Blog – Read Through the Bible

November 27 / Isaiah 17-19

Isaiah 17-19

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, oracles against Damascus (Aram/Syria), Cush (Ethiopia), and Egypt. There’s a lot of history involved here, mainly aggression by Assyria that helps to explain the judgments against these nations. If you’ve been reading the “See also…” links from 2023, you see that The Chronological Bible has much of Isaiah interspersed with readings (and links) from history (especially II Kings) and from other prophets (especially Jeremiah, but also Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, and Micah).

Another six “in that day” references in chapter 19, this one a day when Egypt, Israel, and Assyria all come together: In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth… (vv. 19:23-24a) Has that day come or are we still waiting for the End Times? I recall the Camp David Accords in 1978 when Jimmy Carter brought Egypt and Israel to the peace table, a treaty that still holds today in spite of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. But the rest of the Arab world still seems to be united against Israel. So, still to come…?

One other verse struck me: And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. (v. 19:22) I think it is often the case that the Lord tests us and then “heals” us so that we can return more faithfully to Him. He is a good God and we often simply don’t know what we don’t know.

Blessings!

November 26 / Isaiah 14:24-16:14

Isaiah 14:24-16:14

Dear RTB’ers,

Today, judgments on Assyria, the aggressor from the north/northeast and on Israel’s western neighbor, Philistia and its eastern neighbor, Moab. Only a few verses each for the first two, but two full chapters for Moab. While Isaiah has nothing but harsh words for Assyria and Philistia, he seems to have a soft heart for Moab: My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee… let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. … Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer… (v. 15:5a; 16:4, 9a) Or maybe it is the Lord speaking through Isaiah, loving people even as He is bringing devastation upon them.

One other thought today – the Lord will do what He chooses, His plans will not be undone. Four times in a few verses the ESV uses the word “purpose”: As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand… This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? (v. 14:24b, 26-27a) I wonder what is His purpose for our nation for the next few years…? It will be done, whatever it is!

Blessings!

November 25 / Isaiah 13:1-14:23

Isaiah 13:1-14:23

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s reading is 100% about Babylon, and it’s not good for them – for the country, for the city, for the king, or for its people! First we have God’s personal proclamations (through Isaiah) in chapter 13, then Israel’s own triumphs and taunts in chapter 14. Chapter 13 gets confusing when Isaiah goes from God speaking in the first person (I, My, in Isaiah 13:3,11-13,17), then in the third person of God’s judgment in the rest of the chapter.

Israel’s chapter 14 taunt is interesting beginning in Isaiah 14:9 where the dead rise up to meet the defeated Babylonian king, suggesting that he would not even get a proper burial (Isaiah 14:18-20). Many commentators see Isaiah 14:12-14 (and following?) as referring to Satan, the devil, the “fallen angel”. An AI link reports that the term “Day Star” was translated as “Lucifer” in the Latin Vulgate; it’s where we come to give Satan the name Lucifer.

Finally, we close today’s reading with more first-person judgments from the Lord in Isaiah 14:22-23. And it all came to pass as Isaiah had predicted.

Blessings!

November 24 / Isaiah 11-12

Isaiah 11-12

Dear RTB’ers,

After many chapters of condemnation and judgment upon Judah and Israel (Ephraim) and nearby aggressor nations, we come to two chapters of relief and uplifting for all of Israel and for all of us. We read today’s first five verses as prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, whom we know as Jesus; then the rest of the chapter seems to refer to the End Times, after Jesus’ return. I was particularly taken by Isaiah 11:11-12: In that day the Lord will extend His hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of His people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

My Study Bible suggested that these prophetic verses may have been referring to the return of the exiles from Babylonian captivity or to a “regathering” (a second time) at Jesus’ return. Personally, having just read a book written by a woman who survived the Holocaust in Auschwitz and other locations, these verses brought to mind the talk of those prisoners wanting to go to Palestine after their release.

Finally, in chapter 12 Isaiah gives us two songs of praise and thanksgiving, well worth our second or third read!! Enjoy!

Blessings!

November 23 / Isaiah 10:5-34

Isaiah 10:5-34

Dear RTB’ers,

Almost all of what we read today is about Assyria and its attempt to conquer Jerusalem (and the Southern Kingdom, Judah). Isaiah writes of the boastful, arrogant Assyrian leaders believing in their overwhelming military strength, when in fact it is God who is in charge. Here is God’s plan to use Assyria against Judah: Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down… (v. 6), while the Assyrian leaders are thinking: …shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images? (v. 11) In the end Isaiah writes that God will have His way: When the Lord has finished all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. (v. 12) With all this you may recall the story that we read back in II Kings 7:3-20 about the four lepers who sat outside the walls of Jerusalem asking themselves why they were just sitting there to die. They got up and went to the Assyrian camps and found them all dead. Isaiah’s prophecy fulfilled!

Today’s reading closes with more of God’s victory for His people: In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. (vv. 20-21) Here we see what John has guided us in his links to past readings – prophecies fulfilled both in the present and in the future. God delivers His people from the Assyrian invasion during the time of King Hezekiah (the paragraph above) and He will deliver His people from Babylon after their seventy year exile in the late 500s BC.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians… (v. 24a) Also, as I posted a few days ago, words for us, …be not afraid of … WHATEVER! Glory!

Blessings!

