Isaiah 61:4-11 - Millenium

"They shall ..." It is a clear fact from the Bible that God does most of His work through people. The people who are set free by Jesus will become people who build up ancient ruins and repair the devastation of many generations. We need to look at the world in hope. When God's Spirit moves in us (individually and corporately) all sorts of devastation can be undone.

There will come a time when the church fulfills its mission as the body of Christ, and the world will respect the church and come to the church for counsel. It is difficult to see how this can be given the state of our society at the moment, but that is precisely the point. Our God is a transforming God. The situation of Israel when this was given was desperate, yet sometime later Cyrus did send the exiles home to rebuild the temple. It is possible that the things spoken of here are part of the Millennium that is spoken of in Revelation.

Why will this happen? Because the Lord loves justice. Ultimately it is His zeal which will accomplish this, but the fruits of it spread to His people.

So we should rejoice before the Lord. A time will come when righteousness and praise will sprout up in the world. You may say this is impossible, it is just fantasy. But ask yourself this: who will win God or Satan? The way we see things just now is not the way they will remain. It is God's plans that will be fulfilled.

Isaiah 61:1-3 - Transformation

These are the words read by Jesus about Himself, recorded in Luke's gospel (Luke 4:18,19), and is another of the passages about the servant. He has been anointed to proclaim good news to the poor. He is to bind up the broken-hearted, and proclaim freedom to the captives, and release from darkness, and the year of the Lord's favour. At this point Jesus stopped the quotation, maybe because the next bit will be fulfilled at the second coming. However, I am not sure about this. Vengeance is exercised by God on those forces, spiritual or human, who hold people in captivity. At the moment God is in the business of bringing freedom and release. 

The "year of the Lord's favour" is clearly not a calendar year, but an indeterminate period of time. This should be a word of caution about taking every reference in the Bible to periods of time as literal. 

The work of the servant is to bring transformation. to change ashes to beauty, joy in place of mourning, praise and gladness for despair. We should apply this to ourselves in two ways. First there is no circumstance about ourselves that cannot be changed, and God is in the business of change. Secondly, when we look at the world around us, especially at individuals involved in our lives, we should not lose heart, but look at them through the eyes of Jesus and of His mission.

We will be called mighty oaks and are for the display of His splendour.

Isaiah 60:10-22 - Favour

The foreigners and kings who had ransacked and scorned the nation would rebuild the walls and serve the nation. There would be a complete transformation.

The nation had been struck by God in righteous anger, now He will show them favour in compassion. We need to come to terms with the reality of our sin, and the judgement it deserves, then we can receive the favour of God.

"Your gates will always stand open.." Openness is a sign of the kingdom. The church is to be open to all people. Anyone who turns to God is welcome. We are not to have a defensive attitude. Note also that the decision nations and people make is important. Nations that will not serve the Lord will perish.

Wealth will come to Israel, people will come to serve Israel. This is a complete transformation. For the land was forsaken, but would become the pride of the whole earth. At the moment we see a nation that despises God, but this will change. We will know that the Lord is our Redeemer, then the world will know that He is the Lord.

Our gates will be called salvation and praise. These are the things that will characterise the people of God. We will live in the light of the Lord.. It does not matter what the circumstances are today, we can live in the light of the Lord. And we are talking not about a temporary state of affairs, but an everlasting one.

We have been chosen for the display of the Lord's splendour in our lives.

Isaiah 60:4-9 - All the nations

They needed to look up to see what God was doing. Consider their present position. They were downtrodden, a despised people full of sorrow. When God's glory shines on them they will be attractive to other nations, they will be respected, their hearts will be filled with joy, they will be radiant. The Lord brings a change about in our countenance. Whatever you are feeling like just now, you should look to the Lord and we should expect to be changed.

The nation had been stripped of its wealth, but the nations would bring wealth back to Israel. Part of salvation is a restoration. And this wealth would be an acceptable offering to the Lord. 

Even the furthest lands will look to the Lord and bring wealth to Israel. We need to understand that the Lord's blessing brings honour in the world. Despite all their protestations, people actually know deep down that there is a God, that there is something wrong with us (sin). Deep down they are looking for God. 

Isaiah 60:1-3 - Shining in the Darkness

Once again, we need to ignore chapter divisions. Most of chapter 59 has been a damning description of the state of Israel, and indeed the state of the world, outlining the effects of a world that turns its back on God. It still knows it needs righteousness and justice, yet finds itself unable to obtain them. This is very true of atheism and secularism. The problem is not that they do not want good things, that they do not seek a fair and just society, but that having turned their back on God all attempts to achieve it prove futile. Rebellion against God is the root of the problem.

