4/4/12

Merry-go-rounds of the mind...


Pride is a terrible thing; it blinds the senses and alters reality, it is the essence of HELL.  Funny thing about PRIDE, you can't see it.  Even when you try to understand it, you are blinded.  Your thinking becomes circular, just like the person doing the talking in the picture, you contradict yourself without knowing it.  Recently, I have been reading the book of Romans again and this passage came to mind...

WEB: Romans Chapter 1

[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, [19] because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. [20] For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. [21] Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.

Sounds like PRIDE, doesn't it?  Yet, if you want something bad enough, your thinking will change to accommodate your desire.  To many people out there, there is no God because they want no God.  So, they reason until they arrive at an argument that sounds plausible enough so they can believe it.  Pride, simple, factual and mostly, just terrible!!!  By the way, what is an argument anyway?  Isn't it just an explanation of why the speaker believes they are right... a pretty good definition of the word argument?  And around and around we go....

Apr. 4 Leviticus 25 – 27


Apr. 4
Leviticus 25 – 27

Lev 25:1 Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai,
Lev 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh.
Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits;
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
Lev 25:5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
Lev 25:6 The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.
Lev 25:7 For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.
Lev 25:8 " 'You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.
Lev 25:9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
Lev 25:10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
Lev 25:11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.
Lev 25:12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.
Lev 25:13 " 'In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
Lev 25:14 " 'If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
Lev 25:15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
Lev 25:16 According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.
Lev 25:17 You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God.
Lev 25:18 " 'Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.
Lev 25:19 The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
Lev 25:20 If you said, "What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;"
Lev 25:21 then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.
Lev 25:22 You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
Lev 25:23 " 'The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
Lev 25:24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
Lev 25:25 " 'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
Lev 25:26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it;
Lev 25:27 then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
Lev 25:28 But if he isn't able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
Lev 25:29 " 'If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
Lev 25:30 If it isn't redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
Lev 25:32 " 'Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
Lev 25:33 The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
Lev 25:34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
Lev 25:35 " 'If your brother has become poor, and his hand can't support him among you; then you shall uphold him. As a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.
Lev 25:36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you.
Lev 25:37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
Lev 25:38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
Lev 25:39 " 'If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
Lev 25:40 As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
Lev 25:41 then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
Lev 25:42 For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.
Lev 25:43 You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.
Lev 25:44 " 'As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
Lev 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
Lev 25:46 You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
Lev 25:47 " 'If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger's family;
Lev 25:48 after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;
Lev 25:49 or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.
Lev 25:50 He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him.
Lev 25:51 If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
Lev 25:52 If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
Lev 25:53 As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.
Lev 25:54 If he isn't redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him.
Lev 25:55 For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
Lev 26:1 " 'You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God.
Lev 26:2 " 'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.
Lev 26:3 " 'If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Lev 26:5 Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Lev 26:6 " 'I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid; and I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
Lev 26:7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
Lev 26:8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
Lev 26:9 " 'I will have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.
Lev 26:10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new.
Lev 26:11 I will set my tent among you: and my soul won't abhor you.
Lev 26:12 I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people.
Lev 26:13 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Lev 26:14 " 'But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
Lev 26:15 and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
Lev 26:16 I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.
Lev 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
Lev 26:18 " 'If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
Lev 26:19 I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass;
Lev 26:20 and your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won't yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.
Lev 26:21 " 'If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.
Lev 26:22 I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your roads will become desolate.
Lev 26:23 " 'If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
Lev 26:24 then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:25 I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; and you will be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Lev 26:27 " 'If you in spite of this won't listen to me, but walk contrary to me;
Lev 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
Lev 26:30 I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
Lev 26:31 I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings.
Lev 26:32 I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it.
Lev 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
Lev 26:34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
Lev 26:35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn't have in your sabbaths, when you lived on it.
Lev 26:36 " 'As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they will fall when no one pursues.
Lev 26:37 They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues: and you will have no power to stand before your enemies.
Lev 26:38 You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up.
Lev 26:39 Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
Lev 26:40 " 'If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me,
Lev 26:41 I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;
Lev 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
Lev 26:43 The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them: and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.
Lev 26:44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God;
Lev 26:45 but I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.' "
Lev 26:46 These are the statutes, ordinances and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.
Lev 27:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 27:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation.
Lev 27:3 Your valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
Lev 27:4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.
Lev 27:5 If the person is from five years old even to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
Lev 27:6 If the person is from a month old even to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.
Lev 27:7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
Lev 27:8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him.
Lev 27:9 " 'If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy.
Lev 27:10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy.
Lev 27:11 If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest;
Lev 27:12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be.
Lev 27:13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.
Lev 27:14 " 'When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand.
Lev 27:15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
Lev 27:16 " 'If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it: the sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
Lev 27:17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.
Lev 27:18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.
Lev 27:19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.
Lev 27:20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;
Lev 27:21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests.
Lev 27:22 " 'If he dedicates to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,
Lev 27:23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh.
Lev 27:24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.
Lev 27:25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
Lev 27:26 " 'Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to Yahweh, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is Yahweh's.
Lev 27:27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it: or if it isn't redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
Lev 27:28 " 'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh.
Lev 27:29 " 'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
Lev 27:30 " 'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh's. It is holy to Yahweh.
Lev 27:31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.
Lev 27:32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
Lev 27:33 He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.' "
Lev 27:34 These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Apr. 4, 5 Luke 4


