Posts with the tag “biblical-teaching”

The final judgment, the new heavens and new earth . . . seeing beyond "the kingdom."  Read More

Isaiah's narrative hits a high point with the picture of the kingdom, but is the kingdom the end of the picture?   Read More

The final verses in Isaiah 62:10-12 wrap up the vision of Israel and Jerusalem in their glorified state at the completion of God’s Highway Project. How does the reward of a crown fits into the process?  Read More

Isaiah 61 opens with an address from her King, the Servant, who speaks a final comfort to His people on an individual level. Isaiah 62 wraps up the picture of glorified Israel with a cry to not keep silent.  Read More

Isaiah 60-62 bring us to the culmination of our theme of God's Highway Project. Having resolved the spiritual conflict between Israel and God, the Servant now ends the physical conflict between Israel and her enemies as He brings her into her final comfort and glorification.  Read More

Israel has made a show of contrition the way an alcoholic would, begging and pleading for forgiveness and grace, while still in bondage to the inner cravings of the flesh. Today will be a candid discussion of her need for rehab of a spiritual nature.  Read More

Fasting can be an outward appearance of a contrite heart that is actually driven by wrong thinking and motives. Israel misses the mark, and the LORD takes her to task for it.  Read More

What makes for peace in a kingdom? Who enters the kingdom and on what grounds? Chapters 56 delve into a comparison of law-abiding citizens and lawless one.  Read More

Isaiah 56 sets up a comparison between the law-abiding and the lawless. Isaiah 57 carries on in the same thread with a comparison between the righteous who find peace and the wicked idolators who don’t. How does this picture create a model for the End Times?  Read More

How do you define abundant life? In this phase of God’s Highway Project, God begins to straighten out the crooked places by challenging His people to consider His vision of ideal life and how to achieve it.   Read More

When a victim has suffered shame and humiliation at the hands of an oppressor, facing conviction for her own sin and fruitless past can be an overwhelming obstacle to experiencing God's grace and blessing. Shame is the stumbling block God addresses today in Isaiah 54.  Read More

In Isaiah 53, the sin-bearing Servant steps up to do His part of God's Highway Project. How do we take comfort in His sacrifice? How do we share in it?  Read More

We have become so skeptical in life. We get bombarded daily by ad campaigns, advice columnists, and health gurus telling us that they have the “miracle” solution to our ills and problems, and for the most part we tune them out. They sound too good to be true, anyway. So, we turn the channel, ignore the flashing ads on websites, and throw the mailers in the trash. But what if, in the middle of all ...  Read More

Have you ever faced a furious person who is raging with an almost poisonous anger or indignation? It's pretty scary. Scary enough to make you want to do anything to appease them. What happens when the furious person is God?  Read More

Even strong believers can still grapple with despair. Knowing this from His own experience, the Servant delivers His strategy to strengthen the righteous who are struggling to stand against an angry world and maintain perspective.  Read More

God can move heaven and earth, but He can't seem to reach the heart of His despairing people to comfort them. Who will intercede? Perhaps she will listen to the wisdom of one who has struggled as she has.  Read More

Despair is a stumbling block that serves the purpose of bringing a person to the end of a reliance on themself and prompting a return to God. Hope comforts despair, but what happens when a person refuses God's comfort and chooses instead the comfort of self-pity?   Read More

As we move into Part 2 of God's Highway Project (Isaiah 49-57), we find the second stumbling block in the recovery process--despair. The Servant Himself suffers from it but He finds comfort by focusing on the future reward, which becomes a model for us to consider.   Read More

If you only study one chapter of Scripture at a time, you lose as sense of the continuity of the whole, as well as the themes and motifs that span multiple chapters. Let's take a holistic look at the chapters we have covered so far in our study of God’s Highway Project.  Read More

Israel's season in the furnace of affliction draws a response of lament and rejoicing--lament over the blessing of peace that had been lost, but rejoicing for the hope of peace to come. What brings peace to a community or nation? It's not an easy solution.  Read More

Chapter 48 opens with a stinging rebuke to Israel for not having given God glory for the work He has done in their lives, and He sends her into a furnace of affliction. Even so, there is hope for her peace and restoration as the Servant now re-enters the scene.  Read More

Is vengeance comforting? That is an uncomfortable question to answer. Our righteous Christian side will say no, absolutely not, but our carnal side might beg to differ. But if there is no comfort in it, then why to so many people seek it? Because it is empowering.   Read More

Isaiah 46 opens with a third rebuke of Israel's idolatry. So far, God has made a case for the futility and the foolishness of idolatry. Now He makes a case for the burden of idolatry. What does it take for us to lay down the heavy burdens we carry?  Read More

The beginning of Isaiah 45 focused on the commissioning of a messiah, Cyrus of Persia, in Israel's relatively near future. As the chapter wraps up, the picture of the near messianic figure begins to morph into a more distant picture of a Messiah with a greater tasking as the LORD's salvation plan now expands to include not just Israel but all the world.  Read More

The LORD's commissioning of Cyrus, King of Persia, is the high point of the chiastic structure of Chapters 41-48 in which the LORD builds a case for His power. On the surface, Isaiah 45 seems to focus on the figure of Cyrus, but Cyrus is only a tool and a small part of the much bigger picture. The overarching theme is that God is the only Savior, and not just of Israel but the whole earth.  Read More

Isaiah 44 ended with the grand reveal of a coming messiah (not "the" Messiah. A messiah.) But it is not this messiah who is Israel's true Savior. He is merely the instrument for phase 1 of God's Highway Project.  Read More

Part of straightening out the crooked places requires dealing with sin, realigning of values, and sorting out what is truly valuable and profitable from what is not. How do you get to the experience of abundant life: God's way or the world's way?  Read More

Having declared His power to redeem Israel in previous chapters, God now comforts Israel's fear with the assurance of His love. His love is not based on her works, but simply because He chooses her. All He demands in return is that she be His witness.  Read More

The issue of justice and the release of prisoners prevails throughout this passage. God promises to send a Servant who will reestablish the broken justice system, whose light will open blind eyes. But it is not just the oppressor who needs convicting.  Read More

There is power in fear. It clouds decision-making and can become a new form of oppression even after the oppressor has been conquered. In this passage, God presents Israel with the contrast between His own power and the power of her idols.  Read More

God's first message of comfort is to tell His people all flesh is like the grass, but His word endures forever. He challenges His people to consider where they seek comfort and empowerment.  Read More

In the opening verses of Isaiah 40, God outlines His goal, the scope of His project, and the process for redeeming, healing, and restoring His broken people.  Read More

As we work through Isaiah 40-66, we will examine the path that God lays out for comforting a broken people and healing a broken community as He addresses Israel in the depths of her despair in exile. From His model we will take some strategies for helping ourselves and others ...  Read More