Daily Thoughts From God's Word

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold,     my chosen, in whom my soul delights;            I have put my Spirit upon him;     he will bring forth justice to the nations.           He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,     or make it heard in the street;           a bruised reed he will not break,     and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;     he will faithfully bring forth justice.           He will not grow faint or be discouraged     till he has established justic

“A voice cries:       ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.       Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;       the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.        And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,’ for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 40:3-5).   Messiah!  How do we know this?  To the priests and Levites

In chapter 35, Isaiah constantly uses the future tense “shall.”  He looks toward a future day when God’s salvation will be revealed.  He uses terms that we are very familiar with from reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ ministry:  “He will come and save you.  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (35:4-6).  “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return a

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” (11:1-2).  Isaiah knows his Scripture!  He remembers the promise made to David:  “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12).  And Matthew remembers it all.  In the opening genealogy of the Gospel, Jesus is the descendant of David.  The blind man, a

“Unto us a child is born,” and to him are given names and, oh my, what names!  “Wonderful Counselor” -- Throughout the opening chapters of Isaiah human wisdom is decried as folly.  By contrast, the Coming One would give wondrous counsel, unfailing in the depth of its wisdom.  “Mighty God” – in the Hebrew, 'el gibbor  -- everywhere else this term occurs in the Bible there is no doubt that the term refers to God (Is. 10:21; Dt. 10:17; Jer. 32:18).  This king will have God’s tru

One might think, in considering the Messianic texts of Isaiah, that such a consideration would begin here with chapter 7, which is such a clear statement of Messiah (Matthew quotes it).  As we have seen from chapters 2 and 4, however, the prophet is gripped by this theme; after all, Messiah is the central theme of the Bible!  We should not be surprised that Isaiah cannot stay away.  Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel were threatening Ahaz and the southern kingdom of Jud

“In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious . . . And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy” (4:2-3).  Now, there is much more here, which I have left out of my abridgement.  The point, though, is that the “branch of the Lord” is the Messiah (Both Jeremiah and Zechariah use this terminology, also.).  Here is an expansion and further development of the great hope of 2:2-4, which we looked at, yesterday.  Isaiah, if not comp

So, another year is almost past and we have worked our way to the end of Revelation.  Ten days still remain in 2025.  The prophet Isaiah is well known for his prophecies concerning the Messianic King.  Why don’t we take a look at some of those!  Probably most people do not think of chapter 2 as messianic, but hear what Isaiah says:         It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD       shall be established as the highest of the mount

Well, another year brings me to the end of the book of Revelation and the end of the Bible.  And what an ending!   A great multitude in heaven rejoicing before the Lord because of his great victory over the great prostitute and the avenging of the blood of the saints.  And the marriage supper of the Lamb.  The rider on the white horse and his victory over the beast.  And the binding and throwing down of Satan.  And the saints reigning with Christ.  And the great white throne

One of my briefest of Daily Words:  The seven bowls of God's wrath, the prostitute Babylon, the kings, and the war against the Lamb.  “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (17:14).  Not to be too flippant here, but it’s good to be on the winning side!  More on that, tomorrow, with the closing chapters of Revelation.  And what a closing it it!   O ruler

Lots more troubles here.  And twice the Lord’s people are told to persevere:  “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints” (13:10) & “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (14:12).  And, of course, the saints are able persevere because “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (11:15).  Not only do the saints perse

Lots of woes and troubles here.  And lots of sevens: 7 seals.  7 angels.  7 thunders.  Just some quick thoughts.  There is lots of detail here, apocalyptic detail.  This sort of stuff can be difficult to interpret, and indeed, many good Bible scholars do disagree on these matters.  But one thing certainly stands out, and that is that God has a carefully laid out scheme of what he will do, and he brings it to pass.  I am reminded of Paul’s conviction shared with the Ephesian c

144,000 from the tribes of Israel.  And a great multitude from every nation, tribes, peoples, and languages, which no one could number.  These pictures always come to my mind when I read these verses.  People who have listened to me for even a short while have probably heard my reflections on these verses.  Truly, as Paul put it, “the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).  And all dressed in w

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!” (4:1)  The Lord invites John into the heavenly places.  The Lord is constantly opening doors and inviting us in.  “Come in!”  “Go there!”  “Receive this!”  He reaches out to us.  He is a gracious and inviting God.   Of course, as John is told what is yet to come, he also sees that God is holy, and he is eternal:  “And the four living creatures . . . never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almight

“’I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (1:8).  Now, how would that be?  You’re standing face to face with God, who tells you, “I am the Alpha and the Omega . . .”  I suspect John really is paying attention at this point.  And the Lord says the same thing to the churches; in fact, the message is meant for the churches.  Of course, that means us.  That is, through his Word, the Alpha and Omega stands before us a