Reading for May 28th

 Read Isaiah 63.1-19. In 63.1-19: The day of vengeance. In verses 1-6: In vivid and frightening imagery, human frustration and longing for the end of violence calls forth this powerful picture of God acting alone to pass judgement on the warring nations. Where no human ruler could impose justice and peace (v. 5), God had to act directly and decisively (vv. 5-6). In verses 7-14: In the past, God's presence had accompanied the people and given them victory over their enemies (v. 9). In the present, the rebelliousness of the people grieved the spirit of God, aroused the divine anger, and led to failure and defeat (v. 10). The people of Israel had learned this lesson in the past when failure humbled them (see Josh 7.1-26), and now they had to relearn it (vv. 11-14). In verses 15-19: Even after temporary success had brought about partial change in Judah's fortunes (v. 18), new threats and new oppressions had robbed the people of the justice and prosperity they sought (v. 19). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 27th

 Read Isaiah 62.1-12. In 62.1-12: A city not forsaken. In verses 1-5: As the situation in Jerusalem failed to change after the downfall of Babylon, the prophet reassured the people of God's intense love for the city. These are presented here in terms of the intense love for the city (vv. 4-5). In verses 6-9: The wealth and food that foreigners took were prime examples of the frustrations and disappointments of the past. The people must pray that such injustice never again occurs (vv. 8-9). In verses 10-12: A note of urgency colors the prophet's insistence that God's promise will not fail. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 26th

 Read Isaiah 61.1-11. In 61.1-11: The year of the Lord's favor. In verses 1-4: All that God had promised regarding the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem would shortly be fulfilled. In verses 5-9: Expectation of God's direct action to overthrow the present world order becomes a marked feature of the hope expressed throughout chs. 56-66. Where chs. 40-55 had recognized the hand of God at work in the rise of Cyrus, king of Persia, to direct the destiny of Judah, now Israel awaits a more direct divine intervention. In verses 8-11: Assurance that this transformation will take place derives from the very nature of God. Love of justice and hatred of all forms of wrongdoing are aspects of God's rule. Comments or Questions.

Reading for May 25th

 Vision of the new Jerusalem.

In chs. 60-62: After setbacks and dissensions in chs. 56-59.  60--62 recover the vision of the future central to chs. 40-55. Jerusalem will be rebuilt, a city of peace and righteousness. These chapters reflect the spiritual reawakening that came with the rebuilding and restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem in 520-516 BCE. More broadly, these chapters express a positive, if ideal, portrayal of human beings living in peace, prosperity, and harmony. They reveal a goal to strive for, not a simplistic expectation of a condition of human a happiness that will drop down as a gift from heaven. 

Read Isaiah 60.1-22. In 60.1-22: Arise, shine for your light has come. In verses 1-7: The expected return had not occurred. At best, only token numbers of the former population had come back. The vision of a great return was still a distant dream. A new pattern of Jewish life emerged that established rules of conduct for living as peaceably as possible in alien lands. In verses 8-14; The high point of the great vision of 45.22-23, that foreigners too would share in the coming salvation and prosperity, is here sharply reduced to granting them the role of being servants and suppliers to the restored Israel. In verses 15-22: Hope for the future Jerusalem as a city of wealth, learning, and authority contrasts with the revelations of conflict and violence that 59.1-8 has revealed. The need to restore a vision of God's intentions for Jerusalem became urgent as a counterweight to the current difficulties. The Temple was restored and a new focus provided for those who worshipped the Lord in every land. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 24th

 Read Isaiah 59.9-21. In verses 9-15a: The Lack of an effective administration of justice allowed violence and corruption to flourish. Those who had won power under foreign masters were now unwilling to relinquish control and to empower a new order of religious leaders. It was not until the work of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the middle of the fifth century BCE, that the situation began to be put right. In verses 15b-21: Without protection that God alone can bring,the helplessness described so vividly in vv. 10-11 must continue. The assurance in v. 21 that God's word will prove effective indicates that Chs. 56-59, at one time, formed a separate collection to which this section was a conclusion. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 23rd

 Read Isaiah 59.1-8. In 9.1-21: Why God's face is hidden. In verses 1-8: God's salvation has not come, not because God is weak and powerless, but because the people's wrongdoing creates barrier between themselves and God (vv. 1-2). The rebukes (vv. 3-8) condemn violence, injustice and brigandage, whether arising from lack of any recognized authority to implement justice, or whether because those who weld power in Jerusalem are themselves the chief culprits. Comments or Questions...

Reading for May 22nd

 Read Isaiah 58.1-14. In 58.1-14: The fast acceptable to God.  In verses 1-10: A fresh problem concerns those who maintain a bold public display of piety, but whose actions and way of life flout the basic requirements of justice and goodness. The central issue is fasting, self-denial aimed at concentrating mind and body on prayer, which was publicly declared by wearing sackcloth (a rough garment) and smearing the face and hands with ashes (symbol of mortality) (v. 5). Yet such deeds unaccompanied by compassion and concern for those less fortunate were meaningless to God (vv. 6-9). In verses 11-14: The efforts to restore Jerusalem had focused on externals--restoring ancient buildings and replanting neglected fields--instead of the inner recovery of spiritual health and wholeness. Only a renewal of this inner direction of life could bring about the true rebuilding of the city. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 21st

 Read Isaiah 57.1-21. In 57.1-21: No peace for the wicked. In verses 1-10: The sense of disunity within Jerusalem reveals that the end of the captivity had not brought an end to its troubles. It had simply given rise to new ones. There was injustice and false and immoral worship, tolerated under foreign rule (vv. 5-7). Old customs of gods worshipped for centuries throughout the region (v. 9) had ben revived while the Temple of the Lord lay in ruins. Molech is probably one of the titles of Baal, a god especially linked with child sacrifice. In verses 11-21: The sharp prophetic critique of wrongdoing within the community that characterizes earlier prophecies reappears here with added vigor (see 5.11-25). The warning of 48.22 that there would be no peace for the wicked receives a dismal confirmation in the vain efforts of those who try to secure it (vv. 19-21). There is note of both lamentation and despair in the repetition of God's call to build and be patient (vv. 14-19) and the response of vv. 20-21, affirming that the wicked are incapable of creating peace. Comment or Questions.. 

