Isaiah 65:11-13 - My servants will eat but you will go hungry

65:11,12

And now we switch back again. The salvation spoken of in the previous two verses is not for all. Those people who are universalists are speaking out of their own imagination, not any word of God. So they should be ignored. So here God makes it quite plain that those who forsake the Lord and worship idols will be destined for the sword. And the end of this verse make the situation plain, and answers the silly question “how can a God of love ...”.

First, God called, but they did not answer. God spoke but they did not listen. Instead they did evil in the sight of the Lord. Most of the “debates” focus on the nature of hell, this is very silly as we really have no idea about the exact nature of hell. The relevant Bible passages focus on God’s judgement on man’s sin. Whatever the precise nature of hell it will be what we fully deserve, so if we have an ounce of wisdom we will repent, and do so quickly. It might be argues that Dante like visions of hell put people off Christianity. Well Dante like visions are not very Biblical, but what people do need to focus on is the reality of judgement and our need to repent. And that is what we should focus on.

65:13

We continue with the clear distinction between those who turn to the Lord and those who reject the Lord. This distinction applies throughout the Bible, and it applies in the words of Jesus. Remember His sayings about “I never knew you” and the sheep and the goats, to mention but two examples. God’s servants will eat, rebels will go hungry. His servants will drink, but rebels will thirst. His servants will rejoice, but rebels will be put to shame. Some might object that this is unfair or cruel, but there is a simple solution for the rebels, end your rebellion. Repent and believe. No one is excluded from the blessings of God except by their own choice.

1 Thessalonians 4:13,14 - We believe that Jesus died and rose again

4:13

The claim that Jesus rose from the dead is a most audacious claim, as is the claim that we too will be raised from the dead on the last day. As we are now two thousand years away from the events it is difficult for us to properly appreciate this, as we are so used to it being the central part of the Christian message. There are broadly speaking two reactions. Those of us who believe accept it as an inherent part of the gospel, but not really appreciating the enormity nor impact of the resurrection. Those who do not regard it as nonsense and just something that Christians believe, probably as wishful thinking. Here Paul is addressing understandable concerns. One can imagine there being all sorts of discussion about what resurrection meant,  and Paul is speaking about what happens to those who have died in faith.

4:14

Paul then gives a clear and succinct statement of what we believe. First, we believe that Jesus died and rose again. “And so ...” The resurrection was not a one-off, those who believe in Him will also be raised by God. So when Jesus returns (note the implicit belief in the bodily return of Jesus), God will bring those who have “fallen asleep” in Christ. Death is not the end, hence the use of the term “fallen asleep”.

Isaiah 65:8-10 - I will bring forth descendants

65:8

Once again we get what seems to us a sudden switch in tone. The unavoidable judgement of the previous verse is followed by a declaration of mercy. God promises not to destroy all His people, for there is still some hope. We need to appreciate how the judgement and mercy go together. To plump for just one or the other is a grave mistake.

65:9,10

God will bring forth descendants from Jacob. It is God who brings about salvation. The view of salvation presented in Isaiah is a very monogystic one. But note again that this does not do away with human responsibility. These descendants will possess God’s mountains. His servants will dwell in His land. The place will become a peaceful and fruitful place, for those who seek God. There is human responsibility.

1 Thessalonians 4:11,12 - Aspire to live quietly

4:11

We should make it our ambition to lead a quiet life. There are many of us who would say amen to that, but then there are those who take the exact opposite tack! Now Paul did not exactly lead a quiet life, so what is he on about? If we then look at the second half of the verse he talks about minding our own business and working with our hands. Perhaps we get a feel for what Paul meant if we think of the saying “empty vessels make most noise”. Those who are forever talking, especially about themselves, usually actually do very little. They may make a big noise, but in reality do little that is useful. Also, later in the letter Paul will warn those who are idle. So Paul is giving very practical advice here.

4:12

When we just make a big noise we may fool some people for a time, but in the end the only person we fool is ourselves. Outsiders will not respect us, seeing through the facade all too easily. Instead we are to live lives that are worthy of respect, then we will win the respect of outsiders, and will merit respect. The people who make most noise are often demanding that others provide for them as they supposedly “serve the Lord”. The Bible consistently takes a much more robust approach to such people. We should do the same.