Then the final verse of chapter 59 refers to the servant, both in terms of Christ, the church and Israel. Chapter 60 is a continuation of this. Thick darkness does indeed cover the earth, but our response must not be one of despair, instead we are to arise and shine, and to let the light of the Lord shine through us. 

The promise is that nations will come to the brightness of our dawn. As Paul says in Philippians 2:15  tells is that we are to shine like stars. This is our purpose, this is our destiny.

Isaiah 59:9-21 - Judgement or repentance

This is a picture of much of the world, including our own country. How many people equate our court system with justice? The human rights legislation seems to do little for human rights, but lots for those of terrorists and criminals. Our public institutions are increasingly losing trust. Even so, we are still far better off than some countries, where bribery is a way of life. We seek to improve things, political leaders promise to improve things, but the result seems to be only more darkness. We have no idea how to make things better.

The reason for all this is that our offences are many. We have turned away from God. We think we are sophisticated in having done this, but in reality it will lead only to trouble. We have truly turned our back on God. The result is that justice, honesty and truthfulness are driven back. Look at your society and ask if this is not a true picture of the world.

This did not please the Lord, so He sent His own salvation. The Lord is not pleased and wants to do something about it. Verses 16 and 17 remind one of the full armour of God in Ephesians 6 that Paul speaks about. 

There are two strands to the Lord's action. One is to bring judgement on the guilty, the other is to forgive those who repent.  We see this in Jesus' teaching. Despite all the popular misconceptions, Jesus spent  lot of time teaching about judgement and hell. This was meant to induce an urgency, to make people realise the need for repentance.

This message will continue to go throughout the earth. It started with Jesus, and has continued to be proclaimed through the Spirit by the church.

Isaiah 59:1-8 - A picture of sin

"Why doesn't God do something", or words like this, are the common cry of many people. "Why doesn't He hear me?". Isaiah answers here quite clearly that the Lord is perfectly able to save, and He is perfectly aware of what is going on in the world, and in our lives. So why is there "no answer"? Because our sins have separated us from God. This is the the blunt truth of the matter. Our sins have separated us from God, so we no longer live in the relationship with God that was supposed to be ours. Sin is your biggest problem, like it or not. Only when we face up to our sin can we possibly hope to find a solution.

The fruits of sin are bloodshed, falsehood, no one calling for justice, relying on empty arguments. Isaiah likens the people to vipers and poisonous spiders.

The people are so lost in sin that they have no idea how to find a solution, how to find peace. Someone might object that all this is too harsh, too extreme, but just look at the world. Look at the thousands of abortions, babies denied life, then listen to all the arguments justifying it. Look at all the poverty in the world, and all the people who die because of our decadent lifestyle in the west. Then listen to all the arguments justifying it. Look at all the lies and platitudes that politicians spout, then look at the voters who make them tell these lies.

We need to look at ourselves and repent.

Isaiah 58:9-14 - How to be truly effective

We may become frustrated at times thinking that praying and fasting are doing no good, God does not seem to be answering, or is altogether ignoring us. It says here that when we have put righteousness in place we will find that the Lord's answer comes quickly. We need to get our hearts and minds right with God.

The nation needed to get rid of oppression, accusation and instead devote themselves to helping the poor. If we look at politics or other areas of power we so often see malice, accusation and underhand methods working together. This sort of operation is supposed to be clever and sophisticated, but it us ultimately useless.

It is when men turn to God and His ways that things will truly start to work smoothly and fruitfulness comes. Then we will be guided by the Lord, and will obtain a good name. If we are devoted to the Lord, then He will make us triumph, and we will truly live in authority. The atheist mocks at the concept of the supernatural, but it is only when we take the supernatural into account that we truly understand life. Only when we remember that it is God who keeps all things going, that He intervenes in life, that we will understand life, and be fully effective.

Isaiah 58:6-8 - Helping the needy

This passage of chapter is often used by churches when they are embarking on a season of fasting. I must admit this seems rather strange to me, for the whole tenor of the chapter is that the fasting itself was of no value unless their actions and attitudes were right as well. This is most definitely not to say that we should not fast, just that this passage has a different focus. When we have the right attitudes and actions, then fasting will truly be valuable. It is like giving a gift to someone. If you genuinely care for that person and they know that, then the gift has value. If the gift is a substitute for true love and concern, then the gift is worthless.

