The first three chapters of Isaiah were filled with judgements and warnings to a stubborn and rebellious Jerusalem. Remember, Isaiah prophesied to Jerusalem throughout the reigns of 4 Kings.
Isaiah 4 brought some light, encouragement, and hope.
Vs 2: “the branch of the Lord [Israel and Judah] will be [at some time in the future] beautiful and glorious.”
Vs. 4: “the Lord will wash the filth from them,” and “the Lord will cleanse them.”
Vs. 5: “the Lord will provide shade for them.”
What a much need message for those of us who are so much like the Israelites! We are God’s people. He has given us so much. We have Jesus, yet we are so quick to complain, and we can be so rebellious.
But the message of Chapter 4 is that:
THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE
GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL TO THOSE THAT REPENT AND CALL ON HIS NAME
Chapter 5. What an incredible chapter!
To me, Chapter 5 was:
Like a story
Like a song
Like a prophesy
Like a poem
Also, a warning
Here’s what a heard from versus 20, 21, and 22
There is sorrow for those:
Who say evil is good and good is evil
Who are filled with pride and arrogance
Who are heroes at drinking wine, and boast about how much they can drink
Vs 25 is scary:
“the Lord’s anger burns against these people and He has raised his fist to crush them.”
Truly this is the righteous anger of the Lord. I thought to myself, “do I have a fear of God?”
Yes, we are New Testament Christians that enjoy the blood of Jesus, and the Grace of God. Yet we have grace with the warning to go and sin no more. We have grace with the calling to daily try to be more like Jesus. I do not want myself or anyone I know and love to continue in rebellious living and face the risk of God’s wrath.
I did a message on September 10 of this year entitled “Pleased to Meet You.” In that message I used Isaiah 6 as my text. I encourage you to go back and listen to that message. Isaiah 6 is about loss, fear, and worry about the future. All things that we not only go through, but that Isaiah also experienced, and he wrote about these occurrences in his life. Isaiah sought the Lord. He heard from God. He repented from sin and then said, “Lord, send me.” I encourage all of us to enter this week’s Bible readings with a renewed passion to decide to follow Jesus! Say to him every morning, “Lord, send me.”
One last item I want to mention: Here is the beauty of this study. I concede that some of the chapters we read this week were difficult to absorb and follow. There were some pretty dark moments, yet with some moments of hope mixed in. But did you catch the last verse of chapter 6?
If you missed it, here it is:
If even a tenth-a remnant-survive, it will be invaded again and burned. (Pretty dark right?) BUT as an oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.
The voice of the Lord, and destiny of His people, will never be snuffed out. Although sometimes cut down, there is always a seed that will bring more fruit forever and ever! The word of the Lord will last forever!
The song of the Lord will always be sung by His people. It will never be silenced. PRAISE BE TO OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!
Brian Kamstra
