Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 200 and 49
immersed in Isaiah
The prophet.
Isaiah was a contemporary of Micah, but his book contains
12 times as much material.
It addresses many other nations besides Judah.
The entire creation, in fact, And also a variety of significant periods
in Israel's covenant history, even beyond the prophet's lifetime.
While Isaiah is a long book to read, it is foundational for seeing how
God's relationship with humanity moves forward from the earlier covenants to
the new covenant introduced by Jesus New Testament writers quote from Isaiah more
often than any other book except Psalms.
The collection of Isaiah's, Oracles has eight major parts.
The first part is said During a significant crisis in Judah's history,
Israel and Syria, also known as Arum, have invaded Judah, and they intend to replace
King Ahaz with a puppet king of their own.
The Lord uses this occasion to file a covenant lawsuit against the people
of Judah for the same injustice and insincere worship that doomed
the northern kingdom of Israel.
In the midst of the disaster, Isaiah foresees the birth of a
godly king who will establish justice and bring peace to the land.
While these Oracles initially envision King Hezekiah, they also point to the
long-term story of the coming Messiah.
The Oracles in the second part of the book address Other nations
and speak of future developments.
The coming campaigns of the Assyrians, the rise of Babylon, the conquest of Judah,
and the exile and return of God's people.
In both the third and fifth parts, the perspective expands
beyond individual nations.
And in this section, as is so often done in the prophets, Isaiah first describes
ruin, but then turns to restoration.
This vision ultimately merges with the anticipated return of the Judean
exiles and reveals the connection between the rescue of God's people
and the renewal of God's good world.
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy.
Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing crowned with everlasting joy In between
these two sections, the fourth part of the book presents six Oracles that
announce what sorrow awaits is real.
And Judah.
These oracles come from the 20 year period between Assys conquest of
Israel and its invasion of Judah.
A series of narratives in the sixth part of the book describe how God brought
miraculous deliverance from the Assyrians when King Hezekiah trusted in him.
However, they also foreshadow the eventual Babylonian conquest and exile.
The seventh part describes the time in Babylon.
Over 150 years later, the Persian ruler Cyrus is about to conquer the Babylonians.
And his policy and other lands is to allow exiled populations to return home.
These long oracles are some of the most beautiful and encouraging in all of
scripture assuring God's people that his word promising the end of exile
will surely be accomplished as intended.
These oracles also introduce a figure referred to as God's servant.
The servant has a complex identity, likely referring initially to God's people.
Through whom God will continue to work to bring about His purposes.
Ultimately, these servant songs point to the future Messiah, who will
bring deliverance from the deepest exile of all that of sin and death.
The final part of the book speaks to an even later period
after the return from exile.
Once again, the people of Judah need to be warned against injustice,
oppression, and idolatrous worship.
But these oracles also look beyond the return from exile to a
restoration that has cosmic in scope.
God's glory will radiate forth from Jerusalem in a fresh and powerful way,
and Jerusalem will be a place of great joy in a new heavens and new earth.
And so the book of Isaiah, which begins at a time when God's covenant
with David was gravely threatened.
Traces the grand sweep of redemptive history and points forward to the
climactic covenant, brought by David's greatest descendant, and to
the inauguration of the new creation,
the prophet Isaiah.
These are the visions that Isaiah's son of AMAs saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
He saw these visions during the years when Isaiah.
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.
Listen, oh heavens pay attention.
Earth.
This is what the Lord says.
The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me.
Even an ox knows its owner and a donkey recognizes its master's care,
but Israel doesn't know its master.
My people don't recognize my care for them.
Oh, what a sinful nation.
They are loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.
They have despised the holy one of Israel and turned their backs on him.
Why do you continue to invite punishment?
Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured and your heart is sick.
You are battered from head to foot, covered with bruises, welts,
and infected wounds without any soothing ointments or bandages.
Your country lies in ruins and your towns are burned.
Foreigners plunder your fields before your eyes and destroy everything they see.
Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman's shelter in a vineyard, like
a lean to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege.
If the Lord of heaven's armies had not spared a few of us, we
would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gamora.
Listen to the Lord you leaders of Sodom.
