Jesus is the Immanuel - God be with His people (faithful remnant).

October 9, 2013 - Isaiah 7:1-17

    ¹ When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.

   ² Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

   ³ Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. ⁴ Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, ⁶ “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” ⁷ Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

   “‘It will not take place,
   it will not happen,
⁸ for the head of Aram is Damascus,
   and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
   Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
⁹ The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
   and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
   you will not stand at all.’”

   ¹⁰ Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

   ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”

   ¹³ Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, ¹⁶ for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷ The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”

Isaiah gave the king Ahaz a sign from the Lord while Judah was attacked by the king of Aram (now Syria) and the king of Israel. Ahaz and his people were shaken but the Lord assured His people that a son would be born from a virgin (young woman) and his name would be called Immanuel (God with us). God affirmed His people - the faithful remnant - that He would be with them while fear and danger occurred to them. The enemies would even be defeated and their land be devastated before the son was born. Syria ultimately fell in 732 B.C. and Israel in 722 B.C. (while Judah in 701 B.C.). God's words through His prophet were all fulfilled while men's plan were totally destroyed.

My dear Master Jesus, You are Immanuel - You are always with God's faithful people (the remnant). Every day is an opportunity to experience Your Presence and Caring in us. Danger and fear may occur while storms of life unexpectedly happen to us. But Jesus You are still here and be with us. You are also the Lord of the human's history. Earthly kings arise and all claim their power and ruling while only You are the only King to be exalted and to remain forever. 

See the Vision of the Lord - He is Holy, Holy, Holy.

October 8, 2013 - Isaiah 6

    ¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”

   ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

   ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

   ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

   ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

   And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

   ⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

   “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
   be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused;
   make their ears dull
   and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
   hear with their ears,
   understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

   ¹¹ Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

   And he answered:

   “Until the cities lie ruined
   and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
   and the fields ruined and ravaged,
¹² until the LORD has sent everyone far away
   and the land is utterly forsaken.
¹³ And though a tenth remains in the land,
   it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
   leave stumps when they are cut down,
   so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the sovereign Lord who sat on His throne with the worship of seraphim, saying Holy, Holy, and Holy - the most sovereign and supreme holy saying to the Divine God. Isaiah saw the filth of his mouth while he saw the holiness of the Lord. Nevertheless, the Lord cleansed his mouth with the live coal from the altar. Isaiah then heard the calling from God and he was sent to his people to pronounce God's judgement - people's heart would be hardened, a kind of punishment that they would never understand or perceive God's words with their hearts. That's the most severe judgement of God to His people as they persistently disobeyed the words of God. However, God's words of promise had also been given to Isaiah, declaring the promise of the holy seed and stump for His people. The Messiah would be the ultimate promise for restoring God's people back to the Lord.

My sovereign Lord, You are the Sender and Cleanser of my life. Cleanse my whole life - from inner to outer - with the blood of Jesus; open my eyes to see Your sovereignty and holiness; open my ears to hear the worship voice of seraphim; lifting my spirit to respond to Your calling to speak Your words - words of truth and also words of encouragement to Your people, particularly to leaders of Your church. You are the Lord - Holy, Holy, and Holy forever. 

We are the vineyard of our loving God.

October 7, 2013 - Isaiah 5

    ¹ I will sing for the one I love
   a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
   on a fertile hillside.
² He dug it up and cleared it of stones
   and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
   and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
   but it yielded only bad fruit.

   ³ “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
   judge between me and my vineyard.
⁴ What more could have been done for my vineyard
   than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
   why did it yield only bad?
⁵ Now I will tell you
   what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
   and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
   and it will be trampled.
⁶ I will make it a wasteland,
   neither pruned nor cultivated,
   and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
   not to rain on it.”

   ⁷ The vineyard of the LORD Almighty
   is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
   are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
   for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

    ⁸ Woe to you who add house to house 

   and join field to field
till no space is left
   and you live alone in the land.

   ⁹ The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing:

   “Surely the great houses will become desolate,
   the fine mansions left without occupants.
¹⁰ A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine;
   a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”

   ¹¹ Woe to those who rise early in the morning
   to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
   till they are inflamed with wine.
¹² They have harps and lyres at their banquets,
   pipes and timbrels and wine,
but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD,
   no respect for the work of his hands.
¹³ Therefore my people will go into exile
   for lack of understanding;
those of high rank will die of hunger
   and the common people will be parched with thirst.
¹⁴ Therefore Death expands its jaws,
   opening wide its mouth;
into it will descend their nobles and masses
   with all their brawlers and revelers.
¹⁵ So people will be brought low
   and everyone humbled,
   the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
¹⁶ But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice,
   and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
¹⁷ Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture;
   lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

   ¹⁸ Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
   and wickedness as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ to those who say, “Let God hurry;
   let him hasten his work
   so we may see it.
The plan of the Holy One of Israel—
   let it approach, let it come into view,
   so we may know it.”

