SEPTEMBER 10
Isaiah 6-7
This is holy ground today. Today we get a
couple of great portions of Scripture.
Isaiah 6
V. 1 Uzziah had reigned for 52 years. The
only ruler that two generations of people had ever known was dead. The king who
had kept peace and brought stability to the nation was gone. Humanly speaking,
everything was shaken. Although Uzziah had messed up, his sin had taught him
humility and the fear of God. The world was growing very unstable. Now what? It
may be that Isaiah was in the temple praying with this concern moving his
heart. God had Isaiah just where He wanted him.
Vs. 2-3 This is the only time that Seraphim
are mentioned by name in the Bible. The description is interesting since they
have six wings; and the four living creatures in Revelation 4 have six wings
and also say, Holy, holy, holy... It
must be that they are the same kind of angels. The living creatures of Ezekiel
have four wings. The Cherubim, like over the ark of the covenant, have two
wings. Normal angels fly, like Gabriel, but it never mentions him or Michael
having wings. I'm always amazed that these angels naturally declare God's
holiness. They will do this in Revelation, too. Certainly this wasn't scripted;
it was their natural impulse. Whatever is happening among the angels that we
don't see, God's holiness is a very emotional and important issue for them.
Also, notice that they say, and see, that the
whole world is full of His glory. They can't help but see it. We don't see this
yet. Because of the body of death, we see as through a glass eye, darkly.
(That's Mark Twain.J)
Vs. 4- 5 I don't think Isaiah was any worse
than any of us. Why would God have chosen to use him if he had had a vile
mouth. Still, like Job, when Isaiah saw the Lord, he realized that much of what
he had said was complaining, ignorant, untrue and unjust regarding the Lord.
Think back to Job’s words in Job 42:1-6.
Vs. 6-7 It is interesting that God wanted to
use Isaiah's mouth, so we have this visual of cleansing. But really, the
cleansing was of the heart, from which the mouth sometimes utters stupid stuff.
V. 8 This is Isaiah's commissioning.
Vs. 9-13 The basis of Isaiah's message to
Israel will be judgment. He will become a testimony to them of their refusal to
have faith in God, which will result in hard hearts, blind eyes and deaf ears.
But judgment will also bring mercy.
V. 9 Jesus quotes this.
V. 10 Paul quotes this.
A remnant would be saved from the exile, and
through that seed would come the Christ and the future nation that will fulfill
God's will for Israel.
Isaiah 7
Vs. 1-9 The southern kingdom of Judah was
almost always at war with the northern kingdom of Israel. The occasion of this
distress is the alliance of Syria and Israel against Judah.
V. 4 Notice how the Lord tells Ahaz to chill.
Ahaz was to show quiet strength without anger or pride. This is a good word to
us. In 2 Kings 16:2 we hear that Ahaz was not a God-honoring king. It is
amazing to think that God is going to make this kind of a promise to an ungodly
king. But then, think of all the grace God showed to the northern kingdom
through Elijah and Elisha. This should teach us something about loving our
enemies.
Vs. 10-17 So it is the fear of the people of
Judah facing certain destruction that brings the occasion of one of the
greatest prophecies of the Bible. Think of that. How often have we seen
impending danger be turned into praise for the glory of God? Unfortunately it
is a part of living on this planet of death. Fortunately there is a Savior who
loves us, who we can trust and follow.
V. 14 The word for virgin can also mean young
woman, but what's the point? In order for this to have been a sign, it had to
be miraculous. It had to have been miraculous back in Ahaz's day and then also
surrounding the birth of Jesus. Somewhere, a virgin known to the community in
Jerusalem would have a child. Although it would be a miraculous event, it wouldn't
be a child like Jesus, the Son of God.
Why this kind of sign? Well, prophetically,
it makes sense; but in that day, it must have been a sign that although the
world was falling apart and although the northern kingdom would go into exile
under Assyria, this child would grow in peace. You know how you hear people say
that they don't want to have children because of the world they would be
bringing them into. God shows that the kingdom of Judah will be safe for this
child; even though, at that point, everything looked like it was coming to an
end.
Knowing Christ, we really know what the world
is like, and it's far more dangerous than anyone could ever guess. Yet even so,
the hope in this world is symbolized and personified by Immanuel, Jesus, God
with us.
V. 15 The curds
and honey will be explained below.
Vs. 16-17 The "razor" God will use
to "shave" the kings of Syria and Israel will be Assyria. This event
will be a landmark event rivaled only by the splitting of Israel into the
northern and southern kingdoms. Assyria would take the northern kingdom into
exile and those people would be lost to Israel forever. Remember that people of
all twelve tribes were also living in the kingdom of Judah.
Vs. 18-19 According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT (p. 1049), the
flies from Egypt are Egyptian soldiers and the bees are Assyrian soldiers. In
the years of battle ahead they would occupy and waste the land of Israel.
Vs. 20-25 I've heard the curds
and honey explained as the way Assyria laid waste to the countries (BKC-OT,
p. 1049). Vineyards and crops didn't fare well. The animals would be taken by
the invading troops. The nursing cows would be deprived of their young. So,
without cattle to eat, you would have to live off the milk and cheese (you
didn't want to kill your cows for meat). Since there were so few cattle, the
wild flowers would grow and so would the bee population. If you were hungry, you
would have plenty of wild honey. Israel was said to be a land flowing with milk
and honey as God promised at the beginning of the nation. There it meant Israel
was a land of plenty. In this context, milk and honey meant a lack of plenty.
