The Field is the World (Matt. 13:38)

Knowing the coming captivity (Isaiah 39:6-7) and destruction of Jerusalem is a great burden. Before the question is even asked, God answers the thoughts of the heart: the One Whose throne is Heaven itself, whose footstool is the whole earth, is not diminished by the destruction of the Temple, or by the ceasing of sacrifice to Him, especially by those who don’t listen to Him and spew hypocrisy. He’s going to appear before all the earth, consume His enemies and create a new heaven and new earth. How could we imagine Him to be so small that the house Built by David’s son could contain Him? (2 Chronicles 6:18)

 Would there have been any way for a contemporary reader to perceive that the division between themes in Isaiah 61:2 at the comma before “and the day of vengeance of our God would last 2,000 years?

Looking at Isaiah 56:3-7, I am thinking: do the Persians who learn to fear God represent the strangers joined to Israel? (Esther 8:17) Does Daniel not exemplify the eunuch given an everlasting name that shall not be cut off? Does the church represent the “others” called to the feast in Isaiah 56:8-9? (Acts 10:12-13)

"The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."  ‭‭(Isaiah‬ ‭52:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬) Could this be said to be the Matthew 24:14 of the Old Testament? Taken together with Isaiah 53:1, we can see that "the arm of the Lord" is another name for Jesus. And literally the last phrase can be read, "all the ends of the earth shall see Yeshua Elohim."

Could there be a more vivid image than Isaiah 49:16? Especially in the light of crucifixion being one of the best known identifiers of Jesus of Nazareth. (See Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 13:6) The grief over having missed their messiah will be deep. (Zechariah 12:10) But the reconciliation will be the celebration of the world.

 Is this the beginning of a theme? The authentic people of God (Jacob My servant and Israel whom I have chosen, Isaiah 44:1) vs Babylon, chosen for a temporary purpose (I was worth with my people, Isaiah 47:6), Jehovah VS. Idols, deliverance from God VS self-righteousness. It carries all the way through with respect to Babylon, and seems to be manifested most clearly in the Catholic Church in our day. (See Revelation 18:7/Isaiah 47:8)

Isaiah quotes the Lord, "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." (Isaiah‬ ‭42:9‬) What does he mean specifically? He's probably referring to the prediction that came to pass regarding the Assyrian army and Sennecherib, and encouraging the reader to have faith based on that that all he predicts will occur. That includes the description about Christ that opens the chapter, (Isaiah 42:1-4), but also the pouring out of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3), the blotting out of their transgressions, (Isaiah 44:22), and the destruction and rebuilding of Jerusalem, (Isaiah 44:28). The Cyrus prophecy is so specific that it's probably the inspiration for the whole Deutero-Isaiah heresy. But for us it all follows suit: if Isaiahs prophecy was fulfilled regarding Cyrus, and the first advent of Jesus, it will be fulfilled in Israel's regathering (Isaiah 11:11), Christ's second coming and Armageddon (Isaiah ...

I've reached the transition from part 1 to part 2 of Isaiah. Sixty-six chapters, and divided just as the Old and New Testaments are, at 39, with Hezekiah's pitiful failure to care for the generations to follow him. In spite of this announcement of destruction, loss and captivity, Isaiah looks forward to another day, some 720 years later, when John the Baptist would prepare the way for the LORD, (Isaiah 40:3), so that the people might "behold your God" (v. 9). It is because He is the First (Isaiah 41:4, 27) that He can declare for us things to come. (Isaiah 41:22) He made it so clear, and Isaiah was a treasured book of the Jews. How could they have missed Jesus? How could John the Baptist's message have been so mysterious to them? 

Although secular history downplays the supernatural side of this, there is no choice but to admit it occurred since it was confirmed in ancient pagan history as well. Herodotus attributed the aborted siege to mice gnawing through bowstrings and straps . Josephus to a plague. Sennacherib’s own history simply omits Jerusalem from all the boasting about conquering 43 cities and taking >200,000 captives. What would the world be like if Assyria had captured Jerusalem? speculates historynet.com. No Judaism, no Islam, no Christianity, they reason.  I wonder if they somehow assume that would be a beneficial outcome. Given how brutal the Chaldeans and Assyrians were , I'm not sure how non-Christians could reach that conclusion. 

