Isaiah 6-12
A Righteous Messiah
and Remnant

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Psalm 73:1-20 Perilous Prosperity of the Wicked

Surely God is Good to Israel
1 A Psalm of Asaph.

 Truly God is good to Israel,
 to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
 my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
 when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;
 their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
 they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
 violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
 their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
 loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
 and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
 and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
 Is there knowledge in the Most High”?

12 Behold, these are the wicked;
 always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
 and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
 and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
 I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
 it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
 then I discerned their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
 you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
 swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
 O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

Application

Don't think the present is the future. God's just plans and promises will turn things around and in some cases, upside down.

Prayer

Lord, may I persist in purity, and hang my hope on the future You have promised, since that is the ultimate reality. Amen.

Proverbs 19:1-3 Who Causes Your Problems?

1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
 than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire without knowledge is not good,
 and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin,
 his heart rages against the LORD.

Application

Knowing and doing God's will zealously is all good. 

Prayer

Father, forgive me for the folly of blaming You for my blunders. Amen.

Isaiah 6-12 A Righteous Messiah and Remnant

These chapters start with the commissioning of Isaiah, and end with a contemplation of the Messiah's righteous reign in Jerusalem. They contain some of the best known Messianic prophecies, as well as predictions of Judah's discipline and restoration. The post is a little long, but encompasses all the initial prophecies to Judah (Babylon next).

Isaiah 6 Cleansed and Commissioned

Isaiah’s Commission
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

 “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

 “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
 and their ears heavy,
 and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
 and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
 and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
 without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
 and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the LORD removes people far away,
 and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
 it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
 whose stump remains
 when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.

Application

You don't need a call to serve God; you already have a written invitation; respond to it, and enlist in God's service.

Prayer

Holy God, You've saved me so You can use me in Your service. Here I am; whatever You want me to do, I will do. Amen.

Isaiah 7 Who You Gonna Trust?

A Message to Ahaz
1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord GOD:

 “‘It shall not stand,
 and it shall not come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
 and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
 Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
 and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
 you will not be firm at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
Judgment to Come
17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Application

Trusting in the ever-present Mighty God for protection is a far better choice than trusting in man, which usually backfires.

Prayer

Emmanuel, thanks that You are always with me; I trust in You, and not any frail human, to protect and deliver me. Amen.

Isaiah 8 Sanctuary or Snare

Assyrian Invasion Prophesied
1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
5 The LORD spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

9 Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
 give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
 strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
 speak a word, but it will not stand,
 for God is with us.
A Call to Fear God
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Darkness and Light
19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

Application

If we trust in God's person and promises, and fear only Him, we won't need to fear anyone or anything else, and will end up in the light instead of in the darkness (chirp, mutter).

Prayer

God, I stake my security and success only on You, and will not seek the counsel or benefits of those who don't walk with You, who'll end up in darkness. Amen.

Isaiah 9 The Everlasting Father and Mighty God is Born

Unto Us a Child Is Born
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

2 The people who walked in darkness
 have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
 on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
 you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
 as with joy at the harvest,
 as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
 and the staff for his shoulder,
 the rod of his oppressor,
 you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
 and every garment rolled in blood
 will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
 to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
 and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
 there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
 to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
 from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Judgment against Israel’s Pride

8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
 and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
 Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
 who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
 but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
 but we will put cedars in their place.”

11 But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
 and stirs up his enemies.
12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
 devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
 and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment against Israel’s Hypocrisy

13 The people did not turn to him who struck them,
 nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
14 So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail,
 palm branch and reed in one day—
15 the elder and honored man is the head,
 and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
 and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
 and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
 and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
 and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment against Israel’s Unrepentance

18 For wickedness burns like a fire;
 it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
 and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts
 the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
 no one spares another.
20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
 and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
 together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
 and his hand is stretched out still.

Application

God wants righteousness and justice, and He will eventually personally establish it. In the meantime, He will punish the unrighteous and unjust. So it makes sense to turn to Him and seek Him and do His will now, or else we will suffer His wrath.

