February 9, 2010 (Isaiah 28-34)

Again, back in Isaiah. Same old song and dance. Short and sweet today. I'll let God's words speak for themselves...

^{Isaiah 28:11} So now God will have to speak to his people
through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!
¹² God has told his people,
“Here is a place of rest;
let the weary rest here.
This is a place of quiet rest.”
But they would not listen.

¹³ And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.^h]">[h]
¹⁴ Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
with amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”

^{Isaiah 29:15} What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their evil deeds in the dark!
“The Lord can’t see us,” they say.
“He doesn’t know what’s going on!”
¹⁶ How foolish can you be?
He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
“He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
“The potter who made me is stupid”?

^{Isaiah 30:8} Now go and write down these words.
Write them in a book.
They will stand until the end of time
as a witness
⁹ that these people are stubborn rebels
who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
¹⁰ They tell the seers,
“Stop seeing visions!”
They tell the prophets,
“Don’t tell us what is right.
Tell us nice things.
Tell us lies.
¹¹ Forget all this gloom.
Get off your narrow path.
Stop telling us about your
‘Holy One of Israel.’”

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
¹⁶ You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
¹⁷ One of them will chase a thousand of you.
Five of them will make all of you flee.
You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a hill
or a tattered banner on a distant mountaintop.”

¹⁸ So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.