Monthly Archives: January 2021

The Torah intimately connects justice and righteousness: If we don’t treat our fellow humans justly, our religion is a sham. In Isaiah’s time, God’s people are spiritually unhealthy—at an all-time… Read More

The Glory of the Lord We’ve covered a lot of territory—66 chapters of the Word of God (5.5% of the entire Bible), rich in content, metaphor, and power. As we… Read More

Social media has become an inferno of insults and anger. And sometimes even professing Christians add to the rage without thinking about the foolishness of spewing verbal abuses. We need… Read More

No Eye Has Seen, No Ear Has Heard… The people’s prayer, which began in chapter 63, continues… 64:7—The Jews request Yahweh to come in judgment / vindication. Touching the mountaintops alludes… Read More

Plandemic? QAnon? Bill Gates creating COVID-19? As the novel coronavirus has traveled around the world, so too have conspiracy theories about the origins of the disease and the winners and… Read More

If you had asked me ten years ago whether evangelicals would ever give up ground on the issue of homosexuality, I would have said “no way!” Sure, the evangelical movement… Read More

To listen to CLEAN podcast 25, Jairus & Daughter (13 minutes), click on arrow. To download and listen later, right click here and choose ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’. Introduction Review: There are three… Read More

Trampling Out the Grapes of Wrath Chapters 62-66 pick up a number of themes from the first few chapters of Isaiah. Try to listen out for them—see how many you can… Read More

Zion’s Day Dawns* In the previous reflection we saw that caring for the poor isn’t just an add-on to our Christian discipleship. (“… If you pour yourself out for the hungry… Read More

​ ​ ​​ ​ Dear Discipleship-first Friends, This post is part of series by Discipleship.org leadership, which gives reasons why we believe that Jesus-style disciple making is the best path forward for… Read More

True Fasting, Wickedness, Justice & Judgment In Isaiah 56-57, there is a strong contrast between the unity of the Lord’s people (56:1-8) and division in the present community (56:9-57:21). Similarly,… Read More

A House of Prayer for All Nations 56:1-8—Justice and righteousness intimately connected. “Son of man” (v.2) is a Hebraic expression meaning mortal. No one is excluded, e.g. foreigners and eunuchs…. Read More

Christ, New Jerusalem, Fresh Start We now come to the 4th Servant Song. But who exactly is the servant this time? It can’t be Israel. He appears to be a… Read More

Awake and Depart! We now enter a new section of Isaiah (chapters 49-55), where there is no Babylon or even mention of Cyrus. The servant figure becomes more prominent – three… Read More

Potter, Predator, Peace Context:  Cyrus has claimed to be divinely appointed by Yahweh to free the Jewish exiles, resettle Judah, rebuild the Jerusalem temple, and reign over his people. 45:9—The… Read More

The Servant of the Lord & a Pagan Messiah  42:1-8—Behold (= lo, in Middle English)—Look at this! This behold is part of a much longer series, and contrasts with my… Read More

Proclaiming the Good News Isaiah 40 leads off with the return from Babylonian captivity, as the Persians now rule. But why should an 8th-century narrative appear right before a 6th-century… Read More

Treating Every Person with Dignity, Kindness and Respect, While Standing for Biblical Truth Catch Up on our latest Podcast Episodes Candid & Engaging Conversation on Topics You Won’t Hear Anywhere Else! Oh Yeah,… Read More

ABOUT: Compassion fatigue is a term first coined in the 1950s to refer to the stress and mental exhaustion experienced by persons in the “helping professions” as a result of… Read More

Is the “rod” in Proverbs 13:24 actually an implement for disciplining a child? Does the Bible require corporal punishment for disobedient children? This is a fair question, and an increasingly… Read More

Intimidation, Deliverance, Healing, Babylon Our next study covers territory also found in 2 Kings 18:13-20:21 and 2 Chronicles 32:1-33. Many names are familiar from previous chapters, like Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Shebna,… Read More

To listen to CLEAN podcast 24, The Widow of Nain & Son (13 minutes), click on arrow. To download and listen later, right click here and choose ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’. Introduction… Read More

Although our Bible’s chapter numbers are more modern, the most famous Dead Sea Scroll, the great Isaiah scroll (over 7m long, or 24′), has a small break between our chapter 33… Read More

Revisiting the Term “Missionary” Written by Nadine Templer, January 16, 2021 Many of us (myself included) have been known as “missionaries.” I currently live in Nepal, and I spent most… Read More

The Noble One Makes Noble Plans In Isaiah 30:11 we heard the words of God’s wayward people: “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things,… Read More

Stupor, Stone, Tongues, Hypocrites, & Easy Religion We have recently discussed many important themes, especially in the last reflection. One critical example is justice (“For you have been a stronghold to… Read More

The victory of Yahweh over foreign nations and invaders is depicted cosmically in chapter 24. Now the magnificent vision broadens, becoming even richer and deeper. 25:1-8—This is the language of… Read More