Apr. 4, 5
Luke 4

Luk 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
Luk 4:2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.
Luk 4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
Luk 4:4 Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "
Luk 4:5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 The devil said to him, "I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want.
Luk 4:7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours."
Luk 4:8 Jesus answered him, "Get behind me Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.' "
Luk 4:9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,
Luk 4:10 for it is written, 'He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;'
Luk 4:11 and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.' "
Luk 4:12 Jesus answering, said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "
Luk 4:13 When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.
Luk 4:14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area.
Luk 4:15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Luk 4:16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Luk 4:17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
Luk 4:19 and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Luk 4:20 He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 He began to tell them, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Luk 4:22 All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"
Luk 4:23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this parable, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.' "
Luk 4:24 He said, "Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
Luk 4:25 But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land.
Luk 4:26 Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
Luk 4:27 There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian."
Luk 4:28 They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things.
Luk 4:29 They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff.
Luk 4:30 But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.
Luk 4:31 He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day,
Luk 4:32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.
Luk 4:33 In the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,
Luk 4:34 saying, "Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!"
Luk 4:35 Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" When the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.
Luk 4:36 Amazement came on all, and they spoke together, one with another, saying, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!"
Luk 4:37 News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region.
Luk 4:38 He rose up from the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a great fever, and they begged him for her.
Luk 4:39 He stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her. Immediately she rose up and served them.
Luk 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
Luk 4:41 Demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Rebuking them, he didn't allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
Luk 4:42 When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place, and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn't go away from them.
Luk 4:43 But he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent."
Luk 4:44 He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

"THE BOOK OF ISAIAH" The Future Glory For God's People (54-66) by Mark Copeland

"THE BOOK OF ISAIAH"

               The Future Glory For God's People (54-66)

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS SECTION

1) To conclude our study of Isaiah with a look at the future glory
   promised for God's people

2) To note the inclusion of Gentiles in the fulfillment of this promise

3) To consider how this promise relates to the first coming of Christ,
   with the inauguration of the Messianic age, but also how it may look
   forward to when the Lord's reign is culminated at the end of time
   (following His second coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the
   Day of Judgment)

SUMMARY

We come to the last section of the book of Isaiah (chapters 54-66).  It
contains more words of comfort designed especially for the Babylonian
captives who would experience God's judgment foretold in the first half
of the book.  The focus is mostly on The Future Glory For God's People,
yet also with a reminder that their present shame (captivity) was due to
their own wickedness.

The future splendor of Zion is the theme of 54:1-56:8.  Though barren in
her present condition of captivity, the Lord promises to show mercy and
a covenant of peace to the faithful remnant.  An invitation is given to
all who thirst, and people are encouraged to seek the Lord while He may
be found if they desire joy and peace.  Participation in the future
glory of Zion is offered also to righteous Gentiles, who will be given a
place in the house of God and in His holy mountain.  This future glory
of Zion pertains to the age of Messiah, inaugurated with the first
coming of Christ and the proclamation of the gospel beginning in
Jerusalem (cf. Lk 24:44-47; He 12:22-24).

The captives in Babylon are then reminded of the conditions that led to
her downfall, and the contrition that will led to her restoration
(56:9-59:21).  Her watchmen (i.e., religious leaders) had failed in
their duties, and the death of the righteous became a blessing because
it removed them from such evil.  Their idolatry had profited them
nothing, and cost them everything.  Yet those who were humble and
contrite would experience God's mercy if they would cast away
hypocritical formalism and return to true religion.  Rebuking them for
their sins, Isaiah then joins with them in confessing their sins.  In
response, the Lord promises salvation through a Redeemer who will come
to Zion and to those who turn from their transgression.  Again, this is
looking forward not just to their restoration from Babylonian captivity,
but also to the coming of Jesus Christ who would bring full redemption
through His blood (cf. Ro 11:26-27).

