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..

Reading for April 27th

 Read Isaiah 42.1-13. 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 in conferred on the deputy who is 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), is this 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, called forth a response of praise in the most distant places. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 26th

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