Can you believe that you have stuck with it for over 7 months? I am so proud of you, but that doesn't matter...God is so happy that you are trying to get to know him.....give yourself some credit today..
Chapter 54 us all about the future glory of Zion...what is Zion? The future kingdom when Christ comes back again....His kingdom will be for ALL who believe..God has huge unfailing love for his children...
Chapter 55
Invitation to the thirsty.....what does this mean? The thirsty know that they need something (say eternal life?) and only Christ can satisfy this longing...if you remember from discussion (from Glenda) God's word will not return void......Look at 55: 11....what do you think about this? This is pretty big for me....
The holy mtn. continues to come up...this is Zion.....and God will lay the bridegroom's feast for Jesus to have with His church....every knee shall bow....all will seek to worship at His feet....
Chapter 57 talks about Spiritual Adultery...gets back to that divorce example we had before.......will God forgive?
Chapter 58
What is true fasting? Have you ever done this? Why would God want you to do this? Can you find the conditional promises in this chapter?
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
After you read, feel free to make a comment or ask a question in the comment box. You can sign up as a follower on the right, or you can sign up by e-mail at the bottom if you would like to follow the whole year. You may also chose to simply read along and make no comments. Whatever you choose. If you fall behind, as most people will do, don't worry...the whole year is here and you can catch up at your own speed. I highly encourage you to stick with it, If you read the Bible, you are going to mine some real jewels and insights.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Isaiah 49-53
Ahhh....now we are getting to the good stuff! The servant of the Lord is the future Redeemer (buys back from, ransoms, pays the price for our sin)...Remember that this is about 700 years before Jesus comes.....I have some notes that I made when Alan preached on this chapter....in verse 2 the sharpened sword is the "word of God"...the polished arrow is something God will launch into the future...the end of verse 6:
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.
We have been included in God's plans from the very beginning.....this plan is for all time and all people....can you believe how awesome that is?
Take the rest of the chapter and circle all the "wills" ...this will help pull out what God's promises are.
Chapter 50 is kind of rough to understand, from my perspective...
God did not divorce Israel....this is what she felt....look at Deuteronomy 24:1....If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house......she (Israel) was indecent.....but she was sold for her sins....God's arm is powerful and He can ransom her (buy her back from sin)...through Jesus..remember that marriage is supposed to represent the ultimate relationship.....Christ is the bridegroom and the church is His bride....
Chapter 52
God is pointing out that he can tell the future:
And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed
Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I
Verse 13 becomes quite literal: He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted......JESUS.....
OK, Chapter 53 is my favorite chapter of Isaiah....
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him..
Jesus was not cute! Good looks were not what would attract people......my Sunday School pictures depicted Jesus as so handsome and loving!
Look at verse 5.....he was pierced for our transgressions
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him
and by his wounds we are healed....
Here is the crucifiction, the ultimate act, the final sacrifice that saved us for our sins.....700 years before it happens, it is being prophesied......
whew!
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.
We have been included in God's plans from the very beginning.....this plan is for all time and all people....can you believe how awesome that is?
Take the rest of the chapter and circle all the "wills" ...this will help pull out what God's promises are.
Chapter 50 is kind of rough to understand, from my perspective...
God did not divorce Israel....this is what she felt....look at Deuteronomy 24:1....If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house......she (Israel) was indecent.....but she was sold for her sins....God's arm is powerful and He can ransom her (buy her back from sin)...through Jesus..remember that marriage is supposed to represent the ultimate relationship.....Christ is the bridegroom and the church is His bride....
Chapter 52
God is pointing out that he can tell the future:
And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed
Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I
Verse 13 becomes quite literal: He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted......JESUS.....
OK, Chapter 53 is my favorite chapter of Isaiah....
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him..
Jesus was not cute! Good looks were not what would attract people......my Sunday School pictures depicted Jesus as so handsome and loving!
Look at verse 5.....he was pierced for our transgressions
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him
and by his wounds we are healed....
