Reading for July 8th

Read Isaiah 54.1-17. In 54.1-17: Consolation for the new Jerusalem. In verses 1-8:The city must put behind it the memory of its past, forgetting it shame and disappointments. It must instead make plans for enlargement and growth (vv. 2-3). Using the peaceful imagery of widowhood, the prophet looks ahead to the properous and bustling future that awaits (vv. 6-7). In verses 9-17: Anothe lesson from the traditions of the past is the lesson of Noah, who after the ending of the Great Deluge was the recipent of a divine promise that never again would such a catasrophe overtake humankind (see Gen 9.8-17). So God would ensure that Jerusalem's citizens were taught the divine way (v. 13), and those who brought strife (v. 15), or made war against the city, would fail in their purpose (v. 17). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 7th

Read Isaiah 52.13-53.12. In 52.13-53.12: The suffering servant. One of the most remarkable passages in all prophetic literature, this is the fourth of the distinctive Servant passages, or Songs, which describe the fate of Israel as the servant of God. The servanr will suffer as a result of his commitment to the task (50.4-9). Now what that suffering entails is spelled out in all its horrfying detail. This enigmatic passge seems to combine many experiences. Even if the references in 53.8-9 are not to actual death but to an extreme of suffering, the prophet himself cannot have written it. It is not the death and torture of one person alone that is being reported here. The servant's mission is divine in its challenge. Not all the prophet's hearers respiond to his demands, and many have already shown themselves to be rebellious and responsive. It is those who have identified themselves with this servant task, who have borne the rebukes, repraoches, and wounds of their fellows, whose fate is decribed here. So, the prophet has woven into one tapestry of suffering the terrifying experiences that many had undergone. It is a mission portrait of servanthood. There is a postive and reassuring outlook that sees beyond the immediate pain to the rich reward of such endurance (53.12). It is not a resurrection of an individual that is described in he shall see his offspring, and shall proplong his days (53.10-11). Rather it is the fruit that willbe borne buy those who assume the servant's task and find that, for all its pain, it gains a portion with the great (v. 12). Moreover, a remarkable sensitiveity to the way in which the righteous often suffer at the hands of wrongdoers leads to a new perception of the eaning of suffering The righteous individual may bear the sin of the any who are gulty. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 6th

Read Isaiah 52.1-12. In 52.1-12: Put on your beautiful garments. In verses 1-2: The uncircumcised and unclean hate the foreigners who ruled over Jerusalem. Once God's people had returned to take control of their beloved city, then this hated foreign rule would be at an end. In verse 3-6: This short prose digression summarizes Israel's sufferings at the hands of foreigners. It looks ahead to the time when the promises and assurances of chs. 40-55 willhave been fulfilled. In verses 7-10: In this prophetic image watchmen on the city walls see a messenger bringing news of Israel's deliverance (from the power of Babylon). When God's people return to Zion, then God will return to be with them (v. 18). In verses 11-12: The command to depart is a reference to the many places of exile to which Jerusalem's citizens had been driven. In contrast to the departure of Israel's forebears from Egypt-the event that marked the beginning of the nations' history-this departure would not be in haste (see Ex 12.35-36). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 5th

Read Isaiah 51.9-23. In verses 9-16: Cut Rahab in pieces refers to the ancient pictorial account of creation in which the earth was formed by cutting in pieces a great dragon monster, here called Rahab (see Leviathan in 27.1). Dried up the sea (v. 10) combines themes from creation, when dry land appeared amid the ocean (see Gen 1.9-10), and the drying up of the sea in the miraculous crossing, when the ancestors of the nation fled from Egypt (see Ex 14.21-22). In verses 17-23: Jerusalem is directly addresssed and it ruined state vividly described (v. 23). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 4th

Read Isaiah 51.1-8. In 51.1-23: Standup, O Jerusalem. In verses 1-8: A Fresh argument stregthens the appeal. Abraham was but one when God called him (v. 2). Yet from this one man a whole nation came into being. How much more certainly is God capable of restoring the scattered remnants of Israel. God's salvation is even more certain and secure than is the sky above. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 3rd

Read Isaiah 50.1-11. In 50.1-11: Israel: servant and rebel. In verses 1-3: the opening questions highlights the need for choice between a positive believing response and an unbelieving rejection. These differing responses show the contrast between the submissive and obedient servant and the mocking and insolent rebels. In verses 4-9: The third of four Servant Songs shows that the servant undergoes humiliation and rejection in the course of fulfilling his mission. The autobiographical form shows how wholeheartedly the prophet identifies himself with the mission of servant-Israel. In verses 10-11: The prophet contrasts those who seek light (salvation) in order to walk by it, and those whouse torches (firbrands) to kindle destruction (see 10.17 for a siminlar use of the picture of light becoming fire). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 2nd