Isaiah 65:3-7 - Who sit among the graves

65:3

God held out His hand to the people of Israel, but the people provoked God, and did so brazenly. They did this by sacrificing to idols.  The gardens were one of the places where idol worship took place. “Altars of brick” can mean “incense altars”, common features of the “high places” where much idol worship took place.  So they worshipped useless idols instead of the living God who could genuinely save them.

65:4,5

Graves were places where idol worship or maybe consulting the dead took place. They ate meat that was expressly forbidden in the Law. They considered themselves to be sacred, so sacred that they told others to keep away. In truth they were utterly profane themselves. They were, in fact, an offence to God.

65:6,7

“I will pay back in full”. God does not overlook sin. There is a very clear statement here that Israel would have to pay for her sins, especially for their idol worship. Sin cannot be ignored, and any understanding of the gospel that thinks it can is wholly inadequate, not to say wrong. That is why the concept of substitutionary atonement is so important. Justice was done on the cross because the penalty for our sin was paid in full.

1 Thessalonians 4:8-10 - Taught by God to love one another

4:8

Paul then makes it clear that if we disregard the clear Biblical teaching we are not disregarding man but God. This warning applies in general, but is here given in the context of sexual morality. And what is the area of life where "Christians" and "churches" are most likely to disregard Biblical teaching? Sexual morality. We would do well to heed this warning.

It is also worth noting that Paul is writing this to a church that he thought very highly of. All of us need this teaching. The sexual morality of the surrounding culture was virtually non-existent, as is the case with our own society.

4:9,10

Paul now moves on to other matters, first to brotherly love. This might seem a strange topic to bring up, especially as it seems that they were already doing this. Paul just encourages them to do this all the more. We should note how easily this aspect gets forgotten. We can get embroiled in policy or even theological arguments and forget the command from God to love one another.

Isaiah 65:1,2 - I held out my hand to an obstinate people

65:1

Some Christians place an awful lot of emphasis on human choice. In one sense at least, the Bible is far less prone to do this. “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me”. There was choice here. God sought them out, they did not seek God out. Indeed, God was found by those who weren’t seeking. “To a nation that did not call ..”. God announced Himself, He was not invited! And thank goodness that God does this, otherwise there would be no hope for any of us. At the same time we should remember that we all have human responsibility. How does this all work together? I haven’t got a clue, but I know that God’s sovereignty and human responsibility do go together. A key concept is that “human responsibility” is a far better way of looking at Scripture than “human freewill” or “human autonomy”. With either of the latter two concepts we are almost certainly going to go in the wrong direction, for it puts man first. “Human responsibility” deals with our responsibility towards God, it puts God first, and is therefore more likely to lead us in the right direction.

65:2

God had held out His hands to Israel, an obstinate nation. Their ways were not good, and they pursued their own imaginations. Now what have we got here? It is a foretelling of the gospel going out to the Gentile nations (ie everyone except Israel), but we need to remember that this is not the end of the story, just another (long) section in it. We can also say that our own nations are “pursuing their own imaginations”.

1 Thessalonians 4:6,7 - The Lord has called us for holiness

4:6

"That no one transgresses and wrongs his brother". We often think of sexual immorality in terms of "me", "why shouldn't I be allowed to do this?" If we commit sexual immorality we both transgress God's law and we hurt other people. Then there is a solemn warning, God will avenge all wrongs. When there are natural disasters such as floods someone will often pipe up that it has happenedas a judgement from God, and such a person will be widely mocked, sometimes rightly so. However, God is an avenging God, and sin invites retribution. Both the Old and New Testaments are consistent and clear on this, including Jesus Himself. 

4:7

"For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness". We need to be aware of what we have been called for. And notice how everything is God centred. All too often our thinking and teaching starts with man and adds God in later, this is a deeply unbiblical approach, which will never lead us to the truth.

Isaiah 64:10-12 - Will you keep silent?

64:10-12

This is definitely set in the exilic period, for Isaiah refers to Jerusalem having become a wasteland, a desolation. The temple itself had been utterly destroyed. He then asks God if He will stand back forever, will He just abandon them? Underlying this is the belief that they were God’s people, that they had sinned and deserved all they got, but that God was all powerful and could do something about it. His hope lay in God alone. 

