We begin Isaiah today. The prophecies of Isaiah are interconnected throughout the New Testament. Jesus was the fulfillment of dozens of prophecies. In the aftermath of the resurrection of Christ, it was the prophecies of Isaiah that helped people make sense of John the Baptist and Jesus. God’s masterpiece, laid forth centuries before Jesus, has continued to be fleshed out over the millennia.
We will be in Isaiah for a while. Do your best to see the many layers on which these prophecies operate. It might be worth spending some time to learn the history of ancient Israel, its dispersion under the Babylonians, then its reconstitution. The brokenness of the covenant people, and their eventual restoration by a loving God who overlooks their many infractions, provides the same hope for Christians today. The Lord, I believe, will fulfill his promises to the Jews. We who are in Christ have an even richer promise. God is faithful. His prophecies show this. Enjoy!
Isaiah 1
This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
for the LORD has spoken:
“I have raised children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against Me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s manger,
but Israel does not know;
My people do not understand.”
Alas, O sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
a brood of evildoers,
children of depravity!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have despised the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on Him.
Why do you want more beatings?
Why do you keep rebelling?
Your head has a massive wound,
and your whole heart is afflicted.
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head,
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts and festering sores
neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
Your land is desolate;
your cities are burned with fire.
Foreigners devour your fields before you—
a desolation demolished by strangers.
And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a city besieged.
Unless the LORD of Hosts
had left us a few survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have resembled Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?”
says the LORD.
“I am full from the burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I take no delight in the blood of bulls
and lambs and goats.
When you come to appear before Me,
who has required this of you—
this trampling of My courts?
Bring your worthless offerings no more;
your incense is detestable to Me—
your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations.
I cannot endure iniquity
in a solemn assembly.
I hate your New Moons
and your appointed feasts.
They have become a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide My eyes from you;
even though you multiply your prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.
Wash and cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from My sight.
Stop doing evil!
Learn to do right;
seek justice and correct the oppressor.
Defend the fatherless
and plead the case of the widow.”
“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are as red as crimson,
they will become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best of the land.
But if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
See how the faithful city has become a harlot!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness resided within her,
but now only murderers!
Your silver has become dross;
your fine wine is diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.
They all love bribes
and chasing after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will be relieved of My foes
and avenge Myself on My enemies.
I will turn My hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge your dross;
I will remove all your impurities.
I will restore your judges as at first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
After that you will be called the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City.”
Zion will be redeemed with justice,
her repentant ones with righteousness.
But rebels and sinners will together be shattered,
and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be embarrassed by the gardens
that you have chosen.
For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered,
like a garden without water.
The strong man will become tinder
and his work will be a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the flames.
Isaiah 2
This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD
will be established as the chief of the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
And many peoples will come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us His ways
so that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Then He will judge between the nations
and arbitrate for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation,
nor train anymore for war.
Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.
For You have abandoned Your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are filled
with influences from the east;
they are soothsayers like the Philistines;
they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is full of silver and gold,
with no limit to their treasures;
their land is full of horses,
with no limit to their chariots.
Their land is full of idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their fingers have made.
So mankind is brought low,
and man is humbled—
do not forgive them!
Go into the rocks
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the LORD
and the splendor of His majesty.
The proud look of man will be humbled,
and the loftiness of men brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
For the Day of the LORD of Hosts
will come against all the proud and lofty,
against all that is exalted—
it will be humbled—
against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up,
against all the oaks of Bashan,
against all the tall mountains,
against all the high hills,
against every high tower,
against every fortified wall,
against every ship of Tarshish,
and against every stately vessel.
So the pride of man will be brought low,
and the loftiness of men will be humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
and the idols will vanish completely.
Men will flee to caves in the rocks
and holes in the ground,
away from the terror of the LORD
and from the splendor of His majesty,
when He rises to shake the earth.
In that day men will cast away
to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and gold—
the idols they made to worship.
They will flee to caverns in the rocks
and crevices in the cliffs,
away from the terror of the LORD
and from the splendor of His majesty,
when He rises to shake the earth.
Put no more trust in man,
who has only the breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?
Isaiah 3
For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts
is about to remove
from Jerusalem and Judah
both supply and support:
the whole supply of food and water,
the mighty man and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
the soothsayer and the elder,
the commander of fifty and the dignitary,
the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter.
“I will make mere lads their leaders,
and children will rule over them.”
The people will oppress one another,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor;
the young will rise up against the old,
and the base against the honorable.
A man will seize his brother
within his father’s house:
“You have a cloak—you be our leader!
Take charge of this heap of rubble.”
On that day he will cry aloud:
“I am not a healer.
I have no food or clothing in my house.
Do not make me leader of the people!”
For Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen
because they spoke and acted against the LORD,
defying His glorious presence.