The final seven chapters (60-66) concentrate on the glory to come for
restored Zion.  Her light will come and even Gentiles will come,
contributing their wealth to the glory provided by the Lord.  The
mission of the Servant (Christ) is reviewed, who will come to rebuild
and restore, prompting Isaiah to express great joy for His salvation.
The Lord promises not to rest until that times comes, and thus appoints
watchmen who are charged not to give Him rest until He makes Jerusalem a
praise in the earth. Following a brief look back at the judgment on Edom
and the Lord's mercy on Israel in the past, Isaiah offers a prayer for
the present condition of Israel, and the Lord responds with a promise of
a glorious new creation for the remnant who heed His call.  The promise
involves new heavens and a new earth, with Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
depicted in terms that would be especially comforting to the people in
Babylonian captivity.  The prophecy of Isaiah ends with a chapter
containing a reminder that the Lord looks favorably upon the poor and
contrite in spirit who tremble at His word, repeating the promises to
come for Jerusalem and the end of the wicked (again framed in terms to
comfort the captives in Babylon).

I believe much of this section was fulfilled with the inauguration of
the Messianic age in the first coming of Christ.  Yet in view of the
words of Peter (cf. 2Pe 3:13-14) and the vision of John (cf. Re 21-22),
Isaiah may have also looked forward to the future glory of Zion
(spiritual Israel, i.e., the church) to be experienced at the
culmination of the Messiah's reign at the end of time, following the
resurrection and final judgment.  The difference is that Isaiah couched
his description of the new heavens and new earth in terms to which the
Babylonian captives could easily relate, while John was shown the
eternal destiny of God's people in pictures especially comforting to the
persecuted Christians of the first century A.D.

OUTLINE

I. THE FUTURE SPLENDOR OF BARREN ZION (54:1-56:8)

   A. PROMISED TO THE REMNANT OF ZION...
      1. The Lord will be merciful to her who was barren and desolate
         - 54:1-8
      2. His covenant of peace ensures glory and permanence - 54:9-17
      3. The invitation to all who thirst - 55:1-13
         a. An everlasting covenant of mercy to those who accept - 55:
            1-5
         b. Seek the Lord while He may be found to have joy and peace
            - 55:6-13

   B. OFFERED TO RIGHTEOUS GENTILES...
      1. They will be given a place in His House and an everlasting name
         - 56:1-5
      2. They will brought to His Holy mountain along with the outcasts
         of Israel - 56:6-8

II. THE PRESENT SHAME OF WICKED ZION (56:9-59:21)

   A. CONDITIONS THAT LED TO HER DOWNFALL...
      1. Her irresponsible watchmen - 56:9-12
      2. Evil that made the death of the righteous a blessing - 57:1-2
      3. Idolatry that profited nothing and cost everything - 57:3-14

   B. CONTRITION THAT WILL LEAD TO RESTORATION...
      1. The humble and contrite will receive blessings, not the wicked
         - 57:15-21
      2. True religion, not hypocritical formalism, will be blessed by
         God - 58:1-14
         a. Why their fasting had not pleased God - 58:1-5
         b. The kind of fasting that pleases God - 58:6-14
      3. Confession and repentance will lead to redemption - 59:1-21
         a. The people are rebuked for their sins - 59:1-8
         b. Their sins are acknowledged and confessed - 59:9-15a
         c. The Lord responds with vengeance for His enemies and
            blessings for those who repent - 59:15b-21

III. THE FUTURE GLORY OF RESTORED ZION (60:1-66:24)

   A. THE GLORY TO COME FOR ZION...
      1. The glory of the Lord on Zion - 60:1-22
         a. Her light has come - 60:1-2
         b. The Gentiles (nations) will contribute their wealth - 60:
            4-16
         c. Her glorious condition provided by the Lord at that time
            - 60:17-22
      2. The mission of the Servant - 61:1-11
         a. The purpose of His mission:  to proclaim and console - 61:
            1-3
         b. The effect of His mission:  to rebuild and restore - 61:4-9
         c. The response to His mission:  great joy for His salvation!
            - 61:10-11
      3. The Lord prepares for Zion's salvation - 62:1-12
         a. He will not rest until that time comes - 62:1-5
         b. He appoints watchmen who are charged not to give the Lord
            rest - 62:6-7
         c. The people are assured, and told to look for their salvation
            that is coming - 62:8-12

