Isaiah 61

"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” vv.2-3

Read chapter 61
Isaiah was commissioned to preach this good news, gospel!  We saw in so many previous chapters of Isaiah that he had to proclaim a lot of hard stuff to both Israel and other nations of God's righteous judgment, but he also gets to proclaim this joyous hope and truth.  Yet it is not Isaiah whose the joy-bringer but Jesus!  When He returns it is the acceptable year of the LORD, the day of vengeance of our God!  He will bestow comfort, console, beauty, joy, and praise to His people.  We will be trees of righteousness, firmly planted and grounded in Him and His kingdom.
Man do I pray for that exchange of feelings and heart when I'm distressed or sad to replace with joy and praise of God.  To live now like it's the kingdom by becoming grounded in His truth now.  Do you mourn? Do you have a spirit of heaviness?  What will you do today to live as it's the kingdom?  

Isaiah 60

"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you...“The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory." vv.1,19

Read chapter 60

What an amazing chapter of the glorious kingdom come!  This chapter specifically describes the New Jerusalem, the center of God's activity on earth- "the place of My feet glorious" (v.13) as the earth is God's footstool.  I'm always intrigued by what this light will be like that is not of the sun or the moon or electricity.  Just as in Genesis chapter one verse three "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light," but the sun wasn't created till day day four.  So what was that light?  We know Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), and surly He is the light that has come and the glorious salvation that will rise upon us spoken of in verse one of this chapter.  Yet what about when spoken of as a light to see as we go about our day not needing the sun or moon?  It's not that there won't be a sun or a moon but that they won't be needed the same way as they are now.  One commentary put it this way: they shall not be needed in the radiance of the greater glory of the presence of Jehovah. Here on earth the sun sets and the moon wanes, but in that Divine glory there is no waning and no setting. (Elliott's Commentary) 

What will this type of light be or mean to you in this glorious future we await?

Isaiah 59

"So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him." vv.15-16

Read chapter 59
Agh this just shows how the devil goes after the ones that follow truth and not the ones that are already caught up in evil.  People will say something like "the devil is in Las Vagas" but that city is already so wicked that he's more likely prowling through the Bible belt.  Departing from evil and following truth makes oneself a prey to the wicked predators.  It's interesting to note that this doesn't anger the Lord but displeases Him that there was no justice.  We see God's anger a lot in scripture but man how much more difficult it is when your parents or someone you love is displeased or let down more than just them being angry with you?
So great in the next verse 16 that shows a prophesy of Jesus and how He is God.  That only God gives salvation.  Jesus described as the arm of God, the extension of Himself.  The arm is still fully God, just as your arm is still you, same blood, same DNA, same finger print, but is just an extension from your whole.  So is Jesus the extension of God, still fully Him but the part that came down to man and extended salvation.

Isaiah 58

"Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?" v.5

Read chapter 58
"A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast. These professors had shown sorrow on stated or occasioned fasts. But they indulged pride, covetousness, and malignant passions. To be liberal and merciful is more acceptable to God than mere fasting, which, without them, is vain and hypocritical. Many who seem humble in God's house, are hard at home, and harass their families. But no man's faith justifies, which does not work by love. Yet persons, families, neighbourhoods, churches, or nations, show repentance and sorrow for sin, by keeping a fast sincerely, and, from right motives, repenting, and doing good works. The heavy yoke of sin and oppression must be removed. As sin and sorrow dry the bones and weaken the strongest human constitution; so the duties of kindness and charity strengthen and refresh both body and mind"  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

What does fasting need to look like in your life to "afflict your soul" today or this week/month/year?

Isaiah 57

“And of whom have you been afraid, or feared,
That you have lied
And not remembered Me,
Nor taken it to your heart?
Is it not because I have held My peace from of old
That you do not fear Me?" v.11

Read chapter 57
When do you fear man or a situation more than you fear God?  When have you lied or done something to please man instead of God?  This question is posed here to show how Judah had forsaken the fear of God and led by the fear of man which in turn led to their fall into captivity.  The Lord holding His peace from of old was like a time of silence to them which they took for leaving or forsaking them and therefore turning to other gods and fearing man more than God.  How too today in God's silence do people not fear God?  Believers and nonbelievers alike!  How can you remember of His promise to live in fear of the Lord and not to please man?

Isaiah 56

"For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
5 Even to them I will give in My house
And within My walls a place and a name...

The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.” vv.4-5,8

Read chapter 56

Gentiles, or nations, are told of the promise that they will get to be in the Kingdom too!  This wasn't a new thing or secret that wasn't revealed until the New Testament time period, but something the Israelites were aware of because of the prophesies of God's word concerning the future and other nations other than Israel.  The Jews during the time of the Acts period and after just weren't happy about it starting to take place during their time and what it actually meant and looked like of the gospel of Jesus Christ being for all men and becoming coheirs of the blessings (Ephesians 3:6) and treated equal now by God.  During this time of Isaiah there were already some gentiles that became part of Israel as either a eunuch or proselyte who were those that feared the God of Israel and chose to follow Him. They were faithful servants and chose what pleased God (v.4), desiring to keep God's commandments.  This also shows that everyone who believes doesn't just become an Israelite, but that there will be many nations gathered together in the future.