So what are the things that the people needed to do? First they needed to get rid of injustice and to free the oppressed. It is to share our food with the hungry, and for us to provide shelter for the poor. It is to care for our own relatives properly. 

In politics we talk about left and right, but neither come out well in the measure used here. The right is too willing to see the poor suffer. On the other hand the left talks about helping the poor and oppressed, but it is usually about helping the poor with someone else's money! The teaching here is that we (I, you) should help the poor.

People fast and pray to get an answer, we want to see a change in circumstances, often our own circumstances. Things will change when we promote justice and help the needy.  Then the glory of God will shine around us.

Isaiah 58:1-5 - Useless prayer and fasting

Isaiah is to declare aloud in a clear voice the sins of the people. Declaring the sins of the people is part of preaching of the gospel! We need to realise something is wrong and what is wrong before we are able to understand salvation. If we do not appreciate the problem, we are unlikely to appreciate the solution.

This was not a nation that seemed to have rejected God. They had all the form of religion, but as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:5, they denied its power. It is absolutely vital that we attribute power to God. Any "belief" or "faith" in God that denies His power is useless and is actually blasphemous. Our God is all powerful, He is able to do stuff, and He will do stuff.

They even prayed to God and fasted before Him, but as Jesus said, even "the hypocrites pray" (Matthew 6:5). Yet this was all useless. Why was it useless? Because they exploited people on the day they prayed and fasted, their fasting ended in strife. This was no fasting at all. Fasting and praying is not a religious ritual, it is to be part of a life devoted to God and to His righteousness.

Prayer and fasting is part of a relationship with God. If the heart of the relationship is not there it is a waste of time, if the heart of the relationship is there then it has true value. 

Isaiah 57:11-21 - Salvation

"Whom have you so dreaded ..." Fear is one the things that turns people away from God, that causes them to turn to wrong things. Israel frequently turned away from God and instead trusted in idols or other nations when she was under threat. Such a reaction is totally illogical, and we need to apply this to ourselves. God is all powerful and all loving, He is totally committed to us. So committed that He sent His Son to die for us. So there is nothing that threatens us that makes it wise to turn from God.

So God presented them with a stark choice. The futility of the things they had chosen to trust in would be shown up, they would be the cause of their ruin. Conversely, those who did trust in God would inherit the land and possess His holy mountain.

Back in Chapter 40 Isaiah had spoken about preparing the way, now this message is repeated, with the need for repentance made more explicit. The Lord is highly exalted, but He also dwells with those who are contrite and humble, ie with those who will repent. Repent and believe is the message that is preached in the New Testament. Those who are contrite will find that God revives their spirit and their heart. Our sin was awful, it was serious, but God will forgive us completely. God faces up to the full reality of our sin, we need to do likewise. And the God who faced up to the full reality of our sin has chosen to forgive us and invite us into His kingdom.

Isaiah 57:1-10 - Judgement

Apparently many righteous and devout people had either died or been taken off to exile. Maybe some thought this meant either that they weren't as good as they thought they were, or that being committed to God made no difference. Isaiah explains that the reason they have been taken away is to spare them from the evil that was all around. He then speaks of them finding rest in death. This is an indirect reference to resurrection. It also shows that sometimes death is not the worse thing that can happen to someone, and that when someone is very ill death can be a release. However, this emphatically does not give support to euthanasia, only God has the right and the wisdom to decide on these matters.
The people who were left, who were in dire circumstances were still proud, they still mocked and sneered. This is a characteristic you often find. Pagan worship sometimes involved the sacrifice of children, and all sorts of sexual immorality. Drunkenness was also part of the "worship". These were people who nominally belonged to God, but even in their houses they had idols to foreign gods. They sought help from other nations. All this involved great effort and cost. Yet they persisted in doing it. Men will put enormous effort into ungodly ways.

Isaiah 56:9-12 - Blind Leaders

Having declared this great salvation for all peoples attention returns to Israel and it isn't good!

There was this great plan, but there was also this great problem, namely Israel. Israel just does not see. Her watchmen are blind and without knowledge. We see the truth of this when Jesus came. The religious leaders, who should have known about these things, and should have been directing Israel in the right direction, did not recognise Jesus, nor understand the reality of the situation.

