Year 2, Week 9, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 9, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Isaiah 66; 2 Kings 20.

Today’s reading completes Isaiah’s prophecy to Judah. Isaiah 66 is a final word of warning about true and false worshippers as the LORD reiterates His plans: “Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:1-2). Today’s reading also includes a return to the Book of 2 Kings as it describes key events in the life of Judah’s king Hezekiah: “In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover’” (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah did recover and that led to his showing the Babylonian envoys the wealth of Judah. These actions led to the prophecy concerning the Babylonians returning to Judah to take the wealth and carry off captives: “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon” (2 Kings 20:16-18). These events from the life of Hezekiah have also been recorded in 2 Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 38-39).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the concluding words of Isaiah: “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain…“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:22-24). The Isaiah’s themes of condemnation and judgment but also comfort and deliverance extend through the Book to the very end. As does the concern of the true worship of the LORD: “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 66:23).

Isaiah began with an indictment against Israel’s worship: “Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them” (Isaiah 1:13-14). Isaiah revisits the indictment: “He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig’s blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations” (Isaiah 66:3). The concluding response to false worship is judgment: “I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight” (Isaiah 66:4). This response is as Isaiah began: “But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed” (Isaiah 1:28).

Isaiah also continued his strong notes of comfort and peace and joy, for all who turn to the LORD: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:10-13). The promise of comfort, joy, and peace would not merely be offered to Israel, but the nations. These same notes of appeared early in Isaiah: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples” (Isaiah 2:2-4a).

Isaiah closes with strong warnings of final judgment: “For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many” (Isaiah 66:15-16). But these concluding words from Isaiah not only parallel how Isaiah began, they also reflect how the entire Bible comes to completion: “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh” (Revelation 19:20-21).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe