Isaiah 6 (HCSB)
Isaiah’s Call and Mission
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim were standing above Him; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts;
His glory fills the whole earth.
4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said:
Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said:
Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed and your sin is atoned for.
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
Who should I send? Who will go for Us?
I said:
Here I am. Send me.
9 And He replied:
Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. 10 Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.
11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And He replied:
Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, houses are without people, the land is ruined and desolate, 12 and the Lord drives the people far away, leaving great emptiness in the land. 13 Though a tenth will remain in the land, it will be burned again. Like the terebinth or the oak that leaves a stump when felled, the holy seed is the stump.
Isaiah 7 (HCSB)
The Message to Ahaz
1 This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Rezin king of Aram, along with Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, waged war against Jerusalem, but he could not succeed. 2 When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Fuller’s Field. 4 Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering stubs of firebrands, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, 6 ‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”
7 This is what the Lord God says:
It will not happen; it will not occur. 8 The head of Aram is Damascus, the head of Damascus is Rezin (within 65 years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people), 9 the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God—from the depths of Sheol to the heights of heaven.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the Lord.”
13 Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating butter and honey. 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and the house of your father, such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah—the king of Assyria is coming.”
18 On that day the Lord will whistle to the fly that is at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 All of them will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.
20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave the head, the hair on the legs, and to remove the beard as well.
21 On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep, 22 and from the abundant milk they give he will eat butter, for every survivor in the land will eat butter and honey.
23 And on that day every place where there were 1,000 vines, worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become thorns and briers. 24 A man will go there with bow and arrows because the whole land will be thorns and briers. 25 You will not go to all the hills that were once tilled with a hoe, for fear of the thorns and briers. Those hills will be places for oxen to graze and for sheep to trample.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 7:10-13): Father, please forgive me for often having a fear of asking You for Your direction and instruction in a matter. Oftentimes I already know the answer, but fear having to actually do what it will take. Cleanse this selfishness from me so that I may glorify You always.
PROMISE (verse 7:14): In this verse You give us the prophecy, the promise, that "the virgin will conceive and have a son." We know this promise was fulfilled through Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Thank You so much for fulfilling this promise, Father! Without it, we would all be lost.
ATTITUDE (verses 7:12-13): Help me to change my often selfish and lazy attitude towards Your will for me, Lord. Help me to not have an attitude like Ahaz who opted NOT to ask You for a sign because he claimed he did not want to test You, but I know it was because he already knew the answer and did not want to test himself. I know this because I have done the exact same thing far too often in my life. Help me to no longer live in this selfish and fearful attitude, Father.
COMMAND (verse 7:9b): You tell us that if we do not stand firm in our faith, then we will not stand at all. Wow! Help me to always feel Your presence and know Your will, Father, so that my faith grows strong enough to stand firm in it as You have commanded.
EXAMPLE (verses 6:6-13): Help me to follow Isaiah's example of trust and faith in You, Your will, and Your tasks to us, Lord. Isaiah willingly volunteered for a task that he had no details about what so ever, yet when You asked "who should I send?" he immediately said "here I am. Send me." Help me to be more like Isaiah in that I excitedly want to do the things You ask of me even before I know any of the details. Help me to have the blind and true faith and trust in You through all things like Isaiah, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: This Scripture was definitely speaking loudly to me today. I struggle far too often with the fear this world and my flesh inflicts on me through my faith Journey with You, Father. The enemy constantly puts these little tidbits in my head that make me think I can do this life on my own and don't need to always go for Your will and Your way. The enemy often tells me that I'm not good enough or strong enough to do Your ways and I give into this all the time. Please forgive me of this weakness, Father. Help me to be better at leaning on You through everything and listening to You always.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
Comments