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Please note the next lesson will come September 12.
Read Isaiah 58 Isaiah 58:5-6, 11-12 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loosen the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? … 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. IF you recall when we began to study Isaiah, we were reminded that this book is seen as a summary of the entire Bible – even its 66 chapters reflect the Bible’s 66 books. Some passages are parallel to Jesus birth. Isaiah 53 is a clear foretelling of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. Others remind us of Jesus’ Second Coming and the fulfillment of a new heaven and earth. And here we examine Isaiah 58 to discover it goes well with the epistle of James – and much of Jesus’ teachings of true faith. God clearly, repeatedly from Cain’s lackluster worship in Genesis 4 to Revelation’s lukewarm, watered-down churches, condemns false worship. He chided Israel for their self-centered, even antagonistic fasts. Israel practiced their religion, but they had no heart for it. Their fasting was an outward sign to the world, “We follow the LORD God.” But to God it was a lie. They rejected the care for the poor to become bittern toward each other. Isaiah proclaims that true fasting is to release people from physical and spiritual oppression. Care for the hungry, homeless, widows and the oppressed is to be done with the fasts as a true act of worship. James says it this way: 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. What point is there to go to church, to believe in God, to pray, to read the Bible and to confess Christ if this does not transform your mind, your hands and your feet to be as Christ? As did Cain, In one way or another, we all find a reason to turn our face “downcast” and reject true worship. We can easily put a shield of false righteousness around ourselves to say, “This is my preference, my belief, my understanding.” We must be careful, “My way.” does not violate the Bible. True religion - true faith – leads to God’s blessings. Faith rebuilds what has been destroyed and forgotten. Faith leads to healing and love for one another. Faith restores lost relationships and transforms broken hearts. Faithful religion leads us to love God and to love one another, eager to humbly serve. Fearing Truth
Read Isaiah 57 Isaiah 57:9-12 “You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave itself! You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint. 11 Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me? 12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.” THE LORD asked a very powerful question of Israel. It is one we all must answer: Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? God’s words to Israel here specifically condemn them for their persistent Molech worship. This idolatry included child sacrifice – a demon that still rages throughout the world. Think of it. God’s chosen people killed children to appease an idol! They descended to the grave, and surely they became weary of soul. Is it possible to consider a mother’s grief as she lay her child on a detestable altar? What does such an act do but infect a soul with remorse, grief and anguish? Yet, they persisted, even in their soul’s great weariness to destroy their families and blind themselves to God. God said he would expose their righteousness to show they had none. His condemnation pointed to the death ruling Israel’s hearts. Do you often wonder, “How can people persist in doing wrong? Do they not see how it harms them?” The basic answer is, “No, they do not. They are even diligent and purposeful to stay in the lie, so truth will not confront them.” The power of self-rule darkens the heart so dramatically, people angrily and violently oppose God. This is humanity’s history since Eden to this moment and onto the Final Day of the Lord. Even as sin destroys them, they will violently war against God. This is the Bible’s truth and the reason the world is afraid of God’s Book. Be of love for God and for others. Regardless of how lovingly and tenderly, firmly and convincingly we tell of Jesus’ gospel – that must include the truth of sin – people will directly, indirectly and constantly reject you and your message. A God-like love goes beyond worldly conflicts to focus on eternal peace. Strive for Jesus as the world strives against him. It is our task and purpose. He is the Lord, who has suffered, so you and I have good news, “Jesus save!” Ecclesiastes 2:22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
“THE righteous perish.” That seems against all God says. It makes you wonder, “Why be right with God if I will die?” But in truth, “righteous perish” is a blessing. In Isaiah’s time and through the generations up to the exile, evil kings of Israel and Judah persecuted and killed God’s righteous prophets. Isaiah expressed God’s grief, and Jesus expressed his condemnation in Luke 11:48 So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Yet, Isaiah’s message God gave him a vision of joy beyond the terror of persecution. In his deep and very right relationship with God, Isaiah’s message is about the reward God’s faithful experience as “the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.” Those who walk God’s right path do not, as one commentator says, escape death. But they escape the sting of death. Death on earth takes them into life in heaven. They perish from earth, away from its evil and persecutions into the Father’s bosom. Isaiah proclaims the eternal comfort of the right path leading to a joyful contentment into God’s presence in death. And there’s more. Isaiah’s words point to the Great Comfort, the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, who was killed and for whom “no one” cared at all. Then farther into the future, Isaiah points to the righteous apostles, who walked in peace, even to their death to rest with their Savior. They were among the first righteous ones in Jesus Christ to perish from earth’s violence. Understand your life in Christ Jesus does not belong to you. But in his resurrection is the truth that compels many a persecuted Christian to remain faithful. They know physical death is a release into eternal life. Why be concerned of trials on earth when you know eternal joy awaits you? Are you struggling to teach Jesus to someone? Are you criticized for your faith? Are you ostracized for your law-based life? Rejoice in your walk with God. He promises a wonderful rest as you reside in God’s presence forever. Isn’t interesting how four Beatitudes speak of blessings for the righteous? Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled…8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God…10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” |
AuthorBob James Archives
February 2025
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