Category Archives: Wednesday Bible Study

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn now to Isaiah 57.

1 The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,

The righteous are delivered from the sting of death, not from the stroke of it. The careless world disregards this. Few lament it as a public loss, and very few notice it as a public warning. They are taken away in compassion, that they may not see the evil, nor share in it, nor be tempted by it. The righteous man, when he dies, enters into peace and rest.

We have several examples in the Bible of men who were taken away by God. Can you think of any? The first one that comes to my mind is Enoch, a man that walked with God. Enoch was notable for his Faith and intimacy with God and for fathering Methuselah, who turned out to live longer than any other man. We find that after fathering Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years. We too can walk with God. It should be our desire every day.

It is written in Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

What must we have to please the Lord? What did Enoch have so much of that God desired to take him back to Heaven with him at the end of the day? It is Faith. Faith that God is there, looking after you, providing your daily sustenance, keeping you from evil, loving you even though you are a miserable sinner with no pleasing attributes. Faith is what gets you to Heaven, it is what pleases our Lord.

2 He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds,
Each one who walked in his upright way.

We know there will come a time when the believers in Christ will go to be with the Lord in heaven. Those left here on the earth will face the wrath of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

This is a time of peace which only the Lord can give, and it is for all the believers in Christ.

3 “But come here, you sons of a sorceress,
Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

Isaiah is giving a description of the corrupt state of the Jewish Church, before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The Lord here calls apostates and hypocrites to appear before him. When reproved for their sins, and threatened with judgments, they ridiculed the word of God. The Jews were guilty of idolatry before the captivity; but not after that affliction.

4 “Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of rebellion,
Offspring of deceit,

The idolatrous of Isaiah’s time, and the people of today, make fun of those who truly love God. False gods are liars. Those who worship false gods would be classified as children of transgression, and seed of falsehood.
They may criticize the believers now, but there is coming a day when they will wish they were believers. All will stand before God in judgment.

5 Who inflame yourselves among the oaks,
Under every luxuriant tree,
Who slaughter the children in the ravines,
Under the clefts of the crags?

This had been done by Ahaz:
2 Chronicles 28:3 Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel.

While these Jews had run wild in their debauchery of idol worship and will pay the price for that sin on Judgement Day, all that was missing during their time in Babylon and after. They moved from idol worship to hardening their hearts when Jesus came to save them from their sins. The price is the same, the wages of sin is death.

6 “Among the smooth stones of the ravine
Is your portion, they are your lot;
Even to them you have poured out a drink offering,
You have made a grain offering.
Shall I relent concerning these things?

Just as the Nile River in Egypt was worshipped by the Egyptians, some of the people here had begun to falsely worship even the stones in the river. They had poured their offerings in the water, over these stones.

It can’t be stated enough, anything you can see with your eyes, is not to be worshipped. It is part of creation. We are not to worship creation, but the God who is Creator of it all.

7 “Upon a high and lofty mountain
You have made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

This is speaking of the worship in high places, which God had forbidden. The location of idol altars where Israel committed spiritual adultery in offering sacrifices.

Jeremiah 3:6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.

Ezekiel 16:16 You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen.

8 “Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your sign;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,
You have loved their bed,
You have looked on their manhood.

Many of the Israelites had begun to worship false gods in addition to worshipping Jehovah. It was as if they were covering every side. They did not truly know who to worship. They worshipped false gods to be sure they worshipped the right god. I ask is it any different today? What do you see on TV? What do you hear on the Radio? It is even worse on the Internet. We are giving those old Jews a run for their money when it comes to idol worship. I have 2 programs on my computer that block advertising and stop scripts from taking over my computer. I am astounded every time I work on someone else’s computer at what comes across the screen. I mention it to them and they are either indifferent to what they see or uncomprehending of what I am saying. I would have to say uncomprehending is the more common response. They think filth on their personal computer is the way it is supposed to be and don’t believe that I don’t see what they do.

9 “You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your envoys a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol.

Another example is again Ahaz, who called on the king of Assyria for help and spared no expense in copying the idolatry of Assyria.
2 Kings 16:7-8 ⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the ^[b]hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” ⁸ Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.

We see in this, that these Israelites had no confidence in God. They went to earthly kings to help them. From past experience they should have known that all they had to do was repent of their evil ways, and call out to God, and He would help them.

The sad thing about all of this is that they actually debased God in the sight of these evil countries. When they went to others for help, it was as if they were saying God was not strong enough to help them.

10 “You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
You found renewed strength,
Therefore you did not faint.

Israel found that there is no hope in these earthly rulers. They were so proud that they did not, even then, come to God and ask for His help. Some of us, even today, hesitate to go to God with our problems. We try to work them out by ourselves, and that really does not work.
We have no power within ourselves, except what the Lord fills us with. Pride goeth before a fall.

11 “Of whom were you worried and fearful
When you lied, and did not remember Me
Nor give Me a thought?
Was I not silent even for a long time
So you do not fear Me?

The people feared false gods more than the true God to whom they played the hypocrite, trading on God’s patience.

We are to fear the Lord and Him only.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

To fear the world and its people is a sin. To be fearful is to be ranked with the unbelieving.

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Fear of God is the only fear allowed; any other fear is the opposite of faith. These Israelites had feared the people around them more than they feared God. They had actually taken up idolatry, because of their fear of the world.

12 “I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not profit you.

God will break His silence by elaborating on Israel’s sham righteousness, a sarcastic way of saying they have no real righteousness. The folly of such devotion to non-existent gods will show up when judgment comes and they are all blown away, while the worshipers of the true God enjoy the blessings of the kingdom

13 “When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.
But the wind will carry all of them up,
And a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land
And will possess My holy mountain.”

To fear the world is to deny the Lord. All the false gods in the world cannot help at all. An idol is a nothing. They are helpless. If you depend on a nothing, you will get no help.

Psalm 4:5 “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.”

When all else fails, God will not let you down. He is our very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Those who have faith in the Lord are like faithful Abraham. Their faith is counted unto them for righteousness. All who have faith in the Lord, will inherit eternal life, and also will dwell in the Lord’s holy mountain.

14 And it will be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

The command is to remove all barriers to prepare the way for God’s people to return to Him. Jesus Christ is the Way. When we follow Him, we will have an open door to heaven and eternity. These Hebrews found the way open to Jerusalem, because God opened the way. Which we find in Nehemiah 2:

And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.
2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?”
4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.
It’s a great story of trusting in the Lord, I recommend you read it tonight.

15 For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Psalms 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

16 “For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the breath of those whom I have made.

God will not always be angry with His people. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All deserve to die. God sent His Son, while we were yet in sin. God made a plan whereby man could be saved. The wages of sin is death. The payment for sin is blood.

Jesus gave His blood on the cross to abolish our sin, that we might receive His righteousness and be saved. We must believe in His name, and that He paid the price for us. There is safety in accepting His name. God sent Jesus so that all of His creatures would not die. Jesus is our Way and our Life.

17 “Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.

One of the 10 commandments says, “Thou shalt not covet.” God would not overlook their covetousness. Not only did Judah covet, but it was the desire of their hearts to continue this evil. This angered God and this is one of the main reasons they were captives.

18 “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners,

Mourners are those who are grief stricken. God is a forgiving God. When they repent and change their ways, He forgives them. God is the Great Shepherd, who nudges the wandering sheep back into the fold. If they will follow Him, He will give them forgiveness and rest.

19 Creating the praise of the lips.
Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”

Other versions have “Fruit of the lips” and we find that in Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

And in Matthew 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

I was going through a fairly intense study of the Doctrines of Grace last weekend and by extension the 5 points of Calvinism. Heady stuff. Calvin basically states that there is no free will when it comes to our Salvation. God, our Sovereign, our Creator, our Owner, by the Grace of His will, calls us and hands us off to His Son, who states that in the last day, “I will raise them up and give them eternal life.” That’s in John 6:40. Our vaunted free will has no say in the transaction. We do not own the deed to our own soul. Like I said, heady stuff. If anyone is interested in pursuing this, let me know.

20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

The wicked are those who reject the peace that only God can bring. They are so evil, they will not settle down long enough to receive this peace of God. They are restless and fearful. They are constantly fearing the things that are coming upon the earth. Nuclear War, asteroids striking the earth, wiping out all life. I shake my head at all of this. This will not happen unless God wants it that way. Yet most people will not listen when they are told to REPENT NOW for the End is nigh.

21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

The only peace is the peace that the believers have within them.

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 56 where we will find another short but powerful message coming from the lips of our prophet.

1 Thus says the Lord,
“Preserve justice and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.

We are reminded here to keep God’s law. This is a reminder that should start with our waking thoughts and continue throughout the day. How many of you, at any time of the day, including the Lord’s Day, think about righteousness, let alone doing righteousness? We have a perception in this land of plenty that serving the Lord is a dreary job. Much like the monks of Luther’s time. Wake in a cold stone cell, trudge off to the sanctuary to chant morning prayers, read the bible, which was probably in Latin, so if you were a monk of low order, you would have to go to class and first learn how to read and then learn Latin from some scowling monk professor. I didn’t mention breakfast because it might be part of a fasting month and you get to eat when you are good and pious. Dreary dull work, and by work, I mean WORK.
We like our comforts, don’t we? Entertainment rules our free time. In fact entertainment is worshipped by many, many people with a zeal that they would never give to God. We just want to enjoy life and not be tied down to rules that say we can’t have fun.

