Repeating is Key - Chapter 2

Isaiah 2:11

"The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,

and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,

and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."

Isaiah 2:17

"And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."

Isaiah 2:10, 18, 21

"From before the terror of the LORD,
and from the splendor of his majesty

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day"

(last line added in verses 18&21)

When things are repeated in scripture, I tend to take notice. It's especially easy and especially intriguing when the same phrase is repeated 2-3 times in the same chapter. Think God is trying to get something across?

God isn't pleased with the Israelites at this time because they seem to think of themselves as larger than life. Well, God's about to put them in their place and me in my place.

Too often I think of all of the great things I do without acknowledging God. In truth, I'm no better than the Israelites. But these verses caught my attention, especially the "terror of the Lord" part.

I don't think of God as terrifying, but in truth, he could be. And in all honesty, He's the only one who deserves to be honored and glorified and He seems to want to make sure the Israelites know "that day" will come.

Soaking in the Richness - Chapter 1

Isaiah 1:16-17

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

cease to do evil, learn to do good;

seek justice, correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause.

Still on the justice kick, but I don't think it will ever cease, nor do I want it to. It makes me feel alive!

Isaiah is talking to Israel about how evil they've become and how God won't see their hands lifted in praise because of the blood that covers them. The above verses are instructions God gives them.

SEEK JUSTICE...as much as my heart beats for justice to be done, you'd think that'd be easy, but it's not. For example, I walk into town everyday and see beggars on the road asking for money. When I first moved here it was difficult, now it's almost become normal. I struggle with what it looks like to seek justice for them and realize I'm quite biased. If widows and children need someone to stand up for them, sign me up, I'm there. But the guy on the road with his dog...not so much. I acknowledge them and smile, sometimes I buy them a cup of soup, but still, that's not seeking justice. It's sobering to realize I've already become callused to it.

After the verses above, God, through Isaiah, goes on to call Israel his enemy. What a horrible thing to be! Being anybody's enemy is bad, but the enemy of God?...that's not something I'd sign up for.

Today's lesson for me: Don't let abnormal sights become normal. People shouldn't be on the side of the road, that's abnormal, yet I've come to expect it and that's wrong.

The verses that started it all...

"The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of our Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn...to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord and that he may be glorified...For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong."

Isaiah 61:1-2, 3b-4 8a

Tears still come to my eyes when I read this passage because I so desperately want for it to be true. These verses are what I want to be created for.

I WANT and DESIRE them to be true of me. I want to be involved with the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the bound. I want to bring them gladness, joy, liberty and freedom. These verses struck me 3 years ago and have been stuck in my head ever since.

Several strings of in the tapestry of who I am and some of those are hard-wired to seek justice. It's the part of me that can be quick to jump to conclusions; that can see things as black and white. But it's also the part of me that makes me fight for others. We live in an unjust world where people abuse power to prey upon the weak. The justice seeking strings in my tapestry make me desire to defend the weak.

These verses are a part of my life. They're plastered deep in my soul and they're a large part of the reason I wanted to study Isaiah. I wanted to see what led up to these verses. To understand as a whole what was happening.

Welcome to my journey

Thoughts on Isaiah

I'm in the beginning stages of a study on Isaiah. I kept reading quoted sections of it in the New Testament, so I thought it would be interesting to look through it and get the big picture.

As I shared my insights and thoughts with my husband he kept telling me to write about it.

Now, I'm no academic scholar and I don't promise to have new insights, or that my insights will be fully within the Biblical context of that time. This is just simply going to me sharing my thoughts on what I read. This is what it stirs in my heart; the ripples the water...