Isaiah 50

Isaiah 50:10

Who is among you that fears the LORD,
That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

I have to admit, I wonder some times whether this sort of statement applies to me or not.  Do I fear God?  Yes, at least to an extent; I sometimes worry if my fear is insufficient, since I disobey that voice so often.

But which comes first, fear or trust?  If fear comes first, it's hard to move to trust, because you're always afraid you're doing it wrong and will therefore not be accepted.  But if trust comes first, then how do you fear God when you "know" He is guiding your decisions?

Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:14

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,

And the Lord has forgotten me."

I have to admit, this sums me up a bunch of the time.  I look at those around me, the things they have, the lives they have, and I wonder why I don't have most of that.  I wonder what I did wrong, perhaps even why God is punishing me, that I don't have that kind of life?

I know that these thoughts aren't necessarily fair or correct, but I still can't stop thinking them.  I think part of it is me trying to shift the blame elsewhere, which I know is wrong.  But part of it is the feeling of isolation, that God may have nudged things for me now and then, but other than that doesn't really give a care about me.

Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48:16

"Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there,
And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."

It appears that at least the translator of this believes that it is Christ speaking.  With the use of capitalized pronouns, Me, would have to be God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.  Since God and the Spirit are otherwise referenced, that leaves Jesus as the speaker, though it is not in red letters.

I can understand why.  Jesus did not speak in secret, and did not hide his plans.  He was there at the beginning as part of the Godhead.  And He was sent, along with the Spirit, so the people by God.

Isaiah 47

Isaiah 27:3

"Your nakedness will be uncovered,
You shame also will be exposed;
I will take vengeance and will not spare a man."

I can't tell you how many times I've done things, made decision, to avoid revealing my sins to others.  Many of my sins today are probably to avoid revealing previous sins.  It's a pile that keeps getting bigger, even though I hope it never collapses on itself.

If that ever does happen, I will be truly humiliated and am not sure what I will do.  I know, however, that if that day comes, the only thing I will have left to turn to will be Christ and His grace.  There won't be much left for me beyond that.

Isaiah 46

Isaiah 46:5

"To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal and compare Me,
That we would be alike?

This is a very simple question:  to what do we compare God?  When a child asks you what God is like, how do you answer?  There are no comparisons, so what do you tell them?

The only thing I can think of is that God is unique, without anything to compare Him to.  He has control over everything, yet allows us to make our own choices freely.  Unfortunately, we then try to find things we'd rather have than Him.

Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45:18

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited),
"I am the LORD, and there is none else.

The idea that God could have created the earth as waste caught my attention.  The idea never really occurred to me.  In my mind, I always assumed that the entire universe was created just for earth to have something to exist in.

Perhaps it was, or perhaps God could have chosen to make the universe without us here, as something for Him to enjoy.  Instead, He made the earth, and us, to have that special connection to Him that nothing else could.  That makes us even more special, but how we must disappoint Him.

Isaiah 44

Isaiah 44:19

No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals.  I roast meat and eat it.  Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!"

One block of wood, two very different uses.  One part he makes a fire with, to keep warm and cook his food.  The other half he carves into an idol, and asks it to help him.

The firewood is much more useful, but he can't see that.  He thinks that somehow, making a carving connects him to a god, which can then aid him.  He doesn't understand that there's nothing on the other end for that carving to connect to, that it's a spiritual bridge to nowhere.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:4

"Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other people in exchange for your life.

Today, Christians often talk about how Jesus was the ransom for our sins.  He paid the price, so we would not have to.  But is there more to it than that?

Today, do others still pay the price, suffer the consequences of our sins, so that we do not have to?  Are Christians sometimes shielded, and others hurt, because God is protecting us?  Or was this a promise to the Jews alone, that does not stretch to Christians?