OK....I'm going to tell you that Isaiah is a beautiful, but difficult book...Isaiah is considered to be the greatest prophet by many. There are 66 books in Isaiah (just like the Bible). You are going to see that the first 39 books are about God's judgment, and the last books are about redemption and love. God is going to take His people to the watershed, but not just to punish them for punishment's sake....He loves His people.....Isaiah is going to be around for 4 King's reign....He his a prophet mostly to Judah.....The northern kingdom is evil, and Judah is heading right behind it. Isaiah has both poetry and prose. Some of the prophecy will be near term, and some will be far (second coming), and some will be both. Just wait until we have Isaiah's actual call by God.....God dead out tells him that most people are not going to listen to him....How would you like to have that job?
God led us through the cycles of being close to him and far away...we see this in the books of Kings and Chronicles....the cycles continue over and over again.....Note that God never changes.....this book is written just as much for us today as it was for them, then......what kind of cycle would you say we were in today? Where are we as a country? A city?
Chapter 1 outlines the sins that Judah and Israel will be judged for. Remember that God always warns first....you don't get discipline without knowing better because God is just. The people are going through meaningless religious rituals and God calls them on it.
Chapter 2 talks about the Mountain of the Lord.....In the last days, God will dwell with His people on His holy mountain...ALL NATIONS will worship the Lord on His Mountain. It will be a time of peace and and war weapons will be converted to farm implements. The wicked WILL be dealt with.
Chapter 3 talks about the actual judgment on Jerusalem and Judah.....they parade their sins and the wrath of God will fall on them....but there is a message of hope in verse 10....all will be well with the righteous. The women of Judah had idols of ornamentation while the poor were suffering all around them.
Chapter 4...who do you thing the Branch of the Lord is?
Feel free to ask questions, because there is lots of stuff going on in this wonderful book.....
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.
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