Bible Reading Plan

Author: Jon Green

  • Proverbs 2

    Proverbs 2

    Share the BRP

    As we begin a new year, we’ll be studying the book of Proverbs for the first 31 days of the year. The new year is a great opportunity to invite your friends, families, and Life Groups to read along with you in 2023. If you missed yesterday’s reading or are looking for an overview of the book, click here to catch up!

    To sign up and receive the BRP daily in your inbox, go to www.biblereadingplan.org and scroll to the bottom of the page! 

    Read Proverbs 2

    Moral Benefits of Wisdom

    My son, if you accept my words
        and store up my commands within you,
    2 turning your ear to wisdom
        and applying your heart to understanding—
    3 indeed, if you call out for insight
        and cry aloud for understanding,
    4 and if you look for it as for silver
        and search for it as for hidden treasure,
    5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.
    6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
        from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
    7 He holds success in store for the upright,
        he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
    8 for he guards the course of the just
        and protects the way of his faithful ones.

    9 Then you will understand what is right and just
        and fair—every good path.
    10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
        and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
    11 Discretion will protect you,
        and understanding will guard you.

    12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
        from men whose words are perverse,
    13 who have left the straight paths
        to walk in dark ways,
    14 who delight in doing wrong
        and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
    15 whose paths are crooked
        and who are devious in their ways.

    16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
        from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
    17 who has left the partner of her youth
        and ignored the covenant she made before God.
    18 Surely her house leads down to death
        and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
    19 None who go to her return
        or attain the paths of life.

    20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
        and keep to the paths of the righteous.
    21 For the upright will live in the land,
        and the blameless will remain in it;
    22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
        and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

    Go Deeper

    The NIV translation titles this section of Scripture “Moral Benefits to Wisdom.” In other words, Proverbs 2 is telling us why wisdom really matters. If we know that the book of Proverbs is an entire book on wisdom, then we must understand why seeking wisdom matters to know the value this part of Scripture holds.

    Proverbs 2:5 tells us that if we search for wisdom, “… then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Why does wisdom matter to us? Because it helps us know God more. Wisdom is when our eyes are opened to who God is and what God sees, changing the way we live our lives.

    This chapter also reminds us that wisdom comes from God, and that He freely gives us wisdom when we seek it. He doesn’t withhold wisdom, giving it only to specific people, but wants each of us to know him and trust him. God invites us into Scripture so that we can understand more of His heart toward us, so we can walk with Him, and so we can experience abundant life. Psalm 119:68 says, “You are good and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” As we walk in knowing God more, our eyes are opened to His goodness on display around us.

    Through gaining wisdom, we look different and live differently than the world. We walk in a way that reflects God to the world around us, seeking justice and righteousness. With wisdom, we are able to discern between what is evil and a distorted image of God, and live out God’s best. Wisdom allows us to experience the abundant goodness of God, and it allows others to see God through us. Proverbs 2 tells us that “discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” Through wisdom, God invites us into seeing the world the way He sees it. While we do not see and know all that God can see and know, wisdom is a piece of His right perspective that gives us hope and trust as we wait for His complete redemption. This hope guards us as we walk and wait for Christ’s return.

    Through the book of Proverbs, may our eyes be opened to know more of who God is and His heart toward us. May we seek Him and gain wisdom to live as salt and light in the dark world around us.

    Questions

    1. What does this passage teach you about God? What does it teach you about humanity?
    2. While reading through the book of Proverbs, how can you be intentional about seeking wisdom?
    3. How have you seen the benefit of wisdom in your life or in someone else’s life?

    Keep Digging

    Check out this article from GotQuestions.org that gives us a deeper dive into the importance of godly wisdom.

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Proverbs 1

    Proverbs 1

    Share the BRP

    As we begin a new year, we’ll be studying the book of Proverbs for the next 31 days. The new year is a great opportunity to invite your friends, families, and Life Groups to read along with you in 2023. 

    To sign up and receive the BRP daily in your inbox, go to www.biblereadingplan.org and scroll to the bottom of the page! 

    Proverbs Overview

    The book of Proverbs, similar to Psalms and Ecclesiastes, is categorized as wisdom literature in the Bible. Written (mostly) by King Solomon, the son of King David, this book is full of sayings, instructions, and principles meant to tell its readers how to live. While other books might focus on deep theological truths (like Romans) or outline a historical narrative (like Genesis or Acts), this book is full of practical guidance. While Proverbs doesn’t necessarily give us an exhaustive list of what to do and not to do, it does give us principles to live by. 

    The origin of this book takes place in 1 Kings 3 when Solomon, with humility, asked God for wisdom in leading the Kingdom of Israel. God ultimately granted Solomon wisdom (along with more wealth and material possessions than anyone on earth–but for more on that, read Ecclesiastes). As this book unfolds, you’ll see that wisdom on display through practical sayings and entire chapters overflowing with images and metaphors.

    Chuck Swindoll, a pastor and theologian, said this about understanding Proverbs: 

    “Proverbs contains some of the most applicable nuggets of truth in all of the Bible. Most of the proverbs are pithy statements brimming over with imagery from the real world. This approach allows us to see very clearly how any particular proverb might be applied to any number of everyday situations we encounter—from getting out of bed in the morning to building a strong foundation in our relationships with others.”

