise? Why is it good?
This is the crux, the converging of two roads. In Isaiah we witness the cosmic, raw, and savage dance between our sin and God’s redemptive hand. To read it is to open up deep wounds in our hearts, and to accept it is to cry out much like Eustace did when the scales were ripped from his dragon body. It is simpler to reconcile these two contending themes when we understand God’s ultimate goal: His restored relationship with us via our understanding of His majesty.
What is it that makes us unable to look at our own sin? Do we not joke with each other about our imperfections constantly, even gloat about the ways in which we are imperfect? Read Isaiah 56:11. “…They have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.” I think perhaps looking at our sin is much deeper than looking at our flaws, looking at our sin is acknowledging that there is more wrong with us than simple failures. We can gloat about not getting the laundry done right because ultimately it says nothing of our heart, and we can mock ourselves for being lazy because at the end of the day we know weren’t really that lazy.
If, however, we read Isaiah 57:11, “Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me,” we are called to account. This is the true nature of our sin, not our everyday failings but the fact that we fear something, anything, more than Him.
God knows how we are, He knows us and He takes us in anyway. It is more than acceptance that which He offers, it is welcome. We must understand our evil nature to understand how truly welcoming He is. When I cry out, “Lord, take me as I am,” it is not a humble request but rather a desperate and foolish begging.
Enter Isaiah 58. Once we understand how profoundly messed up we are, the notion of being righteous is a bit laughable. Read verses 1 & 2 and notice the “as if”. The prophet continues, describing what the Israelites call fasting and honoring the Sabbath, and makes Israel see that even in these rites they are failing. The truth stings like a hornet—you aren’t all you are cracked up to be.
Can there be an “and yet”? I have to accept that after stripping me of all my self-esteem there could be something left to be hopeful about. Most days I can’t accept that, and I continue to strive for His approval of my own accord. Isaiah 59 contains the most beautiful reality, but it is also painful like hydrogen peroxide in its sizzling purge of our iniquity.
“He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” ~Isaiah 59:16.
God takes care of it. He sees our ugliness, he sees our failings and our futile striving for righteousness, and He sends a Savior. The hardest and most precious truth is this: You don’t have to save yourself, in fact you can’t. But God, as Isaiah says at the beginning of Isaiah 59, hears and understands. He comprehends our struggle and takes care of it. Do I accept that?
In summation/application:
1. Separate your emotions from the truth you read in Isaiah. First figure out how this makes you feel… what is your gut response to Isaiah 56-59? Second, what is the reality? For instance, do you feel deflated and sad yet recognize the grand gift? Sometimes our emotions are deceptive and hide from us the reality that is written in the Bible.
2. Read Isaiah 57: 1-13. What title does your Bible give this section? What are the idols being described?
3. Read Isaiah 59:12-15. What truth is lacking? How has it stumbled?
4. Read Isaiah 59: 21. What is the promise? Why is it good?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Isaiah 55
It has been a really hard day. Alden's had that tummy bug that going around and has spent most of today making that horrible wining noise that makes me want to jump off the balcony. He has had two naps both about thirty minutes long. When I finally got him down this evening I went into the bathroom turned on the shower sat on the floor and cried. In the midst of crying I realized that I have to post this week. So I pulled it together and here I am.
I know these eight verses very well because I always made my 7th graders memorize them. We had hand motions for the whole thing. They especially liked the part where we pretended to sipped wine daintily and then chugged milk and wiped our face with our sleeve.(Verse 1) But I as much fun as we had with this passage I tried to really point out it's importance as well.
These verses are OUR story. Those of us who are not Jewish(I think that's everyone in our study) are the ones Isaiah is addressing. We are those "endowed with SPLENDOR" I have to say that's not how I felt twenty minutes ago sitting on the floor in the bathroom. Go ahead and read through the 13 verses of this amazing song.
In these verse the Gentiles are urged to come and seek and worship. That is so fitting to where I am right now. There is no better place to come when the day has made you weary. We can sit at the feet of Jesus not because of our Labor but because of his Love. He freely pardons us despite our race.
In verses 8-9 he talks about how God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. How have you seen evidence of this in your life? How has God's plan surprised you lately? (That doesn't have to have a positive answer, be honest, he can take it.)
There is a beautiful picture in the rest of the chapter of what God's word does in our life. Read 10-13 again. I feel kind of like this is Isaiah's version of Louis Armstrongs, what a wonderful world. You know, "I see tree's of green, red roses too, I see um bloom for me and you, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world!"
I have had times in my life where I felt like that song was playing in the background but the beauty in what Isaiah is saying is that no matter where we start that if bring our hearts to the Word it will transform of thinking to see things the way God does. To understand that he is working out all things for the good of those who love him.
I love all the grace that we learn in studies these days and how important it is not to turn our relationship with the Lord into a todo list. But although the guilt of not spending time in the word daily shouldn't shame you into doing it, the transforming power for life should. This is the stuff ladies. This is where the changing happens. It's how we get from the bathroom floor to the song of worship.
Me personally, I'm going to go out in joy, led forth and peace and listen to the music of the trees because I have been endowed with splendor. It's nice to know that's not something I am just saying but the miracle of the word.
Read through 56:1-8. I'll have some questions when we meet.
I apologize for how late this post is. Look forward to seeing you Thursday!
I know these eight verses very well because I always made my 7th graders memorize them. We had hand motions for the whole thing. They especially liked the part where we pretended to sipped wine daintily and then chugged milk and wiped our face with our sleeve.(Verse 1) But I as much fun as we had with this passage I tried to really point out it's importance as well.