One might ask how Isaiah could write this many, many years before it happened? And this is why most scholars will tell you someone else wrote it. But Isaiah is a prophet, he is writing out of revelation from God (but not as an automaton!). So he was enabled to foresee where things were going.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 - Abstain from sexual immorality

4:3

We now get some insight into the teaching that the early Christians received, and remember that this instruction was given "through the Lord". The overall aim was sanctification, having our lives cleansed of what was unclean, offensive to God. And this replaced by ways that are pleasing to God.  The first example given is that of sexual immorality, and we are to abstain from this. Note that it doesn't matter if we have desires for something, if it is displeasing to God we don't do it. Churches which encourage immoral behaviour should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified”. Being saved means so much more than just being forgiven. Forgiveness is essential, and it is the doorway to so much more. It is definitely not about our “getting away with it”. God saved us so that we would become like Christ, and the Holy Spirit works within us to make us ever more Christlike. So if we resist this, or even have no interest in being sanctified, then we are working against God, we are living as enemies of God. 

4:4,5

We are to control our bodies. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit. This teaching was very much at odds with the culture of the day, much the same as today! It is worth noting that one of the attractive features of the gospel in the first century was that it taught sexual restraint. Our bodies, and every one else's, are to be treated with respect and honoured as holy. This is very much at odds with the world's approach.

Isaiah 64:8,9 - O Lord, you are our Father

64:8

Yet Isaiah still sees hope. Why? Because God is their Father, and they are the clay, the Lord is the potter, and we are the work of His hand. We should remember this verse, and remember it in context, when we see New Testament verses alluding to this, Rom 9:21; Eph 2:10. There are many who seem to take great delight in criticising Calvinism and Reformed theology, the sovereignty of God. They really are being rather silly, for our utter dependence upon God is our only hope! In this verse we have the love of God (He is our Father), and the creative power of God. In that rests our hope.

64:9

Yet God’s sovereignty does not mean that we are passive, nor are we called to passive. Because of God’s sovereignty Isaiah cries out to Him. Instead he calls upon the Lord to not be angry beyond measure, not to remember their sins forever. He calls on God to look upon His people with mercy. 

1 Thessalonians 4:1,2 - How to live and please the Lord

4:1

“We instructed you how to live in order to please God”. So often we want to live in order to please ourselves, or to please other people. Our prime goal should be to live in order to please God. Moreover, our teaching and leading of the church should be to help people to live for God. If we seek to help them to live to please the current culture then we are badly mistaken. Paul did not think that the Thessalonians were no aiming to please God, but he was encouraging them to do this all the more so. We must never rest on our laurels, for we all have much more progress to make.

4:2

Paul and his companions had given the Thessalonians clear instructions. Sometimes we can be too gentle with people, prone to sugar-coating things. That is not something we find either in Jesus or in the New Testament letters. And we give this clear Biblical teaching by the authority of Jesus. In order to do this we have to be under His authority ourselves and we must always check ourselves to see if we are straying in the wrong direction. Teaching with the authority of Jesus is definitely not a licence to exert or exalt ourselves. It is an authority to teach the word of God. So we must be under authority, and we must lead with authority.

Isaiah 64:5-7 - There is no one who calls on your name

64:5

Isaiah then acknowledges what the problem is. God does indeed “help those who gladly do right”, those who look to the Lord. But Israel was not doing that. Instead they sinned against the Lord, and repeatedly so. So what hope was there for Israel? How could she possibly be saved, for she did not deserve to be saved!

64:6,7

These two verses continue the description of Israel’s sin. The nation had become like the unclean. Their so called acts of righteousness were really filthy rags. They were swept away by their sins. Worse than this, no one sought the Lord, no one tried to take hold of the one who could truly save them. The nation had been given over to their sins, and was reaping the consequences. If an individual or a nation wants to be saved then they need to earnestly seek the Lord, to submit to His ways. This applies to all peoples, and in the case of Israel she will never be saved until she acknowledges Christ as the Messiah and her saviour.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 - We pray that we may see you

3:9,10

Paul continues to stress his enthusiasm for the Thessalonians. There were many people who brought Paul grief! These included direct opponents of various sorts, but also churches! Galatia and Corinth are examples where the direction and attitude of the churches caused pain for Paul. So Paul prayed earnestly that he might be able to come and see them again, and further strengthen the church there. We should all seek to be people who make our leader’s task easier, rather than harder! (Heb 13:17).

