We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Old Testament
Isaiah 59 – Part 2
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Picturing God
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2Isaiah 59 – Part 1
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Dividing Isaiah (Everyone has an opinion!)
Sometimes we can be unaware of the fierce debates happening in the academic world! This can be a good and a bad thing. I remember how shocking it was to discover that there is no consensus concerning who wrote Isaiah or how to divide it. So let me introduce you to some of these arguments so you’re prepared. Many commentaries will refer to chapters 56-66 as Trito-Isaiah.[1] Interestingly, the third part of Isaiah has not received the same scholarly attention as chapters 40-55, which have been perceived to be the ‘pinnacle’ of Isaiah’s theology (Christians also love the middle of Isaiah which contains those beautiful servant songs which Jesus fulfills). [2] It is easy to ignore the difficult and obscure parts of the Bible! Yet in recent years as scholars have studied the whole of Isaiah they have rediscovered the unity between the three sections and now appreciate how the final section brings the previous two sections together.[3] Goldingay creatively calls the voice in Isaiah 56-66 the ‘preacher, a bringer of good news’.[4]
Isaiah 58 – Part 5
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
How might this passage apply to us today? As we finish the chapter, let me bring all that we’ve learnt so far by sharing the beginning of a sermon based on Isaiah 58 and 59.
Isaiah 58 – Part 4
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Tying the Strands Together
“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 honourable, and if you honour 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, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14Isaiah 58 – Part 3
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Hope on the Horizon
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk… Isaiah 58:8-9Isaiah 58 – Part 2
We continue our series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood.
Heavy Speech
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1Isaiah 58:1 opens with a series of commands from God to the prophet. These orders function to stress the importance of this speech.[1] Then comes a classic example of Hebrew poetry, the use of parallelism. In this case synonymous parallelism is used. The second line repeats the first line using different words and this serves to ‘intensify, or refine the thought’.[2] If you read the psalms or the prophets you’ll see this technique a lot! The prophet is commanded to proclaim with his voice, and the next line emphasizes this with another instruction to shout like a trumpet. The prophet is thus charged to speak as powerfully as possible.[3] This is an important message.
Isaiah 58 – Part 1
We begin a new series in Isaiah 58-59, with guest writer Rev. Christine Redwood. Christine serves on the pastoral team at Hornsby Baptist Church in Sydney, and has been a student of mine at Morling College.
Imaginative Isaiah
Hello everyone! If you notice a change in style over the next two weeks that is because Tim has kindly offered me the chance to contribute to his blog. One of the things I am passionate about is communicating God’s Word. I believe it is important not just to think about the content of the Bible but the different forms the writers of the Bible use to communicate their message. One of the questions I have spent some time reflecting on is: How might those different forms shape both us and the way we communicate?
Psalm 34 – Part Three
Over the past two days we’ve considered Psalm 34: praise for the God who delivers, and testimony about the God who delivers. Today we ask: how, exactly, does God deliver?
How does God deliver?
I mean, now. Sure, he delivered David from the hands of Achish, Goliath, Saul, the Philistines, the list goes on… But I’m unlikely to fall into the clutches of any marauding barbarian kings, at least in the places where I regularly hang out. And if I do, I’ll remember to keep that whole saliva-in-the-beard, faking-insanity strategy up my sleeve. (You can’t accuse the Bible of not containing practical advice.) But what does “God delivers” mean today?
Psalm 34 – Part Two
Yesterday, we read Psalm 34 and saw how David praised the God who delivers. Specifically:
- God delivers those who are weak, yet put their trust in him
- God delivers those who fear him
- God delivers more than just individuals
And we spent some time praising God for how he has delivered us. But it doesn’t stop there.
timmacbride.com 