Is the seemingly shallow reading of Isaiah 32:5 not really shallow at all? The section is all about contrasting rest in an alliance with Egypt (against invading Assyria) with rest in the LORD. Trusting to His grace. Looking forward to His redemption of earth and personal reign in righteousness. Suffering by the comparison was that day (and likewise OUR day) of flattering, deceptive language, of words used to conceal the true motive, and of dim minds, short sightedness, and selective hearing. To change all of that will take not just an education but the pouring out of God's Spirit. (Isaiah 32:15, Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2/Zechariah 12:10) We wait for that with great anticipation — but we must also remember God's much longer, more patient wait, which is the salvation of so many before the time is up. (Isaiah 30:18/2 Peter 3:15)

Even in isolation from the rest of this context I have felt Isaiah 26:20 could be about the Rapture; but in the context of these four chapters does it not seem all the more clear? Hail (Isaiah 28:17, Revelation 16:21), besiegement of Jerusalem, (Isaiah 29:3, Luke 21:20) with deliverance from God Himself (v. 8). Could Isaiah 26:19 be about the resurrection and rapture of the dead and 20 be about the rapture of the living, with 21 foretelling the 2nd coming and Armageddon?

Are we close to this day? Can you feel it? When the fulness of the gentiles come in, and the veil is taken away from the Jews in a moment, they see the Pierced One and mourn over having missed Him, he wipes away all tears, and they exult: this is our God! We have waited for Him! We will be glad and rejoice in His Yeshua!

So much of what is being described in these chapters is beyond my historical and geographical grasp. How much has been fulfilled? How much (like Isaiah 17:1, 19:18-25) still await fulfillment? How close are we? Recent events seem portentous, as modern  Persia uses money given to them by the US to get a terrorist group to fire rockets into Israel. Might we not be on the brink?

I was fixated by this verse: "I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness." Who are these? At first I imagined the "burners" of Chapter 6 who cry to one another about His holiness, even when there's no one to challenge. But is this not broader? Those who rejoice in His Highness? Is that not the Church as well? Will there be more for us to do in our mission on the Day of the LORD than simply following on white horses? (Revelation 19:14, Psalm 149:6-9, Jude 1:14)

 If the casting aside of Israel resulted in the salvation we see being brought to the world, what is the restoration of faith in the Resurrected Messiah going to look like? (Romans 11:15) It’s like the resurrection of a nation. (Ezekiel 37:14) It appears that Isaiah 12 describes this.

In light of the complaint above, is what Isaiah is being commissioned to do simply declaring the truth? Is Isaiah 6:8-13 not just Isaiah's calling, but the rationale for this book itself, all sixty-six chapters of it? There's so much gospel in it, so much hope, and yet, the command is not to "make disciples of all nations" but to "make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes" - but is it that message of offered salvation and extended hope that puts them to sleep? Is the appeal to them to wash… [and be] white as snow" (Isaiah 1:16, 18) the agent of resistance? "The same sun that softens the wax hardens  the clay," as the saying goes?

 What a great question - "who asked you to come walk on the floors in My House?" ( Isaiah 1:12) What is the point of being a priest, making sacrifices, burning incense, if you don't really fear God at all? Aren't we in a time like this now? American evangelical Christianity is flirting with some very non-Christian ideas, and why? Because the Christian ones are alienating the world, and we're being blamed for their reaction. We'll get better judges and counsellors if we submit to His washing (Isaiah 1:16-19). Although it was a promise to Israel, it's also a principle: Walk in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5) and give up on hero-worship. (Isaiah 2:22) Like God's threat to Israel, we're taking our advice from the immature, (Isaiah 3:4), the obscene and arrogant (Isaiah 3:9). Our children are being taught to admire entertainers who are given a platform to speak on social and moral issues and have no self-awareness about how exaggerated their pretenti...

How was it going to come to pass that the monarchy would end with the king of Judah seeing the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 32:4) but not Babylon itself (Ezekiel 12:13), though he would die there? It must have seemed contradictory, but it was all predicted beforehand. In fact, this may have been part of what was contemptuously cut up and thrown into the fire (Jeremiah 36:23-25). How could they have missed the fulfillment of the 350 year-old prophecy made by the unnamed Judean prophet in 1 Kings 13? 

Did God delay judgment on a nation because of the intercession of just one man?

What is the Rab-Shakeh's assumption? That Hezekiah's actions in tearing down the high places betray a crass political motive: ensure the people come to the Royal city to worship. (2 Kings 18:22) It's actually a uniquely faithful act on the part of Hezekiah among the Judean kings to this point (2 Kings 18:4-6). And yet, is Hezekiah's hope (2 Kings 19:4) and prayer (2 Kings 19:15-19) for deliverance based on the faithfulness of people? No; it's on the reputation of the LORD, His own glory, that Hezekiah knows to be the best appeal; for until he had torn them down, Judah had persistently  maintained high places and groves. It's notable that this section is reproduced not just in the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 32 but in Isaiah 37-39. God knew generations of believers would rejoice over the day the blasphemy and pride of a mighty human kingdom was answered in one night by a single angel able to decimate the army of a world empire. It really puts Matthew 26:53 i...