   B. THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE PROMPTS PRAYER FOR THE PRESENT...
      1. The Lord's judgment on Edom reviewed - 63:1-6
      2. The Lord's mercy on Israel remembered - 63:7-14
         a. His great goodness on Israel - 63:7-9
         b. Notwithstanding their rebellion in the wilderness - 63:10-14
      3. An earnest prayer of supplication - 63:15-64:12
         a. For mercy and return of His sanctuary, which they do not
            deserve - 63:15-19
         b. To come to those who need to be saved, indeed, His own
            people - 64:1-9
         c. For Zion has become a wilderness, the temple destroyed by
            fire - 64:10-12
      4. The Lord's response to their prayer - 65:1-25
         a. Their rejection and suffering due to their rebelliousness
            - 65:1-7
         b. A remnant shall be saved, but not those who failed to heed
            His call - 65:8-16
         c. The promise of a glorious new creation - 65:17-25
            1) New heavens and a new earth, Jerusalem as a rejoicing
               - 65:17-19
            2) The blessings of the inhabitants - 65:20-25

   C. FINAL ADMONITIONS AND PROMISES...
      1. Those upon whom the Lord will look with favor - 66:1-4
         a. The poor and contrite in spirit who tremble at His word
            - 66:1-2
         b. Not the hypocrites who spurn His voice - 66:3-4
      2. The word of the Lord to those who tremble at His word - 66:5-18
         a. Rejoice in the blessings to come for Jerusalem - 66:5-14
         b. The Lord will come in judgment on the wicked - 66:15-17
         c. All nations will come with their scattered brethren to
            worship in Jerusalem - 66:18-23
         d. They shall see the terrible end of the wicked - 66:24

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THIS SECTION

1) What is suggested in this study as the theme of Isaiah chapters
   54-66?
   - The Future Glory For God's People

2) What are the three main divisions of this section as outlined above?
   - The Future Splendor Of Barren Zion (54:1-56:8)
   - The Present Shame Of Wicked Zion (56:9-59:21)
   - The Future Glory Of Restored Zion (60-66)

3) How is Israel depicted in her condition of Babylonian captivity?
   (54:1-8)
   - As a barren and desolate woman

4) Why is she told to break forth into singing? (54:1-3)
   - She will have more children and her desolate cities will be
     inhabited

5) Who is her husband? (54:5)
   - The Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel

6) What does He promise her? (54:8)
   - With everlasting kindness to have mercy on her

7) How does He depict her future splendor? (54:11-17)
   - Her stones, foundations, pinnacles, and walls to be made of
     precious gems
   - Her children shall be taught by the Lord and enjoy great peace
   - Any effort to oppress her or assemble against her will fail

8) What is offered to those who thirst and have no money? (55:1-3)
   - An everlasting covenant with the Lord, the sure mercies of David

9) What is necessary for them to have joy and peace? (55:7-13)
   - To seek the Lord while He may be found, to call upon Him while He
     is near
   - For the wicked to forsake his ways and thoughts, and return to the
     Lord

10) To whom does the Lord promise His salvation? (56:1-2)
   - To those who keep justice and do righteousness
   - To those who keep from defiling the Sabbath, and their hands from
     doing any evil

11) Who else will be given a place in the house of the Lord? (56:3-8)
   - The sons of the foreigners (i.e., Gentiles) who hold fast His
     covenant

12) What was one condition that led to Zion's downfall? (56:9-12)
   - The irresponsible watchmen

13) How bad was the evil that existed at that time? (57:1-2)
   - It made the death of the righteous a blessing

14) How are the wicked described? (57:3-4)
   - Sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and harlot,
     children of transgression, offspring of falsehood

15) Of what sins were they guilty? (57:5-10)
   - Idolatry, slaying children, sacrificing to false gods, making
     alliances with other kings

16) Who would be the one to possess the land and inherit His holy
    mountain? (57:13)
   - He who puts his trust in the Lord

17) Who will receive the promise of dwelling with the Lord? (57:15)
   - Those with a contrite and humble spirit

18) What of those who remain in their wickedness? (57:21)
   - There is no peace for the wicked

19) Why had their fasting not pleased God? (58:1-5)
   - They had exploited their workers; they fasted for strife and debate

20) What kind of fasting would please the Lord? (58:6-14)
   - That accompanied with mercy and kindness to the oppressed, helping
     the needy, observing the Sabbath as a holy day to the Lord

21) Why had the Lord not heard their prayers? (59:1-2)
   - Their iniquities had separated them from God

