Archive for September 2020

Isaiah 27-28, Proverbs 23:1-18, Luke 22:39-46, Hebrews 6:13-20  Isaiah 27-28: In Isaiah 27 God speaks comfort to his people about their upcoming deliverance from the Assyrian army. This comfort is spoken of in a more general way, such that it can apply to us and encourage us. In Christ, there is rescue from our ultimate enemy, and there…

Isaiah 24-26, Proverbs 22:17-29, Luke 22:31, Hebrews 6:1-12   Isaiah 24-26:   Judgment once more, but interleaved with salvation and mercy. Extraordinary words. Again we come to chapters of Isaiah that are not only brilliantly poetic but also profoundly significant and spiritually resonant. There are far horizons here, beyond where we are even today, that speak of distant judgment, and…

Isaiah 21-23, Proverbs 22:1-16, Luke 22:24-30, Hebrews 5   Isaiah 21-23:   When we think of “vision,” we tend to think of a positive dream of the future. But here the “vision” of chapter 22 is far more a vision of judgment. Nonetheless, there is hope (22:20), ultimately of a messianic kind (22:22). I want to spend time this devotional…

Isaiah 17-20,  Proverbs 21:17-31,  Luke 22:14-23,  Hebrews 4:12-16   Isaiah 17-20:   Four chapters of extraordinary content, and great depth—who is equal to comment on these things, even in devotional form, in a few short words! In chapter 17 there is judgment against Damascus. They had “forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered…

Isaiah 14-16, Proverbs 21:1-16,  Luke 22:1-13,  Hebrews 4:1-11   Isaiah 14-16:   Interwoven through Isaiah is this thread of restoration combined with judgment. Just because God used the pagan nations around his people to bring discipline upon his people in no way means that he will not in time to come judge those pagan peoples for their sins…

Isaiah 11-13,  Proverbs 20:16-30,  Luke 21:29-38,  Hebrews 3   Isaiah 11-13:   These chapters begin with a prophetic hymn to the “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (11:1), that is, from David. This descendent will be characterized by various aspects that are exemplary, and more than exemplary. The “Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him”…

Isaiah 9-10,  Proverbs 20:1-15,  Luke 21:20-28,  Hebrews 2:10-18  Isaiah 9-10:   Words here made famous by Handel’s Messiah and sung at every Christmas around the world, they are rich with meaning and applicability as well. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (9:2). “For to us a child is born, to…

Isaiah 6-8,  Proverbs 19:15-29,  Luke 21:1-19,  Hebrews 2:1-9  Isaiah 6-8: Rather than attempt to explain each of these chapters—so rich with meaning—in such a short space of these few words, I’m going to focus particularly on chapter 6 and a few parts of chapter 7. Chapter 6 is the great famous vision calling of Isaiah.…

Isaiah 3-5,  Proverbs 19:1-14,  Luke 20:41-47,  Hebrews 1:10-41   Isaiah 3-5:   More extraordinary chapters from the great prophet Isaiah. First, in chapter 3, there is more judgment. Note the signs of judgment: they will have boys as their princes, infants shall rule over them (3:4). God’s judgment against a people is often shown in immature…

Isaiah 1-2, Proverbs 18, Luke 20:27-40, Hebrews 1:1-9 Isaiah 1-2: We enter now perhaps one of the greatest works of literature ever written. More to the point, Isaiah is perhaps the greatest of the Old Testament prophetic books. The style is at times sublime, the message not only “timeless” but timelessly profound, and its words, while deep and…