As a counterpoint to this, I give you God’s side of the argument.
Malachi 4
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
3 You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

We want to have fun, enjoy life. God created us to glorify His name. He wants us to live righteous, holy lives that give him joy that we are doing His will. God no longer comes down and smites people like He did in the Old Testament. After Christ walked among us and was sacrificed for us, it is written in

Ephesians 1:20–23
“God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places… He put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

So you can be very, very thankful that God has decided to not come down and smite the wicked. The earth would be much like Noah after he dropped the ramp on his Ark and stepped off the boat. Very few righteous people and a whole lot of unused real estate. This whole argument can be summarized by the statement “I want to go to Heaven, but I don’t want to go right now.” It was said an old tired preacher was standing in the pulpit just before he was to give his sermon. He felt so used up and tired, he was sure it was time to pack it all in. So, he prayed to God to just take him and suddenly he started to feel a pain in his chest. He then quickly blurted out loud to God, “I am a fool Lord, don’t listen to me!” One can only wonder what the congregation thought. Probably not a real story but instructive all the same.
We come back to the question of why would we not want to do God’s will? Why do we only pick out the bad parts of the Bible to base our assumptions on? True joy is God’s gift to every believer, yet many Christians seem to lack it. When you have God in your heart, you have the Peace that passes all understanding. Entertainment is what satan brought to us to pull us away from God. If you have Peace and Joy and the love of your Creator, what else do you need?

2 “How blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who takes hold of it;
Who keeps from profaning the sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

The sabbath of old was a serious deal. It was a capital offense in the Old Testament where you could be killed for carrying sticks on the Sabbath day.

Numbers 15:32-36
32 Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.
33 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
34 They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.
35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
36 So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

John Piper is a man that I respect and listen to, who has been the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church for the last 33 years, and he talks about this. As to the New Testament, we find in Romans 14 a disagreement in a church. One celebrates one day, and one counts all days alike. It doesn’t say explicitly that it was a Sabbath issue. It could have been some other kind of holiday issue. But it does say, “One sets aside one day for the Lord, and one considers all days alike.”

Paul steps in and handles it this way. The disagreement was not to side with either one. That’s what is so significant: that he said, “One man keeps it to the Lord; another is free to the Lord. Let both honor the Lord.” I think the people that give no thought to the Lord’s day and don’t do anything to make it special are probably not making those decisions to the Lord.
So, much of America is not thoughtful about what they’re doing. And they default to professional sports,TV, and movies. And you look at it and say, “Is this different from Saturday? Is there anything special about this?” And there are a lot of Christians who say, “No, there is nothing special about it.” The principle in the New Testament is that God ordains that one day in seven be restful. I think that’s a creation ordinance for our good, for our health.
And so, one of the things we should do is do things on the Lord’s day that refresh us for his service, intellectually, physically and spiritually. So if you sit at your desk all week, probably you should walk or ride a bike on Sunday. And if you work on the farm, breaking your back all week (which is what they did in the Old Testament), then sit down and take a long nap on Sunday.
Now the holy piece is the one that is being focused on in this question. The holy piece I think would be worship. Whether it is Saturday night leading in, or Sunday morning, set aside a day when a significant focus is on corporate worship. I think that’s implicit in the way the New Testament talks about the gathering of God’s people. So it’s holy in the sense that it’s set aside for corporate worship.
Secondly, I think that you want to try to restrain certain secular involvements in such a way that you say something special about this day. It’s different from the other days, because Christ is Lord and risen in a way that I want to speak about in a unique way today.
So, pick a day and make it Holy.

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from His people.”
Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

“Stranger … eunuch”: Such individuals, excluded from Israel by the law (Exodus 12:43; Deut. 23:1, 3, 7-8), will find in the coming of the messianic kingdom the removal of such exclusions.
This is just explaining to them that they must not complain about their condition. God had told them early on that this was caused by Him to get them to repent. They are captives, they are (some of them) eunuchs, but they must realize it was because they had disobeyed God.
Whatever hardships came on them, they were of their own making. The eunuchs and the foreigners, who had accepted Judaism, thought they would be cast off, when Israel went back to the homeland. They thought of themselves as useless to God.

4 For thus says the Lord,
“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,

“Take hold of my covenant … everlasting name”: Eunuchs with hearts inclined to comply with the Mosaic Covenant may anticipate an endless posterity.
It is never works that save (Romans 3:20; Eph. 2:8-9); rather, obeying God’s law, doing what pleases Him or desiring to keep the promises of obedience are the evidences that one has been saved. And will thus enjoy all salvation blessings. Even though they had served in the palace during their captivity, they would be acceptable to God, if they had kept the Sabbath in their hearts. They are like everyone else. They will be saved, because they have had faith and accepted the covenant of God.

5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

They shall be admitted to all the privileges of entering my house of prayer, and of being regarded as my true worshippers, and this shall be to them a more invaluable privilege than would be any earthly advantages.

6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath
And holds fast My covenant;

The strangers, mentioned here, are speaking of all the nations who were not physical Israel. There were more of them who accepted Jesus as their Savior, then there were of the natural Jew. The secret is, they accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
The covenant, spoken of here, is the new covenant of grace.

7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

In the kingdom of the Messiah, the Jerusalem temple will be the focal point for worship of the Lord by people of all ethnic backgrounds. Jesus cited a violation of this anticipation by His contemporaries in His second cleansing of the temple: Jewish leaders had made the temple a commercial venue (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).
The covenant of the law had been just for the Hebrews. The covenant of grace unto salvation is for all people of the world. The temple was dedicated by Solomon, when he knelt before the altar, with both hands raised to God, palms upward.
We know that the temple in Jerusalem, like the tabernacle in the wilderness, was a place for the people to sacrifice to their God. When Jesus fulfilled all the law with the sacrifice of His body on the cross, there was no need to sacrifice again.
Now, the sacrifice of the believer is praise. Now, the house of God would be a house of prayer and praise, instead of sacrifice.

8 The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

This verse is a continuation of the promise made in the previous verses, that those of other nations would be united to the ancient people of God. The sense is, that Yahweh would not only gather back to their country those who were scattered abroad in other lands, but would also call to the same privileges multitudes of those who were now aliens and strangers.
Which gathereth the outcasts of Israel – Who will collect again and restore to their own country those of the Jews who were scattered abroad – the exiles who were in distant lands.

John 10:16
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

9 All you beasts of the field,
All you beasts in the forest,
Come to eat.

The opening words summon the enemies of Israel to do their work of punishment, and this is followed naturally by a denunciation of the sins which had made it necessary.

Ezekiel 34:8
“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

Jeremiah 12:9
“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!

10 His watchmen are blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

God’s watchmen are the leaders of the temple, the teachers, even the prophets. Isaiah says here, they are overcome with spiritual blindness. Jesus said they had eyes to see, and could not see. Their ignorance has to do with not understanding the Scriptures.
They (above everyone else) should know the Scriptures. They are not aware that it is time to warn the people. The Bible said, if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall in the ditch. It is such a shame that the learned scholars of the Bible did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They were so self-satisfied that they were as if they were sleeping.

11 And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied.
And they are shepherds who have no understanding;
They have all turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

One of the problems with the priest and High Priest (at the time of Jesus), was the fact this sacred position had deteriorated to where they were buying the priesthood. Jesus spoke harshly of them, and rightly so.
When he ran the money changers out of the temple, it was because the priesthood had gotten greedy and started selling sacrificial animals that were damaged. I personally believe that some of them actually knew Jesus was the Messiah, but they were afraid of losing their control over the people.
They had changed the law of God so that Jesus called it their law. They were not there to help others, but for self-gain. They were actually angry when Jesus healed the sick. They felt it made them look bad.

12 “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink;
And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

This is indicative of the self indulgent irresponsibility of the leaders. Drunkenness completely obliterated any concern that leaders had for their people.

Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘

Let us close with this Psalm.

Psalm 95:6-7
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 55 and read it together.

1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.

We come now in this lesson, back to the present day of Isaiah’s time. The last chapter dealt with the New Jerusalem how God was calling the Jews and the Gentiles to enlarge their tent and come to Faith. Now the prophet invites his readers to participate in the benefits obtained by the suffering of the Servant (in chapters 53 and 54). God’s free gift of salvation is offered to all who will receive it. Those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty may come to eat and drink “without money” or freely. He promises an “everlasting covenant” to the Gentiles like the one He established with Israel. His invitation to all men is clearly stated, “Seek ye the Lord” and “call ye upon him.”

This invitation was brought to our attention with a Ho! Not many sentences in the Bible start out with this, so it is meant to awaken us out of our stupor. We have been so dulled by day to day life and all the obligations that we have placed upon our own shoulders. Yes, we have done this to ourselves, by our choices and relying on our own wit and guile to accommodate the world. This is not saying that if you believe in Christ and accept him as your savior, you will suddenly wake up a wealthy and healthy and good looking to boot. I mean, it could happen but I doubt if that would develop your character the way God wants it, so we have troubles in this world that will make us grow into what God wants us to be.