Listen to the law of our God people of Gamora.
What makes you think I want all your sacrifices says the Lord.
I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats
when you come to worship me.
Who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts.
The incense of your offerings disgusts me.
As for your celebrations of the New Moon and the Sabbath and your special days for
fasting, they are all sinful and false.
I want to know more of your pious meetings.
I hate your New Moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me.
I cannot stand them.
When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen for your hands are covered
with the blood of innocent victims.
Wash yourselves and be clean.
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice, help the oppressed, defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
Come now.
Let's settle.
This says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat.
But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured
by the sword of your enemies.
I The Lord have spoken.
See how Jerusalem, once so faithful has become a prostitute.
Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is
now filled with murderers.
Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag.
Once so pure, you are now like watered down wine.
Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse
to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.
Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of heaven's armies, the mighty one of
Israel says, I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes.
I will raise my fist against you.
I will melt you down and skimm off your slag.
I will remove all your impurities, then I will give you good judges again and
wise counselors like you used to have.
Then Jerusalem will again be called the home of justice and the faithful
city Zion will be restored by justice.
Those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
Rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who
desert, the Lord will be consumed.
You will be ashamed of your idol worship in groves of sacred oaks.
You will blush because you worshiped in gardens dedicated to idols.
You will be like a great tree with withered leaves like a garden
without water, the strongest among you will disappear like straw.
Their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire.
They and their evil works will burn up together and no one will
be able to put out the fire.
This is a vision that Isaiah's son of Amos saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem in the last days.
The mountain of the Lord's house will be the highest of all, the
most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills and people from all over the
world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the House of Jacob's God.
There he will teach us his ways and we will walk in His paths for the
Lord's teaching will go out from Zion.
His word will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation nor train for war anymore.
Come descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob.
Because they have filled their land with practices from the east and
with sorcerers as the Philistines do.
They have made alliances with pagans.
Israel is full of silver and gold.
There is no end to its treasures.
Their land is full of war horses.
There is no end to its chariots.
Their land is full of idols.
The people worship things they have made with their own hands.
So now they will be humbled and all will be brought low.
Do not forgive them.
Crawl into caves in the rocks, hide in the dust from the terror of the
Lord and the glory of his majesty.
Human pride will be brought down and human arrogance will be humbled.
Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.
For the Lord of heaven's, armies has a day of reckoning.
He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.
He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of basin.
He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills.
He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall.
He will destroy all the great trading ships and every magnificent vessel.
Human pride will be humbled and human arrogance will be brought down.
Only the Lord will be exalted On that day of judgment, idols
will completely disappear.
When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will
crawl into holes in the ground.
They will hide in caves, in the rocks from the terror of the Lord
and the glory of his majesty.
On that day of judgment, they will abandon the gold and silver idols
they made for themselves to worship.
They will leave their gods to the rodents and bats while they crawl
away into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks and the cliffs.
They will try to escape the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty
as he rises to shake the earth.
Don't put your trust in mere humans.
They are as frail as breath.
What good are they?
The Lord, the Lord of heaven's armies will take away from Jerusalem and Judah
everything they depend on, every bit of bread and every drop of water, all
their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune tellers and elders,
army officers and high officials advisors, skilled sorcerers and astrologers.
I will make boys their leaders and toddlers, their rulers, people
will oppress each other man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
Young people will insult their elders and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable.
In those days, a man will say to his brother, since you have
a coat, you be our leader.
Take charge of this heap of ruins.
He will reply, no, I can't help.
I don't have any extra food or clothes.
Don't put me in charge for Jerusalem will stumble and Judah will fall
because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him.
They provoke him to his face.
The very look on their faces gives them away.
They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don't even try to hide it.
They are doomed.
They have brought destruction upon themselves.
Tell the Godly that all will be well for them.
They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned, but the wicked are doomed for.
They will get exactly what they deserve.
Childish leaders oppress my people and women rule over them.
Oh my people.
Your leaders mislead you.
They send you down the wrong road.
The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people.
The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the
elders and rulers of his people.
You have ruined Israel, my vineyard.
Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.
How dare you crush my people?
