SEPTEMBER 8
Isaiah
1-2
Isaiah is THE great prophet in the Old
Testament. Not that he made himself anything, but God just said a lot of
massively great stuff through him. He is the prophet most mentioned by name and
quoted in the NT. You could almost say he was the Billy Graham of his day,
serving 4 to 5 kings over a period of 60+ years. Tradition has it that the guy
in Hebrews 11:37, who was sawn in two,
was Isaiah, when King Manasseh decided he really didn't need to hear Isaiah's
message any more.
Isaiah is a very long book. It would do you
well to underline words and phrases from the beginning. It would be valuable to
keep track of the names of God. Also, the alternation between judgment and
threat and future/eternal blessing might show you some things about God.
Another thing to search for is passages from Isaiah that are quoted in the NT.
There are lots of references to the Messiah.
In terms of a road map, I'll direct you to
the outline that John Martin provides, “Isaiah, Themes and Theology,” The
Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT, pp. 1031-1032. Basically, judgment is
spelled out in chapters 1-39, and restoration is offered in chapters 40-66. Dr.
Martin breaks this down in smaller chunks, but this will be all we'll need for
our purposes. (This outline is at the end of this document.)
Another way of looking at Isaiah is that
chapters 1-35 are meant to inspire godliness and faith to save Jerusalem from
the challenge of chapters 36 and 37. Chapters 38 and 39 show that that
deliverance didn’t go deep enough into the hearts of the people. Chapters 40-66
then will show the final deliverance and redemption of Israel and all of
mankind.
Also, it might be good to have a chart of the
prophets and kings to put this into perspective, so I’ll include it at the end
of this document as well. “Kings of Judah and Israel and the
Preexilic Prophets,” The
Bible Knowledge Commentary-OT,
p. 513.
It should probably be a standard thought for
any disciple who can, to memorize Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 55. There are some great
verses and passages in Isaiah and many worth memorizing, but these two chapters
are complete thoughts. Isaiah 40:31 is one of those individual verses.
Isaiah 1
V. 1 There are four kings listed. Manasseh
isn't mentioned, but I suspect Isaiah had a very short ministry under Manasseh.
Vs. 2-9 There are four clear divisions in
what the Lord is saying here. The ESV gives us some nice divisions. How would
you title these sections?
Vs. 2-3 This is a call to creation to observe
Israel's rebellion.
V. 4 God addresses the people and uses the
title the Holy One of Israel.
Vs. 5-6 This is an image of the nation as a
sick body. Verse 5 is a good question we could ask of anyone today.
Vs. 7-9 This was the present state of affairs
in Judah. It is interesting to think that Isaiah was saying stuff like this
during the reigns of some good kings and some bad kings. God was keeping a
certain pressure on the people and leaders to warn them of what would lead
Judah to exile.
V. 9 Here you have the title the Lord of hosts. Also, Paul quotes
this verse in Romans 9:29.
Vs. 10-17 Notice that the people were still
worshiping by the letter, but not the way God wanted, in spirit. This morning I
read what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:7-8, "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8'This people honors me with their lips but
their heart is far from me….'"
Vs. 18-20 Verse 18 is one of those famous
verses. God calls all people to reason with Him. If you don't have this
memorized, it would be short and worthwhile. The reason God refers to scarlet
is because of v. 15. Their hands were full of blood.
Vs. 21-23 What a strong charge against the
leaders of the people. God really cares about how people treat the poor and
disadvantaged; in fact, He uses them as a test of the hearts of the leaders.
This section now will become the contrast to the next section.
Vs. 24-26 Notice that judgment is for a
purpose and it has a promise. God never lost sight of His redemptive purpose or
His covenant with Abraham. This is God's promise to make Israel what it was
meant to be.
V. 24 Notice the names of God. Lord of hosts literally means Lord of armies. Why is it being used
here? What is the significance of the Mighty
One of Israel? The poor and needy need a mighty one.
Vs. 27-31 God will redeem Zion and He will
gather to Him all who repent, but for the others there will only be judgment. I
was just reading about unquenchable fire this morning, but it was Jesus who was
talking about it.
Isaiah 2
Vs. 1-4 This is the kind of promise that
shows you something of God's heart, spoken as He is pronouncing judgment. The
punishment will be strong, but the hope of redemption is given. This is
obviously a prediction of the 1000-year reign of Christ in Jerusalem.
Vs. 5-11 This is a plea to Israel to follow
the Lord.
Vs. 12-19 There would certainly be a day of
judgment in Judah's near future when the Babylonians would come, but this is
also suggesting the day when God judges the entire earth. Notice the theme here
of the high being leveled. We'll definitely see this again in Isaiah and it was
a part of the message of John the Baptist.
Vs. 20-22 This day of judgment looks like
what will be happening during and at the end of the Tribulation.
