Day 219: Isaiah 34, 35 and 36

The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing. (Isaiah 35:10)

Chapters 34 and 35 are seemingly out of place in this portion of Isaiah. Most of Isaiah 1-39 deals with the challenges of the 8th century BC, whereas these chapters anticipate the return from exile almost 200 years later. While the original portions of the book are credited to Isaiah ben Amoz (the same Isaiah who had the incredible vision in chapter 6), other portions are often attributed to followers of Isaiah who wrote in his name centuries later. This was not an unusual (or unethical) practice in ancient times.

The question for us, since we were not around to read the original writings of Isaiah ben Amoz, or to have a conversation with those who may have subsequently written in his name is: What does the finished form of these writings say to us? After all, we benefit from the complete Isaiah as part of our biblical canon. We must read the book in its entirety, rather than get too caught up with the individual details. Let's not miss the forest for the trees.

We have received an Isaiah in which the writers look beyond the troubles of 701 BC (the Assyrian seige) and 586 BC (destruction by Nebuchadnezzar) to the eventual and inevitable fall of Babylon. Remember, Isaiah always looks beyond judgment to restoration.

If there's trouble on your horizon, anticipate God's grace not far behind.

What are you afraid of?

Day 218: Isaiah 31, 32 and 33

The fruit of righteousness will be peace. (Isaiah 32:17)

Isaiah writes of a coming turmoil, a frenzied panic from which no man or earthly power can save Judah. While the women of Jerusalem are complacent in their denial of what's coming, the writer says that in less than a year their misplaced confidence will be shattered. Where is peace?

In chapter 33 the question is asked: Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with the everlasting burning? (v. 14) This is not talking about the fires of hell, but the presence of God. Note the answer: He who walks righteously and speaks what is right (v. 15).

This passage brings to mind Psalm 15: Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous (vv. 12).

These passages tell us the way to peace is through right living. Too often we bring trouble on ourselves, and then pray for peace as if it were an entitlement. We think it will come without any change in how we live. But peace is the fruit of a disciplined life. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).

If in your heart of hearts you are experiencing more turmoil than peace, what are you going to do about it?

Day 217: Isaiah 28, 29 and 30

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay. (Isaiah 29:16)

Though we have affirmed earlier writings in Isaiah were addressed to Judah during the reign of Ahaz, the current chapters are more likely targeted to his son Hezekiah. Israel was on the verge of falling to Assyria, even though their drunken revelry makes it appear they were not aware their flower was fading (28:1-4). Despite their differences, the population of Judah would be shaken to the core to see its sister kingdom Israel destroyed and its people exiled to the far reaches of the empire, never to return.

Chapter 29 advises that Jerusalem is not immune to the troubles which have besieged Samaria (Israel's capital). But chapter 30 also cautions that running to Egypt for protection is not the answer.

Isaiah acknowledges that his prophetic message is not getting through. Their spiritual blindness and deafness has infected every area of their lives including their worship. These people . . . honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me (29:13).

In today's focus verse, the prophet warns that just because they are blind doesn't mean they should assume God is blind too. They make the mistake of thinking God is created in their image. Who's the potter? And who's the clay?

It's one thing to confess God with our lips; quite another to confess him with our lives.

Have you ever tried to recreate God in your own image?

Day 216: Isaiah 25, 26 and 27

On this mountain [the Lord Almighty] will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples; the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. (Isaiah 25:7,8)

Israel's enemies referred to in Isaiah's writings are Assyria, Babylon, and the smaller surrounding kingdoms as referenced in the oracles against the nations (chapters 13-23). In chapters 24-27 Yahweh takes on an even more powerful foe: death, the enemy of all peoples.

Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead (26:19). Not likely the work of the 8th century BC Isaiah ben Amoz, these are considered to be the latest additions to the book of Isaiah. [1] They mark an evolution of thought regarding life after death and the resurrection of those who belong to God.

We read in the earlier writings of David: I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care (Psalm 88:5).

Consider the words of Jesus: I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). And finally Paul: Where, O death, is your victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

The message to Israel (and us too) could be: If even death cannot stand against our God, then is there any enemy he cannot defeat?

Death isn't final.

What does that mean to you?

[1] Walter Brueggemann. An Introduction to the Old Testament (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003), 164.

Day 215: Isaiah 22, 23 and 24

The song of the prostitute: Take up the harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered. (Isaiah 22:15,16)

In this final installment of Isaiah's oracles against the nations, the focus turns to Phoenicia, home of two of the Mediterranean's greatest seaports, Tyre and Sidon. It is likely this prophecy takes place during the Assyrian expansion. Phoenicia was best known for its trade with other nations: its sailing ships traveled around the Mediterranean, visiting seaports from Egypt to Spain. Rather than compete for military control of the region, Phoenicia was content to sit back and take profits wherever it could.

In that respect, Isaiah refers to Tyre and Sidon as prostitutes, plying their wares, luring in business. But Phoenicia's political neutrality would not protect its economic ventures forever. Isaiah forecasts the coastal nation's defeat at the hands of Assyria, for the Assyrian Empire wanted control over those port cities and their corresponding trade routes with other nations.

But there would come a time, after Assyria's strength ran its course, that Tyre and Sidon would once again be back in business, like old prostitutes singing their seductive songs trying to entice back customers from yesterday.

Isaiah teaches us that the strongest economy will never be strong enough to serve as a foundation on which to build. Only faith in God stands the test of time and trouble.

On what foundation are you building for the future.

Day 214: Isaiah 19, 20 and 21

When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. (Isaiah 19:20)

These are not unfamiliar words in the Old Testament. Anyone who's been reading along recognizes the well worn theme of Israel's rebellion and restoration. In Deuteronomy 30 we read: When all these blessings and curses . . . come upon you and . . . you return to the Lord your God . . . then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you (vv. 1-3).

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God's word to Solomon is recorded: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

So these words of mercy for a people gone astray should not be surprising to us. What might catch us off guard, though, is that these words were not spoken over Israel; they were not spoken over Judah; they are God's promises to Egypt, and a reminder to us that even though God is our God, we do not have exclusive rights to him. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3).

How do you feel when God sheds his grace on those outside your circle?

Day 213: Isaiah 16, 17 and 18

My heart cries for Moab. (Isaiah 16:11)

The people of Moab, a perennial thorn in Judah's side, were getting their comeuppance. Their earlier pride seemed foolish in light of their present troubles. God's response to their misfortune is surprising. Isaiah writes that God cries for them, and with them too (v. 9).

Here Moab is receiving the consequences for their choices, and yet God has compassion on them. How can God allow discipline into people's lives and, at the same time, cry for what they are enduring? Does he also cry for us when our disobedience comes back to us in suffering?

Moab was an enemy of God's people, yet rather than rejoice over their downfall, God's heart was filled with the kind of heartache reserved for loving parents of wayward children. Let's learn a lesson from these words. We shouldn't gloat when someone who has chosen to be our enemy tastes the bitterness of defeat. God cries for them.

Paul reminds us: If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him (Romans 12:17), and, Do not let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good (12:21). And did not Jesus say much the same thing? They are blessed who show mercy to others, for God will show mercy to them (Matthew 5:7), and, Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you (5:44).

Is there any better test of love than to do good to those who do evil to us?