    As we read this book to begin a new year, note that we are going to go straight through with new readings each day, skipping our normal Sunday rest day format. Some days we’ll focus on the whole of what’s happening in a chapter, while other days it may be as simple as a sentence or two that we can all apply to our lives. As you read, take notes. Highlight the proverbs that stick out most to you. Commit some of them to memory. Most importantly, ask God to grow your understanding of Him through these words that we will read together over the next 31 days. 

    Read Proverbs 1

    Purpose and Theme

    1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

    2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
        for understanding words of insight;
    3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
        doing what is right and just and fair;
    4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
        knowledge and discretion to the young—
    5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
        and let the discerning get guidance—
    6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
        the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]

    7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
        but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.

    Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

    Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

    8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
        and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
    9 They are a garland to grace your head
        and a chain to adorn your neck.

    10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
        do not give in to them.
    11 If they say, “Come along with us;
        let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
        let’s ambush some harmless soul;
    12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
        and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
    13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
        and fill our houses with plunder;
    14 cast lots with us;
        we will all share the loot”—
    15 my son, do not go along with them,
        do not set foot on their paths;
    16 for their feet rush into evil,
        they are swift to shed blood.
    17 How useless to spread a net
        where every bird can see it!
    18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
        they ambush only themselves!
    19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
        it takes away the life of those who get it.

    Wisdom’s Rebuke

    20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
        she raises her voice in the public square;
    21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
        at the city gate she makes her speech:

    22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
        How long will mockers delight in mockery
        and fools hate knowledge?
    23 Repent at my rebuke!
        Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
        I will make known to you my teachings.
    24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
        and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
    25 since you disregard all my advice
        and do not accept my rebuke,
    26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
        I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
    27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
        when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
        when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

    28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
        they will look for me but will not find me,
    29 since they hated knowledge
        and did not choose to fear the Lord.
    30 Since they would not accept my advice
        and spurned my rebuke,
    31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
        and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
    32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
        and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
    33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
        and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

    Go Deeper

    The book of Proverbs begins with an explanation for why the book was written in the first place. Solomon begins in verses 2-6 explaining some of the practical purposes of understanding the following proverbs, then he gets to the thesis statement of the book in verse 7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Fearing the Lord means having a reverence and humility for who God is and an understanding that He holds all things together. If we will humbly submit and follow Him, wisdom and knowledge will follow. The foolish, however, reject God’s ways and live as the world does.

    The second section of this chapter (v. 8-19) continues to set up the book by warning against the enticement of sin. Solomon, as we know from other Old Testament narrative books, at times throughout his life rejected wise and righteous living to chase what the world had to offer him. He chased pleasure and every other worldly desire. In the same way, we too can look to the world to fulfill our desires when we feel like God is moving too slowly or that sin is more enticing than pursuing the life God has called us to live. The wise, however, flee sin because they know that it ultimately leads to death. 

    The final section of this chapter (v. 20-33) introduces a metaphor that is used throughout this book. Wisdom is personified as a beautiful woman, shouting loud enough for anyone to hear. But we know that not everyone listens to wisdom and we know that not everyone heeds her instructions. Let that be a reminder to us as we begin this study of Proverbs: We can choose to grow in wisdom this year. We can read these 31 chapters and find the principles that we need to learn and apply them to our lives, or we can choose to foolishly reject wisdom and chase after the world. Which will you choose?

    Questions

    1. Who is the wisest person you know personally? Why would you say it’s that person and what has informed their worldview?
    2. What does it look like for you to fear the Lord?
    3. When was a time that you chased sin and ultimately dealt with the consequences of it like Solomon talks about in verses 8-19?

    Watch This

    For a really helpful overview of the book of Proverbs, check out this video from The Bible Project!

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • 2022 Year In Review

    2022 Year In Review

    Share the BRP

    Beginning January 1, we’ll be studying the book of Proverbs for the next 31 days. The new year is a great opportunity to invite your friends, families, and Life Groups to read along with you in 2023. 

    To sign up and receive the BRP daily in your inbox, go to www.biblereadingplan.org and scroll to the bottom of the page! 

    2022 Year in Review

    We covered a lot of ground in 2022 through the Bible Reading Plan! If you have followed along with us since January, we have read through 21 different books this year (plus different Gospel accounts throughout Holy Week). Here are the books we covered (in order) this year from January 1-December 31:

    • Job
    • Obadiah
    • Hosea
    • Ruth
    • Titus
    • Judges
    • Holy Week readings (primarily in Mark)
    • Ephesians
    • Amos
    • Jonah
    • Micah
    • Lamentations
    • Colossians
    • 1 & 2 Kings
    • Jude
    • Song of Songs
    • 1 & 2 Peter
    • Leviticus 
    • Matthew 
    • Isaiah

    Our breakdown this year was 82% Old Testament vs. 18% New Testament. This year we continued to bounce back and forth between the Old and New Testaments, giving us a clearer picture of how each book (and type of literature) points us to the common thread throughout scripture: God had a plan to redeem a broken world through Jesus. 

    Some of the books we read were cautionary warnings from prophets that are as applicable to us today as they were to their original audiences. The weighty stories in Job and Judges revealed the brokenness in the world around us. Our New Testament readings gave us eyewitness accounts of Jesus’s time on earth and helped develop our theology of who Jesus was and why the Gospel is good news for us.

