In one sense, all the Old Testament prophets were voices crying in the wilderness. Each one was a mouthpiece of God, who was calling out a message of repentance and hope in a desert place - in order to clear the way for the Lord and to straighten the highway for the God of Israel.
For centuries, the united message of these faithful men was to call the nation of Israel to repent of their sins, to turn away from their apostate ways, read more...
God's message of grace and comfort towards His people, weaves its way throughout the Scriptures like a golden thread. It mingles with the blood-red stream that flows from the veins of God's only begotten Son Who alone could pay the enormous price for the sin of the world by shedding His lifeblood on our account.
But first, the eternal Son of God must be born into the human race as the perfect Son of Man. God the Son, must first set aside His glory and be read more...
Comparisons, contrasts, metaphors, and similes are all used by God to get a point across to His listeners or to teach those, who are justified by faith, an important biblical fact. However, when the Lord God reiterates a truth, it is because He wants to emphasise a matter and we would do well to listen to the Word of the Lord and to read, mark, learn, inwardly digest, and take to heart all that He has to teach us and to apply it in our life.
It was the read more...
A parallel has often been drawn between the 66 chapters of Isaiah and the 66 books of the Bible, which demonstrate an astonishing similarity - where each chapter in Isaiah corresponds with its numerical equivalent in the Bible.
The theme of the first 39 chapters seems to thread its way from the formless earth and fallen man.. who is dead in sins, estranged from God and steeped in apostasy as recorded in the Old Testament - read more...
The 66 chapters of Isaiah divide into two distinct sections. While the first part of his prophecy deals mainly with issues relating to Israel, their apostasy, the hardening of their heart towards the Lord, and His coming judgement (on them and other nations), chapter 40 onwards speaks words of comfort to God's people and tells of Israel's future deliverance.
The early part of this second section teaches about God's amazing grace read more...
Israel continually sinned and rebelled against their covenant-keeping God through unbelief, and in their foolishness thought that God did not see their wickedness. And so, Isaiah wrote almost 40 chapters of reproof for their unbelief and asked: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable." The rebellious and complaining read more...
Despite his blistering denunciation of the apostate ways of God's chosen people and in spite of the prophet Isaiah's grave warning regarding God's impending wrath and the inevitable punishment that must follow God's disobedient people, we discover that the Lord is gracious towards His chosen nation, Israel, and offers them beautiful words of comfort, encouragement, renewal, and pardon.
Despite their rebellious ways, the prophet read more...
Whether the promises of God are for Israel or given to the Church, God's Word is true. His judgements are just, and His promises are "yes" and "amen" for those that believe His Word, wait on Him, and abide in Him.
At the end of Isaiah Chapter 40, we read some well-loved verses that have encouraged generations of Jews and Gentiles, through many centuries of time: "Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble read more...