How would you respond if you were an Israelite and found out that you were to share your blessing to other people that were looked at as "less than"?  Do you think you would have been a eunuch or proselyte during the Old Testament time? 

Isaiah 55

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts." vv.8-9

Read chapter 55

An amazing chapter of salvation calling after the previous chapters of the crucified Messiah prophesy.  How often do we or man think we know better than God?  We may not outright say it, but how we respond, decide, act, etc shows otherwise.  This isn't necessarily saying that believers don't know God's will, although we can learn from the scriptures and prayer and listening to know His guiding as Romans 15:4 "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning..." But the use of the word 'for' before each of these clauses in verse seven and eight points us back to the verse(s) prior.  In verse seven it says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts."  The 'way' and the 'thoughts' are of those of wicked and unrighteous men and a call to turn to what is contrary to the world and follow the way and thoughts of Jehovah.  If we look a little closer at these verses we can see a difference between "ways" and "thoughts."  One commentary put it this way: The former of them speaks of unlikeness and opposition, the latter of elevation and superiority; the former of them is the basis of an indictment and an exhortation, the latter is the basis of an encouragement and a promise. The former of them is the reason why ‘the wicked’ and ‘unrighteous man’ ought to and must ‘turn’ from ‘his ways’ and ‘thoughts,’ the latter of them is the reason why, ‘turning,’ he may be sure that the Lord ‘will abundantly pardon.’ (MacLaren's Exposition).  

The heavens are indeed higher than the earth that we can't even reach them and a plane or a spaceship only gets us so close.  So God's ways and thoughts are will never be able to full reach but we strive to reach it just as man continues to strive farther and farther into space.  What are ways you've seen God's ways and thoughts prove higher than man's?

Isaiah 54

“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore." v.4

Read chapter 54
Oh how I wish I could forget a lot of sins and bondage from my past.  I mean to not even recall or visualize it in my mind the shame of my past.  Praise the Lord that in the future kingdom of His our shameful memories will be forgotten!  It's hard to say or know what we'll remember of our life during this time, and I believe we will to an extent to remember the Lord's ultimate act of grace to the world and what it was like when sin was working in all men. 
Specifically here the “shame of thy youth,” was the Egyptian bondage, from which Jehovah chose Israel to be His bride (Jeremiah 3:1-11; Ezekiel 16:1-14) and the “reproach of widowhood” was the captivity in Babylon.  Understanding and accepting God's grace and forgiveness wipes away shame and reproach.
What is shame or reproach of your past that you haven't accepted the Lord's grace and forgiveness to be free from and remember no more?

Isaiah 53

"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him." v.2

Read chapter 53
Christ wasn't this attractive prince charming.  He wasn't the guy all girls wanted to marry and all guys wanted to become.  It wasn't His outer appearance that drew men to Him, but was because He was God and perfect Truth.

Naturally a shoot springing in a dry ground would show but little beauty of foliage or flower. It would be starved and colourless beside the gaudy growths in fertile, well-watered gardens. But that unattractiveness is not absolute or real; it is only ‘that we should desire Him.’ We are but poor judges of true ‘form or comeliness,’ and what is lustrous with perfect beauty in God’s eyes may be, and generally is, plain and dowdy in men’s. Our tastes are debased. Flaunting vulgarities and self-assertive ugliness captivate vulgar eyes, to which the serene beauties of mere goodness seem insipid. (BibleHub.com Commentary).

What has attracted you to follow Christ?  

Let us not follow outward appearances of others or ourselves and remember Christ wasn't attractive to this world, so why should we be?

Isaiah 52

"Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
14 Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
15 So shall He sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider."  vv. 13-15

Read chapter 52
Here we have one of many prophesies of Jesus' death hundreds of years before He was actually crucified.  These verses are a prelude to the next chapter that goes in to full detail describing the crucifixion.  The beatings and floggings before Jesus was lifted up on a cross was so brutal that his image was so disfigured.  The unexpected transformation startled and astonished many, His followers and Roman guards then, but also this visual has struck conviction in the most hardened unbelievers.   What do you visualize Christ looked like during the crucifixion?  How has His marred body struck conviction in you?

Isaiah 51

"“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone,
And blessed him and increased him.”  vv.1-2

Read chapter 51

To "follow after righteousness" is to "seek the LORD" as seen in the following statement.  Benson Commentary put it as: "earnestly desiring and diligently pursuing the justification of their persons, the sanctification of their nature, and practical obedience to God’s law."  Being righteous isn't about being all high and mighty above others, it's what we become as children of God (Romans 5:19).  Seeking the Lord, looking to the Rock of our salvation, desiring to know Him and be transformed into who He created each of us to be.  