Tyre & the Cosmos In the last reflection we saw Isaiah in anguish—over Babylon and over Judah. He reminds us of the apostle Paul, and especially of Jesus—men who truly cared… Read More

Isaiah in Anguish 21:1-5—Dramatic language refers to the fall of Babylon, as Elam, Media, and Persia unite in the attack. The Negeb (Negev) is the southern desert of Israel. In… Read More

Une série sur l’apologétique des adolescents ©2018, Douglas Jacoby et Page Pennell. Traduction par Anne Du Sault et Franck Gnonteme. Existe-t-il un Dieu créateur et durable ou est-ce que la… Read More

I saw this on the BBC News App and thought you should see it: Why our pursuit of happiness may be flawed It is an emotion linked to improved health… Read More

Gluttony is a real struggle for me sometimes. Proverbs 23:2 says to put a knife to your throat if you’re given to gluttony. What is meant by “put a knife… Read More

I came across a book outlining the difference between sin and iniquity. The author defines iniquity as generational soul sin. I’m finding the book interesting and enlightening, but perplexing too…. Read More

African Drama: The Naked & Barefoot Prophet 17:1-3—Damascus is the principal fortified town in Syria. Background: the Syro-Ephraimite crisis of 735-732 BC—hence the prophecy against Syria and Israel. The setting is Jerusalem—who… Read More

a beacon of hope for bringing peace to the streets Watch Kit here talk about his new book: https://vimeo.com/499400056 Hear how we can shatter the pipeline from schools to prisons… Read More

To listen to CLEAN podcast 18, The Slave Girl of Acts 16:16 (14 minutes), click on arrow. To download and listen later, right click here and choose ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’. Introduction… Read More

Moab is Undone, God Weeps Reviewing the last talk (“Babylon & Judgment Day”): The judgment on ancient Babylon, like all divine judgments, resembles the ultimate event—Judgment Day. There are connections,… Read More

More Than Leaves: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” Written by Dr. Tim Willis, January 9, 2021 Isaiah 5 opens with a song that captures the Lord’s disappointment with Israel…. Read More

Babylon & Judgment Day In our reflection “Rod, Axe, Fire, Shoot, Signal, Sing,” we saw that Assyria was to be judged. “Punishment for the Punisher” is a good title for… Read More

Rod, Axe, Fire, Shoot, Signal, Sing Background: Doom for Judah & Jerusalem, then for Israel. (Why both kingdoms? Because Isaiah preached in the final years leading up to the destruction… Read More

Unto Us a Child is Born “This is one of the best known messianic prophecies in the Old Testament and, in its present context, it stands as the impressive climax… Read More

Faith or Fear? Usual human fears include fear of heights, drowning, germs, public speaking, and death. But in Isaiah the common fear (which we see in chapters 7-8) is political fear—fear… Read More

“Here Am I, Send Me!” Chapters 1-5 = Introduction. The next section, 6-12, begins with the cleansing of a single sinner, and end with the song of a redeemed community. Isaiah… Read More

Many congregations canceled services, and some Christians focused on feeding and nursing the poor. John Mark Hicks  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville saw its first case of the “Spanish flu” in late… Read More

The Christian Chronicle’s top stories on the coronavirus pandemic. Bobby Ross Jr. Editor-in-Chief Look to The Christian Chronicle for in-depth coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. From Christians battling the virus to churches… Read More

Click here for the podcast version “Happy New Year!” I hope you had a cracking Christmas, but also a wonderful New Year. It’s two days into 2021, the sun is… Read More

Vineyard, Woe, Invasion Chapter 5 falls into three sections: a parable, woes, and an announcement of coming judgment. PARABLE Vs. 1-7—Here we find a short “love song.” God loves his… Read More

To listen to CLEAN podcast 17, The Synagogue Demoniac (11 minutes), click on arrow. To download and listen later, right click here and choose ‘save target as’ or ‘save link as’. Scriptural study: Mark 1:21-28 Jesus… Read More

Purified by Fire Looking back on the previous units in the series, we have seen how society destabilizes and eventually collapses in the absence of righteous leadership, and when God’s… Read More

The Crisis of Leadership & the Collapse of Society vs. 1-2—Removal of food and water (siege conditions, leading to the full of the north, with its capital city Samaria, in… Read More

The Mountain of the Lord & the Holes of the Ground On v.1—Let’s keep focused: every verse in the Bible has a context – it is written by someone for someone… Read More

Two Cities, Unquenchable Fire, Glorious Future Review (from reflection 1): Sin is serious. In particular, idolatry and social injustice two sides of a coin. God punishes his OT people through foreign invaders. But there… Read More

Come Now, Let Us Reason Together Images of the Messiah: Glorious King (chapters 1-37), Suffering Servant (38-55), and Coming Conqueror (56-66). Contrast with Israel’s inglorious, self-centered, and (ineffectual) monarchs. v.1—vision (see Num 12:6-8). Judah and… Read More