Reading for May 4th

 Read Isaiah 45.8-17. Human beings cannot challenge God's declared purpose any more than clay can question a potter (v. 9). Nor can people question parents as to the kind of offspring they will bring into the world (vv. 10-11). Even the distant tribes of North Africa will recognize Israel's God (v. 14). To exchange knowledge of this true God for the spurious aid of an idol would be utter folly (v. 16). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 3rd

 Read Isaiah 45.1-7. In 45.1-25: Turn to me and be saved. In verses 1-7: Cyrus is the world conqueror whom God has chosen to overthrow the power of Babylon and enable the survivors of Israel to return to their homeland, a reaffirmation of the sovereign power of the Lord God (v. 7). This verse expresses fully the claim that God, as God of all nations, is all-powerful. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 2nd

 Read Isaiah 44.21-28. Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the restored city will be inhabited once again and a new Temple will be constructed (vv. 26-28). The designation of the Persian ruler Cyrus as God's shepherd (v. 28) and "anointed" (45.1) includes titles used of Israelite kings (for "shepherd" as a title of kings and rulers, see Jer 23.1-5; Ezek 34.1-24). Even foreign and pagan ruler who attained world power did so as the agent of the God of Israel who directed the course of history. Jews living outside the land used this language to show due recognition to the rulers of the nations among whom they lived. Such an understanding did not, however, entirely rule out a special role for the surviving dynasty of David (see 55.3-5). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 1st

 Read Isaiah 44.1-20. In 44.1-28: Do not fear, or be afraid. In verses 1-8: Just as God's rainstorm transforms desert into fertile land (v. 3), so will God transform scattered and weakened Israel,. No other god can prevent this happening, and the gods themselves are nothing (v. 6). They have no witnesses among the nations who can foretell future events (v.7). In verse 9-20: A sharp reproof of idolatry: "The very fact human beings make such images demonstrate that they are false, since human beings cannot make gods" (v. 20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 30th

 Read Isaiah 43.14-28. In verses 14-21: Verses 16-17 refers to crossing the sea and the destruction of the pursuing Egyptians (Ex 14.15-30). The return of Israel from among the nations will constitute a new Exodus. In verses 22-28: Israel is presented on one hand as God's servant and witness to the nations and on the other as a weak and sinful people who have burdened God with their sin. Both portraits are valid. The suffering were necessary and inevitable (v. 28). Yet the consequences of Israel's wrongdoings had not been fully atoned for (see 40.2). Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 29th

 Read Isaiah 43.1-13. In 43.1-28: I will be with you. In verses 1-7: The presence of God with Israel is assured, in spite of the apparently hopeless situation in which many survivors of the nation found themselves. Their widely scattered locations reach far beyond the borders of Judah, or even Babylon. A slave's freedom could be negotiated. God would ensure that the host nations to which Judah's citizens had fled for refuge would grant them freedom to return to their homeland. In verses 8-13: The foretelling of the former things (vv. 9, 18) refers to the fulfillment of earlier prophecies, probably those now preserved in the book of Isaiah, as the allusion (v. 8) to the warning given in 6.9-10 makes clear. The Lord God of Israel providentially controls all history and is the only true God. Verse 10 shows how the title my servant could be used to describe a whole community. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 28th

 Read Isaiah 42.14- 25. The references to the blind and deaf in vv. 16, 18-19 reverse the threatening aspect of the warnings given in 6.9-10 by the eighth-century Isaiah of Jerusalem (see further 43.8). The descriptions of the weak and distressed state out of the prophet's own people in v. 22 (see 41.7) may indicate that he himself was suffering in Babylon. It seems probable, however, that the descriptions are typical of the misfortunes that had befallen the former inhabitants of Judah in many places. The mission of servant requires a recollection (v. 24) that Israel's present situation was consequence of its own wrongdoing. Comments or Questions..