Matthew 6:9-13 The Lord’s Prayer

The Bible tells us to use the Lord’s Prayer when we pray. Do you? If you don’t why not? I use it to begin my evening prayer, like this:
My Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done here on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
Your blessing and mercy have provided our daily bread and for that I praise you and thank you,
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And Lord please remind me of any that I might have forgotten.
Lead us not into temptation and please deliver us from any shred of satan that is clinging to us.

You may ask if it is permitted for us to alter how Jesus told his Disciples to pray. My answer is that since I am using this as a personal prayer to God and it is following the format and intent of what our Messiah had said, I think it is OK, but I could be wrong. What do you think?

That aside, I hope and pray that all of you are asking God for your daily bread, daily. He wants us to, so do not disobey. If this is a free gift, why would you not want to? Are God’s arms too short that He can’t help you from far yonder Heaven?
If you are discontent with life, these things I recommend you ponder, and read the Bible, for all instruction needed for life is in there.

So, we ask God to give us our daily bread, implying that we are to rely upon Him for all things. Place your burdens, your many burdens upon the Cross. And all this is free! That cannot be emphasized enough, and that is what mystifies people. Free you say? How can that be?

People are perverse and curious creatures. They want to bargain with God, do this thing for me and I will do that thing you ask. Luther did it during a thunderstorm that scared him so much, that he beseeched God to save him and if He did, Luther told God he would go into the monastery. Since God used Luther in a mighty way, that was a pretty good bargain. You may also bargain with satan, and at your peril, but come to God, who knows your heart and all that it contains, come to Him and accept this free gift. It has been paid by the Suffering Servant at such a great cost that none but God could afford.

2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.

3 “Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

God is speaking to us and everybody else that has read this living word. Bend your ear toward Me. Why? Because He is going to tell you the secret of eternal life. Not only that, but He will form an everlasting covenant with you. Our God, the Creator of all that we know, will form a covenant with you, me and everyone who believes in Christ the Savior.
Rich and powerful men, throughout the ages, have desired for themselves this thing that God is offering us. The Spanish were slogging through the swamps of Florida. I think it was Ponce de León in 1513 and he was told by the native Indians that a fountain of youth was somewhere out there, probably just around the next swamp. Baseball star Ted William’s head was frozen when he died, because he was thinking sometime in the future, it could be re-animated. Ted and the Spaniards are in for a bad time when they wake up again. And to think the Spaniards had priests with them. This was 1500 years since Jesus had walked the earth and about 1200 years since the Catholic Church took over as the “Church of God.” And yet the Spaniards were corrupt, depraved, because they trusted in themselves and not God. It has always been the case of the rich and powerful, they that would consider themselves to be gods.

Jesus came to minister to the lowly, the poor, the cast off from society. The Davidic Covenant promised David that his seed would be ruler over Israel in an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7:8, 16; Psalm 89:27-29). Paul connected the resurrection of Christ with this promise (Acts 13:34), since it was an essential event in fulfilling this promise.

Acts 13:34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

If He had not fully satisfied God by His atoning death, He would not have risen; if He had not risen from the dead, He could not eventually sit on David’s earthly throne. But He did rise and will fulfill the kingly role. The whole world will come to Him as the great King.
“The new covenant” spoken of here, is the covenant of grace that God provides for man. Man was unable to keep the law. God seeing the weakness of man provides a solution to man’s problem. God sends His only begotten Son to fulfill the law of sacrifice.
The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross fulfilled the law for all time for everyone.

Romans 6:10 “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”

Salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is so simple, many miss it altogether.

Matthew 10:32 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We are saved because of our faith, like faithful Abraham.

4 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
A leader and commander for the peoples.

Verse 4 is speaking of Jesus (their and our Messiah). Jesus came to bear witness of the Truth. He is, in fact, Truth.

John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

He is the Leader and Messiah of all believers. To be a Christian is to be a believer in and a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5 “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,
And a nation which knows you not will run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”

It has been mentioned previously that the other nations besides Israel received the message of Jesus more readily than the Jews did. The law had been given just to the Jews, but the covenant of grace is for all mankind. Many things in Jesus’ ministry brought glory to the Father.

Matthew 15:31 “Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.”

Luke 7:16 “And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.”

John 12:23 “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.”

John 13:31 “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”

Jesus always gave glory to God in everything He did. The Sermon on the Mount continues to glorify God even unto this day.

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.

Today is the day of salvation. This is one thing in a person’s life that they should never put off. This is being spoken to the physical house of Israel, who soon will (on the whole), reject their Messiah. It is also, addressed to every person who has put off being saved.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

Forsake your sins. This, for all of us, should be a daily process for there is not a day in our lives without sin. God will not like that we are still sinning, but we have been forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ.

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

God’s grace is far beyond human comprehension. God is all knowing. Man knows only a fraction of the here and now. God lives in eternity. He knows all, because everything is part of His plan. We were only made in His image and blessed with intelligence that we value so highly, but cannot embrace the true Glory and Majesty of our God.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

The two powers in this world are the spoken and the written Word. The world was created by the Word of God.

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The same was in the beginning with God.” “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

We know the Word of God was Creator. We, also, know that to speak the Word of God is a high calling.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

We see from this, the power of the spoken Word. The written Word is the Bible. No one can study the Bible and remain the same. It will change your life.

12 “For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Exiled Israel will return from her dispersion rejoicing in her deliverance and unbothered by her enemies.

This is speaking of the joy that comes from victory. This applies to the Jews being released from Babylon, and the Christian when they are released from sin.

Mountains, hills, and trees are all part of nature which God put here for the enjoyment of man. This means even nature rejoices at the victory.

13 “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

The wrath of God is removed. The ground is no longer cursed. Jesus removed the curse. Thorns sometimes symbolically mean sin. Jesus defeated sin, when He nailed it to the cross. The blessings of God are on His people.

Even all of nature is at peace with mankind.
Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Authors note: This webpage is primarily meant for me as I deliver it to my Bible study group via my iPad. As such the formatting can be a bit strange at times. I try to use Bold for scripture and Italic for commentary, but not always consistently.

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 54…

1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

This chapter is speaking to Israel and to us.
The Gentiles are depicted as a “barren” and “desolate” woman who breaks forth into songs of praise. Israel is depicted as the “married wife” and the Gentiles as estranged from God. In her exile and dispersion, Israel has been destitute, disgraced as a woman who had borne no children. Isaiah calls for singing, however, because of the Lord’s promise of future fruitfulness for the nation. By preaching the gospel, multitudes were converted from idols to the living God. This is a matter of great rejoicing as the bounds of the church were extended.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.

The Gentiles would flock to the Church in great numbers. This is still happening in China. In the 1980’s there were estimated to be only 3 million believers in China, out of a population of 981 million people. As you would imagine, information is a bit hard to get out of this communist nation, but as of 2017 their population had grown to 1.386 billion. That’s billion with “b” which astounded me. India actually about that many people too, but we will stick with China for now. And in case you are interested, the world population is 7.8 billion people.
In China, Christianity has been increasing rapidly. Internal surveys indicate approximately 31 million believers, however some international Christian organizations estimate there are tens of millions more, which choose not to publicly identify as such. And the reason they don’t stand up and be recognized as Christians is China has started to crack down on this religion that offers hope to people and that would be poison to the communist state which was designed to replace religion in people’s lives.
By now I would hope that you recognize christianity is the only religion, among all of the others out there, and there’s a bunch of them, it is only religion that offers hope to its sinful brethren. It is the only one that offers forgiveness, too. So you can see its appeal to those that live in a very oppressive country. With the threat of God replacing the state, China is now cracking down harshly, jailing pastors and parishioners, destroying churches with bulldozers and dynamite and replacing the cross and images of Christ with pictures of Chairman Xi. Lately the news had been “Official head of China’s Protestant churches says religions must be purged of ‘Western influences” Mao thought he could actually eliminate religion and replace it with his brand of communism.
By now you may be thinking “That’s nice and all, but what does it have to do with Isaiah 54?” Well, you did notice that Verse 2 said to “Enlarge the place of your tent. How many more curtains do you suppose you are going to need with the addition of up to 100 million Chinese to the tent? I also want you to consider the oppression they are going through. We are not seeing that here yet, but it could very well happen with the turn of the next election. Before you get all stink eyed thinking I am going to talk about politics, I want you to think rather than react emotionally. You have people running for president that are supporting socialism and communism. I have just told you how this is working in Communist China. And from what I am hearing in this election cycle, God is absent from their mouths. You can look all around the world to see how this is playing out in Venezuela, Cuba, much of Africa and most of the Middle East and China. We fool ourselves in thinking that if we elect a bad candidate, we would only see a weaker economy. That has not been the case anywhere else in the world where Communism and Socialism has been invoked. God is in charge, of everything, however that does not make the good ole USA invulnerable to his wrath. If we kick God out of our lives, keep your sackcloth and ashes close to hand and know that this world is not our home.