These verses are OUR story. Those of us who are not Jewish(I think that's everyone in our study) are the ones Isaiah is addressing. We are those "endowed with SPLENDOR" I have to say that's not how I felt twenty minutes ago sitting on the floor in the bathroom. Go ahead and read through the 13 verses of this amazing song.
In these verse the Gentiles are urged to come and seek and worship. That is so fitting to where I am right now. There is no better place to come when the day has made you weary. We can sit at the feet of Jesus not because of our Labor but because of his Love. He freely pardons us despite our race.
In verses 8-9 he talks about how God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. How have you seen evidence of this in your life? How has God's plan surprised you lately? (That doesn't have to have a positive answer, be honest, he can take it.)
There is a beautiful picture in the rest of the chapter of what God's word does in our life. Read 10-13 again. I feel kind of like this is Isaiah's version of Louis Armstrongs, what a wonderful world. You know, "I see tree's of green, red roses too, I see um bloom for me and you, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world!"
I have had times in my life where I felt like that song was playing in the background but the beauty in what Isaiah is saying is that no matter where we start that if bring our hearts to the Word it will transform of thinking to see things the way God does. To understand that he is working out all things for the good of those who love him.
I love all the grace that we learn in studies these days and how important it is not to turn our relationship with the Lord into a todo list. But although the guilt of not spending time in the word daily shouldn't shame you into doing it, the transforming power for life should. This is the stuff ladies. This is where the changing happens. It's how we get from the bathroom floor to the song of worship.
Me personally, I'm going to go out in joy, led forth and peace and listen to the music of the trees because I have been endowed with splendor. It's nice to know that's not something I am just saying but the miracle of the word.
Read through 56:1-8. I'll have some questions when we meet.
I apologize for how late this post is. Look forward to seeing you Thursday!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Taking back His bride
Please read Isaiah 53 on your own.
Everyone loves a good song. Music, rhythm, dance are all things that are written into our being. Isaiah was all about the music. He referenced singing or song over thirty times in his book. Chapter 54 is a song, a love song to be more specific. It's about the restoration of Israel.
God had set up for his people a theocracy. He was their king. He handed down the law and asked his people to obey it. Of course they couldn't obey it and they couldn't stand following something they couldn't see so first they tried to make an image of God and then they asked for a king.
In Samuel chapter 8 the people come to Samuel and ask him to appoint a king to rule over them because they feared his sons and they wanted a king "such as other nations have." The Lord told Samuel, "Listen to all the people are saying to you, it is not you they have rejected but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." Samuel lays out for the people all the terrible things that a king will do to them. Read 1 Sam 8:10-18.
Even after they have heard these things they still asked for a king so they could, "be like other nations with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." God gives them what they ask for and the kings do all that He said they would.
God talks about how they are going to cry out to him but he isn't going to listen to them (1 Sam. 8:18). This is what He is talking about in Isaiah 54. God talks about how yes he was angry and he hid his face but that is in the past. Just as he will never again flood the earth, he will never again hide his face from his people.
Now the LORD is taking back his bride. She whored herself out to kings, idols; in general, she sold out to the ways of men. Nonetheless, God will have her back. “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected…” (54:5-6).
God is treating her not as a divorced woman who is shamed and despised, but as a woman who was rejected as a young bride and now mourning as a widow. Instead of giving Israel what she deserves, God is giving her a fresh start and a new hope.
Application:
1. Read the first verse. How can it be that a barren woman should rejoice? What is God communicating by saying that a “desolate” woman has more children than one with a husband?
2. Read verses 7 and 8. Does this image of a wrathful God compete with the image of God you have in your head? How do we respond to the fact that He is at once wrathful, vengeful even, and loving and compassionate?
3. Do you tend to think of yourself as one deserving judgment or one deserving sympathy?
Everyone loves a good song. Music, rhythm, dance are all things that are written into our being. Isaiah was all about the music. He referenced singing or song over thirty times in his book. Chapter 54 is a song, a love song to be more specific. It's about the restoration of Israel.
God had set up for his people a theocracy. He was their king. He handed down the law and asked his people to obey it. Of course they couldn't obey it and they couldn't stand following something they couldn't see so first they tried to make an image of God and then they asked for a king.
In Samuel chapter 8 the people come to Samuel and ask him to appoint a king to rule over them because they feared his sons and they wanted a king "such as other nations have." The Lord told Samuel, "Listen to all the people are saying to you, it is not you they have rejected but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." Samuel lays out for the people all the terrible things that a king will do to them. Read 1 Sam 8:10-18.
Even after they have heard these things they still asked for a king so they could, "be like other nations with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." God gives them what they ask for and the kings do all that He said they would.
God talks about how they are going to cry out to him but he isn't going to listen to them (1 Sam. 8:18). This is what He is talking about in Isaiah 54. God talks about how yes he was angry and he hid his face but that is in the past. Just as he will never again flood the earth, he will never again hide his face from his people.
Now the LORD is taking back his bride. She whored herself out to kings, idols; in general, she sold out to the ways of men. Nonetheless, God will have her back. “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected…” (54:5-6).
God is treating her not as a divorced woman who is shamed and despised, but as a woman who was rejected as a young bride and now mourning as a widow. Instead of giving Israel what she deserves, God is giving her a fresh start and a new hope.
Application:
1. Read the first verse. How can it be that a barren woman should rejoice? What is God communicating by saying that a “desolate” woman has more children than one with a husband?
2. Read verses 7 and 8. Does this image of a wrathful God compete with the image of God you have in your head? How do we respond to the fact that He is at once wrathful, vengeful even, and loving and compassionate?
3. Do you tend to think of yourself as one deserving judgment or one deserving sympathy?
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