Here is the crucifiction, the ultimate act, the final sacrifice that saved us for our sins.....700 years before it happens, it is being prophesied......
whew!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
2 King 18:9-19:37, Psalm 46/80/135
And here is the account of Sennacherib threatening Jerusalem....this isn't the prophet's account this is the Kings records.....it really matches up to Isaiah! Hezekiah prays for deliverance and Isaiah tells Hezekiah that God has heard his prayer and will take care of old Sennacherib...sure enough, in one night God strikes 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead. Sennacherib returns to Ninevah (remember old Jonah?) and is assassinated by two of his sons. Hezekiah almost dies, and prays to God for more time. Isaiah says that the Lord's son is time actually going backwards, and it did. Hezekiah recovers and word of this miracle spreads. The envoys from Babylon come to hear about it, and rather than give glory to the Lord, Hezekiah brags about all his riches and shows everything to the envoys. He has planted a fateful seed. Babylon would later become a world power and come back and steal the very treasures. Isaiah rebukes Hezekiah, but tells him there will be peace in Hezekiah's lifetime. Do you think that was selfish of Hezekiah?
Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorites: Be still and know that I am God...
Psalm 80 has a plea of "Restore us O God" 3 times......the point is being made... and it continues to "make your face shine on us" The thought is that this was probably written when the Northern kingdom (of Israel) was taken into Assyrian captiviy.. Since Israel had so many evil kings and stayed in sin, God allowed them to be defeated. This is one reason that Hezekiah was so nervous.
Psalm 135 is praise...God is great, idols are not....remember verse 16-17 from yesterday:
They have mouths, but cannot speak
eyes, but they cannot see;'
they have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths..
This makes an idol seem pretty stupid....but whenever we put things before the Lord, they are our idols...we have moved way past the graven images...our culture is different, our idols are different, but the message is very much the same. God can save; our idols cannot.
Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorites: Be still and know that I am God...
Psalm 80 has a plea of "Restore us O God" 3 times......the point is being made... and it continues to "make your face shine on us" The thought is that this was probably written when the Northern kingdom (of Israel) was taken into Assyrian captiviy.. Since Israel had so many evil kings and stayed in sin, God allowed them to be defeated. This is one reason that Hezekiah was so nervous.
Psalm 135 is praise...God is great, idols are not....remember verse 16-17 from yesterday:
They have mouths, but cannot speak
eyes, but they cannot see;'
they have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths..
This makes an idol seem pretty stupid....but whenever we put things before the Lord, they are our idols...we have moved way past the graven images...our culture is different, our idols are different, but the message is very much the same. God can save; our idols cannot.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Isaiah 44-48
Isaiah 44 is amazing.....after reading this, what power can a graven image have?
They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand...
Isaiah also prophesies that Jerusalem will be inhabited.....how strange this must seem to the people that aren't even in captivity yet.....Babylon is going to be a world power, and a Gentile king, Cyrus is predicted by name, 150 years in advance....
Chapter 47:17 now speaks of everlasting salvation....Israel will be saved by the Lord.....idols cannot predict the future...God can...in fact, he tells them in verse 21...Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?
Future prophecy in verse 23:
Every knee shall bow;
by me every tongue will swear
It says EVERYONE.....Revelation talks about the banquet that will be on God's mountain (Zion), when He comes again.....
Chapter 46 talks about the gods of Babylon...God promises to sustain His people through the captivity...oh, just wait until we get to Daniel
Chapter 47 talks about the fall of Babylon...Babylon will fall because their motto is "I am, and there is none besides me" Again, how strange the people must have thought this was when Babylon had not even risen yet.
Chapter 48 is God calling Israel out and telling them how stubborn they are. Verse 3, God says "duh.....the things I said came to pass....aren't ya gonna listen? Isaiah says that God is going to tell them new things....He is telling them about Babylon and Cyrus and watch it come to pass.....they will be captive and they will be free..if they had listened they would have had peace like a river, but there is no peace for the wicked....YIKES...Isaiah documents this, so the future generations can look and say that Isaiah predicted it, it came to pass, and it was the Lord......idols simply cannot do this...
They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand...
Isaiah also prophesies that Jerusalem will be inhabited.....how strange this must seem to the people that aren't even in captivity yet.....Babylon is going to be a world power, and a Gentile king, Cyrus is predicted by name, 150 years in advance....
Chapter 47:17 now speaks of everlasting salvation....Israel will be saved by the Lord.....idols cannot predict the future...God can...in fact, he tells them in verse 21...Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?
Future prophecy in verse 23:
Every knee shall bow;
by me every tongue will swear
It says EVERYONE.....Revelation talks about the banquet that will be on God's mountain (Zion), when He comes again.....