    In his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, author and theologian Eugene Peterson says this about the scriptures:

    “No literature is more realistic and honest in facing the harsh facts of life than the Bible. At no time is there the faintest suggestion that the life of faith exempts us from difficulties. What it promises is preservation from all the evil in them. On every page of the Bible there is recognition that faith encounters troubles.”

    Hopefully, through our readings this year, you have found that statement to be true and have felt the Bible come alive in new and fresh ways. Even in the chapters that felt hard to read or understand, we can trust that God is still speaking to us today through His inspired Word. 

    Before we look ahead to next year, it’s helpful to pause and reflect on what God taught us this year. Think through (and please answer in the comments!) the following questions:

      1. Which character or story in scripture that we read this year sticks out the most? Why?
      2. What did you learn about God’s Word in 2022 that you didn’t previously know?
      3. If you were to summarize what God taught you this year into a word or phrase, what would it be?
      4. What is your prayer for 2023? What do you hope God teaches you in the upcoming year? 

    As we look ahead to next year, we’ll begin the year studying the book of Proverbs through the month of January. If this resource has been helpful to you, please share it with others! We want to continue to make it freely available to any individuals, small groups, and churches that may find it to be helpful. 

    Whether you have been following along since day one or joined us somewhere along the way, we hope that the BRP has helped you know, understand, and love God’s Word more. It is our hope that the BRP is helpful to you as you grow in your relationship with Jesus.

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 64

    Isaiah 64

    Share the BRP

    Beginning January 1, we’ll be studying the book of Proverbs for the next 31 days. The new year is a great opportunity to invite your friends, families, and Life Groups to read along with you in 2023. 

    To sign up and receive the BRP daily in your inbox, go to www.biblereadingplan.org and scroll to the bottom of the page! 

    Read Isaiah 64

    64 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
        that the mountains would tremble before you!
    2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
        and causes water to boil,
    come down to make your name known to your enemies
        and cause the nations to quake before you!
    3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
        you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
    4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
        no ear has perceived,
    no eye has seen any God besides you,
        who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
    5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
        who remember your ways.
    But when we continued to sin against them,
        you were angry.
        How then can we be saved?
    6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
        and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
    we all shrivel up like a leaf,
        and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
    7 No one calls on your name
        or strives to lay hold of you;
    for you have hidden your face from us
        and have given us over to our sins.

     

    8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
        We are the clay, you are the potter;
        we are all the work of your hand.
    9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
        do not remember our sins forever.
    Oh, look on us, we pray,
        for we are all your people.
    10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;
        even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
    11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,
        has been burned with fire,
        and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
    12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?
        Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

    Go Deeper

    This chapter continues with Israel’s prayer as they plead with the Lord to “look down from heaven” and deliver the believing remnants. The lamenting people appeal for divine favor, remember God’s past faithfulness, and confess their unworthiness before Him. The Israelites had received favor from God, yet they turned their backs on Him and worshiped false gods. God claimed their righteous deeds to be unclean. Isaiah is aware that the natural human condition is uncleanliness. In Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6, he declares, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5). When Isaiah gets a glimpse of God’s holiness, he clearly sees the uncleanliness of himself and of the people. This is the same language used in the book of Leviticus, that the people’s uncleanliness caused separation between them and God. 

    In this chapter, the remnant of Israel confessed their unworthiness before the Lord. They say that “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (v. 6). The Isrealites found their confidence in their own self-righteousness, and God compared their righteousness to “filthy rags.” Our good deeds are tainted by our sinful motives. Romans tell us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (3:23). Our sin makes us unclean and unworthy to be in a relationship with Him (v. 6). We can not escape our brokenness on our own, and our good acts can not save us. Martin Luther once said that “the most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God.” Everything we do for a holy God is polluted by our sin. There is nothing we can ever do to work our way up to Him. 

    But God, because of His great love, sent His one and only Son to save us from the power of sin and death. Jesus came into this world and took the humble position of a servant. He lived the life that we could never live and died the death that we deserve, so that by believing in Him, we can have a relationship with God forever. Every single one of Jesus’ acts were righteous and pure. He knew that we could never live a perfect life on our own. Jesus paid the price for our sin, so that we can be declared righteous before the Lord. He did the work on our behalf. 

    We can’t earn our way into Heaven. We can not work to be justified. If we had to work our way to get to God, either Jesus died for nothing, or His death was insufficient to cover our sins. Jesus saved us, not by works we have done in righteousness, but according to His own mercy (Titus 3:5). Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” We respond to the free gift of salvation by our works, but our works will never save us. We get to walk in the freedom of this reality, and that is good news for us today!

    Questions

    1. What are some ways that you try to work to receive favor with God? 
    2. What does this chapter teach you about the character of man?
    3. Who is someone you can share this good news with today?

    Keep Digging

    Isaiah 64:6 says that “all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags”, but why? And what does that even mean? Check out this helpful article from GotQuestions.org!

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 63

    Isaiah 63

    Share the BRP

    Beginning January 1, we’ll be studying the book of Proverbs for the next 31 days. The new year is a great opportunity to invite your friends, families, and Life Groups to read along with you in 2023. 

    To sign up and receive the BRP daily in your inbox, go to www.biblereadingplan.org and scroll to the bottom of the page! 

    Read Isaiah 63

    God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

    63 Who is this coming from Edom,
        from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
    Who is this, robed in splendor,
        striding forward in the greatness of his strength?

