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Bible Pathways 8/2/2001



August 2

Read Isaiah 5 -- 9




The prophet Isaiah foretold the judgment of God against the Kingdom of Judah for five specific sins. First, selfishness and greed: Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! (Isaiah 5:8). Second, drunkenness: Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink (5:11). Third, stubbornness, refusing to recognize themselves as sinners and parading their sins before God: Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope (5:18). Fourth, insincerity, self-deception, and hypocrisy: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil (5:20). And fifth, pride, the basis of all sin: Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes (5:21). Therefore My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge (why) . . . . they have cast away the Law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel (5:13,24).

At this time in its history, wicked Ahaz was King of Judah and Assyria was the ruling world empire. Isaiah spoke as if Assyria had already taken them captive. The prophet appealed to King Ahaz to turn to the Lord for His protection, saying: Ask for yourself a sign of the Lord your God (7:11). If he would ask of God and then turn to Him, God would give him victory.

When Ahaz refused to ask a sign of the Lord, Isaiah was given a glorious prophecy of the true King of kings who was yet to come: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel (God with us) (7:14). Seven hundred years later, the Angel Gabriel confirmed to the Virgin Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore the Holy One which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). To deny the virgin birth and question either the Deity or the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth is to miss the significance that Jesus was both God and man.

Isaiah continued to plead with his people: Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear (reverence). . . . Should not a people seek their God? . . . To the Law and to the Testimony: If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light in them (Isaiah 8:13,19-20).

The prophet Isaiah received another glorious vision of the Eternal King of kings of whom he foretold: His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (9:6). Jesus was Wonderful in His life on earth, Wonderful in providing eternal life to all believers by dying on the cross for our sins, and Wonderful in His triumph over death. He alone is the Wonderful Counselor, the Revealer of Truth: The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-4).

Christ Revealed: As Immanuel, God with us in the form of the Son of the virgin (Isaiah 7:14). Other prophecies concerning Jesus Christ are found in Isaiah 8:14; 9:2,6-7. Isaiah 9:6 reveals that a Child shall be born; a Son shall be given (crucifixion); and the government shall be upon His shoulders (His Second Coming). The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God (I Thessalonians 4:16).

Word Studies: 5:1 My wellbeloved means The Lord Jesus Christ; vineyard means the Israelites; 5:5 go to means listen to Me; 5:23 reward means bribes; 7:16 abhorrest means hate; 8:21 hardly bestead means sorely distressed; 9:9 stoutness means arrogance.

Prayer Needs:
BPM Staff: Letha Hash · Pray for Stephen Wike, Media Management/Crosswalk.com, Inc. · Pray for the Bible Pathway International Radio broadcast sponsored by Kevan Ribble · Country: Solomon Islands (455,000) in the southwestern Pacific · Major languages: 120 indigenous languages · Religious freedom · 66% Protestant; 17% Roman Catholic; 4% spirit worship, ancestor worship, and sorcery · Prayer Suggestion: Pray that your life will always be pleasing to God (John 8:29).

Optional Reading: Hebrews 10

Memory Verse for the Week: I Corinthians 3:17


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