Isaiah 42:1-13 (NIV)

Read by: Eric Peterson

Have you ever felt like maybe God wasn’t strong enough to keep something bad from happening? Or maybe he just didn’t care? Often when we experience difficulties, we don’t know what to think about God’s role in the events of history… or our lives. The Israelites who came out of Babylon were feeling this way about God too. They thought maybe he wasn’t as powerful as the Babylonian gods, or maybe he wasn’t committed to them like he had promised to be. The writer of the next several chapters is responding to the people’s doubts on God’s behalf. As hard as it is for us to understand, the LORD showed his covenant faithfulness to them both through their exile and in their return home.

Personally, we have often encountered teaching in the church that tries to make sense of stories like this by either justifying all suffering as God’s discipline or by ignoring passages about God’s divine judgment, imagining them as simply the archaic thoughts of ancient people. But if you read enough of the Bible, you’ll realize that it’s simply not our place to say when God is bringing discipline in someone’s life or when the brokenness of the world is just doing what it does. The world is a mess, but God has from the beginning been searching for humans who will share his name, who will work with him to cultivate creation and bring Shalom—the kind of people he can truly partner with. And today’s passage, while it calls Israel to once again take up this mantle, it also foreshadows another partner... one who will open the eyes of the blind, release the captives, and finally establish justice on earth… one simply called the Servant.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What words or phrases stood out to you in the passage?

2. What characteristics of God the Creator and of the Servant brought you hope?

3. The last several verses are an appeal to Israel to see and receive the LORD’s mercy, to rejoice in their return from exile and see that it was His doing. What seasons of difficulty, pain or despair have you come through in your life? Or maybe you’re in a season like that right now? We invite you to share your honest thoughts with the LORD right now—whether in gratitude, relief and praise, or in lament, longing and grief.

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Bible Project: Isaiah 40-66 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Suffering Servant King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 40:1-11 (NIV)

Read by: Hugo Castro

Today we enter the second half of the book of Isaiah. After yesterday’s passage, Isaiah provides a bit of history for us—the story of King Hezekiah, his faithfulness to God, the LORD’s miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria, a supernatural healing, and then, unfortunately, Hezekiah’s decision to ally his kingdom with Babylon. Isaiah predicts, then, that Babylon will come and take over Israel, and carry off the people to exile. It’s a crappy way for Hezekiah’s story to end, but it’s what happened, and that brings us up to speed.

The second half of the book describes events that happened way after Isaiah’s lifetime, after the Babylonian exile. So there’s some debate as to whether he wrote them, with prophetic hindsight, or whether his disciples took up his mantle and continued to write on his behalf. In either case, chapters 40-66 explore in vivid color the themes of the holy seed of Israel and the Messianic kingdom for all the nations. Remember, the judgment of Israel had a purpose. It was the purifying fire, removing the idols, the evil, the mixed up foolishness, and the darkness that had come to define a people who were meant to be a “light to the nations.” And from this point on, if you’re familiar with the story of Jesus in the Gospels, you’ll hear an increasing echo of his words, his actions, and the circumstances surrounding his life, death and resurrection.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What words or phrases stood out to you in the passage?

2. This poem really highlights both the faithfulness of God, even in the face of human frailty, and our failure to be faithful to Him. In what ways, even in the midst of the past 12 months, have you seen the faithfulness of God?

3. We heard today a poem of comfort, for people who had been taken from their homes and lived in exile for several generations. We also find ourselves longing for our home, like we talked about yesterday. And that is a kind of exile… In what ways might the LORD be asking you to hear these words today for yourself, for your community, and for the Church?

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Bible Project: Isaiah 40-66 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Suffering Servant King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 35 (NIV)

Read by: Summer Richardson

Today’s passage echoes previous and future pictures of hope—in Isaiah, but also reaching far back into the story of Genesis and all the way forward to Revelation. C.S. Lewis wrote, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

We feel that. Though not for another planet... or a completely different kind of existence… we long for the world that was, and the world that will be. A place of safety, belonging, love, laughter and joy; a place without fear or loss, where our bodies are whole and in perfect working order, where food and flowers grow up and flourish with ease, where water spills out of the ground and quenches the thirst of the desert, where the earth can rest from its pain and be healed. We dream of it, we ache for it. And today we are encouraged to hold fast to it, to be strong and press into this longing yet again.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image spoke to you from this poem? Why do you think that might be?

2. In what ways do your hands need to be strengthened? How do your knees need to be steadied to keep on walking?

3. Who do you know that needs to hear this word of encouragement today? Someone who may need to be reminded of this hope? Maybe take a minute and send a text, make a phone call, or write a letter to them.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Messianic King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 32:1-8 (NIV)

Read by: Maureen Mathew

These days, a lot of us have a great deal of skepticism about our government leaders. If you look up the word “politician” you might be surprised to find that there are two meanings. The first just means someone involved in conducting the business of government. But the second definition is “a person who acts in a manipulative or devious way to further their own advancement.” It’s unfortunate, but humanity has always had a tenuous relationship with power. We were made to reign and rule with God, but apart from his wisdom, we always end up making choices that do more harm than good in the end. And often, even those who appear to be following God are just using his name as a means to build up their own empire.

