Reading the Bible Together

Passage for the Day

 1 Listen to me, you islands; 
       hear this, you distant nations: 
       Before I was born the LORD called me; 
       from my birth he has made mention of my name.

    2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, 
       in the shadow of his hand he hid me; 
       he made me into a polished arrow 
       and concealed me in his quiver.

    3 He said to me, “You are my servant, 
       Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

    4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; 
       I have spent my strength for nothing at all. 
       Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, 
       and my reward is with my God.”

    5 And now the LORD says— 
       he who formed me in the womb to be his servant 
       to bring Jacob back to him 
       and gather Israel to himself, 
       for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD 
       and my God has been my strength—

    6 he says: 
       “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant 
       to restore the tribes of Jacob 
       and bring back those of Israel I have kept. 
       I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, 
       that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

    7 This is what the LORD says— 
       the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— 
       to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, 
       to the servant of rulers: 
       “Kings will see you and stand up, 
       princes will see and bow down, 
       because of the LORD, who is faithful, 
       the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Points of interest:

·         ‘hear this, you distant nations’—this message is particularly aimed at people who are very far away from Jerusalem.

·         ‘He made my mouth like a sharpened sword‘—I think this prophecy is working on two different levels simultaneously.  On one level, the subject is Isaiah himself, whose prophecies are like a sharpened sword.  On the other level, we have yet another picture of this mysterious future, ideal king (the Branch, the Root, the servant).

·         ‘concealed me in his quiver‘—to me, it seems that this part of the prophecy is especially applicable to Isaiah.  His words are like sharp arrows, but instead of being shot, they’re just kept in the quiver.  As far as he can see, his words are being wasted.  It must have been hard indeed to be Isaiah.  He’s prophesying about the Jewish return from exile—and things that happen long after that, even—more than a hundred years before they even go into exile.  No one in Jerusalem believes a word he says; they just can’t believe that God would ever let the temple be taken by a foreign nation (think of Psalm 46 from last week).  What’s the point of continuing to speak?

·         ‘You are my servant, Israel’—whether God is speaking to Isaiah, the future king, or both, I think what God is saying is that they fulfill God’s long-standing intentions for Israel.  They’re what Israel is supposed to be.

·         ‘It is too small a thing‘—it’s not that Isaiah’s words are being wasted.  Rather, they’re being saved for a more worthy purpose, when the time is right.

·         ‘that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth‘—the big miracle Isaiah is hoping for is the rescue of the Israelites from Babylon.  God has much bigger things in mind: he is going to rescue the whole world, and he’s going to use Isaiah’s words and the work of this future king to do it. 

Taking it home:

·         For you: Do you believe God has good plans for you? Or do you more often feel a little overlooked or out of place? Ask God that he would speak to you about the special things he has in mind just for you. You might want to prepare yourself for the possibility that they are MUCH bigger than you would expect or could comprehend.

·         For your six: Thank God for the unique way he has made each of your six.  Consider that God has stamped his image in some way on each of them.  Pray that the unique ways that each of your six reflects God would be used. You might also consider pointing out to them a unique quality that you see in them and why you think it’s a good thing.

.         For America: Pray today for all the people in America who are trying in some way to follow Jesus.  Pray that God would use them to actually be a light—that they would in fact be helpful and relevant to those around them.  Pray that they wouldn’t think too small about what God might have for them. 

⁵² Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹¹ “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”

¹² But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

¹³ When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

¹⁴ Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
all goldsmiths are shamed by their idols.
Their images are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.

¹⁵ They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.

¹⁶ He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance—
the LORD Almighty is his name.

Coming Destruction

¹⁷ Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.

¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says:
“At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured.”

¹⁹ Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”

²⁰ My tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.

²¹ The shepherds are senseless
and do not inquire of the LORD;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.

²² Listen! The report is coming—
a great commotion from the land of the north!
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³ LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.

²⁴ Discipline me, LORD, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing.

²⁵ Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and destroyed his homeland.

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—

² so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

³ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.

⁵ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

⁶ The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.

⁷ May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.