Reading for May 20th

 Read Isaiah 56.1- 12. In 56.1-12: Soon my salvation will come. In verses 1-8: The call to rebuild Jerusalem had been an open invitation (especially 55.6-7). This openness, however, did not take into account strong traditional rules, concerning who belonged in God's family (see Deut 23.1-8). Now these rules were being used to exclude those, such as foreigners and eunuchs, who were treated as outcasts (v. 3), even though this mocked the Temple as a house of prayer (v. 7). In verses 9-12: This sharp rebuke addressed to the blind and silent dogs reflects the bitter divisions that had emerged within the community. Most likely the presence of returned exiles contributed to this bitterness with those already holding positions of power in Jerusalem reluctant to give it up. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 19th

 Read Isaiah 55.6- 13. The concluding unit (vv. 6-13) makes a rich and memorable appeal concerning the power of the divine word given through the prophet and the certainty that will accomplish its purpose. What appeared impossible to the human mind was possible with God (vv. 8-9). As rain and snow made the earth fertile and productive, so would God's word prove equally effective in achieving its intended purpose (v. 10). The promise of v. 13 summarizes in pictorial language the message of hope for the future by insisting that the ruination of the vineyard of God (Israel) by briers and thorns would be a feature of the past (see 5.6). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 18th

 Read Isaiah 55.1-5. In 55.1-13: Seek the Lord while he may be found. Although this chapter concludes of the prophet of the return, chs. 54 and 55 form a bridge to 56-66. Two separate units are in the present chapter. In verses 1-5 The first unit concerns God's promise to the royal dynasty of David (2 Sam 7.1-7), an everlasting covenant (v. 3). This covenant is an act of God's love, an unmerited gift. Along with the promises set out in 11.1-5 and 32.1-8, it affirms that God will hold fast to the unqualified promise that, through the authority entrusted to this royal dynasty of kings, Israel will exercise leadership over the nations (v. 5). This can mean either that, although the royal family itself would not return to the throne, leadership among the nations would be shared throughout the servant-nation, or that the restoration of the Davidic monarchy is promised here. The course of the events in the following half-century reveals that such an expectation remained alive and exercised a strong political influence, even though it failed to reach fruition. In later years, a larger "messianic" interpretation concerning the coming of a divinely sent savior was built on this, and the other royal prophecies, of the book of Isaiah and Psalms. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 17th

 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 its 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 prosperous and bustling future that awaits (vv. 6-7). In verses 9-17: Another lesson from the traditions of the past is the lesson of Noah, who after ending the great Deluge was the recipient of a divine promise that never again would such a catastrophe 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 and Questions..

Reading for May 16th

 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 servant will suffer as a result of his commitment to the task (50.4-9). Now what the suffering entails is spelled out in all its horrifying detail. This enigmatic passage seems to combine many experiences. Even if the references in 53.8-9 are not 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 is being being reported here. The servant mission is divisive in its challenge. Not all the prophet's hearers respond to his demands, and many have already shown themselves to be rebellious and unresponsive. It is those who have identified themselves with this servant task, who have bore rebukes, reproaches, and wounds of their fellow, whose fate is described 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 positive 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 prolong his days (53.10-11). Rather it is the fruit that will be borne by 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 sensitivity to the way in which the righteous often suffer at the hands of wrongdoers leads to a new perception of the meaning of suffering. The righteous individual may bear the sin of the many who are guilty. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 15th

 Read Isiah 52.1-12. In 52.1-12: Put on your beautiful garments. In verses 1-2: The uncircumcised and unclean are 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 ended. In verses 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 will have 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. 8). 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 forbearers from Egypt--the event that marked the beginning of the nation's history--this departure would not be in haste (see Ex 12.39); now it wouldn't include the plundering of their captors (v. 11; see Ex 12.35-36). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 14th

 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 addressed and it's ruined state vividly described (v. 23). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 13th

 Read Isaiah 51.1-8. In 51.1-23: Stand up, O Jerusalem. In verses 1-8: A fresh argument strengthen the appeal, Abraham was but one when God call him (v. 2). Yet from this one man a whole nation came into being. How much more certainly is God capable or 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 May 12th

 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 the 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 who use torches (firebrands) to kindle destruction (see 10.17 for a similar use of the picture of light becoming fire). Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 11th

 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 May 10th

 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 (salivation) 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 or establishing the land, apportioning the desolate heritages, and releasing the prisoners. Exiles will be able to return. Syene (perhaps southerner Egypt) is an example of the distant locations to which the people had fled. Comments or Questions..

Reading for May 9th

 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: Go out from Babylon, flee from Chalea. Fleeing from Babylon would be like the flight from Egypt by which Israel had first achieved 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 or warning (v. 22) is a necessary addition to the message 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 (v. 18). That could happen again and those who, in pursuit of peace, shunned the risks and dangers of the journey home would find they enjoyed a worthless tranquillity. Comments or Questions...

Reading for May 8th

 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 response 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 meant. 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 would 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..