Instead they just slept. Instead of seeking to serve the nation and the world, they sought only to serve themselves. Moreover, they thought things would never change, so they just filled themselves with drink.

We all need to beware of this trait. When we are comfortable we imagine that things will always be like this and nothing will change. This is a delusion. 

The only way to live in the world is to serve the Lord at all times.

Isaiah 56:6-8 - Worldwide

All who love the Lord are called into the kingdom. As we have seen Isaiah is full of prophecies about the good news going way beyond the borders of Israel. Notice the active part of those who are called. They love and serve the Lord, there is nothing passive about salvation.

The Lord draws them to His holy mountain, ie they are drawn into the presence of God, into the heart of His kingdom. And He will make us joyful in His presence. David declares that there is fullness of joy in God's presence (Psalm 16:11).

The language of the Old Testament sacrifices is still used here. The emphasis is on the acceptance of the people from all nations, made again in the end of verse 7 when God declares that His house will be a house of prayer for all peoples. Remember that when Jesus cleared the temple He quoted from this verse.

"I will gather yet others". Jesus said that He had sheep from another fold (John 10:16). It was this world wide reach of the kingdom which was the reason why Paul was so adamant in resisting the Judaisers in the New Testament times, for he knew that God's plan was now being unfurled.

Isaiah 56:4,5 - Eunuchs

We do not appreciate how radical all of this is. Under the Law foreigners were excluded from the assembly (Deut 23:3), as were eunuchs (Deut 23:1).Now Isaiah is proclaiming that they will be part of God's kingdom. Those who chose to love the Lord are welcomed in. The eunuchs will be given a name and memorial better than that of sons and daughters. Now a eunuch obviously could not have children, but God promises them a better reward. This is relevant to us today. Many people have suffered some serious loss or disappointment in life. Sometimes God makes up that loss directly, eg a couple who cannot have children are enabled to have children, but at other times He will make up the loss in a much greater way. A direct healing is not always God's solution, but something far better always is. We need to get a hold of this. God's plans for you and for me are very good. Sometimes seeking a direct solution can be a barrier to progress in our relationship with God. So how are we to know what God's will is in any particular situation? Well I cannot give you an easy answer, but we are in a relationship with Christ, so we are to approach Him and seek Him on that basis. I believe that He will either give us a direct "healing", or give us the grace to know and believe that ultimately He has something far greater for us.

So what are we to make of the Law being "against" foreigners and eunuchs? Well, the law is a shadow of what was to come, a shadow of the real thing. There are things that are excluded from the kingdom. There will not be sickness nor imperfection in the kingdom when it is fully consummated. 

In the meantime, all who seek to be part of God's kingdom are welcomed in through faith in Christ. No matter what obstacles there might seem to be in our life, no matter what barriers there are, if we come to Christ we are welcomed in, and a work of transformation will begin.

Isaiah 56:1-3 - Righteousness

The Lord's salvation has implications. Because His salvation is near we are to maintain justice and do what is right. The notion that salvation means since we are forgiven it does not matter what we do is one that finds absolutely no justification anywhere in the Bible. God's righteousness will be revealed, ie the way that things should be will become apparent.

We are blessed when we do the right things. This is not talking about a reward for doing the right things, but when we do the right things we are in a state of blessedness. Keeping the Sabbath and refraining from evil are the two specific things mentioned here. Now when we read of keeping the Sabbath we tend to think of all the things you should not do on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees certainly did their bit to ensure it was seen that way. However, the Sabbath was a weekly sign that the people belonged to God, that He was the source of all that they had, their utter dependency upon Him. Keeping the Sabbath is about recognising where our life comes from.

Then we get a declaration of the extension of the kingdom to all peoples. Foreigners and eunuchs were excluded from the temple. Isaiah declares that those who commit themselves to the Lord will be welcome.

Jude 17-25 - Christ is Lord

Paul, Peter, James and John all warn of false teachers and scoffers, and indeed the Lord Himself (eg Matthew 24) did so as well. False teachers are a fact of life in the church, and we need to know how to recognise them and how to respond.

Jude gives three characteristics of the "scoffers". They cause division, they follow their natural instincts, they do not have the Spirit. Jesus in John 17 prayed for unity among believers, Paul talks about preserving the bond of peace (Ephesians). False teachers will cause division among believers. A godly person will be motivated and led by the Holy Spirit, a false teacher will be motivated and led by their own spirit. 