How could we understand it if we read Exodus then skipped everything between and read these two chapters? What could possibly have convinced a nation that had been literally created by a series of miracles to abandon the true God and so debase themselves for the very paganism they had escaped? The intervening chapters of the Bible, then, are a cautionary account for the Body of Christ in 21st Century America. Influential fools have convinced many to envy and mimic the nations of Europe, who are further regressed than we are. The children and grandchildren of zealous believers take pride in what is objectively shameful. Our contemporaries dismiss the mighty works of God in our history as puritanical, superstitious, restrictive and bigoted. We desperately need a fresh move of God's Spirit.

Isaiah 6 begins, "in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the LORD, high and lifted up…" Why is the vision connection with the death of Uzziah? Uzziah and his father Amaziah seem to be good kings, but both made foolish mistakes: Amaziah attempted to unify Israel again by conquering the Northern kingdom and was defeated. Uzziah intruded into the Temple to burn incense (2 Chronicles 26:16-21) and was struck with leprosy. His son Jotham became the ruler at that time, and although both kings were evaluated as having done that which is right in the sight of the Lord, 2 Kings 15:34), the Lord began to send Assyria against Judah at that time. Although they had generally good leadership, all was not well in Judah. I think Isaiah's note may indicate a turning point, as he was told to tell the people they were not listening to God. (Isaiah 6:9-13)

 Under what circumstances is it the best and godliest course of action to overthrow a monarch? Have soldiers execute a woman with swords? Circumvent the normal donation methodology of the people? When these kinds of things are happening in Israel and Judah, you know things have gone from bad to worse. It takes courageous, decisive people like Jehosheba (2 Kings 11:2), Jehoiada (2 Kings 11:4-12, 15, 17) and Jehoash, King of Judah (2 Kings 12:7,9) to restore some order; still, it's a time of confusion, a time when things that must be done to correct cours e would not ordinarily be the right thing to do. Perhaps this is part of the apparent ambiguity in Elisha's lesson to Joash, King of Israel: beat the ground with arrows. Nope, you only beat the ground three times. You should've done it five or six times. When everything is in a bad place, it's hard for people to know what to do. It makes me think of a situation yesterday in the city of Plano, where our ministry is headqu...

Jehu is enigmatic. He's decisive, courageous and dynamic, but he doesn't maintain his faithfulness to God. He instead worships  Jeroboam's  idols. (2 Kings 10:31) Why? Perhaps for the same mercenary reason as  Jeroboam himself (1 Kings 12:26-28). It's a reminder to myself and anyone who starts strong but is tempted to settle into compromise that strong beginning aren't as important as strong endings.

When I think about all Elijah's and Elisha's renowned miracles and their feud with and scorn for the house of Ahab, it makes me wonder: why would Judah be so cozy with Ephraim? Why would Jehoshaphat's son marry Ahab's daughter after hearing Elijah's rebuke in 2 Kings 3:14? 

How much of God's blessing does pride keep us from? The story of Naaman's healing seems so out of place: Syria is the aggressor against Israel only one chapter later (2 Kings 6:8-24). Why does the captured servant girl name Elisha? Why does Naaman believe her? Why is Elisha willing to heal him? Why do his servants ultimately convince him to humble himself and be healed? It is evidence of the design of the Bible as a unified message. In Luke 4, after announcing His ministry and receiving the people's acclamation at the Nazareth Synagogue, Jesus tells this story, highlighting the irony of a foreigner's healing in contrast to the rejection of Jesus (Luke 4:28-30).

Were these "little children" a threat to Elijah? Most likely they were, and our translation makes it ambiguous. In Genesis 34:19, the same word is used for Shechem, the young man who slept with Dinah, Jacob's daughter. In 1 Kings 3:7, Solomon, who has just been made king, calls himself a "little child" yet we learn he reigns a total of 40 years, (1 Kings 11:42), and Rehoboam was 41 when he began to reign. (1 Kings 14:21) So if there were 42 young men pursuing and mocking Elisha, they were certainly a threat, just as the captains of fifties had been to Elijah in 1 Kings 1:9-15.