The expression on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom they flaunt their sin;
they do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them!
For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
Youths oppress My people,
and women rule over them.
O My people, your guides mislead you;
they turn you from your paths.
The LORD arises to contend;
He stands to judge the people.
The LORD brings this charge
against the elders and leaders of His people:
“You have devoured the vineyard;
the plunder of the poor is in your houses.
Why do you crush My people
and grind the faces of the poor?”
declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
The LORD also says:
“Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—
walking with heads held high
and wanton eyes,
prancing and skipping as they go,
jingling the bracelets on their ankles—
the Lord will bring sores
on the heads of the daughters of Zion,
and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
In that day the Lord will take away their finery:
their anklets and headbands and crescents;
their pendants, bracelets, and veils;
their headdresses, ankle chains, and sashes;
their perfume bottles and charms;
their signet rings and nose rings;
their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses;
and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls.
Instead of fragrance
there will be a stench;
instead of a belt, a rope;
instead of styled hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, shame.
Your men will fall by the sword,
and your warriors in battle.
And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
destitute, she will sit on the ground.
Isaiah 4
In that day seven women
will take hold of one man and say,
“We will eat our own bread
and provide our own clothes.
Just let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace!”
On that day the Branch of the LORD
will be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the land
will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
Whoever remains in Zion
and whoever is left in Jerusalem
will be called holy—
all in Jerusalem who are recorded among the living—
when the Lord has washed away
the filth of the daughters of Zion
and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem
by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion
and over her assemblies
a cloud of smoke by day
and a glowing flame of fire by night.
For over all the glory
there will be a canopy,
a shelter to give shade
from the heat by day,
and a refuge and hiding place
from the storm and the rain.
Isaiah 5
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it up and cleared the stones
and planted the finest vines.
He built a watchtower in the middle
and dug out a winepress as well.
He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes,
but the fruit it produced was sour!
“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
I exhort you to judge
between Me and My vineyard.
What more could I have done for My vineyard
than I already did for it?
Why, when I expected sweet grapes,
did it bring forth sour fruit?
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and thorns and briers will grow up.
I will command the clouds
that rain shall not fall on it.”
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are the plant of His delight.
He looked for justice,
but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but heard a cry of distress.
Woe to you who add house to house
and join field to field
until no place is left
and you live alone in the land.
I heard the LORD of Hosts declare:
“Surely many houses will become desolate,
great mansions left unoccupied.
For ten acres of vineyard
will yield but a bath of wine,
and a homer of seed
only an ephah of grain.”
Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger into the evening,
to be inflamed by wine.
At their feasts are the lyre and harp,
tambourines and flutes and wine.
They disregard the actions of the LORD
and fail to see the work of His hands.
Therefore My people will go into exile
for their lack of understanding;
their dignitaries are starving
and their masses are parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,
and down go Zion’s nobles and masses,
her revelers and carousers!
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled;
the arrogant will lower their eyes.
But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice,
and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
Lambs will graze as in their own pastures,
and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work
so that we may see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come
so that we may know it!”
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who turn darkness to light
and light to darkness,
who replace bitter with sweet
and sweet with bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
and champions in mixing beer,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw,
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will decay
and their blossoms will blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts
and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people;
His hand is raised against them to strike them down.
The mountains quake,
and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
He lifts a banner for the distant nations
and whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
None of them grows weary or stumbles;
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap is broken.
Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows are strung.
The hooves of their horses are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
Their roaring is like that of a lion;
they roar like young lions.
They growl and seize their prey;
they carry it away from deliverance.
In that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
If one looks over the land,
he will see darkness and distress;
even the light will be obscured by clouds.
Psalm 148
Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise Him in the highest places.
Praise Him, all His angels;
praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
Praise Him, O sun and moon;
praise Him, all you shining stars.
Praise Him, O highest heavens,
and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for He gave the command and they were created.
He established them forever and ever;
He issued a decree that will never pass away.
Praise the LORD from the earth,
all great sea creatures and ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
powerful wind fulfilling His word,
mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
crawling creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth,
young men and maidens,
old and young together.
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for His name alone is exalted;
His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
He has raised up a horn for His people,
the praise of all His saints,
of Israel, a people near to Him.
Hallelujah!
Acts 8
And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.
The crowds gave their undivided attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.
With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, and many of the paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great,
and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”
They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles he observed.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
“Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
Repent, therefore, of your wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for the intent of your heart. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity.”
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”
So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice.
Who can recount His descendants?
For His life was removed from the earth.”
“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”
And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
John 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.
He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ”
From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.”
“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands One you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
All this happened at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’
I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”
Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.
I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
And when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked.
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”
“Come and see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s testimony and followed Jesus.
He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).
Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
“How do You know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
“Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus said to him, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”
Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
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