Israel was no stranger to this dynamic, and today’s passage falls within a series of poems rebuking the leaders of Jerusalem for their foolish politics. Yet within this rebuke, as always, the LORD does not leave them to flounder in their foolishness. The promise that was made is reiterated, seen from a new angle, painted on another canvas. Even amidst the harsh warnings, the reminders to hope come often. There is another King a new human who will reign with righteousness and justice. He is coming. Place your hope in him, wait for him.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What images in this passage caught your attention?

2. This passage talks about a King, but it also talks about rulers (plural), who will bring safety, security, and provision. Whether we’ve seen it that way or not, we who follow him do hold positions of leadership—whether in our jobs, without votes, with our friends, or with younger people in our lives. How can you be like a shelter from the wind or a refuge from the storm for those within your care?

3. Under the reign of this king and these rulers, a whole host of bad things are undone, while goodness, clarity and understanding will define the new order of things. In what ways do you long for goodness, clarity and understanding in your life? What about in the life of your community? Bring those things to the LORD today.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Messianic King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 30:15-26 (NIV)

Read by: Adriana Abuchar

As we go along in the book of Isaiah, we’re exploring a lot of context together, but there’s so much more that we can’t fit into this podcast. So before we begin today, we just wanted to remind you to check out the show notes for videos and blogs from the Bible Project and books about Isaiah from InterVarsity Press that will help to expand your understanding of this prophetic book and of Scripture itself.

So, let’s get started. We’ve been moving through themes of judgment and hope for Israel, for Israel’s oppressors, and for Israel’s neighbors. We’ve seen the vision of what’s coming, of what will be in the distant future… the New Jerusalem, the mountain where all the peoples of the earth will be at peace and at home with nature, with God, and with one another. Today’s passage brings us into a section that turns around and zooms in on the rise and fall of Jerusalem itself. The city’s leaders have allied themselves politically with Egypt, with Pharaoh, with the nation that had enslaved them and killed their infants. Against the continuous warning and pleading of Yahweh’s prophets, they’ve chosen a path that seemed wise in their own eyes, but God knows it’s going to lead them astray.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you as you listened?

2. The choice between defining good and bad for ourselves and trusting God to teach us has been the issue from the beginning. In what ways do you need to go deeper in learning to live according to God’s wisdom, instead of your own?

3. The LORD longs to give them rest, longs to have their trust, longs for them to let Him lead them. As we’ve said so many times in this series, the circumstances were different, but the temptations are the same. Are there areas of your life that you feel the LORD asking you to trust him, to let him lead, but it’s hard to let go of control? Bring those to Him now.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Messianic King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 25:1-9 (NIV)

Read by: Javelin Lewis

You’ll notice that we kind of took a leap from chapter 12 to today’s passage. It’s not that the in-between chapters are unimportant. Not at all. But there are others we really want to include before this series ends in Easter, so feel free to go back and read from chapter 13 on your own. The gist of it is that where the first 12 chapters of Isaiah prophesied both judgement and hope for Israel, chapters 13-27 do the same for Israel’s neighbors and even for their enemies.

Today’s passage begins the culmination of the first two sections- bringing together Israel and her estranged siblings who have come through the judgement of the LORD and are able to enter the Hope on the other side. It’s another song of praise, recounting who God is and what he has done to bring them into this Hope… It’s a hope that we may find particularly beautiful in this season.

As you listen, prime your ears to hear the promise of God’s deliverance.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What images stood out to you in this passage?

2. What losses have you endured in the past year that this hope speaks to?

3. Pain, grief, disgrace… the LORD will wipe away our tears and He will swallow up death forever. Bring your tears today as an offering to the one who longs to wipe them from your eyes, the one who is making all things new.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Messianic King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 12 (NIV)

Read by: David Luginbuhl

Yesterday’s passage was a picture of the kind of world we long for… the kind of world we need. No enmity, no violence—a world filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Chapter 11 goes on to describe the branch sprouting from “the stump of Jesse,” a picture of the remnant of Israel, yes, but here a remnant in the form of a unique person, who would work with the Spirit of God, creating that Eden-like Shalom. But then, there’s kind of a zooming in—a focus on the role of this Branch of Jesse in the life of Israel itself. He stands as a “banner for the peoples,” calling all of the tribes of Israel to return to God and to one another, reconciling estranged siblings to one another and to their Father.

Today’s passage is simply a song of praise, a foretaste of delight, of the feelings that will be written into words and sung from the mouths of those who are restored to their Maker, to others, to themselves, and to the creation all around… in that day.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage?

