Read "A Prophetic Devotional Fear Not" by Bishop Greg Nies Sr., Th.D. with Rakuten Kobo. Take a journey Book Amos. Zhingoora Bible Series. $ The Bible Douay-Rheims, the Challoner Revision,Book 69 1 John. Zhingoora Bible.
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You might be able to find some rest in a dark room, or a spot on your back porch, or in an office without interruption. The Holy Spirit shows up in the Old Testament? And, in spades throughout the book of Isaiah. Some of the references are a bit obscure. The character of the Holy Spirit is defined in Isaiah Other aspects include His being a Spirit of justice Is Isaiah is one of the clearest writers in the Old Testament in providing us direct evidence of the Holy Spirit, His divine work, and His presence upon us.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Note some of the characteristics of His judgment. He does not merely see with His eyes and hear with His ears. Instead, He will add into the mix righteousness and faithfulness.
Hang on, this is longer than most. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! The single longest discussion of this topic in Isaiah is found in Isaiah The chapter is a discussion of sin that is ever present before us. Among these offenses or iniquities is a lack of practicing justice. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. God says that the practice of justice among the poor and oppressed is an indicator of our genuine spirituality. After chastising His people for going through the motions of fasting He says,.
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him,…? And then to make His point crystal clear, God says that the joy of walking with God and answers to prayer are tied directly to our practice of justice. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed , then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
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Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Let me be blunt: Not to be involved is a reflection of the shallowness of our understanding of who God is, who Jesus is, what He came to do, and what He wants to do in and through us. Isaiah is very clear in providing us a very practical definition of a fool: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the Lord; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.
If this stirs something in you, I encourage you to respond in some way immediately. First, consider a financial donation to a ministry that is already involved. Second, do some research of groups that are involved in some of these issues within ten miles of your home. Third, educate yourself in an even fuller biblical view of these issues. Chapter 12 of Isaiah is powerful even though it only has six verses…the shortest chapter of Isaiah.
Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. That is all there is to chapter I view it a bit like Psalm Whether it is in my weakness, insecurity, fear, loss, confusion, or anger, I have received comfort from my Lord. There are twelve key Passages in Isaiah on the topic of trust.
Here they each are with some observations we can draw. Trust is a topic that only the Psalms and Jeremiah address with equal or more emphasis. We tend to trust in man rather than in God. Man will fail us. I will put my trust in him. Trusting in other power leads to fear and shame. Also, it is tempting to trust a big authority figure. How then can we escape? This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. God provides peace of mind to those who trust in Him.
Interestingly, trust is something we are exhorted to do. Relying on something other than God is the equivalent of rejecting what God has said about Himself. Relying on something else is a sin. Repentance, rest, salvation, quietness are tied together. Some have trusted in other sources Egypt and on human sources of strength horses, chariots, horsemen, cp Ps Trusting God here is synonymous to looking to Him for help.
Trust in self is at the end of the day trusting in our own wickedness. It is self deceiving. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you. We are exhorted to trust and rely on God. The other option is to rely on your own self efforts which will lead to destruction.
Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment. Isaiah 13 begins a long section of the book of Isaiah Isaiah that deals with judgments or prophecies against nine neighboring cities or countries. This section can be a bit tedious to read straight through and specific verses can be a challenge to interpret. Was it a warning for a future audience? Is it an attitude all of should maintain no matter what its original intent may have been? My personal question is this: He certainly knew it would create anticipation a good thing and at the same time create a disappointment feels like a bad thing to us.
I have no answer today. Not surprisingly there are many positive synonyms or companion characteristics mentioned in many of the verses: But surprisingly, as we will see, anger is also a mentioned. Examples of some of these companion characteristics include, Isa For example, Isa For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. God in no way is embarrassed for maintaining this characteristic. In fact, He acts surprised when accused of NOT being compassionate.
After being accused of lacking compassion see also Is And in an extended passage, God acknowledges that at times His compassion is absent or at least seems absent see also Is His love overcomes His anger. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Compassion wrapped in kindness, comfort, love, favor, graciousness, and tenderness…that is the kind of God who sets aside His anger in order to have a relationship with us. You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. In this passage, we have certainly one of the most extreme expression of pride. Whether it is specific to an enemy of Israel or a description of the ultimate enemy, Satan, either way we have pride on display.
As believers who have been delivered from our vain attempts at self righteousness,. If you were going to the Scriptures to build a Biblical defense for the fact that God was indeed Creator, where would you turn? Certainly anyone who knows their Bible student head straight to the first few chapters of Genesis Ge 1: Others would remember parts of many Psalms Ps And, some would go to Colossians and Hebrews and refer to Christ being the present at creation and the sustainer of all things.
Who would ever think to head to Isaiah? When I got started on this I was a bit overwhelmed. This will be a bit longer than usual. Look at the both the quantity of references over 35 , but possible equally as important the varied way at least fourteen in which God is referred to as Creator through synonym and metaphors. I have previously mused about the special place God has for the city of Jerusalem. Here again we see His claim of being its Creator and here closely tied with His sovereignty.
They make outlandish statements about even the existence of God. They determine to be self determined. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? No one compares to or equals the Creator. None of the gods or idols created anything. How could this person say that in front of the very One who created them? Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing … 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? This next comment takes some context to fully understand, but God acts in order to show the world He is a provider. I should be praying that God would provide out of His nature of being a Creator.
Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making? I have expectations of God all the time. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. And in what is one of the most clear statements in all of Scripture regarding His role as Creator expressed in six ways ,. If He can put the heavens in place and create the foundations of the earth certainly He can do all else that He declares. Could you ever have imagined Isaiah could be such source for a description of God the Father as Creator?
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Several of the uses are merely the naming of something rather insignificant Isa A good many are the use in a strictly human sense if that is possible in Scripture Isa 5: There is one famous use of angels calling to one another. God was found faithful even when His people did not call on Him. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I. The largest and possibly most significant portion, though, is a use of something being called by God.
I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. God's great doctrine of our calling should cause all the "called of Jesus Christ" to exclaim "Glory! Isaiah are a judgment against Moab. It foretells a time when Moab will be ruined, destroyed.
By the way, you won't find Moab on a modern day map anywhere. It used to be just east of the Dead Sea but it was sacked in B. In the midst of this predicted doom, there is hope! We know that this indeed was a statement about the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus. I don't know that I would have focused much on the fact that He was One who would seek and speed.
I get the justice and righteousness, but His role is seeking and speeding. And all will be desolation. What draws your focus on your Lord? What draws your focus away? Do you need a partner to help you keep your focus? There is no substitute for consistent, regular, direct, one on one exposure to the Word of God. That can come in the form of reading, studying, memorizing , meditating , or hearing…. But whatever it looks like for you, is your focus being drawn to God through His Word on a regular basis? Seven Minutes with God: How to jumpstart your quiet time.
This should be placed in contrast to those who me are rely being religious and just going through the motions. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me. Listen , O earth! Closely related are the references where God wants Israel His people to listen exclusively to Him. Chapter 48 is a classic example where He exhorts them four times: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;.. And although the following words are characteristics of the Messiah who was to come, they are also the desire of my heart as I become more like my Savior.
He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. All 27 uses of "listen" in Isaiah - Isa 1: In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Destruction. In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border.
It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them.
They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. This is an astonishing set of statements. Egypt responding to the Lord Almighty? Egypt in Scripture virtually universally serves as either a very specific example or an almost complete typology of those who are stubborn and will not respond to God.
They are never a friend to Israel. But, why indeed am I so surprised. I was lost in sin. I was stubborn and wanted my own way. I myself was an enemy of God. I was headed for judgment, left to my own devises. It is with this same astonishment that we read that Egypt or at least a part of it , of all people Egyptians, will one day also bend their knee to the only Savior, Defender, Rescuer…because God will make Himself known to them….
When I read Isa Anyone up for the challenge? Christ poetically describes the disciple as one who is blessed in the beatitudes. Paul says we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. These are BIG concepts. In the first mention of blessing in the book of Isaiah, we actually have all three forms that show up in the book all in the same verse blessing, bless, blessed. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many. This blessing is God initiated. Other references to the Holy Spirit and pouring out are Isa And other references to descendants are found in Isa It appears that one of the conditions of being blessed is a willingness to be patient!
I want it now! Clearly a large part of being a recipient of blessing from an Old Testament perspective comes through obedience. Much of the blessing God will pour out is yet to come. The truest things that can be said about blessing in the book of Isaiah is that clearly blessing comes from the Lord Almighty. It is initiated by Him for His purposes. All 11 uses of bless, blessing, etc in Isaiah - Isa I just had a plumbing problem in our house, so we called a plumber. A friend came and installed two new ones we ordered.