Jude then gives positive instructions to his readers.We are to build ourselves up in the faith. The primary antidote to the negative is the positive. We need to feed on the word, believe the word and do the word. We need to mediate upon who Christ is and what He has done. We need to dwell in God. We are to love as God loves, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God is completely different from the world, His ways are different.

While Jude has given uncompromising words on the false teachers, his readers also need to be on their guard. In dealing with false teaching we can easily crush others. We are to be merciful to those who have genuine doubts. There is a difference between someone who is hard heartedly pursuing their own ends, and someone who does not understand some things but is willing to learn. We need to know when to be gentle. And the goal is to save people. If the false teachers continue in their ways they will indeed end up in hell, but a far better outcome is that they repent and so get saved. Our desire should be to see people saved, not go to hell.

We always need to be on our guard, making sure that we ourselves do not fall.

Jude closes his letter with a paean of praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our whole focus needs to be on Jesus, He is the foundation and source of our faith. He is the way, the truth and the life.

Jude 11-16 - Judgement

Cain, Balaam and Korah are cited as examples of going against God's ways. Cain was the first murderer, and his actions were motivated by jealousy of his brother Abel. When he saw that God was pleased with Abel's offering, instead of learning from this and changing his own actions, he murdered Abel. Balaam took money from king Balaak to curse the Israelites, and Korah led a rebellion against Moses.

The rebels  apparently took part in the "love feasts" (Lord's supper) of the church as though they were a normal  part of the congregation. When people rebel against God and cause division within the church they fail to be part of the church. They may even have had positions of leadership, but they failed to feed the flock. It is very dangerous when leaders start fulfilling their own agenda instead of acting as servants of Christ. We all need to watch our actions and motives very carefully.

Jude then quotes from the book of Enoch. This was purported to be written by the Enoch of Genesis 5, though the book did not appear until the first century BC. Why does Jude keep alluding to these "dodgy" books? It probably indicates that his hearers were Jewish, and perhaps they were paying too much attention to these books, and so he is trying to show them that even these books do not support what they were doing. The church needed to get its act together.

The message is that the Lord will come to judge. All of us needs to be aware that the Lord will return to judge. All will be called to give an account. If we know that some piece of work is going to be tested we take extra care. Our whole life should be like this, all that we do matters. 

There are many who object that God's judgements are unfair, that His ways are wrong. Well such people should ask themselves, are they happy to stand before God on the final day with the life that they lead?

Jude 8-10 - Angles on Angels

Verse 8 refers to dreams. It may have been that the false teachers claimed to have revelations through dreams. This is a common tactic of false teachers and charlatans, particularly in charismatic circles. Now God does speak through dreams, there are many instances of this in the Bible, and He still does this. But everything must be tested against the Scriptures. If something is against the Bible then it is to be rejected, no matter how many visions or angels someone claims to have seen. If it is neither directly against, nor directly supported by the Bible, then we have to use our judgement, and we are free to reject it, again no matter how many angels the "dreamer" claims to have seen.On the other hand, Jude may just be referring to them as "dreamers", ie using it as a derogatory term.

Whatever the case, they polluted their own bodies, and rejected authority. If we sin sexually we pollute our own bodies. Our bodies are meant to be temples of the Holy Spirit, so we must treat them properly. They then started heaping abuse on celestial beings, ie angels. Jude then quotes from the Book of Moses, another non-Biblical text. This does not mean he is assigning this book with authority, just using the incident of the angel Michael as an illustration. His point is that the false teachers have a complete lack of understanding. They know nothing about angels and demons, and they certainly knew nothing about the proper way for us to treat our bodies.

Jude 5-7 - Warnings from history

Jude draws on the lessons of the Old Testament. As Paul says in 2 Tim 3:16, all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for training. So Jude reminds his readers that though God delivered the people out of Egypt, many of them died in the desert through unbelief. "Once saved always saved" is a contentious and misunderstood idea. It is absolutely true in the sense that we can be 100% certain of our salvation. It is absolute nonsense if it is understood in the sense of it doesn't matter what you do after you "believe", for that is entirely unbiblical.

Jude draws some of his analogies from non-Biblical Jewish writings, such as the Book of Enoch. These had various tales of what happened to angels.

After that we are back to another Biblical example, this time from Sodom and Gomorrah. Some are keen on pointing out that Ezekiel 16:49 says that lack of concern for the poor was the primary sin for which Sodom was judged. This is not true, if you read Ezekiel 16:49 and 50 you see that it is one of the sins for which she was judged. Jude here makes it clear that sexual immorality was a major reason for the judgement that came upon her.

