Ezekiel 4
What a strange chapter! One thing’s for sure: God certainly asked His prophets to do weird things at times. And I don’t know about you, but if I had answered the call to be a prophet, and the first assignment God gave me was to lay on my side(s) for 14 months, I might have to lodge a complaint!
Lamentations 3
I hear the questions often: if God is so good, why are things in this world so bad? How can a loving God tolerate evil? How can He just let us suffer? Actually, there is much in Scripture to suggest that the assumption behind these questions is misguided. God isn’t sitting back with His arms folded in some distant locale, letting evil run rampant.
Lamentations 1
Most people refer to this book of the Bible as The Lamentations of Jeremiah, because most scholars agree it was written by the prophet Jeremiah. But these aren’t the lamentations of Jeremiah. They are the lamentations of God. Oh, Jeremiah might have also been distraught over what happened to his nation, but I believe the anguished heart cry here is all God’s.
Jeremiah 4
In this chapter, God sends a clear invitation to Israel to repent from their idolatry and return to Him. He wants them to escape the impending invasion by the Babylonians, but it seems they want nothing to do with God and His plan to rescue them. At every turn, they continue to reject His protection.
Isaiah 61
I’ll never forget when our oldest daughter first began to find her feet. For quite some time, she would pull herself up into a standing position at the sofa and take a tentative step to the right or left, only to come quickly crashing down on her behind. But then, one day, she started “cruising,” walking smoothly around the perimeter of the sofa while holding onto the cushions.
Isaiah 59
This chapter touches on one of the greatest theological questions of our time: how can there be an all-loving, all-powerful God when there is so much suffering in the world? For, certainly, if we had the power to end the suffering of someone we loved, wouldn’t we do it? That’s how many people come to the conclusion that (a) God must not be all-powerful and, thus, cannot do anything about our suffering or (b) God must either not love us or not exist at all.
Isaiah 58
In this chapter, God exposed the Israelites’ empty practice of two religious rituals—fasting and Sabbath-keeping: “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high… If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, (vs 3-4, 13-14)
Isaiah 56
In this chapter, God addresses two groups of people who were considered outcasts in Israel: the eunuchs and the foreigners. Back in Deuteronomy 23, both groups had been forbidden from entering “the assembly of the Lord.” Incidentally, that phrase is only used three times at the beginning of Deuteronomy 23… and nowhere else in the Old Testament. So, all scholars don’t agree on what “the assembly of the Lord” means, but it likely had something to do with taking part in ceremonial or religious practices.
Isaiah 55
I stole the title of this blog from the title of a chapter in my father’s book, Freedom Fighter: How God Wins the Universal War on Terror. That chapter is all about God’s amazing forgiveness. (I invite you to read the chapter online.) In many ways, God’s forgiveness does seem odd to us, because unlike most of us, God never holds a grudge. Ever.
Isaiah 49
There are so many ironies in the Christian life, and this is one of them: to be a slave to others in love is the highest expression of freedom. Yeah, that probably bears repeating: to be a slave to others in love is the highest expression of freedom. And in this chapter of Isaiah, that’s exactly what we learn about God—He is a slave to others in love.
Isaiah 38
I often tell my husband that nothing makes me happier than to hear those three little words from him: You were right. Such simple things can make a girl’s day! (ha ha) And I must admit that this was on my mind as I read today’s chapter from Isaiah. I imagine there are a lot of words we can say that would make God happy, and I think some of them were in this chapter.
Isaiah 34
Whoa, scary chapter! No wonder lots of people read the Bible (especially the Old Testament) and get the idea that God—while He may graciously be biding His time—is out to “get us” in the end. In fact, this chapter is so scary that it (and lots of other chapters in Isaiah) got completely cut out of the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many (if not most) mainline Protestant churches. If you attend such a church, that means you will never hear this chapter of the Bible read in worship. Ever.
Isaiah 19
This is one of those times when I’m sure that I don’t have adequate words to describe what is going through my head at the moment. The marvelous picture of God that presented itself to me at the end of this chapter of Isaiah is so immense in my mind that I’m sure I am incapable of relating the whole of it to anyone else.
Isaiah 18
There are some people who believe God plays favorites, that He keeps a list of who’s been naughty and nice and doles out blessings or curses accordingly. As evidence of this, some people point to the Israelites and claim that since God chose them to be “His” people, He plays favorites. This kind of thinking usually leads these folks to conclude that “they” are on God’s popular list and “others” (mainly those who do not think, talk, act, dress, or behave as they do) are not.
Isaiah 16
There is a special kind of ache in the heart that can only be felt by a parent with a hurting child—especially when it’s the sort of hurt that you can’t do anything about. Now, imagine how that ache would be magnified if you were in a position to ease the hurt, but your child refused your help. I think that could almost make you go crazy.
Isaiah 12
The first verse of this chapter can take on different meanings, depending on which translation you read. I like this one: “At that time you will say, ‘I thank you, Lord! You were angry with me, but you stopped being angry and gave me comfort.’” (CEV) Many versions render the verse this way; the others add a word that isn’t in the original: though. In those translations, the worshiper says, God, I will praise you, because even though you were angry with me, you aren’t angry anymore.