3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.

Christianity was never just for a handful of people in the holy land, but was available to all mankind everywhere. The church would grow rapidly. Just after the filling of the 120 with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, Peter preached and 3 thousand received the Lord.

Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.”

The Messiah’s future kingdom is to be worldwide, far greater in extent than the former kingdoms of David and Solomon. In the best days of David and Solomon, the Jews extended into the land, about 30 thousand square miles. What God had given His children, the Promised Land, comprised of 300 thousand square miles. The Jews at the height of their might, never fully occupied the land God had given them.

There was a remnant of Jews who were at the earliest the founders of the church. Their seed, few in numbers, would grow before their very eyes. The Jews, who had thought themselves better than the Gentiles, suddenly wanted them to join them in the work.

God showed Peter that he was not to call any man unclean, or unworthy of salvation. Salvation is for whosoever will. The missionary trips of Paul set up churches in these spiritually desolate cities spoken of here.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Israel’s sins brought on the Egyptian captivity, the Babylonian exile, and her current dispersion, but the glories of the future kingdom will be so great that they will overshadow past failures.

Israel had committed spiritual adultery and God had, in a sense, given them a bill of divorcement. He, like Hosea, kept forgiving them and taking them back as His wife. Their times away from God were during their captivity. He would always come and rescue them, and take them back.

Hosea 3:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

This is just saying that they are back in right standing with God, and they are not to remember the bad times. Now that they are free, they will forget the times of bondage.

5 “For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.

We know that Jesus Christ is the “Groom of the bride of Christ”. The church is His bride. God of the whole earth means God of the Gentiles, the same as of the Jews. All of the names: Maker, Redeemer, LORD of hosts, and Holy One of Israel are speaking of the One we know as Jesus.

6 “For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.

They had been cast off of God, because of their unfaithfulness. Their relationship with God is likened to the wife of a man’s youth. They had been saddened, because they felt that God had given up on them, but now they are restored.
He has forgiven them, and they are again His wife.

7 “For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.

God does not count time the way we do. He thinks of the few years of their captivity as a very short time, possibly moments. He shows mercy to them, because He loves them.
That is a concept that we have a very hard time understanding, how God counts time. And for us it comes down to patience and faith. Do we have the faith that God will do what He says He will do and will we have the patience to wait for that to happen? When we pray, we want an answer to our prayers now. Clay demanding of the Potter again. The Bible has 71 occurrences of the word Patience within it and its most predominant use is God having patience with us or losing His patience with us. Here we thought it was all about us having patience, but you can see how important it is for our Creator to not run out of patience with us.

Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

8 “In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.

God allowed them to be captured and stay in captivity to teach them to seek Him. God does not stay angry with His people. He is so very forgiving and kind, that He sets a plan in motion where they will be forgiven while they are yet in sin. They are not sinless, just forgiven. The Redeemer is Jesus Christ.

9 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.

Just as God swore He would never again judge the whole earth with a flood (Gen. 8:21; 9:11), so He has taken an oath never to be angry with His people again. He will fulfill this promise after their final restoration. God set the rainbow in the sky to remind them of the covenant God had made with man to never flood the entire world again. God’s Word is good. He does what He says. If He says He forgives, He does.

10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

In the Millennium, topography of the earth will change (see Ezekiel 38:20; Mica 1:4; Zech. 14:4, 10), but not God’s pledge of well being for Israel as a result of the New Covenant.
We know that God does exactly what He says. He regards His Word above His name even.

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

God’s Word is absolute. He is a merciful God.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

This elaborate ornamentation will outfit Jerusalem to be the center of the future, eternal messianic reign following the Millennium. We find a description of this in Revelations.

Rev. 21:18-21 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

As magnificent as this is, it is not as important as the spiritual richness of the kingdom, when truth and peace (verse 13), prevail along with righteousness (verse 14).
The Lord Himself will teach everyone during the messianic kingdom, so everyone will know His righteousness.

Jer. 31:34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Jesus gave this verse an additional focus, applying it to those with spiritual insight to come to Him during His first advent.

John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.

13 “All your sons will be taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.

Hebrews 8:10-12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

14 “In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.

Where there is righteousness, there is perfect peace also. In the New Jerusalem there will be no danger and nothing to fear. Even death itself has been defeated. There is no temptation to sin.

Revelation 21:1-4 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

God is the very present help of all His people. Those who are opposed to God’s people are actually against God. They will not win, because God will take up the battle.

16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

God is the Creator of all, even Lucifer. Everything God created is under His command. Not anything can do you harm, because it has to obey God, whatever it is. Satan (Lucifer), has to get God’s permission to do anything. God will not allow it, so he cannot do it.
Everything is at peace in New Jerusalem, because of the presence of God. There will be no darkness at all, because the Light of the world is there.

1 John 1:5 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

God is the protector of all of Israel. He protects His family. Though they come against us, they will not prosper. This promise is for all who believe in Jesus our Savior. We have been given power and authority to use the name of Jesus against the enemy. At that name, every knee must bow.

Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servant
1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

The implied answer is not all or none. We find in Romans 10:16 Paul says “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?””

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

One of the reasons why the Jews, his own people, rejected him, because he came as a humble carpenter and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He grew up among them, they knew his father Joseph. How is it this man can suddenly talk in such a way and refer to himself as the Son of God.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Nowhere in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied that Christ ought to suffer, and then to enter into his glory, as in this chapter. To this day few will acknowledge that Divine power which goes with the word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners, through the Son of God, is disregarded.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

How is it the Son of God, who is God, who had been given all authority to judge the quick and the dead, this Holy God would submit to this usage? It must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake, but wholly for the sake of sinful men, in whose stead he stood, and for whose sins he suffered.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

This is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ’s head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the afflictions of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him, and to love him who has first loved us.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

The confession of repentant Israel (Psalm 119:176), of repentant humanity (1Peter 2:25), was also the thought present to the mind of the Servant, as in

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

He neither murmured against God for giving him up to suffer for other men’s sins, nor reviled men for punishing him without cause, nor used apologies or endeavours to save his own life; but willingly and quietly accepted the punishment of our iniquity, manifesting, through the whole scene of his unparalleled sufferings, the most exemplary patience and meekness, and the most ready and cheerful compliance with his heavenly Father’s will.
Benson Commentary

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

Jesus appeared in so humble a form, that, though Pilate was convinced of his innocence, he seemed a person of so little importance that it would not be worthwhile to hazard anything to preserve him.

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Although he did not die for his own sins, but only for those of mankind, yet he was willing to die like a criminal, or like a sinner, as all other men are, and to be put into a grave, a pauper’s tomb, which was a further degree of his humiliation. It was said, he made his grave, because this was Christ’s own act, and he willingly yielded himself up to death and burial.

10 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

His God and Father spared him not, though he was his only and beloved Son, but delivered him up for us all, to shame and torture, delivered him by his determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put him in our stead, but he put himself there. Thus he took away the sin of the world, by taking it on himself. He made himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

This last verse pretty much explains itself. He chose this death willingly and was nailed to a cross with the criminals. But this selfless act was not for himself, but for us. And as such, if we accept Christ as our Savior and King, we will reside with Him in Heaven, forever.

We find in our day the pressure of the government, the education system and social whims or our current culture, and I stress the word whims, for it is just a few satan inspired voices that lead the rest of the virtue signalling goats to join in the condemnation of our Christian way of life.

And if we look at our Christian way of life closely, it is not all that healthy to begin with. This week, it turns out that The lead Pastor of a couple of Methodist churches in MN was said to have told the older members of Cottage Grove campus to stay home.

Now, I am not automatically believing what the media tells me on these kinds of things or anything else for that matter, so I did some looking into it. Turns out this Cottage Grove campus has not been doing well. They were down to 30 members and no pastor, so the members were doing the church service on their own. It is the typical story of what once was a strong church, with believers and their families, and as time moved on, so did their kids. With the usual losses due to lack of faith, old age and disease, a couple of decades later they are down to 30 members and no pastor. The leadership of Grove United Methodist Church took a vote and decided to change some things.The plan is to shut down the church in June and reopen later this year with a new pastor, new programming and building updates “aimed at engaging more members of a growing community.” Then comes the unhappy part.
A memo recommends that current members stay away for two years, then consult with the pastor about reapplying, the Pioneer Press reported.

While older members will not be physically barred from attending, the expectation is that they will not.

“We are asking them to let this happen,” Wetterstrom said. “For this to be truly new, we can’t have the core group of 30 people.”

https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/23/minn-church-says-it-never-asked-older-church-members-leave/

What the Leadership of this organization is looking for is newer, younger members. Bodies, not souls. This has been a common theme and problem, these seeker friendly churches who are so accepting of anyone and everyone that happens to fall into their preferred demographic. That in itself is not a problem, people should be welcomed to a church. Jesus accepted all who were contrite of heart when he was on this earth. Contrition is the key however, to those new members being welcomed into the church. Come as you are, but don’t expect to leave in that same condition. You may be drug addicted, think you are gay, lesbian, transgendered, or what have you, and the job of the church is to talk to you about your sin. To come alongside you and help you through these troubled times. Jesus saves, but you must acknowledge your sins and repent. Contrition.
And once you have a contrite heart, you must put away those sins. Otherwise it is just your mouth saying it but your heart not buying it.