Imagine what
it would have meant for Isaiah to be commissioned seeing the glory of God, but
commissioned to bring a message of impending judgment and salvation only being
found in turning to God. We don't have to imagine that at all. As disciples, we
were captured by the glory of Christ, His love and sacrifice; and we are
commissioned to bring that same message to a dying world. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so
that whatever you ask the Father
in my name, he may give it to you.
(John 15:16)
2 Corinthians 11:16-33
Vs. 16-21 These verses kind of explain
themselves. Note that these super-apostles took the liberty of striking people,
possibly thinking of Nehemiah at the end of that book. In order to show the
Corinthians the ungodly mindset and attitudes of the false apostles, Paul would
have to, uncomfortably, show how the Lord had worked with him. It will be a
shock to see how the Lord confirmed Paul. In v. 21 Paul's words are very
pointed.
Vs. 21-29 Paul wrote something like this
before in his very famous words in Philippians 3, but here there is a little
more attitude. Actually the tone here seems to be one of sorrow rather than
sarcasm or irony. Paul seems to be hurt that the Corinthians hadn't defended
him.
V. 22 This is how we know the super-apostles
were Jews. Corinth was a very, very Jewish church, and so these people found it
easy to show they were true blue Jews. Remember, Paul was born in Tarsus in
today's Turkey, not in Jerusalem. So Paul lacked that qualification on his
pedigree.
Note that in this catalog of sufferings and
mishaps, many things are mentioned that are not in Acts. The shipwrecks are not
mentioned, and the one at the end of Acts hasn't even happened yet. We know of
one beating in Philippi at the hands of the Romans, but nothing of these five
at the hands of the Jews. That means that Paul received 195 lashes. Paul sounds
like they should have had an action figure made after him. His theme song could
have been, “Man of Constant Sorrows.” Even though Paul could have mentioned his
triumphs, all he is mentioning as proof of his apostleship is his suffering for
Christ. That is a very interesting mindset. You don't find too many people who
see their sufferings as God's confirmation.
Vs. 28-29 And this alone would be enough to
choke a goat. I'm sure the Corinthians understood that they were a case in
point.
Vs. 30-33 This sounds cool, but I think the
idea is that of being hunted like a criminal. I'm willing to bet that none of
the Jewish super-apostles had anything like this happen to them. In fact,
because they were trying to bring Christianity back to the law, they might have
had some approval with the orthodox. Paul could have talked about the disciples
made in Damascus, but Paul pointed to his suffering and humbling.
What is interesting here is that God did all
of this to Paul. The Lord “made” Paul in the harvest; Paul did not make
himself. Our ideas of our heroes, even today, are driven by the world we live
in. Jesus said, for he who is least among
you all is the one who is great. The Lord of the harvest made Paul the man
he became. It wasn't Paul's education or guts. Few of us would be willing to
suffer as Paul did. We should just look to following our Lord in the harvest
and trying to stay the least of all and servant of all. And we might also need
to view our "failures" and "weaknesses" as those things
that confirm that we are on the right track following the Lord.
Psalm 54
These were still the early days of David
running from Saul. David had 600 rag-tag men and their families following him
through desperately rough terrain. There were many, many troubled days and ups
and downs. Now, Jonathan came to encourage David in the Lord. He left, and then
David heard that Saul was on his way and the Ziphites were telling Saul where
to find him. It was time to run again.
Vs. 1-3 Notice that David needed salvation
and vindication. Not only was it hard to stay alive, it was hard to be regarded
as a worthy leader when times were tough and lies were being spread.
Vs. 4-5 God's
faithfulness was in response to His promise to David and His promise to all who
choose to acknowledge God's name. So
everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.
(Matt. 10:32)
Vs. 6-7 We
have come to see how suffering and being delivered moved David to constantly
promise to declare God's faithfulness and deliverance. We see David's
commitment to praise the Lord clearly in Psalm 40:9-10. Here, we have to wonder
if David was writing this in retrospect and had already been delivered, or if
David knew from his experience following the Lord, that he knew deliverance
would come. At this point David was still running, and so this was written by
faith, following a God who was as good as His promise. We do that too,
following our Lord in the harvest, facing daily uncertainties and challenges,
reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Yet in faith, we
know the Lord will use us and use our suffering and emotional ups and downs. We
just stay at His feet in His Word, following, and even now, we can praise Him
for the victory to come.
Proverbs 23:1-3
I've actually applied these verses. There
will be something similar in Proverbs 25. What I see in them is to be cautious
in humility when you are in a place where you are to represent the Lord. This
is sort of along the lines of what Jesus said about not taking the prominent place
in a gathering, but rather taking a place in back. When we represent the Lord,
we should be cautious and respectful and never lose sight of the situation. Too
often we relax, laugh too loud, speak too openly, eat too excessively; and the
result is that we are caught off guard and do not realize we've gone too far
and endangered our testimony in the harvest. An ambassador is always on duty
representing his Lord.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting
weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make
disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we
have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused
on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to
provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of
redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us
focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in
these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others
to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making
disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the
commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never
hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
Please explain Isa 7:18 ....whistle for the fly? .......Egypt bee.....,Assyria....send to seaotterlover75@gmail.com Thank you
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