    “It is I, proclaiming victory,
        mighty to save.”

    2 Why are your garments red,
        like those of one treading the winepress?

    3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
        from the nations no one was with me.
    I trampled them in my anger
        and trod them down in my wrath;
    their blood spattered my garments,
        and I stained all my clothing.
    4 It was for me the day of vengeance;
        the year for me to redeem had come.
    5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
        I was appalled that no one gave support;
    so my own arm achieved salvation for me,
        and my own wrath sustained me.
    6 I trampled the nations in my anger;
        in my wrath I made them drunk
        and poured their blood on the ground.”

    Praise and Prayer

    7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
        the deeds for which he is to be praised,
        according to all the Lord has done for us—
    yes, the many good things
        he has done for Israel,
        according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
    8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
        children who will be true to me”;
        and so he became their Savior.
    9 In all their distress he too was distressed,
        and the angel of his presence saved them.
    In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
        he lifted them up and carried them
        all the days of old.
    10 Yet they rebelled
        and grieved his Holy Spirit.
    So he turned and became their enemy
        and he himself fought against them.

    11 Then his people recalled the days of old,
        the days of Moses and his people—
    where is he who brought them through the sea,
        with the shepherd of his flock?
    Where is he who set
        his Holy Spirit among them,
    12 who sent his glorious arm of power
        to be at Moses’ right hand,
    who divided the waters before them,
        to gain for himself everlasting renown,
    13 who led them through the depths?
    Like a horse in open country,
        they did not stumble;
    14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
        they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.
    This is how you guided your people
        to make for yourself a glorious name.

    15 Look down from heaven and see,
        from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
    Where are your zeal and your might?
        Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
    16 But you are our Father,
        though Abraham does not know us
        or Israel acknowledge us;
    you, Lord, are our Father,
        our Redeemer from of old is your name.
    17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways
        and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
    Return for the sake of your servants,
        the tribes that are your inheritance.
    18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
        but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
    19 We are yours from of old;
        but you have not ruled over them,
        they have not been called by your name.

    Go Deeper

    Commentator Warren Wiersbe explains, “Whenever a prophet foretold the future, it was to awaken the people to their responsibilities in the present. Bible prophecy isn’t entertainment for the curious; it’s encouragement for the serious.” This is a great explanation of what’s happening in Isaiah 63.

    In the first six verses of this chapter, Isaiah gives a prophecy of the great Second Coming, and it seems to have done its job in awakening the Israelites to their situation. Isaiah reminds them that not only will their Messiah come to save them through His birth and resurrection, He will come again in vengeance to proclaim ultimate and eternal victory. 

    We see in the verses following this prophecy that the Israelites begin to recount all of the ways that God has provided and cared for them. This was the God that redeemed them, saved them from Egypt, and brought them across the depths of the Red Sea. This was the God that called them His children and who guided them safely through enemy territory. And yet, they had “rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” (v. 10).

    Isaiah’s prophetic words and warnings seem to awaken their love for God and encourage their devotion to Him, because the chapter concludes with a prayer to Him in recognition of His glory. They acknowledge the need for His mercy and grace and beg for Him to no longer withhold His tenderness and compassion from them. 

    We will see this prayer continue through Isaiah 64 tomorrow and then read how God answers the Israelites in Isaiah 65. But for today, we can learn by putting ourselves in their shoes. We can spend time thinking about the future Second Coming and ultimate victory that we are promised, so that it awakens us to our current responsibilities. Instead of curiously reading this for entertainment, we can recognize the encouragement it provides. The very same God that brought the Israelites across the desert, also has a promised land for us. 

    He is still capable of making the impossible possible. He is still able to and delights in moving the unmovable. He forgives the unforgivable, and He loves the unlovable. He finds joy in making the unknown known. He is the Father to the fatherless, and Hope for the hopeless. Today as we focus on His character, ask Him to realign your heart with His and awaken your love and devotion to Him just as He did for the Israelites. 

    Questions

    1. What characteristics of God mean the most to you?
    2. What sea do you need God to part for you right now? Spend time being honest with Him about this need.
    3. How has God shown you His steadfast love (Isaiah 63:7), and how can you offer your gratitude to Him?

    A Quote

    “It is good to pause in our lives and just recount the steadfast love of the Lord. The praises of the Lord according to all the Lord has granted us.” – David Platt

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 42

    Isaiah 42

    Read Isaiah 42

    The Servant of the Lord

    42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
        my chosen one in whom I delight;
    I will put my Spirit on him,
        and he will bring justice to the nations.
    2 He will not shout or cry out,
        or raise his voice in the streets.
    3 A bruised reed he will not break,
        and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
    In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
    4     he will not falter or be discouraged
    till he establishes justice on earth.
        In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

    5 This is what God the Lord says—
    the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
        who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
        who gives breath to its people,
        and life to those who walk on it:
    6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
        I will take hold of your hand.
    I will keep you and will make you
        to be a covenant for the people
        and a light for the Gentiles,
    7 to open eyes that are blind,
        to free captives from prison
        and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

    8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
        I will not yield my glory to another
        or my praise to idols.
    9 See, the former things have taken place,
        and new things I declare;
    before they spring into being
        I announce them to you.”

    Song of Praise to the Lord

    10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
        his praise from the ends of the earth,
    you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
        you islands, and all who live in them.
    11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
        let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
    Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
        let them shout from the mountaintops.
    12 Let them give glory to the Lord
        and proclaim his praise in the islands.
    13 The Lord will march out like a champion,
        like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
    with a shout he will raise the battle cry
        and will triumph over his enemies.

    14 “For a long time I have kept silent,
        I have been quiet and held myself back.
    But now, like a woman in childbirth,
        I cry out, I gasp and pant.
    15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
        and dry up all their vegetation;
    I will turn rivers into islands
        and dry up the pools.
    16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
        along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
    I will turn the darkness into light before them
        and make the rough places smooth.
    These are the things I will do;
        I will not forsake them.
    17 But those who trust in idols,
        who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
        will be turned back in utter shame.

    Israel Blind and Deaf

    18 “Hear, you deaf;
        look, you blind, and see!
    19 Who is blind but my servant,
        and deaf like the messenger I send?
    Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
        blind like the servant of the Lord?
    20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
        your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
    21 It pleased the Lord
        for the sake of his righteousness
        to make his law great and glorious.
    22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
        all of them trapped in pits
        or hidden away in prisons.
    They have become plunder,
        with no one to rescue them;
    they have been made loot,
        with no one to say, “Send them back.”

    23 Which of you will listen to this
        or pay close attention in time to come?
    24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
        and Israel to the plunderers?
    Was it not the Lord,
        against whom we have sinned?
    For they would not follow his ways;
        they did not obey his law.
    25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
        the violence of war.
    It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
        it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

    Go Deeper

    Isaiah was written long before Jesus’s physical birth, and this book is a foreshadowing with the same message: He’s coming. Jesus is firstly named as the Servant, and He fulfills this role without err. Jesus lived as the Servant by bearing all of humanity’s sins and weaknesses on the cross and resurrecting three days later, so that we (in belief and through faith) could have eternal life with God! On top of that, Jesus still serves those who have accepted the Gospel by interceding for us at the right hand of God continually. What great news! Jesus paid the one-time penalty of death for our sins, AND intercedes for us in heaven? He truly is the Servant. He serves out of the contentment found in knowing that the Father loves Him and He is fulfilling His mission.

    The analogy of the bruised reed and smoking flax highlights Jesus’ tenderness. Reeds are plants that are easily tossed by the wind and often damaged. A smoking flax is the wick of a lamp with dim flame that is soon to go out. When we are weak and vulnerable, Christ Himself sees our needs and cares tenderly for us. Understanding that the Father is tender towards the Son helps us to further comprehend the character of God: He is personal. Yet while being gentle, God is never weak or discouraged. God’s compassion perfectly compliments His power as both the Comforter as well as the Judge. He alone is the LORD, and is worthy of all of our adoration. This chapter continues to bridge God’s greatness with His individualized salvation for us all. 

    Learning more about the character of God–His tenderness yet holiness, His compassion yet judgment, His meekness yet strength–inspires praise in us! Trusting that we have (or can have, for those who have not accepted the Gospel) an everlasting relationship with this God leads us to worship! Yet how often do we forget His character? Similar to the Israelities, we stray quickly and easily from the reality of God’s coming and stumble around without vision or direction. To wake us up from our wandering, God (like a loving Father) disciplines us. From this low place, we are met by our need for a Savior. Oftentimes, it takes being disciplined to be humble enough to see our need for Christ, and then return to Him in repentance and with a softened heart to His commands (which is the good life)! Just as the Old Covenant law was used to expose the Israelites’ sin and point them to their need for Jesus, so too are the specific things that God uses to refine us in our lives. Therefore, just as the law had a purpose, so too does our suffering.  

    Much of what was occurring in the lives of the Israelities is occurring in our lives today: their message of Jesus’s coming, their complacency/comfortability, and their discipline from God. Yet Jesus shows the Father’s tenderness to us through not only His Earthly life, but also His daily intercession for us. God is higher than we are, but He made a way to be near to us forever. God chooses to refine the sin in our lives out of His tender care for us. Christ-followers are given everything that we need to fight the spiritual battle here on Earth– we have God Himself around us and inside of us, and know that He will win the war–but we are often complacent to the battle going on presently, and because of that we are ineffective soldiers in God’s kingdom. Therefore, God uses refinement to wake us up from our laziness while drawing near to us in tender love.

    Questions

    1. How often do you take notice of the ways that God cares for you daily?
    2. How do you think of and treat those who are weak/vulnerable around you?
    3. How is God disciplining you as His beloved child? Are you aware of His heart behind refining your sin?

    Listen Here

    Listen to the modern hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” to remind yourself of God’s love today!

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 40

    Isaiah 40

    Read Isaiah 40

    Comfort for God’s People

    40 Comfort, comfort my people,
        says your God.
    2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
        and proclaim to her
    that her hard service has been completed,
        that her sin has been paid for,
    that she has received from the Lord’s hand
        double for all her sins.

    3 A voice of one calling:
    “In the wilderness prepare
        the way for the Lord;
    make straight in the desert
        a highway for our God.
    4 Every valley shall be raised up,
        every mountain and hill made low;
    the rough ground shall become level,
        the rugged places a plain.
    5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
        and all people will see it together.
    For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

    6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
        And I said, “What shall I cry?”

