Faithful on Fridays Blog

Part One

God loves to communicate with us since His desire is that we know Him, consequently, Isaiah helps us by speaking for God with his prophetic words reaching all of God’s people for all time. Envision a pirate’s handheld telescope allowing you see far away details, open it further and your vision increases to far, far away details impossible to see without this tool. We have a ‘prophetic telescope’ through Isaiah allowing us to see far away details of Israel’s future alongside the far, far future for all believers in these 66 chapters. 

The Bible has 66 books divided into two sections: The Old (39 books) and the New Testaments (27 books). Isaiah is also divided by theologians into two parts; the first 39 chapters are indictments from God as warnings (like the Old Testament) with an obvious shift in the remaining 27 chapters promising the Messiah who ushers in eternity (like the New Testament). Coincidental? I don’t think so.

As we walk through Isaiah we’ll be using an end times lens, not focusing on historical Israel, but on what God is saying to us today and for our tomorrow. For example, God’s grief over what’s happening to His creation and His image bearers with impending punishment on its way is Chapter One. He compares them to the sexually immoral Sodom and Gomorrah, the lack of justice for widows and the fatherless, and no help for the oppressed … are we any different today? Immoral sex on TV, the internet, and movies in which many in the Church participate, little help from the Church for single women and fatherless children, or organized opportunities for serving the poor, hungry, naked, and in prison. Those were Jesus’ words in His last parable (Matt. 25:31-46) which sounds like an indictment for the worldwide Church today. Thankfully God has an antidote to this infection: repentance (vs. 16-20). 

Let’s watch for far, far future prophetic words in Isaiah like ‘latter days’, ‘that day’, or ‘a day’ from the LORD of hosts; they’re a prophetic telescope extended to Judgment Day and for us the day is dawning and the Morning Star is arising (2 Peter 1:19b). 

Chapters 4-5 describe the coming of the Messiah, The Branch (Jesus), who adores His people, but laments those who ignore the crucial nature of obedience in serving others. Isaiah used God’s name, LORD of hosts, nine times in these five chapters indicating that Jesus is the Commander in Chief, ready to return taking dominion over the earth and we’ll be with Him,

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The One sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. Revelation 19:11, 14 

I invite you to read Isaiah alongside this message so we can receive God’s charges against us, repent, and enjoy His promises for eternity spent with Him.