Our front porch deck needs to be stained before it weathers too badly in this Arizona sun. When we have problems, we jump to fix them ourselves or look to someone else to fix them for us. We just do it. Both were probably needed and long overdue. So, what is the problem? Maybe it is actually causes-and-effect. He had established Jerusalem. He had it in His plan in ages past. Their problem is they had forgotten or grown careless.
They did not view their situation as having been established by God and something within His control. Their knee jerk reaction to their problems was fix them. Their default position was to look to self for the solution. That is always a bad choice. We are all infected with that disease because we come into this world with that perspective and we typically practice it a whole lot prior to being transformed by Christ.
But if He does, it will be while we are in dependence upon Him. I encourage you today to look at your current circumstance, even if things are falling apart, and begin to work your way out of it by starting in total dependence upon God who is the Sovereign One and who planned your current circumstances long ago. They are very similar to the book of The Revelation. This will be a devastation that appears to be across the whole earth.
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Some feel it will be primarily in the land of Israel. Zion and Jerusalem in Is In my opinion, the pictures of what will happen to Israel are representative of what will be happening all across the earth. Well, actually, this destruction is self induced. And in Is See also Psalm All 15 uses of destruction or related words in Isaiah - Isa Sovereignty - God's Attribute note verb "reign". I, all of a sudden, have gotten a little scared. Probably a good thing. It is a high responsibility and a humbling experience, particularly with regard to this subject. According to Isaiah, God is the One who has to be satisfied regarding our salvation.
We are talking about a personal affront, a personal relationship, and praise God a personal solution! Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away and You have comforted me. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
This includes the discipline of those who deserve His wrath. And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress…5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm…. Interestingly, Isaiah actually provides a definition and reveals some of the results of our salvation. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. Not surprisingly, righteousness and salvation are inextricably joined, as well. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. But Isaiah himself clearly also uses it in the sense of military deliverer or safe refuge: There are other aspects of salvation within the book of Isaiah. Idols cannot save Isa Human wisdom fails miserably at its attempts to save Isa The messengers of salvation receive a special blessing.
The classic passage is found in Is. Isaiah also has a great deal to say on the topic. There is no way for me to tackle this subject in totality, but I can begin to grasp what Isaiah says. Its absence causes great distress Is 5: Isaiah also recognizes a righteousness of our own that comes to nothing Is But God Himself promises to restore Jerusalem to its former glory.
Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness , the Faithful City. Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. Righteousness is contrasted with wickedness. And, righteousness is at some level measured by works. God Himself is righteousness. It is one of His primary characteristics. He is known by the remnant to be the righteous One Is In fact, righteousness is found nowhere else. God lets righteousness be the determiner in His decision making, even down to minor details like the raising up of a foreign king for His purpose Is In another reference to His presence, God promises to strengthen, help, and uphold us.
How can He do this? He has a righteous right hand! I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Justice and righteousness are often found together Isa 1: The Messiah, having been called in righteousness , Is But, Proverbs certainly has something to say about that subject! God paves the way for the righteous to receive benefits. They may enter the gates of Zion Is Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.
All 65 uses in 63 verses of righteous or righteousness in Isaiah - Isa 1: Surprisingly, though, neither is used very often in close proximity to the uses of salvation that we just studied with the exceptions being Is It is also tied to other names King-Is Obviously this implies He completes the act of redeeming, but it does so more through the use of a title than describing the act itself.
Here are a few examples:. Who or what is redeemed? It is clear by the uses that God directly redeems His people, Israel. He speaks directly of redeeming Israel or Jacob Is He speaks of redeeming the city of God, Zion or Jerusalem, referring to His people who reside there as representative of the whole nation Is 1: He harkens back to having redeemed Abraham and His descendants Is After all this analysis as minimal as it may be , it nevertheless is amazing and wonderful to read such personal words from God Almighty to us directly. So much more than an academic pursuit, these words are warm and soothing to our souls.
All 26 uses of redeem, redemption or Redeemer in Isaiah - Isa 1: I have two separate thoughts from chapter First, the subjects of God, worship, and sovereignty -. God cannot be accurately accused of any unfaithfulness. Not one time in history has He failed His people…not one time; not me, not you. He is perfect faithfulness. This has its wonderful corollary in 1 Corinthians Where, O death, is your sting?
