Read Isaiah 43
 
Isaiah 43:25 “I, yes, I alone will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”
 
ARE you surprised God says, “I will blot out your sins for my own sake.”
    I believe every time we think of God’s forgiveness, we consider our point-of-view, “God has forgiven me, and I am free from that sin.” Is that not why John 3:16 is a verse we are eager to speak? Those words are an expression of the Almighty’s love gift to forgive you into eternal life. You rejoice to know: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
    Yes, God has done this. But it’s not all about you; it is also for God’s sake. For the sake – the purpose –  of his love, God has acted to give you into eternal life.    
    As God reminds Israel he has chosen them from among all other nations, we must keep in mind he has done so to ultimately restore Eden to the earth. He initiates and fulfills the forgiveness of sins on his chosen people throughout the world, so sinners become his children. In Christ, you are one “who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (verse 7) In response, his soul-transforming love and forgiveness redeems your heart to love God. This fulfills God’s sake – his purpose – of his heavenly kingdom. God forgives you for your purpose to love God and love others. He forgives you for his purpose to welcome you home.
    In response, remember God’s words to Israel: “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.” Because “even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:10-11)
    Witness God to the world for their sake and his. Know, believe and understand God. Rejoice your Lord loves you so deeply he has forgiven you for his eternal purpose.
 
Pause and Consider: as you forgive others, you are doing so for God’s sake.

 

Read Isaiah 42
 
Isaiah 42:5 This is what God the Lord says, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.
 
THIS chapter certainly is a good source to answer the question, “Who is God?” God the Lord reminds us he is Yahweh, the Creator, the Provider. He is Life. He is Almighty in each particle of his universe. Why would we not see his glory with clear eyes and listen to him with open ears?
    God the Lord forcefully reminds Israel to do see and hear in verse 9a “See, the former things have taken place.” He reminded Israel he has planned, promised and judged. He has said, “I will do it.” And he has done so.
    Assuring and reminding Israel of his history with them, God then points Israel’s eyes and ears ahead: verse 9b “and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” In essence, “Listen to my Word. It is true past, present and future.”
    With emphasis, verses 18-19 express a common illustration of the Almighty’s frustration and condemnation of his peoples faithless lives. “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the Lord?” Israel has been an unresponsive servant to God the Lord’s righteous rule. How can people who know so much of God be so ignorant and unresponsive?
    The chapter ends with a question for all mankind: Isaiah 42:23 Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? Indeed, this question must be asked continually in our Christian lives and in Jesus’ church. How do you answer? Can you tell God, “I’ve been faithful to trust you have been and will be active throughout history. I know you judge and you bless. I know your sovereign hand protects your own until Jesus returns. I know your desires and purposes will be done on your earth.” Jesus calls you to such a living faith. Matthew 24:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Pray the Spirit empowers you into it.
    We will see as we move through Isaiah the image of sin’s captivity, keeping us blind and deaf to God’s truth. May his Spirit be upon you and your family, church and community to see and hear from God the Lord. Only in the Holy God will you find true freedom.
 
Prayer: God the Lord, I pray we are faithful obedient servants with clear eyes, open ears and servant hearts to love you. Amen.
 

 

Isaiah 42:1-3 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.”
 
THE prophet’s – God’s – tone changes as we move into what is called the Servant Songs – chapters 42-55. We have been reading of God’s promise to care for Israel and ultimately the church in Isaiah 41. Now comes the personal way he will do so. Isaiah reveals the character of the Messiah to come. Of course, he is the one we know as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. Who is Jesus?
 

1.  Here is my servant – Jesus is the Father’s obedient servant. John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” In the Hebrew language, this word refers to a slave who is humble and submissive to the master. Jesus will be as a slave to the Father to serve humanity.
2. The chosen one in whom (he) delights. And the Father will uphold the Messiah: Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
   
3. I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. The Father empowers Jesus with the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s will. Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
4. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. Jesus did not clamor for attention, but he spoke in gentleness and patience to his own.
5. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Jesus is tender to the weak and needy. Rather than break them, he will heal those who receive him. He will not snuff out those close to losing faith, but stir in them a love for God. John 8:11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
6. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. Jesus obeyed and fulfilled God’s law. Matthew 3:15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
7. He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope. Jesus began a new covenant of hope as we come to faith in him. 2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

    May you know Jesus, the righteous servant, obedient to the Father, so you will have life.
 
Here is a prayer from a pastor in Uganda: O Lord, direct our steps this day into the way of peace, and strengthen our hearts to obey your commandments. May the Dayspring visit us from on high, and give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, that they may adore you for your mercy, follow you for your truth, desire you for your sweetness, for you are the blessed Lord God of Earth, now and forever. Amen. 
 
