The Earth is the Lords   

 

ISAIAH

Updated: June 1, 2007

.............


    [C]2004-07 by Richard L Zorek

  • Is 1:1: The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Uziah, the tenth king of Judah, became a leper because he intruded into the holy place, which even a king was not permitted to do. However, he is classified as a good king.
  • Is 1:3: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." This verse is a splendid piece of satire. The two animals that are used for illustration do not have a reputation for being very intelligent. God meant something when he made each one of us, and it is our duty to find out what He did mean. The devil's staunchest ally is lack of perception. We must consider who God is.

  • Is 1:13: Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Even doing what God has commanded becomes wrong when the heart is not in it. Many of us have the "ritual" down pat, and go through the religious motions. Is the heart in it?
  • If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" Some pople may not be really willing to eat of the good of the land.
  • Is 1:25: And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin. Our purgings are from God--not the devil. He has His hand upon thee.
  • Is 5:19-20: Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. These people claimed to desire the true counsel of God, but they had deceit in their heart. They ended up perverted in their counsel. Sin had perverted their judgment. They were not able to discern evil, so the things that were holy and pure, they called unrighteous. Be careful not to be influenced by someones elses "witness' about a certain event or preacher. The person making the judgment may not be speaking from right spirit.
  • Is 6:5: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." As soon as Isaiah saw who God really is, his response was a deep conviction of his own sinfulness. The closer we are too Christ, the more sinful and unworthy we will feel. The fact that we are aware of our sin and feel guilty about it is a sign of spiritual life.
  • Is 6:6-7: Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal oin his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it opon thy mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" Isaiah could not hear God's directing voice until he first heard his purging voice. Direction and guidance come only after purging.
  • Is 6:8-9-10: I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? then said I, here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tekk this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart " How excited we become after purging. The word Isasih heard, though, was not flattering. It would make him hated and unpopular.

  • Is 8:20: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Those who want to base public policy on something othee than the Bible, show that scripture does not support their point of view.

  • Is 36:4: "And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Asyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trusteth?" Rabshakeh arrogantly expresses surprise that Hezekiah would even dare resist, and he wants to know about the secret weapon in which Hezekish trusts.

  • Is 36:10: And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said unto me, go up against this land, and destroy it" Rabshakeh was saying that God had told him that he should attack and destroy him. That was a lie. God did not send this army. He was not angry with Hezekiah. If Satan can make you believe God is not with you, he has already won the battle.
  • Is 37:1: And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered homself with sackcloth and he went to the house of the Lord." Tearing off the outer garment and putting on sackcloth was a sign of humbling onesself. He then turned to prayer.
  • Is 37:5-6: So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them......God give assurance to Hezekiah that the blasphemy of the Assyrian has not escaped his attention. God cannot, nor will not, ignore it.
  • Is 40:30: "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall" It is not a natural matter, and young energy is not enough.

  • Is 40:31: but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. . We would gain more power and courage and peace if we learned to wait. In the businesss of life we need to learn to be still. Amidst lifes activties there must be time to receive. It starts with "hope."
  • Is 41:24: Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.: Man cannot explain his past, and he doesn't know his future apart from God. That makes all of man's efforts apart from God a very vain thing.

  • Is 45:5: I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me Men who are strangers to God are often employed by God to accomplish His providential plans. Cyrus was not a worshipper of God, but God had set him apart to peform an important public service.
  • Is 45:6-7: "I am the Lord and there is no other. The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating Calamity; I am the Lord who does all these." "Evil"=calamity, difficult times, disaster. When people choose to be evil, He will use them for His purpose. There's no man or demon that will upstage God. Evil comes through an agency of choice--Adam being the first man of choice. It is not possible to live without choice, otherwise you're a robot. That's dignity. Does God bring good and bad upon people? Yes He does. The problem is our perspective. To us it may appear bad. To God it is righteous.

  • Is 45:9: Woe unto him that striveth with his maker. A potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what maketh thou? Or thy works, he hath no hands? It it easy to tell which of these will be defeated. When we are discontented with the place God has put us, or the position He has placed us in, it is the beginning of a quarrel with God. When afflicted, love can allow you to groan, but not to grumble.

  • Is 53:7: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Prophets reiterate over and over again that the sacrifice would be a lamb.

  • Is 55:8-9: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways yours saith the Lord. For as the heavesns are higher than the earth, so are my ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." The practice of theology requires careful attention to reading and meditating, and then to applying the word of God, while at the same time refusing to be Gnostic and speculative by going beyond what is actually written. Our human understanding is suspicious and fearful. Our human understanding always limits God.

  • Is 55:11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. God's word alone has the final say, invariably carrying out his will and his intentions. His word has a transcendent supernatural force. His prophecies carry inner assurance of historical fulfillment. Even nature passes away, but God's word endures (Is 40:8)
  • Is 59:4: "None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies" The problem was not then, nor is it now, in God. It is not because we live in a different dispensation or age, but because we are a covenant-breaking, law-despising people that we do not receive God's delivering and prospering grace.
  • Is 64:4: For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor percieved by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." The apostle Paul quotes this verse in his letter to Corinth.

    Back to Index