This has its corollary in Revelation There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Now wait a second. This says God has done it for me. How can that be? Isaiah is, in just a few word, acknowledging the sovereignty of God. It is amazing once you start looking for the subject how it pops up everywhere, even in places you previously looked!
Isaiah is acknowledging that in the end, even with all of our attempts to do things on our own, God directs our steps. Some might react to this as unfair or manipulative of God. I find it very comforting. I can work hard. But my confidence is that if any of spiritual value is going to occur it will ultimately be a work of the Spirit and not of self effort. This will probably be a bit more of a listing of the passages with intervening commentary rather than an executive summary. All 13 uses of peace in Isaiah - Isa 9: In fact you could call it the beginning and the end to the subject of peace and in all the Scriptures.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. Note that peace and a Person are integrally linked. This is an often quoted verse. If I have a steadfast mind and trust in God I will be kept in perfect peace. In one of the clearest statements in Isaiah, God establishes peace. Peace has no other source.
God establishes peace on our behalf. Peace is the result of something else. It is the result of righteousness being expressed. Again, peace is the result of obedience and is tied to righteousness. Here it is expressed as flowing. Not quite sure the depth of that illustration. This should be self explanatory, self evident. But, the wicked miss this. They pursue ungodly means of securing peace. In another very familiar verse we see peace being tied to the good news, the gospel, to salvation. In the middle of a long passage describing the Suffering Servant, we find not only the harsh reality of what He was to go through, but one of the outcomes….
The depth of that statement, though, is almost too much to comprehend. It demonstrates the deep love of our Savior for us.
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He reveals the purposefulness of His suffering. The cross is the greatest demonstration of Romans 8: We know from the New Testament writings that this results in both peace-with-God and the peace-of-God. Here, God is providing surety that this covenant will not be broken, by physical circumstances or otherwise. This is guaranteed by His character, both His unfailing love and His compassion. He has staked his reputation on it. I have been surprised to see the number of passages that are so familiar to our ears from Isaiah that speak one way or another of peace many of which have been put to song.
Here, not surprisingly, it is equated with rest. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor… Prince of Peace. Isaiah is a rather long section with the setting being the onset of an Assyrian invasion. Isaiah specifically deal out six woes upon Judah and Israel. This serves as an interesting challenge for interpretation and application. He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. Our crown will be HIM!
Yes, He is beautiful…He will be beautiful. He will be the appropriate reward or recognition for His people. And, yes, He will be enough. I long for that day. It is hard to tell who will experience the spirit of justice and the strength He will provide. He already is these things and He already provides these things. To the one who was in a position to dispense judgment and did it well, he will experience directly from God a spirit of justice within him that goes beyond anything he could have imagined.
In other words, at the end of the ages, we will experience the Lord Almighty. Not riches, not fame, not control, not position. We will have Him. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! I have written before on the passages that relate to the Messiah. This verse from Isaiah may be the most frequently quoted verse from Isaiah in Scripture.
It is repeated in Ro 9: Some words are very hard to define. Is it the same as His holiness? Is it an outward thing only? It would probably take 66 books, written by over 40 different authors, over 1, years to start to come close to describing this. We have such a Book! Isaiah makes a contribution to this idea with 45 references to glory or glorious. Now, where have I heard that before?
In at least one place in Isaiah we are told to give God glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. He has been about establishing a glorious name, Isa See also Isa Actually, God is quite jealous of His glory in the purest sense possible.
How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. All uses of " glory " in Isaiah - Isa 4: Isaiah chapter 29 gets a lot of attention in the New Testament. It is a harsh rebuke. Their worship had become fleshly, human -directed. Their response to the God who had chosen them and saved them was to create rules and regulations that made up their worship. There is really nothing new under the sun. Jesus quotes this Isaiah passage hundreds of years later in chastisement of the religious Matthew First, the accusation was that their hearts were far from Him.
Therefore He must be looking for a heart that is close to His. Second, apparently, God is not pleased with rules of worship. He apparently desires a more spontaneous response to Him out of thankfulness and gratefulness. Jesus referred to it as worship in spirit and in truth.
The more rules of what it should look like, the less genuine. Jesus adds in Mark 7: Are we that much different in our evangelical worship? Third, the result of merely following rules is people who have a lot to say but the words are empty. What does that look like? To want what God wants; to stay close to His Word; to want to obey; to operate by faith; to understand our total dependency on Him; to seek justice; to reflect His character to others.
