Final Week! (13 of 13). Isaiah 63-66. The End of the Beginning.

Welcome to the Final Week of Isaiah readings! 

You did it!  Or You're doing it!  Or You're going to do it!  In any case, we are nearly to the end of this 66-chapter masterpiece of God's inspired word.

Be sure to read Dr. Bo Lim's final commentary on Isaiah www.spu.edu/lectio.  In it he takes on what most of us would sooner avoid - the first 6 verses of chapter 63, with it's portrayal of God as a vengeful warrior.

Don't miss out on reading the "communal psalm of lament" starting in 63:7 and continuing through the end of chapter 64.  It summarizes Israel's experience of exile in relational terms.  It can make a difference in our spiritual lives and our communal life as a church, by giving us words to express our unfaithfulness to the Lord, acknowledge him as our heavenly father, and plead for him to restore us to a right relationship.  Great verse - Isaiah 64:8 "Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Have you noticed how much of Isaiah speaks of the Family Relationship between God and his people?  We see this again in Chapters 64-66. In chapter 64 we see the relationship rift from the human side, where guilty children cry out to a Father who seems distant and hidden.

• 64:1 "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down." 64:12 "After all this, will you restrain yousrelf, O Lord?  Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?"

In chapter 65 we see how God the Father looks at the relationship.

• 65:1 "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me.  I said 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that did not call on my name."  65:12 "When I called you did not answer, and when I spoke you did not listen."

In chapter 66 we read of a restored relationship, and encounter Jerusalem/Zion and God being described in images of family relationship that are shockingly maternal.

• 66:10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her - that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom."  66:13 "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

One of my favorite mission passages in scripture appears in Isaiah 65:20-23.  I discovered it when I read a small book by Raymond Fung, who at the time headed up evangelism efforts with the World Council of Churches.  He believed that evangelism should be simple:

1. Pursue God's vision in Isaiah 65:20-23 with people in society,
2. Worship and invite people to worship with you as you pursue the Isaiah Vision in society
3. Live the life of discipleship and invite people into that life as you both worship & pursue the Isaiah Vision in society.

Reading Isaiah reminds us of the big picture of God, his people, and their relationship in real human history. Let's keep reading Isaiah...and get ready for the next Lectio focus on the Gospel of Luke, much more prepared to understand Jesus' life and ministry in light of God's overarching purpose and plan.

 

Joyfully in Christ,

Pastor Kurt

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Week 12 ... Isaiah 56-62 ... A Return to Righteousness and Justice

I took a week off from the blog last week...Many of you read chapters 53-55, and took a look at some of these great passages:

• 53:4-6 ... The suffering servant: powerful words that for Christians describe and define Jesus' suffering and death on the cross.
• 54:7-8 ... A compelling description of the break-up and reuniting of the relationship between the LORD and his people.
• 55:6-13 ... A call to seek the Lord and understand His sovereignty and the effectiveness of His word.

 

This week the reading is Isaiah 56-62
As you read, keep the eyes of your heart open and connect what you're reading to your God-given imagination.  You'll expand your vision of God's work of redemption in the world...

• Your vision of a Restored Jerusalem
• Your vision of God’s Kingdom
• Your vision of a Godly life
• Your vision of Mission & the transformation of the world

Key Passages

• Isaiah 58.  True worship, or what God really wants from us…
• Isaiah 60:1-5. Arise, shine, for your light has come!
• Isaiah 61. Good news for the poor & broken-hearted

Think of the four words associated with candles of the Advent wreath: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Where do you see these in the readings?  Where do you see them in God's work in the world?  In your life?

Hey!  Join me at 11am at church this Sunday - we'll be studying how Handel set Isaiah 60:1-3 to music in his Messiah.  He really got the picture of the dramatic scene of the coming of God's light into the darkness that Isaiah proclaimed!

Pastor Kurt Helmcke

Isaiah Week 10 ... Isaiah 49 - 52:12 The Servant of the LORD

Make sure you read Bo Lim's commentary this week.  It answers a lot of questions about the "Servant Songs of Isaiah."  These songs are some of the more important features of the book of Isaiah, so the more you know...