3:11-13

Paul continues to express his earnest desire to come and see them, imploring God to make it possible. He then goes on to pray for the Thessalonians, asking that their love may increase all the more. Then he asks that God will strengthen their hearts. Heart in the Bible is not just the emotions, but includes our mind, will and emotions. When faced with great difficulties or opposition we need to be strengthened in our innermost being. So he is praying for God to enable them to live as faithful servants of Christ, and this is done with an allusion to the return of Christ. The return of Christ is an issue he will speak about a little in this letter, and to a greater extent in the second letter. Faithful service today is the best preparation for the return of Christ tomorrow.

Isaiah 64:1-4 - Oh that you would rend the heavens

64:1,2

Isaiah calls on God to rend open the heavens and come down. He is desperate for God to intervene in the situation. He knows that the mountains would tremble at God’s presence. The point of all this is that if God got involved (as Isaiah understands being involved) then everything would change. Why does God put this in His word? Maybe it is because we all feel like Isaiah at times. We see circumstances that are not the way that they should be. We know that God could change everything, yet He seems to be doing nothing. So maybe God is saying that He knows how we feel.  It is not just the mountains that would tremble, but God’s enemies and the nations would quake as well.

64:3,4

Moreover, Isaiah knows that God is perfectly capable of doing this, and that it is in His character to do things Isaiah longs for Him to do. In the past God has done unexpected things. While the nations worshipped many gods, there was no god like the One True God. And that God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him, who look to Him for help.

1 Thessalonians 3:7,8 - We have been comforted

3:7

Paul and his companions were experiencing persecution. They knew that the atmosphere would be similar in Thessalonica and had been concerned about how the Thessalonians were coping. However, the news that Timothy brought greatly encouraged them. It can be difficult to stand up when our faith is under attack, but when we do so we bring encouragement to other people. Our faithfulness can be a source of strength for others, and other people’s faithfulness can be a source of strength for us.

3:8

“For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” Prior to receiving Timothy’s report, Paul’s life was wracked with anxiety for the Thessalonians, and when anxiety is dominant in our lives we aren't really living. So we again see the humanity and frailty of Paul. James brings out the points in the last two verses. In James 5:10,11 he urges his readers to look to the prophets who endured under suffering, and to Job. In 5:17 he cites Elijah who “was a human being just as we are” and the power of his prayers. We must not make the likes of Paul into superheroes, into people we cannot possibly emulate. They were normal people like us, but who through faith and the grace of God did amazing things for God. That faith and grace is open to us as well, even in all our weakness.

Isaiah 63:17-19 - Why do you make us wander?

63:17

Isaiah seems to put responsibility for Israel’s wandering from God’s ways and her hardness of heart firmly with God! Then he urges God to return to Israel, to change her ways. So we have the classical Calvinist dilemma. Is Israel a mere puppet? No, as the whole Bible shows. But the solution to the problem lies with God. We cannot save ourselves.

63:18,19

Isaiah knows that Israel has always belonged to God. For a while they did live in the land of Israel, but now the temple has been utterly destroyed. Isaiah is in a dark place! However, we should note that while this is the end of a chapter, the chapter divisions were not there when Isaiah wrote this! The story continues in chapter 64.

1 Thessalonains 3:5,6 - Timothy has brought us good news

3:5

We might sometimes be tempted to think of Paul as a “super apostle” (read what he had to say about those in 2 Corinthians!). He was no such thing, and his writings make this clear. He was subject to fears just as we are, and he was deeply concerned about the Thessalonians. Just as our minds sometimes go into overdrive, working out all the ways in which something can go wrong, so did Paul’s mind about the Thessalonians. So he had sent Timothy in order to find out how things were.

3:6

So Timothy went to see the Thessalonians and had just arrived back to report to Paul. And Timothy came with good news about their “faith and love”. If we look at all of Paul’s letters we see that he placed a great emphasis on faith and love. These are the qualities that demonstrate how we are really doing. So in our own lives we should focus on these things. The enemy will try to get us to focus on anything but faith and love, such as money, reputation, health. These things are important, but faith and love are the most important. Moreover, the Thessalonians still thought well of Paul.