And, may that be reflected in proper worship of You. We are so geared to wanting to earn our salvation and work hard to make circumstances go our way. In fact, counting on our own efforts guarantees we get just what we deserve…a life separated from God. In fact, operating that way only gets the fruits of self-effort. So, back to the drawing board we go. If we would only take God at His Word and operate within His guidelines!
I believe it is Tim Keller who says we must preach the gospel to ourselves every day. I agree with him. But, what we tend to do is be accepted by faith and then act as if we have to clean up our act to be accepted by God. Over and over again we must be convinced that our relationship with God is based on His grace and mercy. It takes repentance and rest Is So, too, is our sanctification. We are to walk by faith 2Co 5: We are to obtain the fruit of the Spirit Gal 5: Grace and mercy cp 1Ti 1: It takes quietness and trust. But all of us slip, thus the exhortation to stay in the Word, be reminded of things of the Spirit, allow the Spirit to convict us of human effort.
So, let us be reminded: I put it in the same category as Hebrews 4: Make effort to rest. I guess that is what it takes: Study the concept of "Rest" in the Bible. I find that I have the very same question that the Psalmist asks. From where does my strength come? I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Note how closely strength is tied to salvation repeated twice in this verse. Interestingly, God Himself declares He is our strength whether we recognize it or not! Note that salvation surfaces again. When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?
Note that strength is tied to salvation, once again. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. God promises His strength to us. This is possibly my favorite verse in all of Scripture. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment. Woe - In other words: Egypt - This apparently was the country of choice when it came to breeding the finest horses for warfare.
It represents all the places any of the places we turn to for our deliverance from a situation that leaves God out of the picture. He says of earthly wisdom,. For our company, it might be stock splits, public offerings, savings accounts, manipulated quarterly reports or bailouts. For us as individuals, we might reach for a cure-all medicine, just work harder, positions of control, our influence, or our wealth.
These are just some of the things we throw toward fixing a problem outside of total dependence upon God. Go down , rely, trust, do not look or seek help - Now, here is the heart of the matter. We are going it alone. We are seeking our own way. We work out of our own limited strength. We try everything we can think of first. We rely on our own insight. He is whom we should turn to first. If these leaders had known their law and had been seeking to obey God they would have known that the Law warned them against the tendency of the flesh.
What should have been their legacy? Maybe something more like this. Blessed are you for NOT seeking to strengthen yourself as the world would do. Blessed are you who seek after Me, who rely on My Spirit, who trust in My Word, who wait for My lovingkindness to provide what you need. There are two key verses in this chapter, tied together in an indirect way in that they both relate to leadership. They had it wrong in the sense that they wanted a human ruler over them like all the other nations.
They looked to the wrong place for a model and they looked for the wrong kind of king. They had it right in that we do indeed need a king. We need One who will reign in righteousness and who will use rulers human agents who He has instilled with a proper sense of justice. This is, of course, in contrast to the disobedient even apostate leaders Judah was experiencing. We need the right kind of king… the King of Kings Ezek Praise God, we have One! Now there is a word that has basically been run out of the English language.
Who wants to be known as noble? And does anyone really know what it means anymore? How do you know a man is noble? Well, he makes noble plans and he is known for his noble deeds. It feels a bit like wisdom; you know it when you see it in action. In a few references we find servant referring to Isaiah himself Isa And indeed other humans also receive this title Eliakim, Isa These often carry a nearby indication that these servants have been chosen. This is important in a later description that includes you and me! I said, 'You are my servant '; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God. It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. It is possible that this is similar to Is 7: In any case, it is clear that the New Testament writers clearly see the Messianic aspects of these verses.
And, they, too, are often referred to in these contexts as chosen. And, in one of the action items that comes from this brief study, we see that those chosen servants of God are also by definition witnesses of His. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "that I am God. I said, 'You are My servant '; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. It is an effective model, but it is merely that, a model. The only source of salvation is the One who fulfills all three aspects to perfection, the Lord Himself! Once again, showing that He is personal.