Sexual immorality was a danger facing the churches that Jude was writing to, this is why he cites the example of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jude 1-4 - A battle to be fought

The James mentioned here is probably the brother (humanly speaking) of Jesus. Jude sees himself primarily as a servant of Jesus Christ. Incidentally, the fact that the apostles always referred to themselves as "servants of Christ" is implicit evidence for the resurrection. They all saw themselves as serving Christ. Now you do not serve a dead man. You may well do something in honour of them, or seek to continue their work, but you do not serve them. They knew that Jesus was alive, and they were serving the living Christ.

We are called, loved in God the Father, and kept for Christ. There is a purpose to our lives, we are loved by God, and our destiny is to serve Christ.

Jude then blesses them with mercy, peace and love, in abundance. We need a prosperity of love, mercy and peace.

Jude wanted to write to them about the salvation they share. We need to explore the fullness of the salvation we have, to see what all its consequences and implications for our lives are. However, Jude was unable to do this for a more urgent matter had arisen. Their faith was under attack and action needed to be taken.

The Lord has entrusted us with the faith, and we are to fight for it. We have a duty today in our society to explain and defend the faith. The more we come under attack, the more we must proclaim the faith.

This attack was not from without, but from within. Ungodly people had wormed their way into the church and were perverting the gospel. They used the grace of God as an excuse for immorality. Exactly the same sort of thing happens today. There are those who in the name of Christ teach that it is OK to have sex outside marriage, or that homosexual acts are OK with God. They say that all that matters is "love". Such people are denying the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and are going against the clear teaching of the word of God.

Jude - Introduction

This is one of the shortest books in the Bible, so provides a nice contrast to Isaiah!

Jude is another form of the name Judas, which was a fairly common name at the time. Obviously Judas Iscariot is the most infamous bearer of the name, but another of the twelve was called Judas (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13), as was one of the Lord's brothers (Matt 13:55, Mark 6:3). 

Jesus' brother is thought to be the most likely candidate for being the author of this short letter. This is further supported by Jude identifying himself as the brother of James in v1.

Interestingly, neither James nor Jude referred to themselves as Jesus' brother, though others did (Matt 13:55, John 7:3-10, Acts 1:14, 1 Cor 9:5, Gal 1:19). They sought no special privilege form this familial relationship, seeing themselves more as servants of the Lord.

The letter is dated variously between 65 and 80 AD, depending largely whether one sees 2 Peter as being dependent upon Jude, or vice versa.

The primary purpose of the letter was to counter false teaching that was leading to immoral behaviour. Jude warns the church to be on its guard, both against the teaching and the teachers.

Isaiah 55:8-13 - A better way

God thinks differently that we do. This happens at all sorts of levels.It happens at the level of rebelliousness, this is most prominent at the moment in the area of sexuality where society in the West is taking a radically different route to God's ways. But it is also true of all our thought patterns. Without the Holy Spirit we simply do not view the world or life in the same way that God does. We fear things we need not fear, we worry about things we need not worry about, we do not understand what is happening or is going to happen.

What is the solution to all this? First, we need to repent, as we have already been told to do. We need to recognise our true position in the grand scheme of things. We are men and not gods. Only the Lord is God, only He is all knowing and has all wisdom. The whole root of man's problem is his attempt to be god. We need to recognise our utter dependency upon the Lord.

Then we need to learn from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit renews our minds (Romans 12:2), and learn to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). 

When we do this we do not lose anything, but rather gain everything. For God's ways are so much greater and better than our ways. And God's ways will succeed. Man's plans end in disaster and failure, God's ways work.

So when we learn to walk and live in God's ways we go out in joy and are led forth in peace. The whole of creation opens up before us and fruitfulness is the result.


We will take a break from Isaiah for a couple of weeks or so and then come back to the final stint.

Isaiah 55:6,7 - Give up your thoughts

We do not receive the benefits of salvation, the benefits of Jesus' work on the cross, automatically. We need to call upon the Lord and to seek Him. There is time-frame within which God can be found, and that time-frame is now. A time will come when that there is final judgment, and at that point it will be too late to seek the Lord. So we need to seek Him now.