Chapter 46 talks about the gods of Babylon...God promises to sustain His people through the captivity...oh, just wait until we get to Daniel
Chapter 47 talks about the fall of Babylon...Babylon will fall because their motto is "I am, and there is none besides me" Again, how strange the people must have thought this was when Babylon had not even risen yet.
Chapter 48 is God calling Israel out and telling them how stubborn they are. Verse 3, God says "duh.....the things I said came to pass....aren't ya gonna listen? Isaiah says that God is going to tell them new things....He is telling them about Babylon and Cyrus and watch it come to pass.....they will be captive and they will be free..if they had listened they would have had peace like a river, but there is no peace for the wicked....YIKES...Isaiah documents this, so the future generations can look and say that Isaiah predicted it, it came to pass, and it was the Lord......idols simply cannot do this...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Isaiah 40-43
Bonnie, I had to borrow from Patricia again today, simply because she got to know Jesus later in life, much like you....she shares some feelings from a different perspective than I have and I wanted to see what you think:
This is the Shift if the book of Isaiah. (compare it to the shift in Book 40 in the Bible makes, the New Testament). The past 39 Chapters have been a warning and a preparation for the Captivity. Now we turn the corner and Chapter 30 talks about their new life when released from Captivity. A Call to Comfort. This section speaks so powerfully of God’s Salvation that we as Christians see in it something bigger than the rescue of Israel, but the announcement of the coming Messiah.
(Historically) As we are reading God will reunite Israel and Judah and restore them but they are still in captivity. Judah still had 100 years of trouble before Jerusalem would fall, then 70 years of exile. So God is comforting them during those times, as he does ours. Chapter 40 referrers to the restoration after the exile. God will use Cyrus as an instrument to deliver them.
If you have a pen in your hand I am assuming most of Chapter 40 is now underlined. WHoosh, good stuff. God is telling them to COMPARE THE LORD TO THE FALSE GODS IN YOUR LIFE…WHAT IS THE COMPARISON?
When we ger to Matthew 3 we will look back to Isaiah 40 to see the fulfillment of Scripture. See, one of my biggest questions when I became a CHristian was “How do we know this man (Jesus) was the Messiah? There were thousands of men on earth proclaiming to be “the one”. Well the answer (besides the obvious Resurrection) is that He fulfills EVERY written Prophecy.
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
”A voice of one calling in the desert,
’Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3
The rest of Chapter 40 was INCREDIBLE. Read it not as words but as acknowledgement straight to the Lord. Sometimes we need a little reminder if who God is, well Chapter 40 is it!
Isaiah 40:8 vs 1Peter 1:24”All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
Chapter 41, I am sure many of you have heard scriptures before and loved them as ‘stand alone’ scriptures. You know in a study, or on a mug, or as a word of encouragement. Well, now I can read them and know exactly who God is referring to and why. Sometimes is takes Him putting us in our own exile, or a desert to finally see Him. Anyway, in 41, the man from the East is actually Cyrus (verse 2). God is going to use the king of a foreign nation, Persia, as a tool to release the Israelites from captivity, and He continues to comfort His people of reminder all the way back to Abraham, that He has been with them and not forsaken them the WHOLE time.
Chapter 42 (DO not skim Chapter 42….I know the reading is long but this is amazing) 700 years before Jesus is born Isaiah describes His coming in such great detail. These words could only be from God through Isaiah. Look at Chapter 42 and then look at this:
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope.” Mt 12:18-21
Look at Isaiah 42 verse 6 in that Chapter for you to know that us Gentiles were always included in God’s plan.
CHAPTER 43. READ this as God is speaking to YOU. That is the purpose. This is a chapter we need to keep that little ribbon in all the time. I am going to read it again. PLEASE share the one verse that really popped out at you. Underline it. Date it. Smiley face it. Know that He is talking to Jew and Gentile, for those who believe in the Savior Jesus this message is written.
Isaiah 37-39 Psalm 76
We are coming to the end of the "bummer" part of Isaiah...Isaiah 40 on talks about deliverance and words of comfort. Patricia cracked me up today, so imagine a big Jersey accent and read her entry.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Isaiah 35-36
A good blog entry from Patricia:
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so sorry for your friends, Christy…prayers coming…