    “All people are like grass,
        and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
    7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
        because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
        Surely the people are grass.
    8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
        but the word of our God endures forever.”

    9 You who bring good news to Zion,
        go up on a high mountain.
    You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
        lift up your voice with a shout,
    lift it up, do not be afraid;
        say to the towns of Judah,
        “Here is your God!”
    10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
        and he rules with a mighty arm.
    See, his reward is with him,
        and his recompense accompanies him.
    11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
        He gathers the lambs in his arms
    and carries them close to his heart;
        he gently leads those that have young.

    12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
        or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
    Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
        or weighed the mountains on the scales
        and the hills in a balance?
    13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
        or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
    14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
        and who taught him the right way?
    Who was it that taught him knowledge,
        or showed him the path of understanding?

    15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
        they are regarded as dust on the scales;
        he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
    16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
        nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
    17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
        they are regarded by him as worthless
        and less than nothing.

    18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
        To what image will you liken him?
    19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
        and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
        and fashions silver chains for it.
    20 A person too poor to present such an offering
        selects wood that will not rot;
    they look for a skilled worker
        to set up an idol that will not topple.

    21 Do you not know?
        Have you not heard?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
        Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
    22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
        and its people are like grasshoppers.
    He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
        and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
    23 He brings princes to naught
        and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
    24 No sooner are they planted,
        no sooner are they sown,
        no sooner do they take root in the ground,
    than he blows on them and they wither,
        and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

    25 “To whom will you compare me?
        Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
    26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
        Who created all these?
    He who brings out the starry host one by one
        and calls forth each of them by name.
    Because of his great power and mighty strength,
        not one of them is missing.

    27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
        Why do you say, Israel,
    “My way is hidden from the Lord;
        my cause is disregarded by my God”?
    28 Do you not know?
        Have you not heard?
    The Lord is the everlasting God,
        the Creator of the ends of the earth.
    He will not grow tired or weary,
        and his understanding no one can fathom.
    29 He gives strength to the weary
        and increases the power of the weak.
    30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
        and young men stumble and fall;
    31 but those who hope in the Lord
        will renew their strength.
    They will soar on wings like eagles;
        they will run and not grow weary,
        they will walk and not be faint.

    Go Deeper

    “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” The previous 39 chapters of Isaiah have largely consisted of judgment and warning for the rebellion of Israel. Now, however, the tone of this book pivots at chapter 40 to largely consist of hope, comfort, and blessing for Israel. David Guzik in his commentary on Isaiah says, “Isaiah is a book in three sections: Chapters 1-35 are prophetic, with the theme of condemnation. Chapters 36-39 are historic, and the theme is confiscation. Chapters 40-66 are messianic, and the theme is consolation.”

    Isaiah 40 (and on) contains many sentences and phrases that relate and point to Jesus. What a gift it is to read this letter through the lens and understanding of Jesus and the gospel of His grace! We should be on the edge of the chair we are sitting in right now searching for Jesus in the shadows of the Old Testament throughout the rest of our study through Isaiah. Let’s look more closely at verses 10-11 today to see Jesus more clearly in Isaiah 40.

     Two themes are found in Isaiah 40:10-11. The first theme is that of arrival in power. Verse 10 describes the Lord coming to earth with great power, might, and authority, bringing both reward and judgment for man with Him. Revelation 19:11-21 is where this prophecy is fulfilled, and it is fulfilled by Jesus. He is the powerful, conquering King returning to this broken and sin-ridden world with His reward and recompense for all people that Isaiah wrote of!

    The second theme is that of a shepherd. Verse 11 describes God tending to His people as a shepherd tends to his sheep. Jesus says in John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” and in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Jesus is essentially saying “I am that good shepherd that Isaiah prophesied about!”

    Jesus is both the coming conquering King to judge man of his sin and rule the earth “with a mighty arm,” and the compassionate Shepherd who protects those who belong to Him and “carries them close to His heart.” Jesus both reigns the universe with might and power, and yet gently leads us, His sheep, with compassion and intentionality! How great is our God?

    Questions

    1. How does seeing Jesus as “powerful and conquering King” make you feel? What could change in your life because of this reality that Jesus has victory in the end?
    2. How does seeing Jesus as “gentle and lowly Shepherd” make you feel? What could change in your life because of this reality that Jesus tends to you as His sheep here and now?
    3. Is it easier for you to see Jesus as “powerful and conquering King” or as “gentle and lowly Shepherd?” Why is a healthy view of both important for our faith?

    Watch This

    Watch this video from The Bible Project that captures the grand narrative of The Messiah that the Bible (and especially Isaiah) is flooded with!

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 39

    Isaiah 39

    Editor’s Note

    We had a technical difficulty with WordPress not automatically posting today’s entry. Sorry you’re receiving it later than you normally would! 

    Read Isaiah 39

    Envoys From Babylon

    39 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery.2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

    3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

    “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”

    4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

    “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

    5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

    8 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

    Go Deeper

    This brief chapter serves as a transitional bridge to the second half of the book of Isaiah. In the first 38 chapters Isaiah describes the threat of the Assyrian empire, but the rest of the book warns against the Babylonians. This context is an important lens when reading today’s verses.