   ²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good
   and good evil,
who put darkness for light
   and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
   and sweet for bitter.

   ²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
   and clever in their own sight.

   ²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
   and champions at mixing drinks,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
   but deny justice to the innocent.
²⁴ Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw
   and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay
   and their flowers blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty
   and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people;
   his hand is raised and he strikes them down.
The mountains shake,
   and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets.

   Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
   his hand is still upraised.

   ²⁶ He lifts up a banner for the distant nations,
   he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Here they come,
   swiftly and speedily!
²⁷ Not one of them grows tired or stumbles,
   not one slumbers or sleeps;
not a belt is loosened at the waist,
   not a sandal strap is broken.
²⁸ Their arrows are sharp,
   all their bows are strung;
their horses’ hooves seem like flint,
   their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
²⁹ Their roar is like that of the lion,
   they roar like young lions;
they growl as they seize their prey
   and carry it off with no one to rescue.
³⁰ In that day they will roar over it
   like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks at the land,
   there is only darkness and distress;
   even the sun will be darkened by clouds.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vine of the Lord in His vision. The Lord loved the vineyard - His people - and planted it on the best fertile land. The Lord cleared the stones and planted it with the best vines. The Lord carefully watched over it, watered it, and looked forward to have good fruits but turned out to receive bad fruits. Isaiah symbolized vineyard to the nation of Judah and also to God's people - Christ's church in the NT. We are God's people and loved by the Lord. He put the best fertilizer and planted the best vines, hoping to receive the good grapes from us. Our Christian life is to bear good grapes or fruits for our beloved Lord. The Lord is the planter, the fertilizer, and the carer of our lives. Let's receive the watering and pruning from our Lord everyday as we grow our vineyard. Receive the caring, the love, the discipline, the life from the Lord as we grow each day. The purpose of our life is to bear good fruits - righteousness, love, faith, and peace - for our Lord. Amen.

God's glory covers His church through the Branch of the Lord - the Messiah.

October 6, 2013 - Isaiah 4

 ^1 1 In that day seven women
   will take hold of one man
and say, “We will eat our own food
   and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
   Take away our disgrace!”

    ² In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. ³ Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. ⁴ The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. ⁵ Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. ⁶ It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

Prophet Isaiah foresaw the glory of the Lord would come upon His people though they faced the judgement. The Lord God will bring His own glory to come upon His people. The Branch of the Lord, Messiah of God's people, will be manifested among them. He is beautiful and glorious and God's people will be called Holy. God's Spirit of fire and judgement will cleanse God's people from all filth and sins. The glory of the Lord will be like a canopy, covering God's people and protecting them from heat and storm. 

My dear God and Lord Jesus, You are the most beautiful and fruitful Branch of the Lord. You have come to show mercy and protection to God's people. Through Your Spirit, You cleanse us completely; through Your dwelling in the church, You provide protection and refuge for Your people. There is no more fear, trembling, hopelessness, as Your glory covers us like canopy of cloud and fire. My Master Jesus, reveal the vision of Your holy church to me that I see Your glory is manifested over Your people. 

God's judgement is impending in the midst of people's own established security.

October 4, 2013 - Isaiah 3

    ¹ See now, the Lord,
   the LORD Almighty,
is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah
   both supply and support:
all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
   ² the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
   the diviner and the elder,
³ the captain of fifty and the man of rank,
   the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

   ⁴ “I will make mere youths their officials;
   children will rule over them.”

   ⁵ People will oppress each other—
   man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will rise up against the old,
   the nobody against the honored.

   ⁶ A man will seize one of his brothers
   in his father’s house, and say,
“You have a cloak, you be our leader;
   take charge of this heap of ruins!”
⁷ But in that day he will cry out,
   “I have no remedy.
I have no food or clothing in my house;
   do not make me the leader of the people.”

   ⁸ Jerusalem staggers,
   Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the LORD,
   defying his glorious presence.
⁹ The look on their faces testifies against them;
   they parade their sin like Sodom;
   they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
   They have brought disaster upon themselves.

   ¹⁰ Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
   for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.
¹¹ Woe to the wicked!
   Disaster is upon them!
They will be paid back
   for what their hands have done.

   ¹² Youths oppress my people,
   women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you astray;
   they turn you from the path.

   ¹³ The LORD takes his place in court;
   he rises to judge the people.
¹⁴ The LORD enters into judgment
   against the elders and leaders of his people:
“It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
   the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
¹⁵ What do you mean by crushing my people
   and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

   ¹⁶ The LORD says,
   “The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
   flirting with their eyes,
strutting along with swaying hips,
   with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
   the LORD will make their scalps bald.”

   ¹⁸ In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, ¹⁹ the earrings and bracelets and veils, ²⁰ the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, ²¹ the signet rings and nose rings, ²² the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses ²³ and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.

