Overview
Isaiah: The Lord has made everything, formed Israel, and will take care of the exiles. So, don’t think you can question what he is doing or tell him what to do with them.
Egyptians, Cushites, and Sabeans will bow down to Israel knowing there is no other god. He hides from those who make idols but saves Israel and they won’t be shamed for eternity.
God didn’t create the earth to be empty. He hasn’t spoken in secret to Israel so they couldn’t find him. The nations who serve idols didn’t tell all this. It was the Lord and there is no other god beside the Lord who is righteous and a Savior. Everyone who turns to the Lord in all the earth will be saved because he is the only God. Every knee will bow before him and every tongue confess allegiance. It is only in the Lord that righteousness and strength are found. Those who are against him will be ashamed but the offspring of Israel will be justified and glorified.
The idols, Bel and Nebo, are carried by animals and will be taken captive. So, listen Israel, God is the only god and he will carry and save you. There is no one equal to the Lord. The idols are made from gold and silver then the makers bow down to them. They carry them because the idols can’t move themselves.
Those who sin should remember that there is no other God who has told about the beginning and the future. He will accomplish his purpose whether it is for a bird in the air or a man in a distant country. He will make his purpose happen. Stubborn people should know that he will being righteousness and salvation at the right time in Zion for the glory of Israel.
The Lord will take vengeance on Babylon. All their finery and elegance will be stripped away. He is Israel’s Redeemer, the holy one of Israel. Babylon will go into darkness and silence because God gave Israel to them to be punished but Babylon didn’t show any mercy and thought they would be continue forever. Because they think this and there is no other nation like them, they will lose their men and children in one day. Their sorceries and spells won’t save them nor will their astrology. They will all be like stubble, burned quickly.
Israel calls on the name of the Lord and swears by his name. They call themselves citizens of Jerusalem but don’t do what is right. Listen, God foretold things, then they suddenly happened. Israel is obstinate so God told what would happen ahead of time so they wouldn’t think their idols had accomplished it. But they don’t admit it so God will tell them some new prophecies so they can’t say they already knew them. God knew they were rebels. It is only for his name’s sake that he is holding back his anger or they would all be killed. He is refining Israel like silver for his own sake so that his name will be honored. He will not give his glory to another.
Psalm: The Lord is the God of our salvation in a physical sense because the rebukes and wipes out the enemy. He is seen as the King who leads Israel. This is seen in the procession going into the temple led by musicians and all the tribes of Israel. His power has been seen in working for Israel. The temple represents that power and kings bring him gifts. They come from Egypt and Cush, but the evil ones, God will vanquish. All the kingdoms of the earth will praise God who lives beyond the heavens and gives power and strength to his people.
Proverbs: It takes wisdom to correctly design a house and understanding to build it. Knowledge fills it with treasures.
Ephesians: Paul urges us to behave in accordance with God’s calling on our lives. We should be humble, gentle, patient, and loving. We need to be in unity with the Spirit living in peace with each other. The is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one baptism and one God and Father of us all. He is above all.
Grace was given to us according to what Christ has measure to us. Jesus came to earth and then ascended leading us captive. The gifts are for the church to equip us to minister and build up the body. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers. They will continue until we all have unity of faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then we will be mature and not tossed around by worldly doctrines and human schemes. Instead, we should be speaking the truth in love as we become more like Jesus. Like a body, Jesus is the head and we are all connected to him and we are equipped so we can work properly and help the body grow in love.
What Stood Out
Isaiah: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?” (Isa 45:11).
Psalm: “You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” (Ps 68:35 NIV).
Proverbs: “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established” (Prov 24:3).
Ephesians: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).
