I was always taught not to make fun of other people and to ask “what would Jesus do?” Well, if the question was, what would Isaiah do, the answer is—he would make fun of people! You probably won’t appreciate this so much if you ‘re in between stops at CNN.com and DailyJokeoftheDay.com, but I’m guessing… Read More »
This is the first of the so-called “Servant Songs” from Isaiah 42:1-4. Pay special attention to what I have put in bold. 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. He will not shout… Read More »
The relationship of the OT to the NT is highly disputed, even among evangelical believers. One approach is to read the OT on its “own terms” and to exclude any meaning that we gain from the NT. There is much to be said for this approach, because great damage has been done in “finding” things… Read More »
I have always thought of Israel’s exile as being a 70-year thing. I struggled to figure out how to count those 70 years (is it 605 to 536 or 586 to 516?), but the exile ended when the Israelites came back from Babylon and rebuilt their temple. I’ve changed my mind in the last few… Read More »
I did not write this sentence: Much of the prophecy that comes after the book of Isaiah hinges on the ideas in Isaiah 52 and 53. I now see this passage “written” on almost every page of books like Daniel, Ezekiel and throughout the New Testament stories of Jesus. I truly believe that seeing Isaiah… Read More »
It struck me recently that I’ve spent a lot of my life in the 8th century BC. It was quite the 100 years. Near the beginning of the century, Jeroboam II became ruler of the Northern Kingdom and he reigned for 41 years (793-753). My earliest intensive acquaintance with the 8th century was courtesy of… Read More »
Quick – tell me everything you know about Isaiah 29. Ok, take your time and think about it. Not much better, eh? Interesting. As you know, I’m teaching through Isaiah in Sunday School this year and last week I taught chapter 28. I told the class from the start that I didn’t plan to teach… Read More »
I haven’t said much here lately about Isaiah, but it’s not because I haven’t been working hard at it. I would like to continue on with the series, but I can’t promise yet if/when that will happen. But I just finished teaching chapters 24-27 in Sunday School. This section is popularly known as the “Little… Read More »
This evening’s quotation comes from a book that came in the mail today. At every point early Christians attempted to understand their Scriptures in the new light of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They used the Old Testament to prove their Christian theology and to solve Christian problems. The Old Testament provided… Read More »
If you prayed for me in my recent struggle for what to preach on at TMC, thank you. I was brushing my teeth this morning when “I” “figured out” the direction that the two messages should take. I have a lot of work now, but now that the main points are clear, I can do… Read More »