Read Isaiah 49.14-26. In verses 14-21: The apparent impossibility of the promised restoration of the ruined city is now possible due to the compassion and love that God has for it (vv. 14-16). In verses 22-26: What might sometimes rarely be possible in human terms-that a human tyrant may set free his captives (v. 25)-is possible with God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 1st

Read Isaiah 49.1-13. In 49.1-26: The servant's mission to the world. In verses 1-6: The second of the four Servant Songs. Israel's servant mission will reach beyond the survivors of the former Israel, and will bring light ((salvation) to the nations (v. 6). Servant Israel (v. 3) also has a mission to Israel, suggesting that Israel may have been added later. More probably, one part of the nation has a mission to the other part. In verses 8-13: The task of restoring the tribes of Jacob (v. 6) consists of establishing the land, apportioning the desolate heritages, and releasing the prisoners. Exiles will be able to return. Syrene (perhaps southern Egypt) is an example of the distant locations to which people had fled. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 30th

Read Isaiah 48.9-22. In verses 9-16: Because the Lord is forgiving and gracious, even imperfect Israel may, with God's help fulfill a great purpose (vv. 9-11). What would be impossible for a people left to their own resources was possible with God (vv. 12-16). In verses 17-22: The concluding command: God out from Babylon would be like the flight from Egypt by which Israel had first acheived its freedom (v. 21). So it was appropriate to recall the providential care which had made that beginning possible. Once again God would if, necessary, bring water from the rock to sustain the returning exiles (see Ex 17.1-7). A final word of warning (v. 22) is a necessary addition to the mesage concerning Israel's rebellious nature that echoes through the chapter (vv. 1, 4, 5 18). From the very beginning Israel had received great promises but had failed to respond (especially v. 18). That could happen again and those who, in the pursuit of peace, shunned the risks and dangers of the journey home would find that they enjoyed a worthless tranquility. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 29th

Read Isaiah 48.1-8. In 48.1-22: Reassurance for God's people. In verses 1-8: A significant change of mood occurs with less attention to the rise of Cyrus, although his imminent defeat of Babylon is still taken for granted (v. 14). Instead the prophet addresses Israel, preparing its survivors to make a positive respnse to the new message of hope. The high mission of Israel contrasts with the persistent unbelief and self-pity of Israel's response. This ambiguity is clear in the rebuke that is added to the privileged title of Israel: who invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or right (v. 1). Offering fine prayers to God was not in itself proof that they were sincerely mant. The evidence that God is guiding Israel is found in the fulfillment of prophecies (v. 3). Yet if the people had been reluctant to believe and act upon prophecies that had been fulfilled, how wuld they believe new ones? The failures and rebelliousness of the past are the reason for making sure that such mistakes were not repeated in the present (v. 8). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 28th

Read Isaiah 47.1-15. In 47.1-15: The fall of Babylon. In verses 1-9: Babylon is depicted as a mature young lady, accustomed to pampered luxury, but now suddenly seized, stripped, and humilated. The empire had absorbed many nations and had plundered their lands and treasures, showing no pity even to the weakest (v. 6). The proud assumption that her power would remain unchecked forever (v. 8) had encouraged the city to revel in its excesses, without pity or compassion. Now the pain she had inflicted on others would be brought home to her. In verses 10-15: It is by divine authority that such terrible retribution comes. Babylon's elorborate rituals and techniques for uncovering the mysteries of the future could not fend off the disaster. The all-consuming fire ravging the countyside concludes this forwarning of Babylon's imminent downfall. This is not gloating over the enemy so much as the conviction that a divine will for justice untimately shapes the course of human history. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 27th

Read Isaiah 46.1-13. In 46.1-13: The uselessness of false gods. In verses 1-7: The theme of idolatry highlights the helpless situation of the priests and worshippers of Babylon. With babylon facing imminent capture, those who cared for the images of the gods would soon be forced to flee with them to a place of safety (v. 1). Yet they would not find it. There would be no place to hide, and the absurdity of human beings trying to save their gods shows they are in reality no gods at all. The true deity is the one who carries, not who is carried (vv. 6-7). In verses 8-11: The true God shapes the destiny of nations (vv. 10-11). The bird of prey is the man for my purpose from a far country, none other than Cyrus, who willbring release to Israel. In verse 12-13: Rebuilding and restoring the ruined Jerusalem is God's salvatiuon. God's delieverance has a very practical aspect to it. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 26th

Read Isaiah 45.18-25. The prophet turns to address the many nations of the world. If God can shape the destiny of Israel, God's purpose is that every nation should know that there is no god but one and worship this one God alone. Those who had once made light of it (see 36.18-20) will be ashamed of their foolishness (v. 24) and confess that Israel was the first of many nations to acknowledge the Lord as God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 25th

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 knowldge this true God for the spurious aid of an idol would be utter folly (v.16). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 24th

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 had 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 and Questions..

