Isaiah's Courage - Chapter 6

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of of his glory!"

Isaiah 6:3b

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

'Whom shall I send

and who will go for us?'

Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'"

Isaiah 6:8

"In the year that King Uzziah died..." such a sad way to begin a chapter. King Uzziah was a good king. He prayed and looked to God to help him, and God did. He gave him victory over his enemies, and they built up a strong army. He built walls and towers around Jerusalem to protect them. “As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper,” (2 Chron 26:5). “And he was marvelously helped till he was strong,” (2 Chron 26:15). However, he let all that power go to his head and one day entered the inside temple to offer sacrifice to God, a place he knew he wasn't supposed to be. He became angry when the priests told his he didn't belong their and God struck him with a disease.

So, as you see, the beginning of this verse is very important. "In the year that King Uzziah died" for Isaiah (who this chapter is about) could mean: in the year when all that was right and good came crashing down; in the year when our mighty leader fell. However, the second half of the verse is "...I saw the Lord, seated upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the trains of his robe filled the temple." (v 1b).

There's bad and good. In the year when everything fell apart, I saw the Lord. And the seraphims around Him called to one another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts..." Anything repeated 3 times is worth taking note of. The seraphims mean for it to be emphasized which is why they repeat it, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the WHOLE earth is full of his glory." God's glory is all around, and the seraphims say it in present tense.

Let's recap real fast: in the year that everything went wrong, Isaiah saw the Lord, and was reminded that the whole earth is still full of His glory, even though it feels like it's all falling apart.

Then the LORD speaks to Isaiah, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" and Isaiah responds, "Here am I! Send me." I love the exclamation point after "here am I", it just makes it so much more interesting the passion behind Isaiah's words.

God's next word, "Go". He then gives Isaiah a message to deliver that the Israelites are not going to want to hear. And so begins Isaiah life as a prophet.

I wish I had Isaiah's courage. The courage to do whatever God needed, wherever God needed it done, no matter how hard, difficult or lonely it could be. The courage to say yes without thinking. I'm not that brave. I have moments of braveness, but if I was in Isaiah's place, I don't know if I would have been as quick to jump at the opportunity to be God's vessel. I wouldn't want to be the one to tell Israel they've lost favor with God.

Isaiah was a brave man!

Poetry - Chapter 5

Isaiah 5:12-13a

"They have a lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,

but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,

or see the work of his hands.

Therefore me people go into exile

for lack of knowledge..."

Isaiah 5 is a long poem that begins with a vineyard that God is tending. He has worked long and hard hours in the vineyard. Caring for even it's smallest needs, but when God looked for it to yield it's fruit, it didn't. "What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done it it?" was His cry.

We reap the rewards of our hard labor, or our neglect of it. Israel's behavior was destructive and God wasn't pleased with them. After everything He'd done for them. He cared and toiled over Israel for their benefit so they would yield Him much fruit, yet they turned wild. So now other lands and people are coming with weapons drawn and battle plans set.

I don't know about you, but this hits a little too close to home for me. God has protected me and guided me my entire life. Be it through people He placed around me, or His whispers in my heart and strength in my soul. Yet so often, I disregard Him. I don't care to see how well He's taken care of me; how tender He's been. Instead, I go my own way and do my own thing.

This chapter was a good reminder for me to give thanks to God is all circumstances and to relish in His presence rather than running from it.

In that day...-Chapter 4

Isaiah 4:2

"In that day the branch of the Lord

shall be beautiful and glorious,

the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor

of the survivors of Israel"

Isaiah 4:5a

"Then the Lord will create

over the whole site of Mount Zion

and over her assemblies..."

We've just finished talking about how God will take away the finer things in life from the women of Zion. The outward things that I so often find myself desiring. When everything is taken away from them they have no where to turn because they turned away from God. Chapter 4 begins with a scene of 7 women clinging to one man begging for his protection. Suddenly okay with the simple things in life.

As I read through Isaiah one of the key phrases that stands out is "In that day...". It's not always referring to a "good day". I fact many times, some pictures of the most horrible days depicted in Isaiah begin with, "in that day..." But verse 2 is one of the good moments, God is finally getting his due glory. The people finally call out to Him, just like the women called out to the one man to save them.

"Then the Lord will create..." I just love that picture because it brings me back to Genesis. God's creations are good and pure and this verse is no different. The Israelites catch a glimpse of the presence of God constantly with them. Though this time not while they wander through the dessert, but "over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies".

So often I wish I could have that tangible presence of God with me everyday, but then I remember I do. He's always there, always providing and He will always answer when I call out to Him.

Not so Big and Mighty Afterall...- Chapter 3

Isaiah 3:8

"For Jerusalem has stumbled,

and Judah has fallen,

because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,

defying his glorious presence."

Isaiah 3:16a

"The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty..."

God's people...doesn't that phrase just seem to ring with power? To be known as God's people, that seems like quite the declaration to me! And maybe that's what the Israelites thought too. That's how I read it at first. That the Israelites were so caught up with themselves, that they started to give themselves a pay on the back. But then I took a closer look, I think the Israelites forgot God altogether. They might have been caught up with themselves (I still think that to some degree), but I also think they began relying on themselves, on their "man-made" structures.

For example, I'm a daughter of our King, but I don't think like that very often. Pride is an issue for me. I like to think I'm the great and might one, which makes me no different than the Israelites because I too, "defy His glorious presence."

The first part of this chapter is talking about the men in the culture, then we turn to the women. The Israelite women were proud and arrogant. God's judgement on them is not something I would look forward to. The Lord takes away all pretense and outwardly attractive thing. Their beautiful adornments are replaced with basic things or nothing at all. It was a good reminder for me that the beauty I do possess is a gift from the Lord. I often try to control it with makeup, hair products, diet and exercise, etc. And while I don't think any of those things are bad, I need to remember that God gave me what I have and I should be grateful and not try to change because I don't like ____________.