Grinding the faces of the poor into the dust.
Demands the Lord.
The Lord of heaven's armies.
The Lord says beautiful Zion is haughty, craning her elegant neck, flirting
with her eyes, walking with dainty steps, tinkling her ankle bracelets so
the Lord will send scabs on her head.
The Lord will make beautiful Zion bald.
On that day of judgment, the Lord will strip away everything
that makes her beautiful.
Ornaments, headbands, crescent necklaces, earrings, bracelets and
veils, scarves, ankle bracelets, sashes, perfumes and charms.
Rings, jewels, party clothes, gowns, capes and purses.
Mirrors fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls.
Instead of smelling of sweet perfume, she will stink.
She will wear a rope for a sash and her elegant hair will fall out.
She will wear rough burlap instead of rich robes.
Shame will replace her beauty.
The men of the city will be killed with the sword and her
warriors will die in battle.
The gates of Zion will weep and mourn.
The city will be like a ravaged woman huddled on the ground.
In that day, so few men will be left, that seven women will fight for each
man saying, let us all marry you.
We will provide our own food and clothing.
Only let us take your name so we won't be mocked as old maids.
But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious.
The fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel.
All who remain in Zion will be a holy people.
Those who survived the destruction of Jerusalem and are recorded among
the living, the Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse
Jerusalem of its blood stains with the hot breath of fiery judgment.
Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there.
He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day.
Smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land.
It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.
Now I will sing for the one I love, a song about his vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill.
He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines.
In the middle, he built a watchtower and carved a wine press in the nearby rocks.
Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the
grapes that grew were bitter.
Now you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done?
When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?
Now, let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed.
I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.
I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned
and the ground is not honed.
A place overgrown With briars and thorns, I will command the
clouds to drop no rain on it.
The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven's armies.
The people of Judah are his pleasant garden.
He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression.
He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.
What sorrow for you?
Who buy up house after house and field after field until everyone is
evicted and you live alone in the land?
I have heard the Lord of Heaven's army swear a solemn oath.
Many houses will stand deserted, even beautiful mansions will be empty.
10 acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine.
10 baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.
What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of
alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.
They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties, liar and harp,
tambourine and flute, but they never think about the Lord or notice what he is doing.
So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me.
Those who are great and honored will starve and the common
people will die of thirst.
The grave is licking its lips in anticipation, opening its mouth wide,
the great and the lowly, and all the drunken mob will be swallowed up.
Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down, even the arrogant will
lower their eyes in humiliation.
But the Lord of Heaven's armies will be exalted by his justice.
The holiness of God will be displayed by his righteousness in that day.
Lambs will find good pastures and fatten sheep and young
goats will feed among the ruins.
What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made
of lies who drag wickedness behind them like a cart, they even mock God
and say, hurry up and do something.
We want to see what you can do.
Let the holy one of Israel carry out his plan for.
We want to know what it is, what sorrow for those who say that
evil is good and good is evil.
That dark is light, and light is dark, that bitter is sweet, and sweet is bitter.
What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and
think themselves so clever?
What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about
all the alcohol they can hold, they take bribes to let the wicked go
free and they punish the innocent.
Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels
in the flame, so their roots will rot and their flowers wither.
For, they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven's armies.
They have despised the word of the holy one of Israel.
That is why the Lord's anger burns against his people and why he has
raised his fist to crush them.
The mountains tremble and the corpses of his people litter
the streets like garbage.
But even then, the Lord's anger is not satisfied.
His fist is still poised to strike.
He will send a signal to distant nations far away and whistle to
those at the ends of the earth.
They will come racing toward Jerusalem.
They will not get tired or stumble.
They will not stop for rest or sleep.
Not a belt will be loose, not a sandal strap broken.
Their arrows will be sharp and their bows ready for battle.
Sparks will fly from their horse's hooves, and the wheels of their
chariots will spin like a whirlwind.
They will roar like lions, like the strongest of lions growling.
They will pounce on their victims and carry them off, and no one
will be there to rescue them.
They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction
like the roaring of the sea.
If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen.
Even the light will be darkened by clouds.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.
I.