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SEPTEMBER 19
I know your head is probably swimming in all of this reading in Isaiah
and in Galatians. If so, I would suggest not reading with any other expectation
than what the Spirit just surprises you with. Today we'll read, in quietness and in trust shall be your
strength. Let the Lord speak, and just read. After you've read these books
year after year, you'll be surprised at what the Spirit keeps showing you. So,
don't worry about getting everything now. Also, remember that a frappuccino and
some chocolate can be used by the Spirit to sweeten the experience.
Isaiah 30:12-33:12
Regarding Isaiah,
what general impressions are you getting? God seems to be saying a lot about
the city of Zion and the Messiah, about the coming armies, the coming
judgments, the coming salvations, and the final state of His people. God takes
the near events that will show judgment and salvation, and projects them to the
end of the age to a final judgment and final salvation. The faith of God's
people is shown in those who wait, trust and hope in Him, as opposed to those
who go running for all sorts of other help. These are good lessons for us as we
work now in the harvest. Our hearts are strengthened by looking forward to our
Lord's return. For
the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
present age, 13waiting
for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).
Isaiah 30:12-33
Vs. 12-14 These people that spoke to God as they did in vs. 10-11 will
be punished. Jesus said men would be judged by every careless word they utter.
For those who don't know the Lord, the “record” button is down. For those of us
who know Christ and keep asking for forgiveness for our mouths, He hits
"erase."
V. 15 This verse stands alone between God's judgments, as an
encouragement to those who wait on Him. And what a great verse it is. God is
the Holy One of Israel. All of the preparing that the people did in their
anxiety was wasted. They dug tunnels, ran to Egypt for help, gathered stones
for throwing; but when that night came, when they realized that God was their
only hope, they were quiet. God saved them without their effort.
Vs. 16-17 This will be the fate of those who seek help, other than the
Lord.
Vs. 18-33 This all
has to do with the restoration of the people and God's fighting for Jerusalem
and His people. Remember that the immediate threat and deliverance has to do
with Assyria, but you can see that God often gave Isaiah words that can only be
understood in terms of the future Tribulation and their final deliverance. God
will show the world that this is His people and His city. Remember, too, that
Israel is being used for a purpose for all of mankind. In terms of the drama on
earth, their purpose and position is important. When we are all with God,
according to Galatians 3:28, There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.
V. 19 Notice again, that Zion is in the focus of this promise.
V. 21 If this is the Tribulation, God will be very quick at this time
to respond to His people.
V. 22 As a result of the amazing deliverance of God, people will trash
all those things upon which they had depended.
V. 23 This is freedom from fear. I would imagine that Israel today is
not this relaxed and open.
V. 26 In Matthew 24:29, Jesus said that near the end of the Tribulation
the sun would be darkened. It could be that the light of the sun will be
diminished during the Tribulation (meteor hits, volcanoes, dust clouds), and
when the Lord sets up His kingdom He will clean up the atmosphere. Or, it could
be that the sun itself will finally start running out of gas. In any case the
Lord will correct this and the sun will shine brighter than normal, but not to
worry, those people in the Millennium won't need sunscreen.
And there will be healing. We'll see this more in Ezekiel and in
Revelation.
Vs. 27-30 But before the Millennium fully begins, there will come the
judgment of the nations.
Vs. 31-33 Back in the present day, the judgment on the Assyrians will
soon be fulfilled. After the Assyrians left 185,000 corpses, I'm sure they had
to burn them. It also makes you think of the final judgment and the lake of
fire.
Isaiah 31
Vs. 1-3 God really
wanted the people to trust Him and not to go to Egypt. Notice here that their
desire was so set to seek this help from Egypt, they decided not to consult the
Lord at all. If you want to see the real heart of this, look at Jeremiah 42
where the remnant asks Jeremiah to seek the Lord for them and they will do
whatever He says. God tells them not to go to Egypt for help. Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan
the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, "You are
telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, `Do not go to Egypt to
live there'" (Jere. 43:2).
Vs. 4-5 God's coming will be without hesitation. Notice the references
to Jerusalem and Zion.
Vs. 6-7 This is the appeal for them to trust Him. When they see what
God will do, they will know their idols are all worthless.
Vs. 8-9 We've read before how the Lord slayed 185,000 men in one night.
God made Zion like a furnace which they came too close to and it consumed them.
Isaiah 32
Here we have the promise of blessing interwoven with the promise of
judgment.
Vs. 1-4 This is the Messiah in His kingdom and the people will finally
hear and understand. Verse 2 is pretty famous. Notice too in v. 4 that being hasty is synonymous with foolishness and
a lack of faith. There seems to be a link between what is said here and what
was said in Isaiah 28:16.
Vs. 5-8 True nobility will be honored, but there will be no room for
fools or the wicked.
Vs. 9-14 Those who are proud and live for comfort and commerce will be
humbled. Apparently the women were a reflection of their husbands. That is
interesting if you think about Ephesians 5:25-26.
Vs. 15-20 But the Spirit will be poured out in the Millennium. Isn't
the progression of vs. 16-18 cool? Verse 19 seems to talk about the distress of
the Tribulation that leads up to that time. Verse 20 seems to say that even in
that great time of distress, those who have the Spirit and trust in God will be
blessed. The waters sound like those of Psalm 1, and the ox and donkey running
loose indicate there is no care or anxiety for commerce and comforts,
indicating that these people have their treasure in heaven, not on earth.