One day we will see the Messiah rightfully reign using all three roles perfectly. Today, we are loved by Him who embodies all three in His very character. It is this very person who promises to save. Isaiah is drawing to a close the section of his book that emphasizes judgment. In chapter 34 he calls the nations together again Isa In the midst of this description he paints a picture of what is happening in the heavens simultaneously with this judgment. This sounds curiously similar to a re-creation of this world that is declared to come according to Revelation In this case He is defending the place of His own people.
But, they were chosen. We have a defender! We rarely take the time to look directly at the Scriptures and declare what it declares, at least as a starting point. I know that very few of us have a physical object that has been crafted to represent a god that we bow down to and look to for answers in life. But, this does still exist in our world. I agree that good interpretation and application will get us back around to realizing that we, too, can be guilty of idolatry without having a physical object created to look like a god.
And, a part of the idolatry in their heart is expressed in physical bowing to these man-made objects. Isaiah even details how they were made. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. In the midst of this idolatry, the Lord declares that He alone will be worshipped. There will be a day when these idols which had been made to be worshipped are cast away. At some points we see God giving man over to his desires. He actually mocks the idols, calling upon Israel to use them to tell the future and to save them. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god. And we too will triumph in the lesson of Hebron when we see we are already successful before God and don't strive for success before men by going after position and honor. Teach me, Father, that the accumulation of blessings that You have brought into my life pale in importance to the intimate relationship You long to share with me.
Let me dwell in Hebron, the place of partial fulfillment of Your destiny for me, content to find my identity in You and You alone. God wants you to find your identity in God, not in earthly success. And what shall I more say? Sometimes when we are confronted by the cares of the world, we find ourselves believing in a God who is different from the God of the Bible. Not believing God is who He says He is probably accounts for most of the uncertainty and defeat in our lives. The God of the Bible always hears and answers your prayers.
The God of the Bible does not cower in the presence of the devil and will never leave you nor forsake you. The God of the Bible cannot fail. He is the God of battles, the Lord of Hosts, and the God of victory. He will never surrender in the face of adversity because the war is over and He has emerged victorious! Just believe in Him and the battle is already won!
Never consider defeat when He is in the plan and the battle. Never allow doubt to distort His Word or truth. Above the roar of the battle, only one voice rings out the truth—the voice of God. Listen to His still, small voice whispering His truth in your heart. God, how I listen intently for Your voice in Your Word, in worship, in the stillness, in the Spirit, and in the prophetic moments.
Speak to me and I will both listen and believe. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. The way we guard against being a hypocrite six days a week and acting piously on Sundays is by applying the Word of God to our lives. Revival in a church may be quite extraordinary, but it is only a question of whether each member is following the conductor's score in his private life.
In an orchestra, the sound is no greater than the sum of the different parts. As Paul says in Ephesians 4: So our worship ought to be a glorious symphony to God—no one out of tune, no one playing too loudly, each person following his or her own score. Though our worship is not a performance designed to attract other people, or pander to our own love of display, there is a sense in which it is a performance—a performance for God.
Our worship is for God, the King of kings; should that not affect us as we prepare for the Sunday worship since our Sunday worship is the culmination of what we are all the time? How do we actually achieve this?
Take Courage: You Build More Than You See | Desiring God
How does the right performance come about? The first is practice at the individual level. We can all practice living in the presence of God from minute to minute. And in order to do this, we must outlaw all bitterness from our lives. We must seek to be filled with love, with total forgiveness, and acceptance of each other. Many rebel against serving God because they feel they will not be able to do their own thing. What rebellious people do not realize is that even though they are not serving God, they are serving another master when they do their own thing.
When we resist God, we submit to Satan. When we submit to God, we are able to resist Satan. In this passage in Romans Paul makes it quite clear that we are all servants. We are either servants of sin or servants of righteousness. The fruit of sin is death. The fruit of righteousness is peace, joy and life. We have to decide which fruit we want our lives to produce.
If we honestly look at this choice, it truly is a "no brainer. Yet many make such a choice daily when they seek to do their own thing rather than God's thing. Paul exhorts us to offer the members of our bodies as an instrument of righteousness unto God. If we do not offer the members of our bodies to God, then we have by our own neglect or apathy submitted the members of our bodies to Satan through giving into our own lusts.
If we do not reckon ourselves dead daily to sin, then the members of our bodies will be alive to lusts and to Satan's plan, not God's plan for our lives. A daily prayer I pray is:. Lord, I offer the members of my body today to You to be used as instruments of Your love, righteousness, peace and joy.