    Merodach-Baladan’s envoy was not just coming to wish Hezekiah well on his miraculous recovery. This was a Babylonian leader trying to sway the allegiance of Hezekiah from Assyria to Babylon through flattery–and Hezekiah fell for it hook, link, and sinker. Hezekiah threw open the doors and showed them everything in his storehouses, the bounty of which had been given to him by God. But Hezekiah did so without consulting God or Isaiah. Not only did he show them all of his supplies and wealth, it says that he did so “gladly.” 

    Merodach-Baladan found Hezekiah’s blind spot–his pride. As the smaller, less powerful Judah, it made Hezekiah feel important to puff his chest and show off everything in his possession in order to impress the visitors. Rather than remember the divine intervention of God in restoring him to health, in this decision Hezekiah lived for the praises of man. It seems as if he had no clue that he had acted unwisely, because in verse 4 he proudly describes what he has done to Isaiah. Merodach-Baladan attacked Hezekiah in his blind spot, and it made Hezekiah blind to his own prideful, foolish decisions. We can see Isaiah’s prophecies about these decisions leading to Babylon’s triumph are fulfilled in 2 Kings 24-25. Even sadder still is Hezekiah’s response to the awful news he receives from Isaiah: “Well, at least everything will be ok for my lifetime!” 

    Even though Hezekiah started out as a godly king, he did not finish well. He was given an extra fifteen years of life, but chose to waste it. What are we doing with our time here on Earth? James 4:14 tells us that our life is but a vapor, so how are we going to spend it? Hezekiah shows us that it doesn’t matter how much time we get, it’s how we use the time we have that matters. 

    Questions

    1. What blind spots do you have that the enemy could use to distract you? If you don’t know, ask your community to help you be aware of what those might be.
    2. How are you using your time? Is it wisely or wastefully?
    3. How can you make sure you finish well? Are you concerned only about your lifetime or do you have an eternal focus?

    By the Way

    For more on this story read 2 Chronicles 32:31 which also describes this visit by Merodach-Baladan’s envoy, wherein we learn that God left Hezekiah to test him and “know everything that was in his heart.”

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 30

    Isaiah 30

    Read Isaiah 30

    Woe to the Obstinate Nation

    30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
        declares the Lord,
    “to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
        forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
        heaping sin upon sin;
    2 who go down to Egypt
        without consulting me;
    who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
        to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
    3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
        Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
    4 Though they have officials in Zoan
        and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
    5 everyone will be put to shame
        because of a people useless to them,
    who bring neither help nor advantage,
        but only shame and disgrace.”

    6 A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:

    Through a land of hardship and distress,
        of lions and lionesses,
        of adders and darting snakes,
    the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
        their treasures on the humps of camels,
    to that unprofitable nation,
    7     to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
    Therefore I call her
        Rahab the Do-Nothing.

    8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
        inscribe it on a scroll,
    that for the days to come
        it may be an everlasting witness.
    9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
        children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
    10 They say to the seers,
        “See no more visions!”
    and to the prophets,
        “Give us no more visions of what is right!
    Tell us pleasant things,
        prophesy illusions.
    11 Leave this way,
        get off this path,
    and stop confronting us
        with the Holy One of Israel!”

    12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

    “Because you have rejected this message,
        relied on oppression
        and depended on deceit,
    13 this sin will become for you
        like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
        that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
    14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
        shattered so mercilessly
    that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
        for taking coals from a hearth
        or scooping water out of a cistern.”

    15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

    “In repentance and rest is your salvation,
        in quietness and trust is your strength,
        but you would have none of it.
    16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
        Therefore you will flee!
    You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
        Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
    17 A thousand will flee
        at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five
        you will all flee away,
    till you are left
        like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
        like a banner on a hill.”

    18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
        therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
    For the Lord is a God of justice.
        Blessed are all who wait for him!

    19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

    23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

    27 See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
        with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
    his lips are full of wrath,
        and his tongue is a consuming fire.
    28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,
        rising up to the neck.
    He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
        he places in the jaws of the peoples
        a bit that leads them astray.
    29 And you will sing
        as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
    your hearts will rejoice
        as when people playing pipes go up
    to the mountain of the Lord,
        to the Rock of Israel.
    30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
        and will make them see his arm coming down
    with raging anger and consuming fire,
        with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
    31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
        with his rod he will strike them down.
    32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
        with his punishing club
    will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
        as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
    33 Topheth has long been prepared;
        it has been made ready for the king.
    Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
        with an abundance of fire and wood;
    the breath of the Lord,
        like a stream of burning sulfur,
        sets it ablaze.

    Go Deeper

    This chapter speaks to what happens when we seek out shelter through our own understanding. God’s people sought protection from Egypt and sent them money and resources. God, through Isaiah, told His people that seeking this help would be their shame. This serves as a reminder to us that is how it always ends with us when we seek help and shelter from anything but God. The things of this world will always end up bringing us shame and keep asking more of us. When we can’t give anymore to whatever we were seeking help from it will either abandon or enslave us. We can have this happen with unhealthy relationships with family and friends or dependencies on anything that we think might help us feel control. Isaiah is speaking directly to us today about what happens when we choose things of this world over things from God.

    “Rahab the Do-Nothing” is a phrase Isaiah uses to describe (and make fun of) Egypt. It points out their own powerlessness and how they can’t actually help at all. Egypt is not in a position of power and in only a few years they also fall to the same threats facing God’s people. It’s hard to say for certain why they wanted to seek help from Egypt, but the same can be said of us when we rely on things of this world. How often do we look back at our life and wonder why we did certain things? Wouldn’t it be great to have hindsight in the moment rather than after the moment?