Isaiah 63:15,16 - For you are our Father

63:15

Isaiah now calls upon the Lord, and it is quite a bold, even impudent, prayer. He calls on God to look down upon the earth, and asks where is God’s zeal and compassion. From Isaiah’s perspective God seems far off, and it seems as if He has forgotten about Israel. His tenderness and compassion are withheld from them. We all have similar thoughts at times, and verses like this (of which there are many in the Bible) show that God is quite able to cope with us telling Him it is how we feel. Indeed we are encouraged to tell Him, it is far better to do so than to put on some false religious front.

63:16

While Isaiah has the negative feelings expressed in the last verse, he also knows that this cannot be the case. There is a conflict within between who he knows God is, and the way things seem to be. This is a perfectly normal, and common, situation for a Christian to be in. He knows that God is their Father, and their Redeemer. Yet the nation has drifted so far from the faith of Abraham.

1 Thessalonians 3:1-4 - We are destined for suffering

3:1,2

We now get some narrative of what happened after Paul and his companions left Thessalonica. They had to leave, but there was still a deep concern in their hearts for the Thessalonians and they could not rest. So Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica. Paul then describes Timothy’s credentials. It is possible that some said Paul was fobbing them off with an underling, that he didn’t really count the Thessalonians as being that important. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Timothy was a highly valued co-worker. Timothy was sent to “strengthen and encourage” them in their faith.

3:3,4

The church in Thessalonica had been birthed in trouble, and Paul was concerned that they might not be coping. So he sent Timothy to help them through the situation. There was nothing unusual about the trials, and Paul had made no secret of this when he was with them. He had warned them that persecution was part of the deal, and this is how things turned out. Today Christians in many parts of the world experience real persecution. In the West for a long time there was virtually no persecution (though there has been in the past), but the environment is now changing. If persecution does become the norm again we need to be prepared.

Isaiah 63:10-14 - The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest

63:10

The previous three verses are talking about God’s rescuing them from Egypt, for now we get “yet they rebelled”. God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt, led them through the desert and into the Promised Land. But they never truly trusted the Lord, and so the Holy Spirit was grieved and God became their enemy. Hence the Babylonian exile. In the New Testament we are told not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). We tend to read this in the sense of not making the Holy Spirit sad, this verse in Isaiah, which Paul would have been fully aware of, in a much more serious sense.

63:11-14

These verse give a description of what will go on in the minds of the people when they come to their (spiritual) senses. They will remember what things were like in the past, when God guided them and dwelt amongst them. Note the emphasis on the Holy Spirit in this chapter. God worked amongst them in power. The last verse says “to make for yourself a glorious name”. This is God’s object, and it is still His object through the church and through Israel.

1 Thessalonians 2:18-20 - You are our hope and joy

2:18

But despite their best efforts they were unable to visit the Thessalonians. “Satan blocked our way”. This does not mean that demons physically stood in the way, but Satan used circumstances and humans to stop Paul visiting them. Two things to learn from this are (i) Satan is real and active; (ii) he is sometimes successful in his schemes. Some charismatics might think why didn’t Paul just rebuke Satan and have done with it? Well we do read of times in Acts when Paul did rebuke demons, and we do have authority over them in Christ, but the battle is real.

2:19,20

Paul again stresses his delight in the Thessalonians. Paul’s purpose, what he saw as a sign that his life was worthwhile, was seeing the Thessalonians grow in Christ. They were his “glory and joy”. Of course, this does not preclude the many other people that Paul witnessed to. When we die we will have no money, we no longer have any academic qualifications, we will have no status in the world. What we will have is the work we have done for Christ, or that He has done through us. The people we have influenced for good. We need to have the same heart as Paul.