2. In what ways do you long to be restored to your God, to others, to yourself and to the world?

3. If you are able to sit and be still for a minute, grab a pen and paper and  write your own prophetic Song of Praise, looking forward to all of the restoration you long to experience in your own life. What things will you thank Him for, when the heavens and the earth are renewed and all the world is put to rights?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

Bible Project Blog: Isaiah and the Messianic King >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 11:1-11 (NIV)

Our neighborhood is filled with trees. Huge 100 foot tall oak trees that are probably 3 or 4 feet in diameter. They tower above the homes providing shade in the summer and beautiful contrast against the winter sky with their sprawling bare branches. But sometimes they rot. It’s rare that these trees will fall down all in one piece. They are prone to a disease that rots out the center and causes them to drop their tree sized limbs down on the houses below with no notice. What was a beautiful part of the landscape that provided comfort and rest becomes a risk to everything around it. When they get this way, wisdom and care tell us that they have to be cut down.

There was a tree like this in our neighborhood recently. One day it was there dropping it’s limbs, the next day it was an enormous coffee table sized stump. But a few months later we saw this shoot growing out of the stump. It grew fast and was covered in bright green leaves.

Israel became diseased, the LORD allowed them to be cut down, but He tells them in today’s passage to trust that a shoot will come up from that stump and Israel will be reestablished around this shoot. This is Immanuel, and throughout the rest of the book of Isaiah the LORD will remind his people of the hope of this coming kingdom.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image in this passage gave you the most hope?

2. This passage speaks of a powerful, righteous, just, and good King. It speaks of the cessation of enmity and violence. Our world aches for this reality. In what specific ways do you ache for this reality in your context?

3. Under the leadership of the King, unity and justice kiss. They are not in tension, but are the fruit of his loving and mighty reign. In what ways do you long for unity and justice to kiss in the life of your community?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

BP Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast: The Meaning of Hope >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 9:1-7 (NIV)

Today’s passage might be a familiar one to you, but it might also take on new meaning within the context of Isaiah. There’s been a lot of bad news for the Israelits so far. Their kings have led them astray, they’ve spent their time oppressing the poor and taking on the very bad habits of people who don’t know God. They have lost their way and no longer trust their God, and they’re in for some serious judgment. What hope is there? Even for those who make it through, who repent and humble themselves, who will be able to lead them? They need someone who can bring light into their darkness, someone close enough to see and touch, strong enough to rule with integrity, with righteousness and justice, someone who is wise, someone who brings the kind of shalom they long for. They need Immanuel.

Listen with open ears, remembering what’s come before in the story, and looking forward to a story you may have already heard…

----------REFLECT----------

1. How do you think this prophecy might have given hope to the Jewish people?

2. We can’t help but see Jesus all throughout this passage, and yet in some ways we find ourselves in the middle of the story. He has come, the righteous king from the line of David, from Galilee... but we still long for his reign to come in full. We are in that in-between time. His kingdom is “already, but not yet.” In what ways do you long for the kingdom described in this passage?

3. Sometimes we feel like we see pretty clearly, but other times we can definitely empathise with people who “walk in darkness.” In what part of your life do you need to ask the Lord for his light? For hope? Clarity? Or a bigger vision of who he is?

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

BP Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast: The Meaning of Hope >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Isaiah 8:11-18 (NIV)

Read by: Javelin Lewis

Between Isaiah’s vision and today’s passage, we see Isaiah providing Ahaz, king of Judah, with a final warning to turn back to God and stop putting his trust in a foreign kingdom. We also hear that Isaiah has two sons,

whose names mean “a remnant will return” and “quick to the plunder,” embodied echoes of God’s message of both judgement and hope. And there’s a prophecy of another son… who would be born of a virgin, and would be called Immanuel, “God with us…”

After all these warnings Isaiah receives a word for himself from the LORD in today’s passage.  “Trust in me. Don’t be swept up in the people’s fear. Don’t be alarmed at the things you will see. Remember who I am, and trust in me.”

Being a faithful witness for the LORD can be a terrifying and unnerving thing. In the last episode we invited you to consider how the LORD might be inviting you to say, “Here I am, send me” within your community and context. If you have a sense of what that looks like, hold that before the LORD as you listen to His words to Isaiah. If you don’t have a clear sense of what that might look like, hold that question before the LORD as you listen to His words to his faithful witness.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What words, phrases or images caught your attention?

2. In this passage we hear the LORD calling Isaiah to rise above the noise and to listen to his voice above all others, and we all have room to hear this invitation these days. Everyone claims to know what’s true, and everyone says that someone else is to blame, and it’s easy to become afraid, anxious, and unsure of what’s real. What issues in our society cause you the most anxiety, and make it hard for you to rise above the noise?

3. Isaiah had to learn to wait for the LORD and trust him, even when he could not see his face. It’s hard for us to hear God’s voice above all the noise, to see God’s face amidst all the images that scroll past our eyes. And it is hard to wait for him. Ask the LORD to help you put your trust in him.

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Isaiah 1-39 >>

BP Exploring My Strange Bible Podcast: The Meaning of Hope >>

InterVarsity Press Selections: Isaiah >>

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Find an InterVarsity Chapter >>