    Punishment and destruction is promised in this chapter, and it’s said in a way that God is giving them exactly what they wanted. Verses 15-17 talk about how they wanted nothing to do with God’s peace and wanted to flee on horses. So, God let them flee on horses and do what they wanted. God will let us have our free will to do what we choose to do (even when it is not the best thing for us). He will even let us walk directly into destruction. However, we are not left without hope. Verse 18 is perhaps one of the most comforting verses in all of scripture. The first part of that verse (“Yet, the LORD longs to be gracious to you”) sums up God very nicely. He longs to be gracious to us. He wants to restore us to Him, and He dearly misses walking in the garden with His creation and getting to enjoy us. Rest in the fact today (and every day moving forward) that God desires to be gracious to you.  

     

    Questions

    1. What does this chapter teach you about God? What does it teach you about humanity?
    2. Where have you tried to seek out comfort or satisfaction from the world? How did that play out in your own life?
    3. How have you seen and experienced God’s graciousness towards you?  

    Did You KNow?

    Verse 29 is a reference to Psalms 120-134, which are known as the “Psalms of Ascent” or “Pilgrim Songs”. Every year as the Jews traveled uphill towards the city of Jerusalem to participate in one of the three Jewish festivals, these are the songs they would sing. They became a staple of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem back then and now they serve as a helpful template for us as we worship today.

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].

  • Isaiah 29

    Isaiah 29

    Read Isaiah 29

    Woe to David’s City

    29 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
        the city where David settled!
    Add year to year
        and let your cycle of festivals go on.
    2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;
        she will mourn and lament,
        she will be to me like an altar hearth.[a]
    3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
        I will encircle you with towers
        and set up my siege works against you.
    4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
        your speech will mumble out of the dust.
    Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
        out of the dust your speech will whisper.

    5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,
        the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
    Suddenly, in an instant,
    6     the Lord Almighty will come
    with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
        with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
    7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
        that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
    will be as it is with a dream,
        with a vision in the night—
    8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
        but awakens hungry still;
    as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
        but awakens faint and thirsty still.
    So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
        that fight against Mount Zion.

    9 Be stunned and amazed,
        blind yourselves and be sightless;
    be drunk, but not from wine,
        stagger, but not from beer.
    10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:
        He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
        he has covered your heads (the seers).

    11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

    13 The Lord says:

    “These people come near to me with their mouth
        and honor me with their lips,
        but their hearts are far from me.
    Their worship of me
        is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[b]
    14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
        with wonder upon wonder;
    the wisdom of the wise will perish,
        the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
    15 Woe to those who go to great depths
        to hide their plans from the Lord,
    who do their work in darkness and think,
        “Who sees us? Who will know?”
    16 You turn things upside down,
        as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
    Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
        “You did not make me”?
    Can the pot say to the potter,
        “You know nothing”?

    17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
        and the fertile field seem like a forest?
    18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
        and out of gloom and darkness
        the eyes of the blind will see.
    19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
        the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
    20 The ruthless will vanish,
        the mockers will disappear,
        and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
    21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
        who ensnare the defender in court
        and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.

    22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:

    “No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
        no longer will their faces grow pale.
    23 When they see among them their children,
        the work of my hands,
    they will keep my name holy;
        they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
        and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
    24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
        those who complain will accept instruction.”

    Go Deeper

    The woes or warnings prophesied by Isaiah continue now with a focus on Ariel (which is a reference to Jerusalem, the city of David). In his warnings, Isaiah describes Jerusalem as presumptuous, living in denial of danger. While an attack on Jerusalem will occur, the Lord will mercifully deliver them from their attackers. Despite God’s powerful deliverance, Isaiah reveals that the people of Jerusalem are blind to God’s Word and deaf to His voice, even as they offer meaningless and mechanical worship. Their hearts are far from God.

    As Isaiah continues to pronounce woes, he also reveals God’s compassionate heart toward His people in spite of their refusal to recognize God as their Creator and their tendency to try to hide their plans from Him. They repeatedly challenge God as if they were the potter and God the clay. Yet God graciously responds to these rebellious actions and arrogant attitudes with a promise of hope. Isaiah tells us that there will come a day when blind eyes see, the humble rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, and His people stand in awe of the God of Israel.

    These woes are corrective in purpose and interlaced with God’s plan of hope and restoration. Isaiah’s words to Jerusalem are also words for us – you might call them wake-up calls. God uses His Word and wake-up calls in our lives to drive us to turn wholeheartedly to Him in complete dependence. Paul reminds us in Romans 15:4 of the value of examining Old Testament passages: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.” As we continue to study Isaiah, let’s ask God to wake us up from our empty worship and arrogant approach to our Maker. May He turn our hearts in repentance to trust and hope in Him alone.

    Questions

    1. How does your worship reflect your heart toward God?
    2. When have you slipped into thinking you are the potter rather than God?
    3. What wake-up call has God used in your life to draw you to wholehearted trust in Him? Share this in your Life Group to encourage others.

    By the Way

    Want to know how Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the attack and deliverance of Jerusalem was fulfilled? Read 2 Kings 19:32-36.

    Leave a Comment Below

    Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

    Join the Team

    Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].