Reading for June 23rd

Read Isaiah 44.21-28. Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the restored city will be inhabited once againand 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 a title used of Israelite kings (for "shepherd" as a title of kings and rulers, see jer 23.1-5; Ezek 34.1-24). Even a 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 langauge to show due recognition to the rulers of 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 June 22nd

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 fuuture events (v. 7). In verses 9-20: A sharp reproof of idolatry: the very fact that they are false, since humanbeings cannot make god (v. 20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 21st

Read Isaiah 43.14-28 In verses 14-21: Verses 16-17 refer to crossing the sea and the destruction of the pursuing Egyptians (Ex 14.15-30). The return of Israel from among the nations will continue the 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 hand as a weak and sinful people who have burdened God with their sins. Both portraits are valid. The suffering were necessary and inevitable (v. 28). Yet the consequences of Israel's wrongdoing had now been fully atoned for (see 40.2). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 20th

Read Isaiah 43.`-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, 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, probbaly 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 provvidentially controls all the world 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 June 19th

Read Isaiah 42.14-25. The references to the blind and deaf in vv.16,18-19 reverse the threatening aspects of the warnings given 6.9-10 by the eight-century Isaiah of Jerusalem (see further 43.8). The descriptions of the weak and distressed state of the pophet'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 misforturnes that had befallen the former inhabitants of Judah in many places. The mission of God's servant requires a recollection (v. 240 that Israel's present situation was a consequence of its own wrongdoing. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 18th

Read Isaiah 43.1-13. In 42.1-25: The mission of the servant. In verses 1-4: The introduction of the servant follows the pattern of a royal emissary being introduced at court. The authority of the sender is conferred on the deputy who I sent. In verses 5-9: The servant of God is to bring a light to the nations (v. 6). This is the coming of salvation and the ending of Israel's spiritual blindness (v. 7), but is the promise only for the scattered survivors of Israel who dwell among the nations, or is it also for those nations themselves? Verse 49.6 answers this question; It is for everyone, although 45.22 comes very close to anticipating this message. The inescapable force of the argument that the Lord God of Israel is the creator and Lord of all nations leads to this larger hope for the nations of the world. In verses 10-13:The revelation of the new task assigned to Israel, God's servant, call forth a response of praise in the most distant places. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 17th

Read Isaiah 41.11-29. In verses 11-16: The present weakness of Israel (v. 14) is contrasted with the stregth that God will confer upon them (vv. 15-16). In verses 17-24: Israel's tradition taught that, at the beginning of the nation'shistory, God had provided sustenance for the journey through the wilderness (see Deut 8.1-4) and now the same care would be repeated. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 16th

Read Isaiah 41.1-10. In 41.1-29: I am your God. In verses 1-5: The speech of the Assyrian Rabshakeh in 36.20 had asked in complacent irony: "Who among all the gods of the countries have saved their countries out of my hand, that the Lord should save Jerusalem out of my hand?" The prophecies of ch. 41 provide maginficent rejoinder to this question, showing how and why the God of Jerusalem is different. The Holy One of Israel is creator and director of human history. Proof of this is first seen in the victories that Cyrus, king of Medes and Persians, has already won (vv. 2-5, 25). This ruler is mentioned by name more fully in 44.28; 45.1-4, 13. The coastlands (vv. 1,5) are most distant parts of the earth, so that all nations may recognize that a divine plan is at work. In verses 6-10: Again, the prophet redicules the foolish work of the idol maker (see also 23-24, 29). God had already called Israel to the the servant-people who would fulfill God's speacil purpose on earth (compare 49.6). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 15th

Read Isaiah 40.12-31. In verses 12-20: Such a message would be unbelieble if God were other than the sovereign creator of the entire universe (vv. 12-14). Even the multitude of the nations of the world are as nothing before such immense power (v. 17). In verses 21-28: The very stars adhere to the divine places set before them at creation (v. 26). Already vv. 19-20 answer the question posed in v. 18: False ideas of God lead to false worship expectations about the divine purpose. Only by abandoning the absurdities of idolatry can the people grasp the power of God (v. 23). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 14th

Raed Isaiah 40.1-11. In 40.1-11: A highway for God. In verses 1-11: The prophet begins by calling on the reader to bring a message of comfort to Jerusalem. Her period of servitude is now complete and freedom is at hand (v. 2). This message of hope pictures a great highway (vv. 3-5), providing a way home for those scattered remnants of the former Israel who have been captive among the nations, paticularly in Babylon. God wil stregthen the weakned survivors who feel that they cannot make the journey (vv. 10-11; 29-31). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 13th

Read Isaiah 39.1-8. In 39.1-8: The visit of the Babylonian emissaries. The book of Isaiah is built around the belief in God's concern with the Davidic dynasty of kings and the city of Jerusalem where God's Temple stood. The contrast between the late dynasty and the city in 701 BCE, when Isaiah was active as a prophet, and events a century later when the Babylonian forces confronted Jerusalem (in 598 and again in 587 BCE), effectively divides the book between two main periods- the Assyrian and the Babylonian epochs. The visit of Babyloniian emissaries to Hezekiah when Sennacherib threatened the king and his city forms a bridge between these two main sections. The events of vv. 6-7 occurred in 598 BCE when Jehoiachin was removed from the throne and taken prisoner to Babylon, with most of his immediate household (2 Kings 24.10-17). God's protection of Jerusalem and its Davidic dynasty was not unconditional, but depended upon the obedience and submission of each ruler. The comment of Hezekiah, The will be peace and secuirty in my days (v. 8), is not selfish complacency but submissive acceptance of the conditions under which God's promise was conferred. More than this could not be given. Comments or Question..

Reading for June 12th

Read Isaiah 38.1-22. In 38.1-22: Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. The story of Hezekiah's illness (v.21) is a further illustration of piety (v. 3): his total submissiveness to the will of the Lord God and his subsequet recovery from the sickness are inseparably related to the wonderful deliverance of Jerusalem from the forces of Assyria (v. ^). Signs were evidence of the validity of a prophetic pronoucement (see Isa 7.10-17). The exact nature of the sign is not clear. In verses 10-20: This psalm of thanksgiving is not included in 2 Kings 20.1-11, but is added as further evidence of the king's piety. It is a personal psalm of thanksgiving for recovery from serious illness (vv. 10-15) and thanksgiving for recovery (vv. 16-20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 11th

Read Isaiah 37.22-38. In verses 21-35: Isaiah replies to the Assyrain letter with a series of prphetic declarations. Jerusalem survived intact and the king retained his throne. These facts were more central to Isaiah's message than the punishment eventually inflicted on Sennacherib, who is accused of blasphemy (37.38). In verse 36: The work of the angel of the Lord may have been an outbreak of disease among the forces camped in unhygienic conditions (as foretold in 10.16). Verse 37.7 declares: "I myself will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land." Other possibilities cannot be ruled out, and no precise information is available. In verses 37-38: Sennacherib's assassination by members of his own family is not reported in Assyrian royal chronciles. The king's death occurred some time after the events of 701, but his insult to the God of Jerusalem was seen to demand personal punishment. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 10th

Read Isaiah 37.8-21 In verse 9: When he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah: A repetition of the Assyrian ultimatum. In verses 15-21: The prayer of Hezekiah demonstrates the trust and piety of the king (see especially v. 21). Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 9th

The wonderful deliverance of Jerusalem. In 36.1-37.38: Jerusalem is saved from destruction when threatened by the forces of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, in 701 BCE. The account is repeated from 2 Kings 18.17-19.37 because it provides the main background to chs. 28-31 and because of the major part Isaiah played. Read Isaiah Isaiah 36.1-37.7 In 36.1-37.7: The report of the speech of the Assyrian Rabshakeh and Isaiah's response. Two closely parallel accounts tell the story of the Assyrian address mocking Hezekiah's God along with Isaiah's response. In the first account 36.1-37.7), the Rabshakeh speaks in the hearing of all Jerusalem, where as in the seond (37.8-38) the ultimatum is conveyed by letter and much longer reply is given by Isaiah (37.6-7caompare with 37.22-35. In 36.2: the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish. The siege and capture of Lachish formed the major battle of the Assyrian compaugn in Judah and was afterwards extensively illustrated in caved wall panels the decorated Sennacherib's palce. These have been recovered and are now displayed inthe British Museum in London. Comments or Questions..