Women of Grace

Reflections on Isaiah’s Call (Isaiah 6)

kathyw1969 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:33:28 +0000

In the first 5 chapters, Isaiah lays out the state of the people of Israel, a people who had forgotten the holiness of God, who no longer had any memory of the glory of God and indeed sought out the glory of men rather than His glory. Now, in chapter 6 Isaiah describes his vision of God. Isaiah is overwhelmed by God’s glory and by His holiness. Isaiah sees clearly in the presence of God’s glory his own sinfulness and his people’s sinfulness and his response is to cry “Woe!” (How different this is from Adam and Eve’s response in the garden!) Then Isaiah’s sin is taken away and he can now hear God asking “Whom shall I send?” I think that there is a point to this sequence. Once Christ has removed our sin our focus is no longer on ourselves but on God and we can hear His voice. I find it convicting that Isaiah answered with an unreserved “Send me!” before he knew what the job was going to be. In this he shows total confidence in the value of whatever job God would have for him. And from a human perspective the job isn’t great…go tell the people that they will keep on not understanding. Yet this is the job that God had in store for Isaiah and Isaiah doesn’t try to weasel out of the job once he hears what it is. Unlike Isaiah, I, for one, have been know to argue with God. “Surely You can come up with something more interesting, flashy, worthy, important etc.. than this!” or “Why are You wasting my talents here?” or “If you would just fix this problem, remove this obstacle then I could get on to serving You in a really important area.” The real essense of all these questions is me looking for man’s glory, looking to exalt myself, instead of keeping my eyes of God and His glory. I think God gives us Isaiah as a good model to follow: sin is dealt with first, then answer God’s call in a wholehearted way, trusting that the One who ‘formed you in your mother’s womb’ , has counted all the hairs on your head and numbered your days will have a job for you that brings Him glory each day of your life. It is my prayer that each day God will give me eyes that see and ears that hear so that I will recognize and see His glory only and not be striving for the glory of men.

Kathy

Isaiah 1: application question

kathyw1969 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:10:16 +0000

In this first chapters of Isaiah, we hear God, the Holy One of Israel, explaining to His people how badly they have missed the point. They had missed God’s heart and didn’t even seem to know it. They diligently carried out the prescribed ceremonies and rituals, thinking that was the worship God valued, and they apparently were following God’s directions as the people are not criticized for poor performance in the temple services, yet they missed the core. God sets before the people what they have missed in Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” God, knowing we couldn’t wash ourselves, has cleansed us with the blood of Christ, that still leaves the second part of the command to be the outworking of our worship. The essense of worship is to glorify God. In Isaiah we learn that the most essential piece of worship happens outside the sanctuary in our relationships with other people. What about today? Do we think of the food distribution or ESL or doing good as the heart of our worship? Do we spend more time discussing music types or sanctuary furnishings than seeking justice and defending the defenseless? If we truly take this teaching about worship to heart, then our whole life becomes worship with the hour on Sunday morning becoming the expression of a life of worship. A person who is only worshiping God on Sunday morning is not worshiping at all.

Kathy

Isaiah Ch 3 & 4 Application

kathyw1969 — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:09:15 +0000

I was working on coming up with an application for Isaiah 3 and 4 (and struggling to come up with something), when the contrast between the daughters of Zion and the survivors of Israel struck me.

Both sections start with “In that day…”, which is what first drew my attention to the contrast, and the possibility that these groups of people were undergoing these experiences in the same time frame. The daughters of Zion have had everything they took pride in stripped away, to the point that 7 of them beg one man to “take away their reproach”, that they will provide their own bread and their own clothes, just take away their shame. Note that they have had everything taken away, yet they still will not turn to the Lord.

In contrast, the Branch of the Lord is “beautiful and glorious” and “the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel”. Those left will be called holy and all these are recorded for life.

It strikes me in this contrast that there is no middle ground with God. A person is either hiding in the caverns from the majesty of the Lord or rejoicing in the beauty and glory of our God. Either claiming to be able to care for themselves or resting in the care of our Shepherd.

And here I must admit that I cannot begin to imagine how to show the glory and beauty of Christ to one who is still looking to meet their own needs, trying to be self-sufficient. Truly, only by the Holy Spirit can a person’s eyes be opened to rejoice in the majesty of God.

I’m looking forward to hearing how God is speaking to you in Chapters 3 & 4.

Lesson 2

kathyw1969 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:42:36 +0000

Post any comments or questions that come up as you are working through Lesson 2. I notice that there is a lot of keyword marking on Day one. Don’t let this bog you down! If you need to set yourself a time limit to do this part and then move on.

Kathy

Discussion at first meeting

kathyw1969 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:26:20 +0000

Welcome to study of Isaiah! I’m praying that this experiment with blogging our discussions of God’s Word will be fruitful as God uses it to grow each of us in our individual knowledge and understanding of Him and binds us closer together in community.

Given that this is new to me, please give me feedback on the organization of the posts. I think, the way its set up now, I have to post something and then everyone can comment. I believe it is moderated so that the comments need to be approved before the comment is posted. Most days I checking email frequently so I don’t think this will slow down the discussion too much.

Lisa and I met this morning, so I’ll try to give you the highlights of the discussion….

1. In Chapter 1, God lays out for the people who they were (God’s people), who they are (sinners), and who they will be (redeemed)

2. God’s people have forsaken Him, even though they diligently maintain the forms of worship. God calls them back to Him by urging them to “seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow”, a social justice program. In essense their worship of God is authentic when they love those who are weak. As a application…we still have intense ‘discussions’ about forms or styles of authentic worship, particularly music, while true worship has its roots in service to the community.

3. Although the kings in Judah during Isaiah’s time were good (they did right in the eyes of the Lord), there was still rot in the kingdom as the high places were tolerated.

4. Just as in the days of Isaiah, we need to examine our reliance on things of the world, whether it be money, alliances, military power, or something else. In the end God will be exalted to his rightful place and all else will be made low. There are those who come to God from many peoples to learn His ways and there are those who will hide in terror when the glory of God is unmistakable.

5. We agreed that interpretation of the last days should be undertaken with caution, but note that in Heb: 1: 2 the last days are characterized by God speaking through His Son. In Isaiah 2:3 we read “For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”. Recall that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the Word made flesh. That being said much of chapter 2 has not happened (swords into plowshares, people hiding in terror at the splendor of the Lord).

6. Chapter 2 ends with an exhortation to listen to God, not man…this leads to another application point…who am I listening to when I make decisions, God or man?

I look forward to hearing what points struck you in this first lesson. If you have questions about any of the particular questions in the lesson, post them and we’ll see what everyone else came up with.

Kathy

Huldah

graceep — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:32:20 +0000

Huldah

Download the study and complete in your quiet time at home. When complete, log back onto the blog and let us know your thoughts on the study.

Anna

graceep — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Anna

Abigail

graceep — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:13:03 +0000

Abigail

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Rebecca

graceep — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:40:00 +0000

Rebecca

Download the study on Rebecca and do during your home study time. Bring your thoughts back to here to share with others.

Miriam

graceep — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:38:44 +0000

Miriam

Download the study on Miriam and do during your home study time. Bring your thoughts back to here to share with others.