Isaiah 33
V. 1 This woe appears to be against Assyria.
Vs. 2-6 Notice again that God will keep the people safe who wait on Him
regardless of the turmoil around them. Notice the two mentions of Zion, His
city.
Vs. 7-9 In contrast, those who hoped in treaties and promises are
distressed with everything.
Vs. 10-12 God will consume everyone, Jew or Assyrian, who does not
honor Him. Everything they have worked for was flammable and it produced what
was burnable, so God will burn it. Doesn’t this sound like wood, hay, straw from 1 Corinthians 3.
One of the great things that came from Solomon was the promise God made
to dwell in Zion in the temple. Those who truly loved God and understood that
promise, along with the promise to Abraham, understood why God had protected
Jerusalem and then had allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed. They also understood
that God would be faithful and fulfill His promise to dwell again in Zion. And
so it will happen. But until God fulfills those promises, we are told to trust
and wait patiently on the Lord. So much of what we are reading in The Psalms
has exactly the same message. Look again at Isaiah 30:15. What do you think the
Lord is saying to us as disciples?
Galatians 5:1-12
V. 1 This is now the theme of the rest of the book. Paul has
established that salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ. So what
about the rest of the Christian life? If works are presented first, there is no
salvation; but what if you are already saved and now link following Christ to
works? Is that really bad? This verse seems to say that gathering works into
our lives is not why Christ set us free. Just to get another angle on this, I
was reading Philippians this morning and came on 3:1-10. If you read this
you'll be amazed how close it is to what we are reading here. In Philippians,
Paul says that works keep us from knowing Christ and experiencing the power of
the resurrection. Works focus us on us and trying to win God's approval. Faith
focuses us on pursuing and knowing Christ in His love and grace, and the power
of His resurrection in us.
Vs. 2-6 The power of following Christ is found in faith working in
love. Our worth, our motivation, our joy, our mission, everything is linked to
that love that is poured into our hearts. That's why we follow by faith. Adding
anything to our relationship with God hinders our following and adds weight and
encumbrance to our walk, like David trying to put on Saul's armor to face Goliath.
Fallen away from grace means
understanding ourselves in a way other than being fully accepted and complete
in God's grace. Look again at Romans 5:1-5.
V. 4 Did you catch Paul being "cute" here by using the word severed? Those who desire to be cut in
circumcision will be cut off from Christ (disconnected from experiencing His
grace).
Vs. 7-12 Paul and
the Spirit are upset. Verse 9 is important. Once you begin to define yourself
by works and not by grace, like yeast, it spreads through everything, to every
part of your relationship with God. It might begin with one act, but then doing
works becomes linked to everything, even your schedule and habits. It is easy
to fall into condemnation, if you are justified in your life by doing certain
things and repeating certain behaviors. Your life and God's relationship to you
becomes measurable in terms of those acts and works.
V. 10 Paul was
very bold in saying this other person or persons were wrong.
V. 11 If Paul was
teaching religion, he would have been passed off as harmless. That Paul
preached Christ was a serious threat to the Jews, in that Jesus fulfilled the
law and made Judaism kaput. When Paul preached Christ to the Gentiles, they
understood that all men had to come under the power of Christ. They didn't like
that either.
V. 12 Remember,
the Spirit wrote this. That's pretty scary. J
Paul's opponents
were worried about cheap grace and so they brought in works. But following
Christ must always be based on His grace and love understood by faith. Mixing
works to our walk becomes toxic to our hearts and defines our worth and His
love for us through our doing. Doing works becomes about us. We are never loved
more or less, and His grace is still our joy. His Word constantly washes us in
the undeserved grace and love we have been shown in Christ. We should never
recover from the undeserved love Jesus has shown us. And following Christ is
purely expressed in Galatians 2:20, I
have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who
lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Once you have love and grace down, you truly work like crazy in the
harvest, without pride and without comparison. You are always pursuing your
Lord whom you love like no other.
Psalm 63
It says that David wrote this in the wilderness of Judah. Immediately I
thought of the words, the Word of God
came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. That was in Judah,
too. And Jesus was led into the wilderness. That's a funny place to find God or
to be led and tempted, but it seems like God consistently does this for those
to whom He wishes to prepare for His harvest. This is a wonderful song from
David. It cost him something to be able to write this, and it costs us
something to truly enjoy it.
Vs. 1-4 This is David's heart. It is like his signature. We don't read
until v. 9 that he is in distress. What we see here is the great longing of his
heart to be with the Lord. David drew deeply from God's steadfast love and was always ready to praise God.
Vs. 5-8 I wonder when this was written. David seems to be proven and
secure in distress, meditating on the Lord, full of praise and clinging to the
Lord.
Vs. 9-11 Here is the tension and the contrast. Men sought David to kill
him, but God loved David. Who do you think would win? David knew, but he still
humbly cried out to God.
Proverbs 23:22
In every generation there have been parents who were evil and not to be
trusted. So putting those examples aside and realizing that there might be an
exception here or there, here is the rule and the caution spoken to us by the
Lord. A person will be blessed by listening to his father and by respecting the
words and values of his mother when she is old. Amen.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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