     

Isaiah 40:30-31 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
 
THIS is one of the powerful messages from Isaiah easily understood to encourage and uplift us. Why do you think this scripture is so well-known?
    Could it be we all desire this kind of strength and freedom? Weariness is a common trait of our human condition. There is much to make us feel this way. We often have too many concerns and only unclear, even distant answers, if we have any answers at all. The optimism and hope of our younger years may have given way to the faithless, “It is what it is.” attitude that tires our minds. Very often, we are told to look within ourselves to find peace and rest. But how can be an answer that we are filled with questions?
    But in God’s comfort, deliverance and glory proclaimed earlier in this chapter, comes the sure hope of a God-centered, God-empowered life. Think of it. This hope is God’s gift to you as you  turn your attentive ear toward God’s Word. The soaring strength is an outpouring of God’s power to lift us from despair into faith. Our weariness transforms’ to tireless, hope-empowered footsteps to run in strength with the evidence of God’s salvation.  
    There is rest and power for each of you as you seek the Lord’s good will for your life. May you run with him to everlasting joy.
 
Job 17:9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger. 
 
 

Read Isaiah 38-39
 
Isaiah 38:4-6 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.’”
 
Isaiah 39:5-7 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.”
 
ONE challenge in reading the Bible the events are not necessarily in chronological order. The events and chapter numbers do not coincide. An example is that Isaiah 36-37 told of Assyria’s defeat. Then chapter 38 relates Hezekiah’s healing and prophecy of Assyria’s defeat.
     In these two passages are two more examples of God’s power to dramatically change our lives. King Hezekiah’s healing is a clear example of prayer’s power. In addition, the LORD gives a universe-changing sign he will surely add 15 more years to Hezekiah’s life. This is very similar to God holding the sun as Joshua fought the Amorites (Joshua 10).  
     Then comes the second – and a sad prophecy – of great change to come to Judah one day. This prophecy is of the Jews’ exile to Babylon. Please know Hezekiah’s prideful display of Judah’s wealth to Babylon’s officials was not the cause of the exile. There are many prophecies before and after Hezekiah’s reign of Judah’s 70 years of punishment in Babylon. Evil kings preceded and followed Hezekiah. The Sovereign Lord’s will was to judge his disobedient people for their generations of disobedience. God had set the time of the exile to be about 100 years after Hezekiah’s reign.
     These are two sure examples of God’s Word fulfilled. Healing individuals, judging nations and changing nature all occur with God’s spoken Word.
     Often it is difficult to God’s severe judgment words. Yet, God does not leave his chosen people in the judgment. He continually extends his gracious hand to encourage and save all who repent and believe his Word is true.
     After these many accounts of judgment, the chapters to come next will be very encouraging for you.
 
Rejoice! God does not leave his faithful people in his judgment.
 
 
 

Ready Isaiah 36-37
 
Isaiah 37:1-2 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
 
WE have been reading God’s promises to remove Assyria from Judah’s borders. Here it happened. These two chapters read like an action-adventure drama, because it is. God’s destruction of the Assyrian army is also recorded in 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32. This is one of God’s great deliverance miracles in the Bible. It ranks in the same category as the Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea and Jericho’s walls crumbling against Israel’s faithful trumpet blasts.
     In addition to God’s powerful hand to rescue his people, there is another common element present in each of those three stories. God has chosen and formed a faithful leader to follow his commands.
     See Hezekiah’s response to the aggravating, disrespectful words form the Assyrians. Instead of seeking help from other nations as his predecessors did, Hezekiah seeks the LORD God. He tears his clothes in a symbol of submission and grief before  the Lord. He knows the circumstances have no earthly hope of Judah’s safety. So he turns to the one who created the heavens and the earth, the only One who can help.
     Hezekiah goes to the temple and lays out before he Lord. He mourns for his people and prays for God’s power. He seeks the Lord’s Word from Isaiah. In his distress, he waits on the Lord’s answer, willing to submit to God’s Word.
     In many of our lives, God presents to us such a choice. Where do we go when the armies of grief, despair, loss, hopelessness or death rage against us? What happens when weakness and helplessness besiege us? Isaiah has given us the answer. The LORD God arranged these circumstances just as he did the Red Sea and Jericho. He raised up a leader to obey his commands. Each impossible circumstance then became a display of God’s magnificent power and protection for those who are faithful to trust him.
     Do you know you can claim the victory in the Lord? But do you live in that faith, confident to seek and obey him? Do you go before God in all circumstances to prepare for what God will say to you? Are you willing to lead others into God’s victories?
 
Isaiah 37:35 “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” 36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning – there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Read Isaiah 35-37
 
Isaiah 35:4-6 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come. He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
 
DRAMATIC change – the message of this scripture – the description of our Creator’s character. He makes the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the mute confess. He floods the desert’s dry land into glorious bloom of color, life and streaming water.
    There’s more. God powerfully gives life to you! Yes, you are the result of dramatic change. You once were not, and now you are. You once were dead to sin. You now can be alive in Chris when you call on Jesus as Lord. Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. Indeed, do you know of any greater change in God’s creation? Dust to rain, dry bones to living bodies, morbid souls to eternal life – that is our God.
    Still, there’s more. When God changes you from death to life, he has told you in John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is your discipleship task. Plant the gospel seeds into new minds to prepare their hearts for the Holy Spirit’s dramatic change into their lives. What gifts has the Spirit given you to plant God’s new life into a world in need of dramatic change?
    Seek his Word. Allow the Creator’s character to be the sunlight to release his image within you. Allow him to be the rain to deepen your roots for more abundant fruit. Trusting God brings dramatic change to you. Loving God helps bring dramatic change to the world.
 
Pause and Consider: you are the result of dramatic change.