God calls us to the pursuit of holiness. It is on us to remove the sin in our lives. There are people out there that profess to believe that it is God’s job to remove all our iniquities, not them. He sent his Son to die on a cross, so that we might have life eternal. These people need to step up the plate and clean their own house, so to speak.

Accepting Jesus does not mean your addiction or mental delusions will magically disappear. Not saying it can’t happen, but most of the time you have to work at getting satan out of your life. He had a comfy home there, he’s not going to let you kick him out easily.

Matthew 12:43-45 43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Getting back to this church in Cottage Grove, it is hard not to look at this and shake your head. It sounds as if they’ve already given in to the demands of this world. Churches become meeting places for like minded people, not houses of God. Our little church in Grove City just added something to their constitution that states you will not be married in our church if you are anything other than a man marrying a woman, both of them born that way and not claiming to be anything different. Is this going to stop misguided people from trying to enforce their will on our little church? Hard to say, but I do believe the good times are over.

If you are wondering the why of any of this, the answer is in Romans 1:24-32
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;

32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Further reading can be found in:
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13
Romans 1:26-27

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3)

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.

We find in Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
This is the Church asking YHWH (How the Hebrews referred to their Creator) to awaken and see to their plight. Which is a lot like the clay making demands to the Potter in Jeremiah 18 and God turns this around and tells them WAKE UP from your drunkenness and clothe yourself in your in garments of Honor and Glory provided by the Lord. The foreign invaders will no longer control the city at the time of the final restoration.
So a double meaning here. God is talking about Babylon and also the Second Coming of our Messiah. Keep in mind that these prophets are probably wondering at the meanings coming out of their own mouths. They are being given parts of the puzzle and may have had insight as to what the message was, but not everything. And that is a very good example of Faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11: 1
The kind of faith that we should have that God will provide our daily bread. And bread is symbolic of those things we need in our everyday life. Food, medicine, companionship, our needs are many and God knows them all. Faith tells us that we trust in God and He will sustain us.
Another aspect of this gift for God is we are told that we have been forgiven our sins if we have accepted our Savior and King, but that takes Faith to believe it, too. Our flesh is weak and prone to remembering all those sins, the great deceiver is very diligent at pushing those sins in our faces, as if to say “no, you weren’t really forgiven.”

I mentioned last week that the citizens of Jerusalem were prone to taking council of their fears. To be down in the mouth and morose at the consequence of their sins.

2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.

To sit on the ground, to sit in the dust, is an expression descriptive of mourning Job 2:13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Jerusalem is here called on to arise and shake off the dust, as indicating that the days of her grief were ended, and that she was about to be restored to her former beauty and splendor.

One thing to keep in mind is Isaiah is speaking of the future here. He is talking about the conquest of Jerusalem that happen around 587 BC. The approximate date at which he speaks this passage is about 650 BC.

Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck – Jerusalem had been a captive, and confined as a prisoner. She is now called on to cast off these chains from her neck, and to be again at liberty. In captivity, chains or bands were attached to various parts of the body. They were usually affixed to the wrists or ankles, but it would seem also that sometimes collars were affixed to the neck. The idea is, that the Jews, who had been so long held captive, were about to be released, and restored to their own land. Once again, released from Babylon from which they had been captured due to their iniquities and then also when Jesus comes to rule as King, released from the bondaged of their sin of denying The Son of God as their Savior.

3 For thus says the Lord, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”

The people had complained that God had “sold them” into the hands of their enemies Psalm 44:12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. “Not so,” is the answer from God. “There was no real sale, only a temporary transfer, and therefore Jehovah can redeem you at His own pleasure.

4 For thus says the Lord God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

When in Egypt they had protection and sustenance, and therefore owed subjection to the king of Egypt. And yet when he oppressed them God punished him severely, and delivered them out of his hands. And the Assyrian oppressed them, the king of Babylon, who is called the king of Assyria, (2 Kings 23:29,) as also the Persian emperor is called, (Ezra 6:22,) because it was one and the same empire which was possessed, first by the Assyrians, then by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Persians.

Remembering in history, how often the Assyrian has oppressed them also, without cause. Remember the history of Sennacherib, Tiglath-pileser, and Salmaneser, and how they have laid the land waste, and remember also how He has delivered it from these oppressions. With the same certainty, and the same ease, He can deliver the people from the captivity at Babylon. Isaiah refers to different periods and events; and the idea is, that God had delivered them when they had been oppressed alike by the Egyptian, and by the Assyrians, and that he who had so often interposed would also rescue them from their oppression in Babylon.

5 Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

And my name continually every day is blasphemed – That is talking about Babylon. The proud and oppressive Babylonians loved to add to the sorrows of the exiles by reproaching the name of their God, and by saying that he was unable to defend them and their city from ruin. This is the third reason why God would interpose to rescue them. The three reasons in this verse are, that they had been taken away for nought; that they were suffering grievous and painful oppression; and that the name of God was reproached. On all these accounts he felt that he had something to do in Babylon, and that his interposition was demanded.

6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

In that day; when He shall redeem His people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and afterwards carried on, and at last perfected, by the coming of the Messiah.

7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.

9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.

The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with fears. Let those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, and loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold, or corruptible things, but his own precious blood.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.

The context points to a great deliverance. It is a good example of the prophetical habit of casting prophecies of the future into the mold of the past.

12 But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Depart ye, depart ye – This is a direct address to the exiles in their captivity. The same command occurs in Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

It is repeated here for the sake of emphasis; and the urgency of the command implies that there was some delay likely on the part of the exiles themselves. Many of them had become strongly attached to living in Babylon and not all that enthused to going back home. Most of those who were made captive would have died before the close of the exile. Their children, who constituted the generation to whom the command to return would be addressed, would have known the land of their fathers only by report. And since it had been sacked by the Babylonians, why go back to a ruined land.

The Exalted Servant
13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

This is the beginning of a new prophecy. From Isaiah chapter 40 to here has been a message of deliverance of the people of God. This includes in it three distinct parts: the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, the deliverance of the Gentiles from their miserable state of ignorance and idolatry, and the deliverance of mankind from the captivity of sin and death.

Cyrus is expressly named as the immediate agent of God in effecting the first deliverance. A greater person is spoken of as the agent who is to effect the two latter deliverances, called the Servant, the Elect, of God, in whom his soul delighteth. Now these three subjects have a very close relation to one another; for, as the agent who was to effect the two latter deliverances, that being the Messiah, was to be born a Jew, with interesting limitations of time, family, and other circumstances, the first deliverance was necessary in the order of providence, and, according to the determinate counsel of God, to the accomplishment of the two latter deliverances; and the second deliverance was necessary to the third, or, rather, was involved in it, and made an essential part of it. (Benson Commentary)

14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.

Here begins that wonderful and faithful description of the office, character, and glory of the Messiah, which has struck conviction to many of the most hardened unbelievers. Christ is Wisdom itself; in the work of our redemption there appeared the wisdom of God in a mystery. Those that saw him, said, Surely never man looked so miserable: never was sorrow like unto his sorrow. But God highly exalted him. That shall be discovered by the gospel of Christ, which could never be told in any other way. And Christ having once shed his blood for sinners, its power still continues. May all opposers see the wisdom of ceasing from their opposition, and be made partakers of the blood of sprinkling, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost; obeying him, and praising his salvation. (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary)

15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.

The “sprinkling” is that of the priest who cleanses the leper (Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 4:17), and this was to be done by Him who was Himself counted as a leper “smitten of God”

The kings shall shut their mouths . The reverence, as in Isaiah 49:7, Job 29:9; Job 40:4, is that of silent wonder at the change which has passed over the suffering Servant. Wisdom Of Solomon 5:1-5 presents an interesting parallel, the reference there being to the person of the ideal righteous sufferer. In that case, as in this, there was, so to speak, a transfiguration “beyond all that men looked for.”

And the last 2 verses are marked change from Isaiah 6:9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

All of which points to “Keep yourself ready for that day, for we do not know the hour. Love one another and accept the joy that is waiting for you to embrace, that we might be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Our home is not here nor should we long for the things of this world. We are children of God, and our inheritance is waiting in heaven. Be patient and waiting with great hope and expectation.

I listened to an interesting Sermon by John MacArthur on Monday. It was on Paul talking to the Galatians.
We find in Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

And in the course of things Paul schools them in righteousness. Tells them when the flesh is in control, and it is obvious. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing.” And that’s not an exhaustive list, and so he adds, “and things like these,” which is kind of an et cetera.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” The fruit of the Spirit is put in the singular because it is a virtue, it is not a list from which you pick. You don’t say, “Well today I’m going to show joy. Next Tuesday I may show gentleness. Couple days after that I may try to love somebody.” Doesn’t work like that. This is not a list.
You can do that in your sin. You can say, “Tomorrow I’m going to be impure, and then I’m going to go to a party and tell some lies, and then I’m going to get drunk.” I mean, you can plan your sin; it comes in bits and pieces. But when you walk in the Spirit, it comes as a package.
So sin is a list to choose from, but virtue is produced collectively.