   ²⁴ Instead of fragrance there will be a stench;
   instead of a sash, a rope;
instead of well-dressed hair, baldness;
   instead of fine clothing, sackcloth;
   instead of beauty, branding.
²⁵ Your men will fall by the sword,
   your warriors in battle.
²⁶ The gates of Zion will lament and mourn;
   destitute, she will sit on the ground.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the Day of the Lord and proclaimed the judgement of God that Jerusalem and Judah would be punished. It would become a nation without food, without leaders - all judges, counselors, diviners, warriors, heroes, elders, etc. , and without any beauty or glory left. God's people as they walked away from God's rule would remain lamented and mourned without God's blessings. 

My Lord God, it is much more easy to talk about Your mercy and compassion as people love hearing it. But a faithful prophet will only tell the truth to the people. Isaiah declared God's judgement to his people while they enjoyed freedom, prosperity, stability, and even practiced their religions as usual. Isaiah declared the words of God boldly as he was inspired by God's Spirit. This world needs God's forgiveness but it desperately requires repentance first as we see God's judgement is impending. My dear God, let me see what Isaiah had seen from God's vision - the judgement of God will soon come upon this world while people are still indulging in their own enjoyments and relying on their establishments of all kinds of security - stability, wealth, systems, technology, cultures, etc. 

The Last Day of the Lord - Jesus alone will be exalted.

October 3, 2013 - Isaiah 2:6-22

    ⁶ You, LORD, have abandoned your people,
   the descendants of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
   they practice divination like the Philistines
   and embrace pagan customs.
⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold;
   there is no end to their treasures.
Their land is full of horses;
   there is no end to their chariots.
⁸ Their land is full of idols;
   they bow down to the work of their hands,
   to what their fingers have made.
⁹ So people will be brought low
   and everyone humbled—
   do not forgive them.

   ¹⁰ Go into the rocks, hide in the ground
   from the fearful presence of the LORD
   and the splendor of his majesty!
¹¹ The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
   and human pride brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

   ¹² The LORD Almighty has a day in store
   for all the proud and lofty,
for all that is exalted
   (and they will be humbled),
¹³ for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty,
   and all the oaks of Bashan,
¹⁴ for all the towering mountains
   and all the high hills,
¹⁵ for every lofty tower
   and every fortified wall,
¹⁶ for every trading ship
   and every stately vessel.
¹⁷ The arrogance of man will be brought low
   and human pride humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
   ¹⁸ and the idols will totally disappear.

   ¹⁹ People will flee to caves in the rocks
   and to holes in the ground
from the fearful presence of the LORD
   and the splendor of his majesty,
   when he rises to shake the earth.
²⁰ In that day people will throw away
   to the moles and bats
their idols of silver and idols of gold,
   which they made to worship.
²¹ They will flee to caverns in the rocks
   and to the overhanging crags
from the fearful presence of the LORD
   and the splendor of his majesty,
   when he rises to shake the earth.

   ²² Stop trusting in mere humans,
   who have but a breath in their nostrils.
   Why hold them in esteem?

Prophet Isaiah saw a vision of the Last Day of the Lord. He saw the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty to be manifested. People who worship idols, treasures, military strength will be humbled and brought low, and the Lord Almighty alone will be exalted. He exhorted God's people to stop trusting in mere humans and return back to the Lord. 

My Almighty God, also open my eyes to see the vision of the Last Day of the Lord. Sins, injustice, deceptions, idolatry have filled up the earth and even frustrated the faith of God's people. We want to see the vision of Your majesty, the vision of Your fearful presence as You manifest the splendor of Your majesty. We want to see the Day that only God Almighty is to be exalted. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and proclaim that You are God and Your are the One to be exalted.

Do you see what Isaiah saw? The Mountain of the Lord's Temple will be established.

October 2, 2013 - Isaiah 2:1-5

    ¹ This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

   ² In the last days

   the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
   as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
   and all nations will stream to it.

   ³ Many peoples will come and say,

   “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
   to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
   so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
   the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations
   and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
   and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
   nor will they train for war anymore.

   ⁵ Come, descendants of Jacob,
   let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the Mountain of the Lord in the last days, which would be the highest of the mountains of the earth. The mountain of the Lord symbolizes the coming of God's Kingdom that all nations will come and all peoples will go to worship. God will become the King who exercises the justice and peace among all His peoples. God is our ultimate Teacher who will teach us His ways; God is the Judge who will judge righteously; God is the King that wars will end and ultimate Peace will occur. 

My Lord God,  let me see what Isaiah could see from his vision; let me see the Mountain of the Lord that will soon arrive; let me see God's Kingdom that has been inaugurated by Jesus and His Gospel; let me see Your peoples from all the parts of the earth will be converted and come to worship our Lord; let me see ultimate Peace and Justice will be accomplished as Jesus comes to reign and be the Righteous King on earth. My God, let me see Your Vision of Your coming Kingdom though this world seems changing without our control. But You are God and the Coming King on earth.