Highlights from Isaiah...

I finished the book of Isaiah a week or so ago so I wanted to share a few highlights from it... there's so much in the book of Isaiah to learn, I'll try to narrow it down to just a few things that God taught me. :D

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Something I notice throughout the book of Isaiah, and it's in other books of the Bible as well, is that sometimes a chapter or section will end with "for the Lord has spoken" or "This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies". (Is. 1:2, 3:15, 14:23, 17:3, 22:25, and so on). To me it's as if it's showing that His Word is final. God's Word is final. God's Word never changes. God's Word remains forever.

Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever."

Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."

Psalm 33:4, "For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is trustworthy."

Isaiah 14:27 says, "The Lord of Armies Himself has planned it; therefore, who can stand in its way? It is His hand that is outstretched, so who can turn it back?"

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Isaiah 1:7-8 says, "Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you - a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners. Daughter Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a besieged city."

Sounds like a pretty depressing picture, right? Let me skip ahead to Isaiah chapter 61.

Isaiah 61:4, "They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations; they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations." 

Isn't that comforting? I love how you can see where they were, and where they will be.
In our world today we see darkness, destruction, and chaos... but one day Jesus is going to come back again and He will renew and restore.

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Isaiah chapter six is pretty well known for verse eight:

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: 

Who should I send?

Who will go for us?

I said:

Here I am. Send me."

Wow. Isaiah stood in the presence of God and when God asked who will go for us Isaiah said, "Here I am. Send me." At the time I'm sure he didn't know how much he would suffer for His Name, but I'm willing to guess he did know the cost.

How do we respond to God's calling?

Let me back up a few verses to Isaiah 6:5, "Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies. 

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: 

Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for." 

Isaiah saw the glory of God. He saw it and recognized that he was a sinner. But his lips were touched with a glowing coal and his sins were atoned for. 

When we see the glory of God we see how sinful we are compared to His glory. But God has forgiven us, our iniquity has been removed and our sins atoned for.  

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Isaiah 17:10 says, "For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and you have failed to remember the rock of your strength;"

When we forget about what God has done for us, when we forget Who He is, we are taking our eyes off of Him and onto other things. We need to focus on Him and remember.

Isaiah 26:13, "but we remember Your name alone."

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Isaiah 31:6, "Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against."

The Israelites had a tendency to turn to idols and away from God... but here Isaiah tells them to return to Him.

Isaiah 44:22, "I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."

Hah, remember how in the beginning of this post I said I'll try to narrow it down to a few? I think those were a little over a few.... ;). And I barely made it halfway through the book! I may share some more next week. 

So what is one of your favorite verses from the book of Isaiah? What's God been teaching you through His Word recently? What's a lesson from Isaiah God has taught you?