November 22 / Isaiah 8:16-10:4

Isaiah 8:16-10:4

Dear RTB’ers,

Our Bible today is divided into books, chapters, and verses. It wasn’t always that way. Ancient people had rolled papyrus scrolls, very likely with separations between books and even between particular sections. (For example, see Luke 4:17, And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written … ) Somehow, no doubt guided by the Holy Spirit, our early church fathers divided these writings, agreed what should be kept and what should be left out, and gave us the Bible that we read today. [NOTE: I recall that Martin Luther wanted the book of James eliminated, but that did not happen.] And so with our reading today. The STS authors give us parts of three chapters. I don’t know about the beginning of today’s reading, but the ending is clear: For all this His anger has not turned away, and His hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:12,17,21; 10:4) Three times written in chapter 9 and once repeated in chapter 10. A small, but interesting item…

Of much more interest to us is the beginning of chapter 9, especially as we move into Advent and the Christmas season:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light …

For to us a child is born,
to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over His kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:2a, 6-7

I have often suggested that you read the “See also…” links on these posts. Yesterday’s “See also…” talked about prophecy, about how a given message might apply to the prophet’s current readers and how it might be read by us. Today’s reading is one of those. Clearly we read the verses above as applied to Jesus. How did Isaiah’s readers see it? No doubt, as we read in the gospels, the Jewish people were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, so to Isaiah’s current readers these are Messianic verses. But did they also see current events playing out? For me, these verses seem out of context for what we read before and after. But we will embrace them in the coming weeks!

Every day, please pay attention to the “See also…” links!

Blessings!

November 21 / Isaiah 7:1-8:15

Isaiah 7:1-8:15

Dear RTB’ers,

Hopefully everyone reading these posts and comments has a copy of our companion book, Search the Scriptures. The authors there provide a setting for today’s reading – Syria (Aram) and the Northern Kingdom (Israel, aka Ephraim) have conspired to invade and overtake the Southern Kingdom, Judah. So the Lord sends Isaiah to King Ahaz with a suggestion that God has everything taken care of. But Ahaz resists Isaiah’s counsel, even refusing to ask God for a sign when it has been offered! Then Isaiah delivers the bottom line from the Lord: The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house … the king of Assyria! (v. 7:17) Isaiah follows with four “In that day…” consequences of Ahaz’s refusal to trust God, Isaiah 7:18-25, and continuing into Isaiah 8.

God’s word to Isaiah to be delivered to King Ahaz: And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands…’ (v. 7:4a) Here we have a word of encouragement from God to the king of Judah, spoken in a four-set, Be careful, be quiet, do not fear… [nor] be faint. Now, suppose we terminate this sentence early and imagine it spoken to us: Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of … Because of WHATEVER!! The same four-set applied to us and to any situation that we may be facing. The apostle Paul said it best:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He Who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God Who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the One Who died—more than that, Who was raised—Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-35, 37-39

Be careful, be quiet, do not fear… [nor] be faint.

Blessings!

November 20 / Isaiah 6

Isaiah 6

Dear RTB’ers,

A couple of comments on the following verse: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (v. 8) First, I love this verse! I love Isaiah’s willingness to be used by the Lord. And every time I read this verse, I recall the song that we sing, “Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord…” And I always want to answer for myself, “I will go, Lord, if You lead me…” So yes, this verse touches me.

A second item on this verse comes from my Study Bible. Those authors mention that Isaiah was made privy to the Divine Council (“for Us”). Only two other prophets were also recorded as being blessed in that fashion – Micaiah in I Kings 22:19-20 and Jeremiah in Jeremiah 23:18, 22. Interesting!

Finally, if verses 9-10 seem familiar to you, it’s because Jesus cited Isaiah’s verses Himself, Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “you will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears amd understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. (Matthew 13:14-15; see also Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10)

Blessings!

November 19 / Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5

Dear RTB’ers,

There has not been a lot of encouragement for Israel in these first five chapters. (Yes, we’ll get to some positives later.) Today we see a series of six “woes” spoken against various people and their activities. It’s easy for us to recall Jesus pronouncing woes against the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 and against any one of His contemporaries (and us) in Luke 6. I could also see chastisement against any of us in a few of today’s woes. Strong drink, in particular is mentioned twice and I was personally challenged by Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes… (v. 21a) Pride and excessive self-confidence have long been problems for me.

The ESV does not capitalize deific pronouns, so some of you may have been confused by verse 19: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!” The “him” pronouns refer to God – this entire sentence is sarcasm directed against God, spoken (as if) by men who embrace falsehood and revel in their sin. If you want capitalized deific pronouns, read the NASB or the NKJV.

We close today’s chapter with God’s judgment against those who …have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. (v. 24b) With a whistle (Isaia 5:26) the Lord will bring devastation on Israel.

Blessings!

November 18 / Isaiah 2-4

Isaiah 2-4

Dear RTB’ers,

Occasional confusion in Isaiah. What does he mean by “in the latter days” (Isaiah 2:2), or “in that day” (Isaiah 2:11,17,20; 3:7,18; 4:1,2), or For the LORD of hosts has a day… (Is. 2:12a) What and when are the “latter days” or a day, or especially “that day”? I get the sense that most references to a “day” have to do with judgment by the Lord against wrongdoers and their wrongdoing, but is that against Israel’s leaders, or all the Israeli people? OR, is Isaiah predicting the End Times? The Lord’s DAY!! Jesus’ RETURN!! And, it seems to be the case that some of these references are more immediate and some are far off, possibly even “eternity off”. We don’t know for sure; we just know that the Lord chooses HIS day, whenever that is, and He does whatever He wishes on that day. Still, I wonder…

With all that uncertainty and judgment on those days, we are left in today’s reading with hope for Israel and mankind in the final day mentioned: In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. … Then the LORD will create … a cloud by day, and … a flaming fire by night… (v. 4:2, 5) Shades of Moses and the Israelites in the Wilderness…!! Truly, the Lord watches over His people!

Blessings!