The point I am coming to is of this package of virtues, Love and Joy is what I want to talk about. Love is first in the list because love is the greatest, according to 1 Corinthians 13. It’s the word agapē, familiar word from the verb agapaō. It is love, “to love,” and “love at the highest level.” This is the supreme word for the noblest of loves. There are other words for love that speak of friendship, and marital love, and even an erōs kind of love. But this is the word that speaks of the noblest kind of love, and this is the kind of love that is characteristic of God

What is love like? “Love is patient,” – verse 4 – “love is kind, is not jealous; love doesn’t brag, is not arrogant, doesn’t act unbecomingly; it doesn’t seek its own, is not provoked, doesn’t take into account a wrong suffered, doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;” – and then – “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” That’s the nature of love.

And Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This is the love that is the noblest love of all loves. It means you seek only the best for everyone around you. You endure anything and everything. You believe the best about everyone. You speak the best about everyone. You sacrifice yourself even to the point of giving up your life for others. This is the essence of agapé love.

John 15:12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another,” – said Jesus – “just as I have loved you. I want you to love the way I have just loved you.” How had He just loved them? By washing their dirty feet.

And then we have Joy. What is its nature? It’s not superficial. It’s not related to circumstances. It’s not the kind of joy that you feel when something good comes along in your life. It’s joy unrelated to shifting circumstances. It’s joy that has nothing to do with whether you’re healthy or sick, nothing to do with whether you’re alone or in a crowd, nothing to do with whether you are paid enough or not enough, nothing to do with whether you have enough food or not enough food; not related whatsoever to whether your circumstances are positive or negative; not related at all to whether you have trouble in your life. No, this word is not related to that.
The word related to that is “happy.” Happy is related to the word “happen,” which is related to “happenstance.” Happy means you like the circumstances you’re in. We understand that. This is not that, this is chara. This is deep down, settled joy. This is miles below the surface of the troubled sea. This is in the dead calm of the depth of your soul. It doesn’t move, it’s unassailable, it’s immovable. It’s the deep-seated joy that provides for you constant – listen to these words – constant satisfaction and contentment.
Jesus actually said in John 15:11, “My joy I give you; you have My joy.” The very joy that the Son possesses in the promise of the Father, we possess in the promise of the Son.

I have to say that since I have accepted Christ, I have experienced this Joy. And it is not a heady emotional kind of thing that is always talked about. What it is to me is contentment with my circumstances, happiness that transcends my growing inability to care for myself or to be self sufficient to any extent. I have no worries, none. I know God is in charge of all, and there is no downside to what the future holds. And that Joy is available to everyone of you. If what I just described doesn’t sound like much, I have to tell you, that not having any worries or concerns and waking up content each morning is a very great blessing to me. As for Love, I can do that kind of Love that was described. I can think the best of people, I can listen to their troubles, help them when they need help, hope the best for them, not be judgmental. I was concerned that Love was what I knew, between family or husband and wife. No, this is a greater Love. Think about these things. They are important and they will have an impact on those around you. And that’s really the point.

All Glory to God the Father.

Let us turn to Isaiah 51

1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the quarry from which you were dug.

Isaiah is addressing the godly Jews, those that believed and looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. Of which there were not all that many of them. They had been influenced by their godless leaders. The tribes of Israel, their neighbors, which had fallen into idolatry and had been carried off into slavery and submission by Assyria (722-721 BC), never to return. We remember from last week’s Chapter 50 that God had issued a writ of divorce to Israel. That was referenced in Jeremiah 3:8. And her sister Judah had gotten haughty, seeing their defiled sister being kicked out while they remained; now they started to play the harlot. However there are always some that listen to God and adhere to his ways. It is the same now as in Isaiah’s day. I think we have many more distractions now than the Jews ever did. Instant communication is a blessing and a curse.
Looking at the second half of verse one, the rock you were hewn from and quarry from which you were dug. The Jews being a practical people and one that loved using similes. The rock refers to Abraham and the quarry refers to Sarah. They were very proud of being of Abraham’s. Infact, I think most of them were pretty sure that by claiming Abraham, they thought they had an easy in to heaven. Such was not the case. Matthew 3:7-10 John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, addresses a group of Pharisees and Sadducees.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Oh how we could use a man like that today. Read verse 8 to yourselves again and ponder it. For the ax is already laid at the root of the tree.

2 “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

God is calling to mind that HE took one man and made him the father of all Jews. And He did it when Abraham and Sarah were well, and I mean well beyond childbearing years. We also have the birth of Ishmael by Hagar, before Isaac. Ishmael is counted as the father of the Arab tribes.
We also have a reference to Genesis 3, God putting curse on Woman. Multiplied pain in childbirth. And Adam got cursed because he listened to his wife. Which plays out in our lives with just a bit of tenison, now and then, in married life. Your mileage may vary.

3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

4 “Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness. From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary.

5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.

God is always near. That is something that we tend to forget when our lives go south. It is not possible to live a charmed life with nothing to stir you up. Where would God be if you could do it all yourself? Job is a good example. He had a good life. Wealth, wisdom, children to pass everything on to. He is held as our example of when life throws you a curveball. When he got news of the death of all his children, he fell on his knees and said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20
This has been something that I have latched on to, and I am so thankful that the Bible gave me the very phrase to repeat, when it is truly needed. When that metaphoric piano falls out of the sky and land somewhere in your life, God is there. This is not our home, heaven, with Jesus is. And He went there to prepare it for us. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3
My wife made a comment to me the other day. She said she had heard many people angry at death or cancer or something like that. If you believe, truly believe, how could it be such? Oh death, where is thy sting?
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55
Jesus conquered death and sin. And yet we forget. Oh fatih, where art thou? God created you, knows the hairs on your head, Luke 12:7. Death and cancer have no power over the Lord. God is the rock onto which we cling. Now the real tragedy that we can be in sorrow over is losing a friend or loved one that is not a believer. This is why He commands us to go out and spread the good news. You don’t want to lose anyone you love to eternal damnation, so tell them about our Messiah and Savior. It is not up to us to save anyone. That’s God’s job. But you might think to yourselves, “Oh, I am too old.” Let me remind you that Abraham and Sarah had a child at an advanced age. Abraham was a just a year or two younger than Leroy Johnson who went to Jesus at 103 and Sarah was about Carol Nelson’s age. You are never to old to do God’s work.

6 “Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not wane.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 “For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

Those who have God’s law written in their hearts vs those carnal Jews whose laws are written on mere stone tablets. Let not the mewlings of the idol-loving countrymen concern you. Those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?

Isaiah appeals to God on behalf of his people, to exert his power as He did in former times. That hath cut Rahab – That is, cut it in pieces, or destroyed it. It was that arm which wielded the sword of justice and of vengeance by which Rahab was cut in pieces. The word ‘Rahab’ here means Egypt.

10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?

Art thou not it – Art thou not still the same? The crux of the appeal is that the same arm that dried up the sea, and made a path for the Jewish people, was still able to intervene and rescue them.
Which hath dried the sea – The Red Sea when the children of Israel passed over Exodus 14:21. This is the common illustration to which the Hebrew prophets and poets speak of, when they wish to refer to the interposition of God in favor of their nation

11 So the ransomed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
And of the son of man who is made like grass,

We whose lives are but a puff of breeze on a warm summer day, whose home is not here, but with our Father in Heaven. What do we have to worry about when we are children of God and inherit our place in heaven? A God that loves us so much that he sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross, thereby removing the sting of death to us, We just have to have Faith. Ask and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7

13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the oppressor?

These verses are designed to rebuke that state of the mind, all too common, even among the people of God – where they are intimidated by the number and strength of their foes, and forget their dependence on God, and his promises of aid. In such circumstances God reproves them for their lack of confidence in him, and calls on them to remember that he has made the heavens, and has all power to save them.

14 The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.

15 For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).

Isaiah has been telling them they are about to be carried off into captivity, whether any of them understood that is not known. But he is also telling them that God will not let them wither on the vine.

16 I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

He had committed his truth to the Jewish people; to Zion. He had entrusted them with his statutes and his laws; he had given them the promise of the Messiah, and through him the assurance that the true religion would be spread to other nations. He would, therefore, preserve them, and restore them again to their own land.

17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

Those hard headed, stiff necked Jews are being called to awaken from sin and cast off the despondency and despair that comes from drinking deeply from God’s chalice of anger. When the Jews were in captivity they were so overwhelmed with the sense of their troubles that they had no heart left to mind any thing that tended to their comfort or relief; and therefore when the deliverance came, they were said to be like them that dream. Psalm 126:1 A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream.

18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

Neither princes, nor prophets, nor priests were able or willing to lead out of their misery.

19 These two things have befallen you;
Who will mourn for you?
The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
The city of Jerusalem had suffered not only property (devastation and destruction) but life and limb (famine and sword).