As you read Isaiah this week, here are some suggestions for "Must Read" verses:

Isaiah 49:8-18
God will not forget you.  Spend some time thinking about verses 14-16: Do you ever feel like God has forgotten you?  If so, you have some idea of what God's people were feeling during the exile in Babylon.  Consider God's love for you and others as you read God's response in verse 15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show not compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."  If you come away from reading Isaiah knowing that God has not forgotten you even when you feel like He has, you will have learned one big-time life lesson.

Isaiah 49:1-6
Isaiah 50:4-11
The Servant of the Lord.  These are the 2nd and 3rd of the "Servant Songs" in Isaiah.  We'll get to the fourth next week.  These words have had a powerful impact on the church through the centuries, and they are important to understanding God's work of salvation.  One of the most obvious take-away messages is that God calls servants to play an important part in his work in the world.  Who do you recognize as God's servants?  What would it mean to consider yourself a servant of the Lord?

Pay particular attention to 50:5-7.  These verses talk about being persecuted for being God's servant.  How do these verses connect with Jesus' suffering on the way to the cross?  Have you ever been insulted or persecuted because of your Christian faith?  Say a prayer for those who are being persecuted as Christians even today.

Isaiah 52:7-10
The Beautiful Good News.  I can't read the words of verse 7 without singing along with Handel's Messiah: "How beautiful are the feet of them who preach the gospel of peace."  Take a few minutes to meditate on these electric words: messenger/preacher, gospel/good news (they mean the same thing), salvation, God reigns.  Amazing to consider the power of the promise that "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God" (verse 10).  What does that have to say about God's work in the world and your part in it?

Peace!

ISAIAH week 9: Chapters 40-48 ... The Return of the King

Finally...some "Good News"

When he gets to the end of chapter 39, before moving on to Isaiah 40:1, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann writes:

• "And then there is a pause -- a long pause.  The reader of the book of Isaiah must endure a very long pause before taking up chapter 40, for the space between 39:8 and 40:1 signifies the defining interruption in the life and faith of Israel as it is construed in the book of Isaiah.  Chapter 39 is ostensibly enacted some time after 700 BC, and chapter 40 is voiced about 540 BC.  The gap is 160 years, a long pause indeed."  (Westminster Bible Companion, 1998)

I think the most important thing to know as you start reading chapter 40 is that God's promised judgment/punishment of His people has now taken place.  The holy city of Jerusalem is in ruins and people have been deported to Babylon (see Psalm 137:1).  [Historical note: Babylon defeated Assyria, attacked Judah in 598, then destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 587]

The words of this prophecy are now heard by God's people in exile, dwelling in a foreign land.  All the prophecies of judgement and destruction have come true.  The punishment has been severe. God's people have been displaced and sent into exile.  God's temple - His dwelling place on earth - is now rubble.  Is this going to be the end of the story?

Start reading chapter 40 and you'll find out very quickly that the story of God and his people is NOT over.  Good news is announced that God will return his people to Zion!  One of the people God uses to do this is a foreign leader named Cyrus (of the Persian empire...modern-day Iran).  Cyrus defeats the Babylonian empire and is instrumental in returning exiled peoples to their homeland.  This pagan military leader is actually mentioned in the Bible in chapters 44-45 as God's anointed servant.  Be sure to read about it!

Try reading all 8 chapters this week...it will be worth it!  This is where the whole idea of "gospel" and "good news" comes from!  And be sure to mark up your Bible.  These chapters are full of words that God gives us to inspire our hope, words that remind us of God's comfort even in the most difficult times of our lives.

Here are some key verses - don't just read them...memorize them!

Isaiah 40
1-5 (popular Advent verses...also the starting point for Handel's Messiah)
8 (the word of God endures forever)
11 (he tends his flock like a shepherd)
27-31 (soar on wings like eagles!)

Isaiah 41
8-10 (do not fear, for God is with you!)

Isaiah 43
1-7 (do not fear, for I have redeemed you)
18-19 (God is doing a new thing)

Isaiah 44:28-45:8 -- Read about Cyrus

Isaiah 45
22-25 (turn to me and be saved)

Isaiah 48
17-21 (if only you had paid attention to my commands)