Scripture

Don’t call everything a conspiracy like they do, and don’t leave in dread of what frightens them.

Observation

The Lord tells Isaiah to take a large signboard and write on it the words “swift to plunder and quick to carry away.” When his wife becomes pregnant, he is to call his son by this name.

The Lord’s care for Judah is like a gently flowing river. but because the people are rejoicing over the fate of foreign kings, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood, that is, the king of Assyria.

The lord tells Isaiah to not think like everyone else does. He is not to call everything a conspiracy or to live in dread of the things that frighten them. They are to live in hope and trust in the Lord.

When people consult mediums for guidance, Isaiah says, ”Shouldn’t you listen to the Lord? People who contradict God’s ways are living in the dark.”

Application

Conspiracy theories arise when people feel afraid and unable to have any agency. The COVID pandemic led to many conspiracy theories – some of which turned out to be true. Often, though, the people thought to be pulling all the strings are either incompetent or just as much victims as the rest of us.

Isaiah tells us that we should not think like worldly people. We should not be afraid or believe the conspiracy theories (even the true ones!) because we trust the Lord.

In the end, our trust is not in our knowledge of what is “really happening”. We trust in the Lord. As Jesus shows us at Easter time, He has conquered even death, so we are safe in the hands of the Lord.

The “elites” can silence people, murder people, cause people to disappear, or keep us all drugged and helpless. It doesn’t matter, because our lives are not in their hands but in the hands of the Lord. My eternal destiny is not determined by any person or corporation, but by the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the knowledge that you are in control. You are greater than the people who think they run things. My trust is in the Lord. Amen.

Scripture

The Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! A virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel which means God is with us.

Observation

Syria and Israel join forces to attack Jerusalem. The Lord tells Isaiah to go to meet King Ahaz and tell him to stop worrying about these two kings. The Lord says the invasion will not happen.

Later, the Lord sends a message to Ahaz to choose a sign of confirmation. Ahaz refuses to test the Lord in the way. Isaiah says that the Lord will give him the sign. A virgin will conceive and she will call her child Emmanuel, which means God is with us. By the time the child is old enough to know right and wrong, he will be eating yoghurt and honey for the lands of these two kings will be deserted.

Application

This prophecy about a virgin conceiving was to reach it’s fulfilment in the birth of Jesus, and we often remember it at Christmas.

At the time, the kingdom of Judah was facing an existential threat as the kings of Israel and Syria were planning to invade. How comforting the name Emmanuel must have been to King Ahaz.

Jesus is Emmanuel, God is with us.

He has promised to be with us always, regardless of where we might go in the world. “I will never leave you or forsake you,” He promises us.

God is also with us in the sense of being for us. Those who are in fellowship with Jesus can be certain that God is with us. He will not smite us, destroy us or let us down. He is for us, not against us. He loves us and will always work for our good.

Emmanuel – God is with us.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the encouragement of this scripture. You truly are Emmanuel, God with us. Amen.

Scripture

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. he touched my lips with it and said, “See this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

Observation

Isaiah sees the Lord in the temple. The Lord is sitting on a high throne and the train of his robe fills the whole temple. Mighty seraphim surround the Lord, calling out His praises.

Isaiah is terrified. He recognises his sin in the presence of God’s holiness. A seraph takes a burning coal to Isaiah’s lips and says his guilt is removed and his sins are forgiven.

The Lord asks whom can he send as a messenger? Isaiah volunteers to go. Isaiah is to call the nation to repentance, but their hearts will be hardened. This will go on until the whole country is abandoned. The Lord will leave a stump from which Israel will grow back.

Application

Some christians believe that the Old Testament only about the law. A person had to obey God’s Law to be considered holy or righteous. But in this chapter, we read about Isaiah’s sins being removed by a seraph with a burning coal.

Everything about God’s dealings with people revolves around grace. Isaiah did not have to offer a sacrifice to be forgiven. He didn’t need the seraph to touch his lips; this was just a teaching aid to help Isaiah receive God’s forgiveness.

Jesus died once and for all. His death covers all the sins of all people through all history.

To be effective, we have to receive the gift. Isaiah could have turned his face away from the coal and held onto his guilt. People do just this. For a variety of reasons, they refuse God’s offer of grace through Christ. They remain unforgiven even though the offer is available.

If you have not accepted God’s forgiveness through Christ, do it now.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, your death on the cross took my sins away. I am forgiven and restored. Thank you. Amen.