Just a few thoughts on our reading this week!
The Final Third of Isaiah: Peak Old Testament (in my view)
The last third of Isaiah is one of my favorite parts of the Old Testament. It is actually because of this section that Isaiah is sometimes referred to as the "fifth gospel". We don't find many passages in the Old Testament that are as clearly about Jesus as this section. Honestly, I can rarely even get through the sections that talk about the "Servant of the Lord" without being moved to tears. Isaiah is a long book, some portions are pretty tough reading, but I pray that you are blessed immensely as the judgment of Isaiah gives way to the chosen servant of God who redeems not only Israel, but all of creation.
True Fasting and Regular Fasting
Isaiah 58 is an interesting passage where God calls out his people for their false fasting. What is false fasting? It is fasting from food, while ignoring the fact that injustice and cruelty is being allowed to continue in one's life. God challenges his people, why would I respond to your fasting when all of these other parts of your life are filled with corruption? It's like you're lifting one hand up to worship, and striking your brother with the other!
The fasting that God honors is the correcting of injustice. But, does that mean we should not fast in the traditional sense? I do not read this passage as one that is telling us to practice "true fasting" and quit traditional fasting. Rather, the Christian life certainly has room for both.
Hosea, a Prophetic Object Lesson
One of the things that you find the prophets doing is they will do sometimes strange things as a way of illustrating God's message to the people. God would have them do this as a way of grabbing people's attention. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel do this in pretty big ways, but in my view, there is probably none greater than Hosea. God commands Hosea to go and get married to a wife who will certainly not be faithful to him, as an object lesson of God's relationship with Israel. Powerful imagery in this book, displaying the often gut wrenching thing it is for God to persist in loving his people.
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