20 Your sons have fainted,
They lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.

The inhabitants lay helpless in the streets, having expended all their strength in fighting against God’s wrath. And I am pretty convinced we have not learned that lesson yet.

21 Therefore, please hear this, you afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God
Who contends for His people,
“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,
The chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.

This verse contains a promise that they would be delivered from the effect of the wrath of God, under which they had been suffering so long.
Thou shalt no more drink it again – Thou shalt no more be subject to similar trials and calamities. Probably the idea here is, not that Jerusalem would never be again destroyed, which would not be true, for it was afterward subjected to severer trials under the Romans; but that the people who should then return – the pious exiles – should be preserved forever after from similar sufferings. Isaiah is trying to console them, and this he does by the assurance that they should be subjected to such trials no more.

23 “I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict you – The nations that have made war upon you, and that have reduced you to bondage, particularly the Babylonians. The calamities which the Jews had suffered, God would transfer to their foes.
Which have said to you, Bow down, that we may go over – This is a striking description of the pride of eastern conquerors. It was not uncommon for conquerors actually to put their feet on the necks of conquered kings, and tread them in the dust.

Isaiah concludes this chapter with news that should hearten some, those that listen. And it should hearten us too. Surely God’s chalice of anger will come upon us. We, who have turned from God, kicked Him out of our Government, out of our Schools and are pressuring our churches to bow to the whims of a pagan and carnal society, we will drink from that chalice of wrath and feel remorse and abandonment from our Creator. However, if we repent and accept His Son as our Savior and King, this cup will pass too, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 50

1 “Where is the certificate of divorce
By which I have sent your mother away?

To the Jews in Babylon, who were suffering under his hand, and who might be apt to complain that God had dealt with them with as much caprice and cruelty as a man did with his wife, when he gave her a writing of divorce, and put her away without any just cause.
Let us now go to Deuteronomy 24 and look into the Law concerning divorce.
Deuteronomy 24: 1-5
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,
2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife,
3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife,
4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
5 “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

This custom of divorce Moses found was probably in existence among the Jews, and also in surrounding nations, and as it was difficult if not impossible at once to remove it, he permitted it on account of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews.

Now let’s go to Matthew 19 and see what Jesus tells us about the subject.
Matthew 19:3-9
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
7 They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

So why is God is talking about divorce? The Jews were in a sense the woman or bride that God had wedded to.
Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
They were his people and he was their God. But once the Jews moved into the Promised Land, they began to play the harlot. We find that the people who had been living in the Promised Land, before the Jews got there, were living in sin. God had told Joshua to remove or kill these people. This makes many believers and unbelievers uncomfortable. And I have to wonder, have they really read the Bible?

It brings to mind 2 other Isaiah passages,
Isaiah 29:16 You have everything backward! Should the potter be thought of as clay? Should what is made say of its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Should what is shaped say of the one who shaped it, “He doesn’t understand”?

Isaiah 64:8 But now, LORD, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. All of us are the work of your hand.

People who think that God was wrong to kill these poor Canaanites are ignorant clay talking back to the Potter.

In Joshua 11:14 All the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one who breathed.

There are at least two reasons why God did this. The first is evidenced in what came to pass when Israel did not obey God in this command. God wanted the land cleared of all temptations to His people to turn from Him, His worship and His law. The Canaanites were a threat to the purity of God’s people. He had set them apart, consecrated them, adopted them. In giving this order, He was protecting them.

Joshua 11:20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

If you are still troubled by this, I recommend you go and read the book of Joshua. The Canaanites knew of God, but rejected Him. Rahab the prostitute confirmed this. The wages of sin is death and we are very good at forgetting this.

Joshua, for all his faithfulness, left the job unfinished. Once Israel had taken the land, once they began to feel safe, they started to think it might be helpful to leave some of the Canaanites around, to fetch their water and chop their wood. The book of Judges reveals the results. Those few who were spared became a snare, just as God predicted they would. Soon, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

God had not formally thrown out the wife (Judah) whom he had chosen as he had done her sister Israel.
Jeremiah 3:8 “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

Israel was given up to her iniquities. I think here in American, we are inches away from that very thing we are talking about with Israel.

If you are keeping track, we are not even through with verse one yet. When I first looked at Isaiah 50, I thought, hmm, short lesson. We might have to all go out and shoot some hoops in the gym to fill in the rest of the time. To those reading this online, our room is connected to the gym. This building used to be the Grove City School back in the day.

Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you?
Behold, you were sold for your iniquities,
And for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Among the Hebrews, a father had the right, by the law of Moses, if he was oppressed with debt, to sell his children. In like manner, if a man had stolen anything, and had nothing to make restitution, he might be sold for the theft. God is being quite clear here. Ye have sold yourselves; You have gone into captivity only on account of your sins. It has been your own act, and you have thus become bondmen to a foreign power only by your own choice.

2 “Why was there no man when I came?
When I called, why was there none to answer?

God was calling them to repentance, but no man of the nation yielded to obedience. He sent them prophets, but they did not listen. Isaiah was told this, from the lips of our Lord.

Isaiah 6:9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.

Isaiah 6:11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,

They had not been punished without warning. But no one was listening. Are we listening now? We have the whole story. We cannot say we have not been warned, yet we will. Do not sit passively in your church pew. It’s an amazing attribute of ourselves. We get comfortable, we start taking things for granted. And the older we get, the more lethargic we become. Willing to let things be, even if we aren’t really happy with what’s going on. With the pressure of the world, demanding that Christianity change to meet the social whims of our society, you do know that your church can change from something that it once was to something that it now is not. All the while you’re sitting there in your pew. So you have to wonder, how much satan is too much satan in your life? It’s between you and Jesus.

Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Or have I no power to deliver?

God is asking, what is the reason of this contempt and rebellion? Is it because you expect no good from me, but think I am either unwilling or unable to save you? God never deprived any of their advantages, except for their sins. The Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin which broke the covenant; and they were at last rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory. God called on them to leave their sins, and prevent their own ruin. Last of all, the Son came to his own, but his own received him not. When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are justly left to be miserable. Are you now in this position? Are you unhappy with your life and circumstances? This is not the fault of God. He has his hand out, still. Why is it you don’t take hold of it?

Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink for lack of water
And die of thirst.

It is tragically ironic that we have a large number of people today that are claiming God does not exist. Some by exclaiming it and some by apathy. Yahweh, our Creator, could at a breath, dissolve this universe and start over if that be his will. But, in spite of our sinful ways, He does love us and expects us to love Him back. We go back to the clay yelling at the Potter.

Jeremiah 18:1-8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,
2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,
6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.

God in his Mercy and Grace will relent from punishment if you repent. That has always been the lesson. If the Canaanites had repented, they would have been forgiven and allowed to live. Nineveh did. Much to Jonah’s disgust. And as a people, if we got our sackcloth and ashes on and repented, the Lord would turn from punishing us for our many iniquities. If we would only act like we are children of God, with an inheritance of Heaven.

3 “I clothe the heavens with blackness
And make sackcloth their covering.”

This next part, to my mind, is Jesus speaking.

4 The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.

Mark 14:32-42 32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”
33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.
34 And He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.”
35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.
36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”
37 And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?
38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
41 And He *came the third time, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
42 Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

This would be at this time in Mark 14:65 Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.
Our Lord and Savior, our Messiah, was degraded and put up with persecution and savagery from the people he came to save.

And yet…

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

7 For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have set My face like flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.

Luke 23:9 And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.

Since Jesus did speak before the High Priest and before Pilate, His not speaking before Herod is the means by which Isaiah 53:7 was fulfilled.
Each of the trials was before a different authority:
Religious authority – the High Priest and Sanhedrin
Political/legal authority – Pilate on behalf of the Roman Empire
King of over Galilee and Peraea – Herod the tetrarch (Antipas)

Herod was “king” over a limited territory of Israel and over a limited number of Jewish people. Jesus was ultimately executed for this reason:

Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19 NKJV)

This declaration by Pilate recognized Jesus as King of the Jews, a legal title which would include those Jewish people scattered throughout the Roman Empire. This contrasts with Herod whose kingship was over a limited part of Israel (Galilee and Paraea). So as a sheep is silent before its shearers, Jesus was silent before Herod who “shearing” Him of a limited kingdom (Herod’s). But Jesus is not silent before the High Priest who cannot take away His position as the True and Great High Priest and He is not silent before Pilate who will recognize Him as King of all Jewish people.

8 He who vindicates Me is near;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand up to each other;
Who has a case against Me?
Let him draw near to Me.

The words are the strongest assertion of His absolute freedom from anything that an adversary could lay hold of on which to found a charge, and not merely so, but they also dare to assert that the unerring and all-penetrating eye of the Judge of all will look into His heart, and find nothing there but the mirrored image of His own perfection.

9 Behold, the Lord God helps Me;
Who is he who condemns Me?
Behold, they will all wear out like a garment;
The moth will eat them.

Not exactly following the line of this story, but instructive all the same,
Acts 12: 18-23 “At break of day, there was consternation among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.

19 Herod made a search for him, but didn’t find him, so then he examined the guards, and commanded that they be executed. Herod then went down from Judea to Caesarea, and spent time there.”