Isaiah 63:8,9 - Surely they are my people

63:8

“Children who will be true to me”. The “children of Israel” were anything but true to God. This verse is a declaration from the sovereign God. His plans will be fulfilled. Now some who should know better portray the sovereignty of God, or Calvinism, as if God was a puppet-master. This is a very silly and ignorant thing to do. The Bible clearly portrays God as sovereign, and Isaiah in particular presents God’s determination to save His people, and that He will be completely successful in this. However, nowhere does God present His people as mere puppets, that would be to grossly misunderstand the sovereignty of God. “and so He became their saviour”. Jesus, the Son of God, became our saviour. God Himself became our saviour.

63:9

“In all their distress He too was distressed.” God identifies with us. In coming to earth as a man, and supremely in dying on the cross, God demonstrates that He is not far removed from our suffering, but closely identified with us in it. “In love and mercy He redeemed them”. The cross is both a forensically effective act of salvation (ie our guilt is fully and truly dealt with) and a demonstration of the depths of God’s love for us.

1 Thessalonians 2:16,17 - Wrath has come on them at last

2:16

The Jews (and this only applies to some of the Jews, in most cases there were also Jews who became disciples of Jesus) wanted to stop the gospel spreading throughout the world, and worked to stop the Gentiles being saved. Paul does not beat about the bush. Those who oppose the gospel heap up sins upon themselves, and  will experience God’s wrath, unless they repent.

2:17

Paul continues to stress their emotional commitment to the Thessalonians. We read in Acts that they were forced to leave Thessalonica because of the opposition. Paul is sometimes thought of as being cold and academic (or theological). This impression is a sign of someone not having read Paul’s writings! This is also true of those who accuse him of being misogynistic. Paul was a very emotional person, as well as being a great intellect,  and the letters make this clear. Because of their deep commitment (and Paul here is speaking on behalf of himself and his companions), they made every effort to see the Thessalonians again.

Isaiah 63:6,7 - I made them drunk in my wrath

63:6

Oh, we don’t like this sort of verse! We want to pretend that the wrath of God is just an out of date concept, something that primitive people believed, but we are now more sophisticated! In fact we are so sophisticated that we routinely end the life of countless numbers in the womb. We rejoice at the legalisation of partial-birth abortions, we rejoice at the “right” to end life in the womb. If fact we consider it a human right to be able to end a human life. The wrath of God is very real, and it is very just, and it is fully deserved.

63:7

We now get a sudden change in direction. How can there be such a jump from the wrath of God to the kindness of the Lord? The salvation of God requires the wrath of God. There are two reasons (at least) for this. One is that sin needs to be judged. Sin is not a minor transgression, it is way more serious than anything we ever imagine. It leads to death and suffering, it leads to degradation of people. The second is that we become slaves, we become victims. We are both guilty and victims, guilty victims if you like. The oppressing power needs to be dealt with firmly. In Israel’s case it was Babylon that needed to be dealt with. So Isaiah will tell of the many good things that God has done, His compassion and kindness.

1 Thessalonians 2:14,15 - You became imitators of the churches of God

2:14

The Thessalonians had been experiencing serious persecution and opposition right from the word go. So Paul points back to the churches in Judea, ie to the place where the gospel first started. The first Christians in Jerusalem and then in the rest of Judea experienced persecution. So Paul is reassuring the Thessalonians that nothing unusual was happening to them. When we start to suffer because of following Christ our first reaction is wonder if we have done something wrong. The first Christians experienced persecution from their own people, the Jews. Likewise the Thessalonians were encountering opposition from their own people, the Gentiles.

2:15

“Who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out”. These days some might object to such words saying they are anti-semetic. They are not. Remember that Paul and most of his companions were Jews, Jesus was a Jew! It is a simple statement of the facts, and we Gentiles are no more innocent. Paul is stating the facts, and reminding the Thessalonians that there is nothing unusual in their facing persecution. The Jews who opposed Jesus displease God and are hostile to everyone, and much the same applies to anyone who opposes Jesus.

Messages for these times

I have made a couple of short videos for these strange and difficult days that we live in

Expect the Holy Spirit to work through you

God, the corona virus and us

Isaiah 63:4,5 - I was appalled

63:4

The day of vengeance and the day of redemption go together. We find this same concept in Revelation, which is about both the redemption of God’s people and God’s judgement upon the world and upon Satan. We cannot understand how the two go together, so we often plump for one or the other. As a result we know nothing. The two do go together and we need to take them together. For God’s people to be free the enemy needs to be crushed. Jesus said that the strongman needed to be bound. There also needs to be judgement upon sin, for righteousness’ sake. So the day of vengeance and the day of redemption go together. The cross was an act of judgement, it was judgement upon our sin, but Jesus took the punishment for us.