To be hewn, or dug, from a rock is against natural forces.  We were all in a hole, a pit which was impossible for us to get out of yet by the grace and miracle of God He freed us.  I like the reference to Abraham and Sarah's bodies as rocks in how they were way to old to have children and their bodies defied nature of bearing children at their old age, but just as John the Baptist said, Christ could raise up children of Abraham from rocks (Matthew 3:9).  

How do you follow after righteousness?  What is the rock you need to remember from which you were dug out?  

Isaiah 50

"“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting." vv.4-6

Read chapter 50
Can you imagine how painful it would be to have your beard plucked out?  Yea as I woman I don't have a beard but waxing my legs isn't a very fun feeling by any means.  Yet this is how Isaiah was treated having his beard plucked out and spat upon.  He endured all this for God. God had revealed to him prophesies and he couldn't hold back from what he learned.  God gave him wisdom, encouragement, endurance, understanding of His word and what was going on around him and in-front of him.  With all this he could only strive after God more and carry out his commission.  As I grow in my walk with the Lord the less and less I'm afraid to be bold for Him.  Oh how I desire wisdom, encouragement, endurance, understanding from God every day to face every situation; that He's the one that awakens me and no physical or emotional beating would ever change that.  What characteristic described of what the Lord had given Isaiah, do you desire most today?

Isaiah 49

"But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you...Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does." vv.14-15,18

Read chapter 49

Women's emotions are all over the place and these emotions help us relate the prophet's description here of the relationship between Israel and God.  Here Zion is referred to as a woman (Hebrew word for this city being feminine).  First we see the cry of feeling forsaken and disbelief of comfort from God stated in verse 13, she's been abandoned by her husband.  Isaiah doesn't just go to her smiling and saying believe in God and all will be well, but is sensitive to her and relates sympathetically and imaginatively.  God's love is more enduring than the supreme example of human love in a mother and her child!  Another emotion of a woman is needing friends and feeling loved and adored.  The promise that Zion will one day again be filled with people and buildings, will be a beautiful city as once was (and more) is how Isaiah describes the fulfillment of that yearning.  

What emotions of Zion's can you relate to?  

Isaiah 48

“You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called a transgressor from the womb." vv.6-8

Read chapter 48
Israel was God's chosen people yet even they are sinners and rebuked by God.  God treated them as the "favorite child" declaring hidden things to them and blessing them with unending blessings.  Yet they took that for granted and realize the treasures in God they were given.  It wasn't just a season, but over much time and many generations of disobeying God and not listening or understanding the way of the Lord and His many blessings and promises.  Even before they were born, sin was at work in them and God knew that would be innate in them and all mankind.  How have you been the favorite in someone's eyes and taken it for granted?  Do you understand the "new things" of how God is dealing with man today?

Isaiah 47

"“Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people;
I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’
So that you did not take these things to heart,
Nor remember the latter end of them."

Read chapter 47

Babylon is now described as a female in great distress.  Sitting in silence and darkness was what those of mourners do.  She is threatened of her power because she has so grossly abused it.  Babylon's language was called Chaldean and so called "daughter of the Chaldeans" referring to the Babylon nation.  They were a great nation and mighty in power and riches, like a queen on the throne of the world.  God was righteous in His vengeance and none should interpose.  God often allowed wicked men to prevail against His people, but those who cruelly punished them would be punished.  Babylon took her power for granted and thought would never face justice.  How too today as we wait for God to bring His righteous judgment on those that oppress His people, that their time of rule would be brought to an end soon.  How can the title "Lady of Kingdoms" be a deceptive name?

Isaiah 46

"Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it." v.11

Read chapter 46

God's word is sure.  There's no doubting what He has said.  Some of His words are contingent on man's free will (ex. If you do not obey me, then...).  Here He's specifically talking about Babylon - "from the east...a bird of prey."  God brought the punishment of Israel into captivity by Babylon because of the disobedient men.  I twas a sure thing that was to happen.  Throughout the different kingly reigns of Israel it's prophesied and even seemed to  keep being pushed back to when it would actually happen based on repentance and response to God's words, but was still to come.  We also see the example of God telling Adam and Eve that when they sin they will die.  Yet they didn't drop dead right away, but death began to work in them and then some 900 years later they actually died, returning to the dust.  His word is sure not only in punishment but in sure hopes and blessings.  The Israelites would be brought out of captivity, a remnant, not to be blotted out forever.  Jesus said He will return.  What is something God has clearly said (that He will do or told you) that you need to  be reminded of?

Isaiah 45

"“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath."  vv.22-23

Read chapter 45
Scripture proves scripture.  You can not help but compare this chapter with these two new testament truths:

Acts 4:10-12 "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Philippians 2:9-11 "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

What connections and similarities do you find in these passages with Isaiah?