22) Of what kind of sins had they been guilty? (59:3-8)
   - Murder, lies, injustice, violence

23) What does Isaiah do for Israel at this point in his prophecy? (59:
    9-15a)
   - He acknowledges their sins and confesses their transgressions

24) How does the Lord respond to such penitence? (59:15b-21)
   - With salvation for those who repent, and vengeance for His
     adversaries

25) Who therefore will come to Zion, to those who turn from
    transgression? (59:20)
   - The Redeemer

26) When the future glory of Zion arrives, what will the Gentile
    nations do? (60:1-16)
   - Contribute their wealth
   - Proclaim the praises of the Lord
   - Ascend with acceptance on the altar of the Lord
   - Build up her walls
   - Beautify her sanctuary
   - Prostate themselves at her feet
   - Call her The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel

27) What will God do for Zion? (60:17-22)
   - Bring precious materials instead of common ones
   - Make her officers peace and her magistrates righteousness
   - Call her walls Salvation and her gates Praise
   - Be an everlasting light for her, instead of the sun and moon
   - End the days of her mourning, make righteous her people
   - Cause her to inherit the land and grow in population and strength

28) When will the Lord do this? (60:22)
   - He will hasten it in its time

29) What is to be the purpose of the One anointed by the Lord? (61:1-3)
   - To proclaim and console

30) What will be the effect of His mission? (61:4-9)
   - To rebuild and restore

31) What will be response to His mission? (61:10-11)
   - Great joy for His salvation

32) The Lord shall not rest until when, for Zion's sake? (62:1)
   - Her righteousness goes forth as brightness, her salvation as a lamp
     that burns

33) Who shall see her righteousness and glory? (62:2)
   - The Gentiles and all kings

34) What will she be called? (62:2)
   - By a new name which the mouth of the Lord will name

35) What had she been called?  What shall she be called? (62:4)
   - Forsaken and Desolate
   - Hephzibah (My Delight Is In Her) and Beulah (Married)

36) What are the duties of the watchmen that the Lord has set over
    Jerusalem? (62:6-7)
   - Not to give the Lord rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the
     earth

37) What has the Lord proclaimed regarding the daughter of Zion? (62:11)
   - Surely your salvation is coming

38) What shall they be called? (62:12)
   - The Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; Sought Out, a City Not
     Forsaken

39) From where is the Lord pictured as coming, having trodden down in
    anger? (63:1-6)
   - Edom

40) What does the prophet remember about the Lord's dealings with
    Israel? (63:7-14)
   - His lovingkindness and great goodness toward His people, even after
     they rebelled against Him

41) For what does Isaiah pray? (63:15-19)
   - For mercy and return of His sanctuary, which they do not deserve

42) Whom does Isaiah see is in need of salvation? (64:1-9)
   - His own people, whose righteousness is as filthy rags

43) What was the present condition of Zion, Jerusalem, and the temple?
    (64:10-11)
   - A wilderness, a desolation, and burned up with fire

44) In the Lord's response, was the cause of their rejection and
    suffering? (65:1-7)
   - Their rebelliousness and iniquities, as expressed through their
     idolatry

45) Who does the Lord promise to save? (65:8-16)
   - Descendants from Jacob and Judah, but not those who forsake the
     Lord

46) To encourage them, what does the Lord promise? (65:17-19)
   - To create new heavens and a new earth; to create Jerusalem as a
     rejoicing

47) List some of the blessings described in this promise (65:20-25)
   - An old man shall fulfill his days
   - A child shall die one hundred years old
   - The houses they build they shall occupy, they shall enjoy the fruit
     of their labors
   - They and their children will be blessed of the Lord
   - He will answer before they call, hear while they are speaking
   - The wolf and lamb shall feed together
   - The lion and serpent shall not hurt nor destroy in all His holy
     mountain

48) Upon whom will the Lord look with favor?  Upon whom will He not?
    (66:1-4)
   - Those poor and contrite in spirit, who tremble at His word
   - Those who refuse to heed His voice, choosing to do that in which
     God does not delight

49) What are those who tremble at the word of Lord told to do? (66:5-14)
   - To rejoice in the blessings to come for Jerusalem

50) What will happen to the wicked? (66:15-17)
   - The Lord will come in judgment with fire and sword

51) What final picture is given as comfort to the captives in Babylon?
    (66:18-24)
   - All nations will come with their scattered brethren to worship the
     Lord in Jerusalem
   - The corpses of those who transgressed, where the worm does not die
     nor is the fire quenched