Today’s passage: Isaiah 61

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus read this passage and claimed to be it’s fulfillment, the Messiah, in the synagogue in Luke 4:16-21.
• Jesus is the preacher of this message and He is the payment for it’s purchase.  The covenant being purchased with His own blood.
• The marriage imagery is repeated in Ephesians 5:22-33.

Questions to consider:

1. The Lord’s love of justice (Verse 8) is the reason Jesus had to suffer on the cross and die.  Why was Christ’s death necessary?  What did it accomplish?  If sin was ever paid for twice would that be justice?
2. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn.” (See Matthew 5:2-12)  What are God’s people mourning?  Is it political issues or is it their sin?  What did Jesus die to redeem, a government or people who were slaves to sin?  How can this right understanding of Isaiah 61 help us when we think about the government in this country today so that we don’t make the same mistake the Pharisees did during Jesus’ earthly ministry?  What is our greatest need?  What is your neighbor’s greatest need?
3. How will righteousness come to the earth?  Will our efforts bring about perfection on this earth?  Who will cause righteousness to grow? (Verse 11)

Today’s passage: Isaiah 60

Helpful thoughts:

• These promises are made to Israel for the millennial kingdom, and then for eternity future (Verses 12-22).
• The walls of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, giving a symbol of safety, but the gates will never need to be shut because the nations will come in and out of the city in peace.  The walls will be called, “Salvation” and the gates will be called, “Praise.”  It will be the Lord’s doing.  Israel will be saved by her Messiah and Lord.
• Israel’s goal and mission has always been to bring glory to God.  Their salvation is the work of His hand, that He may be glorified.

Questions to consider:

1. What aspects of the future kingdom did you learn about in this chapter?  What kinds of things should we expect to see?  What can we look forward to?
2. Was there ever a time when Israel’s walls and gates were upheld or useful outside of God’s provision?  When has God not been their (and our) savior and redeemer?  When these wonderful days come, who will have changed, God or people?
3. How does verse 21 compare to Ephesians 2:8-10?  When we understand where our salvation and our sanctification come from, where will we want to direct our praise?  Who deserves the glory?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 59

Helpful thoughts:

• The Israelites are being rebuked for wanting to receive “positive” responses and judgments without truly pursuing justice.  They were fine with decisions as long as it went the way they wanted…even if what they wanted was unjust.
  • They were praying to God and expecting Him to act according to their crooked standards while rejecting His lordship.
• When unjust man strives for resolution in his own efforts and values, man will only find more injustice, more darkness, more gloom.
• Justice and righteousness would not come from mankind, so God brought it to us Himself, through the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Questions to consider:

1. What is happening in the heart of people when God is the one at fault and we are the ones who determine how things should go?  Does God err?  Does He act unjustly?  Can anyone truly find fault in Him?
2. Whose ways gets the world into the messes we find ourselves dealing with?  Whose ways are going to resolve these problems?  Whose ways are going to make them worse?  Whose ways are you trusting in?
3. God the Son put on this armor (Verse 17) to fend off unrighteousness and to bring salvation.  How does the Apostle Paul call us to do the same (Ephesians 6:10-20)?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 58

Helpful thoughts:

• Verse 2 is written to show the perspective of Israel.  As far as they could tell, they were doing everything right and pursuing God, when they weren’t.  Then they blamed God for not acting in accordance with their desires.
• God desires repentance and righteous obedience, not empty man-centered and designed religious exercise.
• Truly delighting in the Lord is a fruit of honoring His commands and His day, which produces more obedience and more joy.

Questions to consider:

1. Is it possible to go to church, to speak in a very Christian-like way, to be very spiritual and to NOT be truly following Christ or under His lordship?  How does this happen?  How would a person have to view religion in order for this to be a possibility?
2. When can we know that repentance has genuinely occurred?  Is it evidenced through religious observances, words or through a change in our actions?  How does God describe repentance and godliness in this chapter?
3. What are your favorite things to do on the Lord’s Day?  How will our pleasures and delights change (Our objects of affection) the more we honor the Lord on His day?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 57

Helpful thoughts:

• God rebukes Israel for their sinful sexual appetite and the slaughter of their children (Verse 5).
  • Israel did those things in the name of idolatry.
  • Modern western civilization does it in the name of humanism (Today’s form of idolatry).
    • Looking at the numbers I found, if people identifying as “Evangelical Protestants” would stop getting abortions, about 3,500 lives would be saved every year in our state alone.
• We sin when we fear/reverence someone or something else over God.
• It is right for all of God’s people to have a contrite and lowly spirit.  We are saved by grace.  Revival comes from Him.  Israel will be blessed because God has willed it, not because they want it or because they want Him…they don’t.

Questions to consider:

1. What is life after physical death compared to in verses 1-2?
2. How will the world, and even some who identify as part of the church continue to respond to God and His truth (Verse 4)?  How can this give us temptation to fear?  Who must we fear and why?
3. How does the truth of the Gospel produce a proper humility in us?  How does that humility and our healthy fear of God change the way we interact with the calamity of this world?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 56

Helpful thoughts:

• What the Lord gives to His people is better than anything this world can offer.  The way the world values things and the way the world tries to ascribe value to people will not define you.
• Those who hold fast to God’s covenant are those who desire to please Him and follow His commands (Verses 4 and 6).
  • See Ephesians 2:8-10.
• Verses 9-12 are a rebuke against the leaders and prophets in Israel who preferred the comforts of this life to righteousness.  As long as everything seemed easy and normal, they had no further thought or desire for God.
  • This is a stark contrast to the foreigners (Us!), the eunuchs, and the outcasts (Exiles) of Israel whom God has promised to receive.

Questions to consider:

1. Compare the last verses of Isaiah 56 with the first two verses of Isaiah 55.  Do lost people think they’re thirst is not being quenched?  Why is it such a gift to become aware of our great need?
2. What is the covenant to which we hold fast (1 Corinthians 11:25-26)?  What makes foreigners like us become the children of God?
3. What emotion does God promise us and where will we experience it to so high a degree (Verse 7)?  How should this promise guide our desires and actions today?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 55

Helpful thoughts:

• The greatest need every single soul on the face of the earth has is the need of repentance and reconciliation with God.
  • Christian, God has given this to you!
• Christians will not find satisfaction elsewhere after they are saved.
  • The lost never find it.  The saved must remember the Spring from which their satisfaction comes!
• God’s word will accomplish every single thing He intends for it to accomplish.

Questions to consider:

1. What takes up the most “real estate” in your mind?  What do you think about the most?  What do you spend the most time reading about, watching, etc.?  Is it leaving you thirsty or does it satisfy?
2. If it seems like the world around us is desperate for satisfaction (Which they are), what is the only thing that will bring them satisfaction?
3. What does the future hold for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Who will be faithful and powerful enough to bring it about?

Today’s passage: Isaiah 54

Helpful thoughts:

• The grace of God and the life He gives eternally to His people will remove all reason for shame and reproach from the past.
• The “covenant of peace” in verse 10 is also referred to as the Covenant of Grace or as the New Covenant.  This is the covenant purchased by the blood of Jesus.  It has already been sealed and it can never be annulled (Verse 9).
• In the Kingdom, there will be those who fight against Israel and against God, but they will never succeed.

Questions to consider:

1. On what basis is Israel’s (And our) past sins removed?  Why will we be free from our guilt and reproach?  (Verse 5)
2. The precious stones sound nice and all, but what other promises in this chapter are there that are of far greater value?
3. What do verses 16-17 teach us about God’s sovereignty and authority?  Is there anyone who is truly out from under His rule (Even if they desire to be or don’t even believe He exists)?