This means turning from our ways, and giving up our thoughts. What do we hear when we listen to the news, or listen to debates on television? We hear people who are not willing to turn from their ways, nor to give up their unrighteous thoughts. The current debates on homosexuality are an example of this. We should not get discouraged when we observe this happening, it is exactly as God has said it will be. Moreover, there come times when men and women are convicted by the Holy Spirit, when they begin to see the light and they turn from their ways to God's ways. So we should not be discouraged, nor should we be resigned to the current situation. Things can and do change.

When they do turn to God, He has mercy on them and freely pardons. We see this working out in the life of Jesus. Whenever anyone turned to Him in faith He forgave and blessed them.

We also need to apply this to ourselves. Progress is made in our lives when we turn from our ways and give up fixed thoughts that we have, and turn to God instead.

Isaiah 55:1-5 - A free lunch

God is offering life, He is offering food to hungry and drink to the thirsty. Remember that Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life (John 6:35), and said that anyone who comes to Him will not go thirsty (John 4:13,14). And this food and drink has been paid for by Jesus, it costs us nothing. The offer of life is open to all.

But instead we so often spend money, time and effort on things that ultimately do not satisfy. Israel had chased after many things. She had tried many ways of ensuring her safety. She had made alliances with various nations, worshiped all sorts of idols, tried various military and economic strategies. None of them had worked. Here she was desolate and in exile.

Yet the offer of the choicest of fare was being made to her. We need to realise that this is the offer of salvation that God makes. It is not just to make things a little less bad, but to give us the best. In John 10:10 Jesus said He came to give us life and life to the full.

How would this happen? Well God would make an everlasting covenant with us. Again remember that Jesus talked of His blood being the blood of the new covenant (Luke 22:20). Then there is reference to a person who is a "witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander". This Jesus. Jesus is the new covenant.

And this salvation will go out to many nations. Instead of being despised by the nations, they would come running to them wanting to know who Jesus is. For when a people turn to Christ they are endowed with splendour.

Isaiah 54:15-17 - Under attack?

"If anyone does attack ..." All this does not mean that no one will ever attack us, but it does mean that God will not attack us.

Now we need to understand the difference between attack and discipline. As it says in Hebrews 12, God disciplines those whom He loves. God will work in our lives to teach and train us, sometimes this will be difficult, but it is all done for our good and will build us up. But He will never attack us.

We need to understand this, for when we are attacked a very natural reaction is to ask "what have I done wrong, has God got it in for me?" No He hasn't.

No weapon fashioned against us will succeed. There are two approaches to seeking peace. One is to hope that nothing will ever go wrong, no one will ever attack us. This is futile and means living in fairytale land. The other is to know that whatever does happen, it will not succeed in destroying us. This is Biblical.

Notice that it says "you will refute", ie we will refute every accusing tongue. In Christ we become strong. Paul says several times in his letters "be strong in the Lord". We need to learn to live in the authority that we have in Christ.

This is our heritage in the Lord. We have been born again, born to a new life, born to a new family. We need to learn to live that in the fullness of that new life.

Isaiah 54:9 -14 Rebuilding

This salvation represented a completely new start. The flood was God's judgement upon the earth, after the flood God said He would never again send such a flood. The salvation God sends is a completely new start, as Paul puts it we are a new creation.

God's love for us is unchanging. Again we get the emphasis on His deep compassion for us. We need to meditate on the fact that God loves us. The creator of the whole universe, the giver of life, the One who keeps everything going, love us. 

"Afflicted city, lashed by storms ..." God was fully aware of what had happened to Israel, just as He is fully aware of all that has happened to you and I. But now He is in the business of rebuilding our lives, and He is building us into something beautiful. And this involves righteousness.

Isaiah 54:5-8 - Fruit of salvation (2)

The cross brings an end to rejection by God. We need to face up to the truth of this, sin meant we were rejected by God. In Genesis 3 we read that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and death came into their lives. Paul tells us that we were enemies of God and "by nature, objects of wrath". Sin meant we were subject to God's judgement. Israel had experienced much of this in the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. All of us have suffered the results of sin in our own lives.

This rejection was real, but the "calling back" is even more real.  It tells us that God calls us back with deep compassion, it tells us that He will have compassion on us with everlasting kindness, it tells us that He is our husband.

There are two key elements to the work of the cross, and both are equally important. One is the judicial/legal nature of the work of the cross, the other is the emotional/heart side. The cross deals with the legal problem of sin. In 1 John it says that God is "just and forgives us". Our debt has been paid on the cross. Satan can accuse us all he likes, but God just looks at the cross and says our sin has already been dealt with, the penalty is paid in full.