63:5

Yet again we see salvation and wrath going together. First, it says that God looked but there was no one to help. No one was righteous. So He had to work salvation Himself. This is what happened when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. God Himself worked salvation for us. And on the cross the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus. Again, many find this concept unacceptable. Well, tough! Your problem is that you do not take sin seriously enough. Nor do you appreciate the full depth of God’s love demonstrated on the cross. Of course, none of us take sin seriously enough, nor understand its true horror. Nor do we anything like appreciate the depths of God’s love.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-13 - We charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God

2:11,12

They dealt with the people as a father deals with his child. There was a deep connection and a deep concern. In all our work for the gospel we should remember that we are dealing with people, and God’s command is that we love everyone. This love will sometimes be rejected or misunderstood, but we are to continue loving as God loves. This love is not soppy sentimentality, but involves “encouraging, comforting and urging to live lives worthy of God”. This is to be our goal. Sadly there are some churches where they encourage people to live lives unworthy of the Lord. Why should we do this? Because God has called people into His kingdom and into His glory. The world’s way of living is demeaning and dishonouring. God’s way of living is glorifying.

2:13

There are two ways of looking at the Bible. One is to treat it as a purely human book, the other is to treat it as God-breather, receiving it as the word of God. Paul gives thanks that the Thessalonians receive it as the word of God. Doing this does not mean we kiss our brains goodbye, nor that academic scholarship has nothing to teach us, but our starting point is that it is the word of God. The word was at work in them. The Bible is revelation from God, and God creates and acts through His word. So if we believe His word then we will find that God Himself is at work in us.

Isaiah 63:1-3 - Why is your apparel red?

63:1

This is an amazing messianic prophecy. The final part of the verse: “It is I, proclaiming victory, might to save” makes it clear that it is talking about Jesus, and He is bringing victory and salvation to Israel. Yet why are Edom and Bozrah (a city inn Edom) mentioned, why does He come from there? Romans 9-11 explain, with the gospel going out to the world before Israel finally starts to believe on a significant scale. The gospel goes out to the nations. “with His garments stained crimson” is an obvious reference to the shedding of blood on the cross. The plan revealed in Isaiah is very much a long term plan!

63:2,3

We then see a different usage of blood. It talks about the wrath and anger of God. On the cross Jesus took upon Himself the judgement that should have been ours. But in Revelation we also read of judgement upon the nations. There is a twofold response to Jesus. Some will believe and receive mercy. Others will be stubborn and suffer judgement. Either way, the enemies of God will be defeated.

1 Thessalonians 2:7-10 - We were gentle among you

2:7,8

Paul first says that they were like young children, but there are variants which say “we were gentle among you” (see ESV). There is only one Greek letter difference. The ESV seems more likely, and even if it does say “young children” that probably means that they were not asserting themselves with the Thessalonians. This would then make sense of the rest of v7 and 8. Paul and his companions made their goal to care for the Thessalonians as a nursing mother cares for her children. They shared both the gospel and themselves. The Thessalonians were not treated as “pew fodder”, but as real people.

2:9,10

Paul and his companions worked for their living while they were with the Thessalonians, probably as a tentmaker in Paul’s case. So they worked hard to make a living, and they worked hard to communicate the gospel. They worked hard so that they were not a burden on anyone else. Moreover, their lives were good examples, they sought to live by Godly standards, and the people could witness this. God, of course, also knew the truth of this. Paul is an example of the integrity of lifestyle that we should all seek to exhibit.

Isaiah 62:11,12 - See, your Saviour comes!

62:11,12

The Lord has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth, to all peoples. To His people He says “your saviour comes and His recompense comes with Him”. God’s reward is on its way. It is God’s kingdom that will be established forever, not the world’s kingdom.

There are important effects for God’s people. They will be called a “holy People”. Those sin-affirming churches and individuals just haven't got a clue. They will be called the redeemed of the Lord. It will be clear that it is God who has saved us. And we will be called sought after. A time will come when the world longs to know our God.