Insight
Isaiah: Israel and some current day TV preachers have the same problem. They think they are something more than they are. I remember hearing a TV preacher, I can’t remember his name because what he said was so ridiculous that it wasn’t worth remembering. He quoted, “Command ye me” (Isa 45:11 KJV) and then told us we need to command God to answer our prayers. Israel had a problem with idols at that time. They thought their idols were providing their prosperity. The TV preacher had an idol also. It was the god he had made up in his own mind, a God that was subservient to the people he had made. He didn’t speak one word about the context of his verse or even bother to look it up in other translations. Even in looking at the whole verse in the KJV, it is evident that God isn’t asking us to command him to do anything. Rather he is making a point that he does what he wants to do with his children. Just as God created the universe (Isa 45:12), he will bring righteousness, free exiles, and rebuild the cities (Isa 45:13).
I haven’t kept track of how many chapters we’ve read where God is comparing himself to idols, but this has been going on for a few days in these daily readings. God’s sovereignty is proclaimed over and over. What makes anyone think they can tell God what to do? What makes anyone think that something other than God controls the universe and the fate of peoples? For Babylon, it was sorceries and astrology. For some TV Preachers it is power, fame, and riches. For you and me, it is simply getting the things we want even if we have to sin to get them. That is simply idol worship as we put our desires ahead of God’s. We even have the audacity to tell God to get them for us. We may not command God but we certainly ask him for many things that we have no business asking when we aren’t doing what he wants. We become our own little sovereigns and that is no better than any other idol worship.
Psalm: God brought Israel out of Egypt, showed himself on Mount Sinai in smoke and flames. He led Israel into the Promised Land and blew away their enemies. He takes care of widows and orphans. His temple was established in Jerusalem and was a magnificent piece of work with the interior overlaid with gold. Other nations brought tribute to Israel because of the Lord. All this and more was why the Psalmist called the Lord awesome.
Is God awesome to you? What can you relate why God is awesome? If you don’t start with salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then you’ve missed the most awesome part of God’s works. Everything in the Old Testament was orchestrated to bring Jesus at the right time and in the right place to be a sacrifice for our sins. Everything the Psalmist recounted was part of this. In the rest of our lives, we may not see the awesome deeds that God did for Israel. As we are thankful for all the blessing we have, God becomes more awesome day by day. Of course, it isn’t that he can be any more awesome than he is because he is perfect, but our eyes are opened more and more to see how awesome he is. Then, there will be a future when all nations again bring tribute to the Lord and we will see his awesomeness up close in the millennium and then in the eternal new heaven and earth.
Proverbs: An architect needs wisdom to design a house. In the Bible, a house is often a reference to a person’s family and posterity. In the same way, we need wisdom to plan our lives and lead our families. Being an understanding parent establishes our families in the ways of the Lord. When it comes to knowledge, we need to know what the Lord wants of us. When we know and follow his ways, our rooms, our lives, our children, will be filled with the good things of God. A family like this is rare and a treasure.
Ephesians: The list of gifts in this reading (Eph 4:11) are gift to the church. He has given the church apostles, etc. The emphasis here is not on what gift we receive as an individual but what God has provided to the church to build it up. While this means that some individuals must have the spiritual gifts to perform these tasks, we should understand that we must use them to build up the church. They aren’t meant to be an end in themselves for an individual. They are all temporary gifts. At some time in the future, the church will be unified and complete in Jesus Christ. At that time, there will no longer be a need for pastors, evangelists, or any other of these gifts. Don’t worry if you are a pastor, your job is not in jeopardy. It is quite evident from human nature and from history that the church isn’t going to be unified until Jesus comes back again.
In the meantime, people who have been given to the church must combat all sort of teachings that attempt to disrupt the church. What is sad is that there some congregations that are very far from being unified. There are congregations that are unified within themselves but not with the body of Christ. Maybe they aren’t even part of the Christ’s body because they have drifted so far away from sound doctrine. They need to have evangelist to speak the truth in love then lead them to Christ.
Application
When it comes to unity in the body of Christ, I can always improve on what I’m doing. I can work on being more loving, patient, humble, and gentle. I do want to live in a manner worthy of my calling to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
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