In these two chapters God's coming judgment
and coming kingdom have both been referred to. That sounds like something that
still needs to be mentioned today in the harvest. The coming of the Kingdom of
God means that all men must be ready. They need to turn to God or there will be
only judgment waiting for them. On the other hand, those who turn to God will
be faced with amazing grace and blessing. Add to this that they turn to God by
believing in and welcoming Jesus as their Savior, and you have the gospel that
John the Baptist, Jesus, and His disciples preached.
2
Corinthians 10
Up until now, Paul has spoken to the main
body of the church and leaders in a very gentle and self-deprecating way. He
has shown that in all of what has happened, God has worked and led. Now, Paul
needs to address the false apostles and the Corinthians' infatuation (spiritual
immaturity) with them. O Weh!
V. 1 Paul is entreating the people and then
quotes the super-apostles (SAs), who said that Paul was a wimp in person and
was only bold if he hid behind a letter. Having proven, to this point, by his
soft spoken writing that he loves these people, Paul now takes the role of an
elder by facing the troublemakers.
V. 2 Notice again how Paul is talking to two
groups, the people and leaders, and the SAs.
Vs. 3-6 This is something more than wisdom
and apologetics. Paul worked on a spiritual level, understanding his warfare as
spiritual and using the gospel as the power of God. This is what he mentioned
back in 1 Corinthians 1-4. The power that Paul and his companions had was in
the spirit and in the simple truth of the gospel.
V. 5 Paul mentions this in Romans as his
commission from Christ, to win obedience from the Gentiles, the obedience of
faith. How do you know if a person has this? They follow Christ in faith in the
harvest.
Vs. 7-12 I keep thinking about Jesus'
constant words to His disciples, you will
recognize them by their fruits.
Vs. 13-18 Notice that Paul is showing the
Corinthians that God commended Paul & Co. as His servants by allowing them
to lead these people to Christ. The SAs had no fruit. They were parasites. How
often have I met "self important" and "head" leaders in a
church who have no fruit from Christ using them in the harvest, but have
"taken over" another person's fruit. These SAs and the people I have
seen in churches do not get people to follow Christ. They get people to follow
them, to recognize them as authorities. Following Christ becomes defined as
following them. Paul was not like this at all. Later, Jude will call such
leaders waterless clouds.
The Lord
commends us as we follow Him in the harvest by letting His love flow through us
to produce fruit. We are always to be reaching out to the lost and
strengthening believers to help them become stronger disciples in the harvest
who make disciples, who make disciples. By
this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my
disciples. (John 15:8)
Psalm
52
Living life by one's own craftiness, rather
than trusting the Lord, is an ongoing problem for all of us. The bad guy here
seems like a totally evil man and a real rat, but actually, he might look like
some of us. We might like him and buy his book. The Corinthians apparently
supported some men like this who said they were apostles.
It is interesting that David wrote this after
Doeg had killed the priests and David was living in caves. David would live
like this for 6-8
years and then 16 months in Ziklag.
What happened to Doeg? Who knows? But David trusted in the Lord, and for him
vs. 8-9 were all that mattered. God was enough, although he was living a very
desperate, insecure, and Spartan existence, following and waiting on the Lord.
It is also interesting to think that this psalm was sung in worship.
Vs. 1-4 King Saul had surrounded himself with
wicked men like Doeg. This man was an evil opportunist who acted religious to
fit into the culture of Israel; but when the opportunity came to win favor with
Saul, he did what no one else would. He destroyed an entire village of priests
and their wives and children.
Vs. 5-7 Not only was David confident that God
would judge Doeg, but that He would use him as an example to all those who
followed the Lord. We have seen over and over again that the Lord will judge
the wicked.
Vs. 8-9 David had been the real goal of all
that hatred of Saul that allowed this Doeg to have his day. Yet David was held
in God's steadfast love, embraced in
God's presence and cared for. David's normal response was to praise God and let
the godly know that they could hope in the Lord.
Notice how the steadfast love of God opens and closes the psalm. It is a source of
strength and hope for us, as we follow and work in the harvest, to know that
His love is always with us and it is always enough.
Proverbs
22:26-27
These verses could be applied to pledging to
pay the loans of another person, but it looks to me that it could also be going
out on credit. This is not Larry Burkett or Dave Ramsey; this is God.
Basically, I think it says that if you don't have cash on hand, don't buy it on
a pledge to pay. I don't think this is referring to huge stuff like houses or
cars, or to things that are really, really important. Rather this endorses a
mindset of not living in debt and on credit. As Paul said to Timothy, both of
whom were following in the harvest, But
if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. (1 Tim. 6:8)
In the world at present we are watching the debt bubbles burst in almost every
western nation. It was all foolishness, just as it says here.
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.
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