July 27
Isaiah 58:1-63:14
More often than not we approach life fairly closed, filled with our pre-conceived notions. Once we arrive at things the way that we see them, we then lift it up as absolute truth and hold onto it due to pride. This is not just true for those who are ignorant to the word of God, but can also be true for those who spend time in God's Word. God not only gave us sixty-six books of inspired truth, but He gave us every word in those books. In fact, He never gave a list of which books are more or less important. If we approach our reading of God's Word concentrating on our favorite verses, our favorite sections, and our favorite books, then we will create our own theology and in the process create a story which may not match up with the reality of God's entire Word. There are two different pictures of the Messiah, one was referred to as Messiah Ben Joseph, or the Suffering Servant portions, which are featured in portions of Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52 and 53; in addition to other areas of Scripture such as Psalm 22, which we know to be Jesus' first coming. The other picture is Messiah Ben David, or the conquering King portions, which are much more prevalent, which we know will be His second coming. When it comes to Messiah Ben David, they outnumber those to the Suffering Servant by a factor of 8:1. His second coming is referred to 1845 times, is mentioned in 17 books of the Old Testament, 23 books of the New Testament, and in 7/10 of the chapters in the New Testament. Jesus, Himself, referred to His return 21x in the gospel accounts.
We read in Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV), "“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Jesus read this while in the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth. We read what occurred next in 4:19-20, "Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”" This is a direct quote from the book of Isaiah 61:1-2, except that He left out the second half of verse 2, which reads, "And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn," Jesus didn't forget. He purposely made the distinction between His first and His second coming. We read in Isaiah 59:1-2, "Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore." Over and over again, God points to our sins and our need for redemption.
Paul, in the book of Romans, our Christian Constitution, uses the majority of the first three chapters to detail our condemnation before a perfect and holy God. Likewise, woven throughout the book of Isaiah are portions of condemnation which are intended to bring the reader to an understanding and need for a Redeemer. Once redeemed, and having entered into a relationship with our Suffering Servant, Messiah Ben Joseph, who willingly went to the cross on our behalf, we can then look forward to the day when Messiah Ben David, the same Jesus, comes back as our conquering King. Unless we carefully take in all the words that God gave us in His entire letter to us, called the Bible, we are prone to emphasize certain portions more than others and in the process distort the beauty of what He has already done and what He intends to do in the future. Praise God! His word continues forever and His plan for History will unfold as He wishes and when He wishes. Coming into a relationship with the Messiah enables us to participate in this plan, in whatever role He fashions for us, and to do so not with fear, but with anticipation and joy.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: