October 16th
Isaiah, 51
1:
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the
LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the
pit whence ye are digged. 2:
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I
called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 3:
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert
like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4:
Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a
law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a
light of the people. 5:
My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms
shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm
shall they trust. 6:
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath:
for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax
old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like
manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness
shall not be abolished. 7:
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose
heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye
afraid of their revilings. 8:
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat
them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my
salvation from generation to generation. 9:
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the
ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath
cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 10:
Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great
deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to
pass over? 11:
Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with
singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they
shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee
away. 12:
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man
which shall be made as grass; 13:
And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the
heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he
were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 14:
The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should
not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15:
But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared:
The LORD of hosts is his name. 16:
And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. 17:
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of
the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup
of trembling, and wrung them out. 18:
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought
forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the
sons that she hath brought up. 19:
These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee?
desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom
shall I comfort thee? 20:
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a
wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke
of thy God. 21:
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with
wine: 22:
Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of
his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more
drink it again: 23:
But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have
said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid
thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
Isaiah, 52
1:
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful
garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no
more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2:
Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose
thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3:
For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye
shall be redeemed without money. 4:
For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt
to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5:
Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is
taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl,
saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6:
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in
that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. 7:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of
good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth! 8:
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall
they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring
again Zion. 9:
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem:
for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10:
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11:
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of
the LORD. 12:
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD
will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. 13:
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and
extolled, and be very high. 14:
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any
man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15:
So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths
at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and
that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Isaiah, 53
1:
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD
revealed? 2:
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3:
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. 4:
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. 6:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8:
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his
generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of my people was he stricken. 9:
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. 10:
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper
in his hand. 11:
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall
bear their iniquities. 12:
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul
unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Today
we are reading Isaiah 51, 52 & 53. In Isaiah 51 we have a call of
the Lord through Isaiah to all the righteous – those that see the
Lord to look back to their origins. He says when you look far back
even to Abraham and Sarah and remember how I blessed them, then you
will get a true perspective of the future. Because I will bring
security and blessing to Zion. Isaiah says the Lord will make the
desert places like the fruitfulness of the garden of Eden. There will
be joy and gladness, thanksgiving and the sound of a melody. Listen
to me says the LORD – O my nation, because the law will go out from
me and I will make my judicial decrees the light of the people. He
says my righteousness is here, my salvation has gone forth, I will
bring law to the people and the isles will come and serve me and in
me they will trust. Lift up your eyes and look at the universe and
look on the earth because I will make the universe vanish away like
smoke. And the earth will get old like an old coat. Those that live
on the earth will perish but my salvation will be forever and ever.
(Eternal security is the teaching of scripture) My righteousness will
never be abolished. Then the Lord calls on Israel that know the law
to not fear men, because they will soon be destroyed, but the
salvation of the LORD will go on from one generation to another. Then
Isaiah goes on describing the return of the Lords people to Zion.
They will return with singing and everlasting joy. They will obtain
gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning will flee away. He says you
have been afflicted and drunk to the dregs of the fury of the Lord.
Your cup of trembling will be given to your oppressors. In Isaiah ch
52 he continues the same theme calling on Israel to wake up from
their lethargy. They are to put on their garments of beauty because
no uncircumcised and unclean will ever overcome the city again. He
says shake off the dust and sit down. Take off the neck bands – you
captive daughters of Zion. You sold yourself for nothing and you will
be redeemed for no money. You went down into Egypt to live there and
‘The Assyrian’ (a New Pharaoh that didn’t know Joseph),
oppressed you there for no good reason. But you will know me – how
beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings and publicizes peace. He declares salvation – Your God
reigneth. The watchmen will lift up their voices together they will
sing, because they will all be agreed when the Lord restores Zion.
And so he goes on to call on Zion to rejoice in the LORD their
Saviour. Then the LORD through Isaiah speaks of ‘my servant’. He
will deal prudently, he will be exalted and become very high. This is
the exaltation of Christ. They will be as many as previously were
astonished at his humiliation. When his face was defaced more than
any man and his body was beaten more than any man. He will sanctify
many nations. He will silence kings because that which they only
heard they will see with their own eyes and what they had never know
they will think about. In Isaiah ch 53 we have the famous passage of
Christ suffering and propitiation. (A propitiation is a sacrifice for
sin that puts sin away) Isaiah says, who would believe what we say?
And to whom is the strength of the Lord revealed? He (Christ) will
grow up before him as a tender plant – a root in a dry ground. He
has no special physic nor will men see in him any beauty that caused
them to desire him. He will be despised and rejected of men. A man of
many sorrows and grief will be his friend. Israel will turn their
faces from him. They will despise him and not estimate him to be of
great value. He defiantly bore our greifs and carried our sorrows yet
we estimated him worthy of being smitten by God and afflicted. But he
was wounded for our sins and he was bruised for our iniquities. The
discipline of our peace was laid on him. We all went astray and
everyone turned to live his own life in his own way and The LORD laid
on him the straying and the backsliding of us all. He was oppressed
and afflicted yet he said nothing. He was like a silent lamb in from
of the shearer – he was silent. He was taken from arrest and
condemnation and who will declare his offspring? Because he was
killed and he was murdered for the sins of the Lords people. He was
buried as a wicked man is buried and he was buried with the rich,
because he was an innocent man of peace and a man of truth. Yet the
LORD was pleased to bruise him and to grieve him when he made his
soul an offering for sin. Yet he will see his seed and he will live
long and the Lords purpose will become prosperous by his hand. The
LORD will see of the suffering of his soul and he will be propitiated
(Satisfied). Those that know him and of his sufferings will be
declared righteous because he will have borne their sins. I the LORD
will give him an inheritance with the greats of Israel. And he will
have some of the spoils of the strong enemies who come against him,
because he poured out his life to death and he was counted with
transgressors and he bare the sin of many and he made intersession
for the transgressors. Is there ever a scripture so full of meaning
and such a treasury of worship.
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