But the cross is also an expression of the heart of God. God loves us, and it says in John 3:16, "God so loved the world ..." God's heart is for us.

Think of adoption (and the Bible refers to us as being adopted by God). For adoption to work it needs two things. The legal side has to be done properly, and the new parents have to love the child. Both aspects are needed for adoption to work. So it is with the cross. 

Isaiah 54:1-4 - The fruit of salvation (1)

A key point to note is that Isaiah 54 comes after Isaiah 53, and it wasn't Isaiah who put the chapter numbers in.  The cross is something that has consequences for our lives, and this chapter outlines the response that God is looking for, and the effect of the cross and resurrection in our lives.

The first is to overcome rejection of self. We say “I cannot do”, “I can never be” (have a successful marriage, get my finances sorted out, be a soul winner, produce fruit for God, hold down a job) – i.e. we reject ourselves. The first thing we need to do is shout for joy. The whole prospects for our lives have changed because of what Jesus has done. Things that were previously impossible are now possible.

Instead need to rejoice and enlarge the place of our tent (expect and prepare for success). We need to have a different mindset. We are often conditioned to expect failure, we need to expect success. I am not talking about some cheap form of prosperity teaching here, or a "life will all be wonderful" teaching, but we do need to radically change our outlook and expectations.

Having experienced failure and shame in the past, there can be a deep fear of future failure, of being put to shame again. We need to overcome this. God promises that we will not be put to shame.

Isaiah 53:6-12 - Suffering Servant, Risen Lord

Verse 6 sums up what was going on at the cross. We have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has put our sins upon Jesus. The reason there is hope, the reason there is salvation, is because The Lord laid our sin upon Christ. He took up our sins.

At the "trial" Jesus was falsely accused and mocked, yet He remained largely silent and was calm throughout. Then He was led to the cross. He was oppressed and persecuted by the Jewish authorities and the Roman rulers. Then He was cut-off from the land of the living, He died because of our sin.

He died with the wicked, but also with the rich when Joseph of Arimathea gave his tomb.  Although all this happened to Him, he had done no wrong, there was no violence, no deceit.

Despite this it was the Lord's will to crush Him and make Him suffer. The Lord did this in order to make Jesus a sin offering. 

Yet despite the fact that Jesus was made a sin offering, that He was killed on the cross, He would live forever. He would see His offspring (which includes you and I), and He will reign. This is a prophecy of the resurrection. For after He had suffered He would see the light of life. He would justify many. 

Because of this the Lord has given Him the Name above all Names, because He took up our sins.

Jesus was mocked, and many still despise the idea of Jesus taking our sins and suffering for it. Yes it is precisely because He did this that He has been made Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is intimately linked with His suffering.

Isaiah 53:4,5 - By His stripes you have been healed

Many, many things were achieved on the cross. First, Jesus took up our pain and suffering, or our griefs and sorrows, or . Now on the cross the crowds thought He was being punished by God. Now, of course, this is true, but He was not being punished for His own sin (He had none), but for our sins. 

Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The fundamental and basic reason for the cross is Jesus taking the judgement that should have been ours. This is called "penal substitution" if you want a theological word for it. He suffered the death that I should have suffered.

This punishment brought us peace. It is through the cross that we have peace with God.

Now we come to one of the most misused verses in Charismatic circles, "by His stripes we are healed". This is most commonly quoted in the context of seeking physical healing for someone, or for ourselves. This is not the primary meaning of this verse. The wound we are healed of is the wound of sin and all its effects. Now this can include sickness, and I am not saying that the cross has nothing to do with healing (see later comment), but the primary problem that is being dealt with is sin. Throughout Isaiah the problem of Israel is her sinfulness. In Jeremiah God speaks of the wound of His people, and is referring to their sin (eg Jer 6:14).

Peter quotes this verse in 1 Peter 2:24. 

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

What is the context? Sin, and Jesus bearing our sins.

Let me make it clear that I absolutely believe that we should pray for healing, and should expect to see much more in the way of healing than we do, but physical healing is not the primary application of this verse.

Interestingly Matthew does quote from Isaiah 53 when he  talks about Jesus healing many people (Matthew 8:14-17), but it is 53:4 that Matthew refers to, not verse 5.

There is healing in the cross, but we do need to understand that the root problem is sin, and the primary target of the cross is dealing with our sin.