“20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Their country depended on the king’s country for food, so they came to him with a united front to make peace —they’d been able to win over Blastus, the king’s personal aide.

21 On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and made a speech to them.
22 The people shouted, ‘The voice of God, and not of a man!’
23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and died.”

You go against God and moths will eat you, worms will eat you, sometimes dogs will eat you. That was a reference to Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:10.

10 Who is among you that fears the Lord,
That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

God is light. John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with firebrands,
Walk in the light of your fire
And among the brands you have set ablaze.
This you will have from My hand:
You will lie down in torment.

God is light, yet we try to make our own light. Go forth, realizing that we are children of God, and act as such.  And by your fruits, they will know you. Matthew 7:16

All Glory given to God the Father

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Luke 2:1-20
2 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. ² This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 49 and go through this wonderful message of hope and affirmation to the people of Israel, from their Creator and God.

Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth
1 Listen to Me, O islands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called Me from the womb;
From the body of My mother He named Me.

It was a Hebrew custom back in that day to call people from beyond the sea islands, for obvious reasons. Elohim (Hebrew for God) is bringing up 2 points here. He is not just talking to Israel here but to us Gentiles, in fact the whole world. And the Jews would wonder at this. We talked about this last week. Gentiles were not included in the Jews’ spiritual world view. They thought their Messiah would come and smash the Gentiles and they, the Jews, would then have the entire world as a “Promised Land”. They were so convinced of their Christ, which is a title not a name, as Christ is a Greek translation of Messiah. He would come as a King and military commander that would throw off the heavy hand of Rome and continue on from there. We are talking still about 600 years into the future so most of this message and what Isaiah had spoken of in the past, I am pretty sure went right over their heads. They had eyes to see, but did not, ears to hear, but would not. It is ever the same, then as now.
The second point is that our Messiah will be born of a woman, indicating that he would be born human. John 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a select arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.

We find another reference to this sharp sword in Revelation 19:15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

God has given power to His Servant (Christ) to speak effectively and thereby to conquer His enemies.
I do love how this is stated “In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me”. Meaning that Christ was held hidden until the time He was needed. This is still the case, as with the first coming and now the second. We have prophecy pointing to about when, but not precisely so. The books of Daniel and Revelation give us clues but no one knows but the Father. That is found in quite a few places in the New Testament. We will use this one. Mark 13:32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
And yet, we argue about this endlessly. The hubris of Man.

3 He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,
In Whom I will show My glory.”
4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity;
Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
And My reward with My God.”

This Servant, Israel, is still Christ. Verse 4 is referring to the first coming in which the Servant was met with rejection by his nation. It must have seemed to some as a failure because of his crucifixion and death on the cross. Only criminals died like that. But Christ defeated death, “and rose again on the third day, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
We know this as the Apostles Creed.
The Lutheran Church always says it and the Baptist Church never does. You can add the Lord’s Prayer to that list also. And I believe it comes down to the idea that if you repeat something, so often, that it becomes something less than it was. It is no longer relevant, just part of the service. I would agree to that in regards to those “Christians” that go to Church because that’s what “good people” do. If the only reason you go to Church is to be seen and then go home and continue life without any evidence of Jesus in your actions, and there are many of these, well, REPENT SINNER! THE END IS NIGH!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist that. It seems everyday is just one day closer to me standing on the corner with a cardboard sign, shouting at cars.

5 And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My strength),

It is the Servant’s mission to bring Israel back into the fold, where they will finally look up and see their Messiah, their King and think to themselves, OH! What have we done?

6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Let’s go to Luke 2 and read this wonderful prophecy when Jesus was but a wee lad.

Luke 2:25-32
25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

There will be people, those who have not been snatched up in the Rapture, they will still come to Christ and it will be through the Remnant of those Jews that are left, after they have been winnowed down. 144,000 Jews will fulfill the role they were destined to have and be effective evangelists to the rest of the world.

7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
To the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers,
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

Christ was the Suffering Servant, as found in Isaiah 53, despised by all in power. That day will come when every knee will bow. Philippians 2:10 So that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

8 Thus says the Lord,
“In a favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;

The Grace of God had been bestowed upon sinners and in that day to come, His Servant will accomplish the final deliverance of Israel.
Paul used the context of verse 8 to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— 2 for He says,
“At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.”
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”

Truly, now is the acceptable time for your salvation. If you have not accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, repented your sins, GET ON IT! God is waiting, with his hand held out toward you. And He knows absolutely everything of your life. Come to your Father, your life awaits you, not here, but in Heaven.

9 Saying to those who are bound, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
Along the roads they will feed,
And their pasture will be on all bare heights.
10 “They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them
And will guide them to springs of water.
11 “I will make all My mountains a road,
And My highways will be raised up.
12 “Behold, these will come from afar;
And lo, these will come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.

Those who are bound, those who are dwelling in darkness, and there are many of us afflicted.
Depression, pain from the body breaking down, yoked to whatever you have yoked yourself to.
Revelation 7:16-17 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Just a few more weary days and then, I’ll fly away.

Promise to Zion
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And the Lord has forgotten me.”

We are ever ungrateful, God doesn’t listen to my prayers. Hmm. Have you repented your sins to Him, really? Is there something that you’ve done that you know is wrong, for we all know the right and wrong of things, that you’ve hidden from Him? Hidden? Did you miss the part where it is said that He knows the count of the hairs of your head. Luke 12:7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

To which God responds in the next verse.

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

Because I’ve become sensitive to this, it caused me to do a search of which denominations or churches support Planned Parenthood, which is is a polite way of saying, which churches support abortion.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/22/american-religious-groups-vary-widely-in-their-views-of-abortion/

I was horrified at the result. It would have been better to have asked which churches don’t support abortion. Google has an interesting algorithm that even if you asked the negative of that question, you get the positive first and foremost. I ask all of you to investigate on your own to find out what your church does and does not support. If you don’t know where to start, I would ask the Pastor what they believe in. But you might say to yourself, “Well my church might support that stuff, but I don’t and never would”. Well done stalwart defender of the Faith (I say in my ironic voice). Did you know, that if a church or denomination supports Planned Parenthood, some of the money you give to the collection plate goes to Planned Parenthood.
Even if you don’t support what the church supports, and I would wonder why you would go to a church like that, your money is sent in support of whatever the church supports. Many of these churches have people that just can’t be bothered to cause a fuss, Swedes are like that, you know. They just want to go, have coffee with men or ladies, chat and laugh, sit through the sermon, sing a few songs and go home.

Jesus doesn’t want to cause a fuss at Judgement time either. He’ll just say, “I never knew you” and that’s that.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Remember last week when I asked how much satan in your life is too much? It’s up to you and God.

16 “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.

There is Jewish custom, referred to in Exodus 13:9 And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

So they would puncture their hands with a symbol of their city as a sign of devotion.

17 “Your builders hurry;
Your destroyers and devastators
Will depart from you.
18 “Lift up your eyes and look around;
All of them gather together, they come to you.
As I live,” declares the Lord,
“You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.
19 “For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land—
Surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants,
And those who swallowed you will be far away.
20 “The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears,
‘The place is too cramped for me;
Make room for me that I may live here.’

After the faithful remnant is gathered in salvation and the Gentiles are brought to faith in the Kingdom through Jewish witnesses, millennial Jerusalem will not be large enough to contain all its inhabitants.

21 “Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have been bereaved of my children
And am barren, an exile and a wanderer?
And who has reared these?
Behold, I was left alone;
From where did these come?’”

The Jewish perspective is too narrow and always has been. She has seen herself as a widow, abandoned by her true Husband, the Lord. God has not forgotten or abandoned her. While the symbolic Jewish widow was weeping and feeling sorry for herself, the Lord was preparing lasting legacy for her, preserving her remnant and bringing her back safely from Babylon.

22 Thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations
And set up My standard to the peoples;
And they will bring your sons in their bosom,
And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23 “Kings will be your guardians,
And their princesses your nurses.
They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth
And lick the dust of your feet;
And you will know that I am the Lord;
Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Those mighty men, Rulers and Princes that oppressed them will now serve and care for them.
Lick the dust from your feet and know that I am the Lord. And keep in mind that our Lord is judge over all. We have no part in that judgment. Sometimes we suffer to the Glory of the Lord.
1 Peter 5:10 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

24 “Can the prey be taken from the mighty man,
Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

25 Surely, thus says the Lord,
“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,
And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued;
For I will contend with the one who contends with you,
And I will save your sons.
26 “I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;
And all flesh will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

God’s deliverance of Israel will be so dramatic that the world will recognize that the Lord, the Savior, the Redeemer and Mighty One of Israel is the true God.
Ezekiel 39:7 My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.

Let us end with Psalm 115
Glory to God Alone
1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us,
but to Your name give glory
because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven
and does whatever He pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot make a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.

9 Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron;
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.

14 May the Lord add to your numbers,
both yours and your children’s.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the Lord’s,
but the earth He has given to the human race.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
nor any of those descending into the silence of death.
18 But we will praise the Lord,
both now and forever.
Hallelujah!