Prayer

God, I look forward to rejoicing in Your righteous reign, and I will seek to reflect Your desires in my relationships with others. Amen.

Isaiah 10 The Proud are Humbled

Woe to Tyrants

1 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
 and the writers who keep writing oppression,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
 and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
 and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
3 What will you do on the day of punishment,
 in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
 and where will you leave your wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
 or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
 and his hand is stretched out still.
Judgment on Assyria

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
 the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a godless nation I send him,
 and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
 and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he does not so intend,
 and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
 and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
 Is not Hamath like Arpad?
 Is not Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
 whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
 as I have done to Samaria and her images”?

12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says:

 “By the strength of my hand I have done it,
 and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
 and plunder their treasures;
 like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
 the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
 so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
 or opened the mouth or chirped.”


15 Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
 or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
 or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts
 will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
 like the burning of fire.
17 The light of Israel will become a fire,
 and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
 his thorns and briers in one day.
18 The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
 the LORD will destroy, both soul and body,
 and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
 that a child can write them down.
A Remnant Shall Return
20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.
24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”


28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through Migron;
 at Michmash he stores his baggage;
29 they have crossed over the pass;
 at Geba they lodge for the night;
Ramah trembles;
 Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
 Give attention, O Laishah!
 O poor Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
 the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;
 he will shake his fist
 at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
 the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts
 will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
 and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
 and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

Application

God knows what He's doing, and will do what He's determined and promised, so His people have a basis for faith and hope.

Prayer

God, You have purposed to humble the proud and protect the humbled, may my daily dependence upon You always keep me in the latter camp. Amen.

Isaiah 11 The Righteous Branch and Remnant

The Root of Jesse

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
 and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
 the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
 the Spirit of counsel and might,
 the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
 or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
 and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
 and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
 and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
 and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
 and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
 their young shall lie down together;
 and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
 and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
 in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
 as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations
 and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
 from the four corners of the earth.
13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
 and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
 and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
 and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
 and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the LORD will utterly destroy
 the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over the River
 with his scorching breath,
and strike it into seven channels,
 and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria
 for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
 when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Application

The characteristics of a Spirit filled/controlled believer, are wisdom, understanding, counsel (God's perspective), might/bravery, fear of the Lord, righteousness, and justice in dealing with others. These are all found through His word (recorded by the Spirit of Truth). How many of them do you own?

Prayer

God, may Your Spirit permeate my thinking, valuing, and actions, so that I accomplish Your purposes for me. Amen.

Isaiah 12 A Future Psalm

Joyful Thanksgiving

1 You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
 for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
 that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
 I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
 and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

 “Give thanks to the LORD,
 call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
 proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
 let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
 for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Application

Those who've experienced God's discipline and deliverance in their lives should proclaim the manifold wonders of their God to others.

Prayer

God, You are my strength and song; I delight in Your deliverance of my life from sin, and your workings in my life in the present. I look forward to the time when all will know You as I do; may my praise of You further that objective. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God is clearly in control of the events of our lives and history. Sin angers Him. He sends prophets to warn and comfort, and demonstrate His justice. He can use proud, evil people to judge His unsanctified people, and then judge the proud evil judger. He desires righteousness and justice (reflections of His character) and will eventually establish a righteous rule over the earth, when the Messiah sits on David's throne. He will again regather His people the Jews, in Jerusalem, where they will be the chief nation, and all other nations will seek Him there. He specifically marks out the enemies of Israel for destruction. When His knowledge controls the earth and the actions of its inhabitants, there will be peace.

Us in a nutshell: We can know and serve God when sanctified by Him, in response to our confession of sin. If we trust in anyone or anything other than God, we will regret it; they will fail us, or turn on us, and God will judge us for disloyalty. When our hearts are not set on seeking God, we won't be able to see or understand His works and purposes. The temporary gains of sin will be more than offset by the judgment God will bring upon us, particularly for injustice to our neighbor. We should proclaim the excellencies of God's name and deeds so others can know Him.

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