Isaiah 20

This chapter of Isaiah has fascinated me for years.

For three years, this man walks around naked. Three years. I’ve been married for just over three years.

I can’t imagine being naked this whole time. Going to the market, naked. Hunting, naked. Tending the livestock, naked. Coming in for dinner, naked. Every single activity, for three years, naked.

Can you imagine what the rabbis said at the temple? Before all this happened, Isaiah goes in to talk with the local rabbi. “Rabbi, I think the Lord is calling me to do something drastic. Could you help me?”

“Sure,” says the rabbi. “What do you think the Lord is calling you to do?”

“Well, uh…I think He wants me to walk around naked.”

The rabbi is on the floor laughing. “That’s hilarious Isaiah. Now, tell me what you really think. What’s the Lord really telling you?”

Isaiah, a bit ashamed, starts, “That is what I really think. I’ve heard the voice of the Lord before. And I think He is really telling me to go naked for three years.”

“And why would the Lord tell you something ridiculous like that?”

“He said it’s for a sign against Egypt and Cush,” the prophet answers.

The rabbi argues with Isaiah, claiming that the Lord would never call someone to so drastic a measure. It’s absurd. Especially when you consider it’s something that would keep Isaiah from entering synagogue. But as they argue back and forth, Isaiah becomes ever more convinced that this calling was truly from the Lord. He goes home, tells his wife (and kids), and they are dumbfounded. The next day, Isaiah follows through with obedience, and his wife and children are completely ashamed. They go to their extended family’s home, and the wife’s parents ask where Isaiah is. She doesn’t know what to say.

Eventually, Isaiah becomes the laughingstock of the whole town. The rabbis tell everyone to stay away from him. His own family lives estranged from him for a time. His extended family gives up on him. The neighbors have to put up a fence. The whole town mocks him behind his back. Isaiah has lost any respect he had ever earned.

And he lives this way for three years. Naked. Estranged. Ashamed.

All because he believes the Lord gave him this command. And for all we know, God did. In faith, we believe this happened. For it was a sign against Egypt and Cush.

What a bizarre little section of Scripture, eh?

**Please remember, much of this post is not in the biblical account. I am simply using my imagination to try to help us understand what kind of obedience this command required. Following God’s direction isn’t always easy or exciting.

Isaiah 20-30

  • Chapter 20 will be a special segment I write tomorrow
  • Chapter 20-23 includes judgments on nations and cities
  • Chapter 24 is about judgments on the whole world
  • Chapter 25 God swallows up death, which is quite a great victory
  • Chapter 26 is a song about this great victory
  • Chapter 27 is about the redemption of Israel
  • Chapter 28 woe to the drunken politicians
  • Chapter 29 woe to religious formalists & deceivers
  • Chapter 30 woe to the pro-Egyptian parties

There’s so many good verses, full of truth or full of beauty that it’s hard to pick out my favorites. I will say I like 28:26 quite a bit: “He is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.”

Throughout this section, we see more prophecies that are fulfilled in Christ’s life and the Spirit coming.

  • 25:8- He swallows up death
  • 28:11- The gift of tongues that comes at Pentecost
  • 28:16- The incarnation
  • 29:18- He heals the deaf and blind

Isaiah 1-20

In many ways, chapter 1 serves as a summary of the book. Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the wickedness that he sees. Then he proclaims how the Lord feels about it. Then a call to repentance. Then a promise of judgment should you not repent. Finally, there’s a blessing for repentance and curses for rebellion. And all of this is described in lively, picturesque language.

If I had to summarize the book of Isaiah in a verse or two, I would choose 1:16-17: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice,correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

The catch, of course, is that all these things can only be done by God’s Spirit working in us–more on that another day.

In these first 20 chapters, we also read some of Isaiah’s biographical information, including his call to become a prophet. It is my opinion that anyone who is called to the ministry should respond in a similar fashion. (See Isaiah 6 and William Perkin’s The Art of Prophesying.)

We also read of good songs (ch. 12), judgments on the nations (ch. 13-20), and a prophecy or five about Christ (ch. 4,7,9,11,12). He’s the Branch, Immanuel, born of a virgin, a Great Light, the Child, the Son, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, from the throne of David, possessing the 7 Spirits of God, the root of Jesse, the living water of salvation. If those names don’t fill you up, I don’t know what will.

2 Peter

If I could poster-ize a section of Scripture, enlarge it and put it on my wall, I would do so with 1:3-11. It’s certainly worth memorizing. It’s just a phenomenal section.

Peter moves on in verses 12-15, explaining why he is writing this letter. And in many respects, it’s the same reason I write. I’m writing to remind, to refresh memories, so that when I’m gone, people will still have a record.

The rest of chapter one includes Peter’s confirmation of the sureness of the Word. He begins chapter 2 with the sureness / guarantee that there are false prophets and they will be destroyed. Peter continues in chapter 3 discussing the coming judgment, as seen in the Day of the Lord. We know from the prophets that this is not a pretty day: Joel & Zephaniah.

To close this out, I’ll mention two things briefly:

  1. I like 3:11-12. It’s not that I’m excited to see this world burn. It’s that in light of the coming judgment, we ought to live holy and godly lives. Our conversation should be upright. Our actions should be fitting of our title as Christ’s followers.
  2. I like the way Peter ends his letter because it’s the only way we’ll make progress in living holy and godly lives. He ends, “Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus the Christ.”

A Mantra / Prayer

I have this mantra I’ve started with God:

“God, I can’t do this.”

“I know you can’t, Omer. BUT I can.”

“God, I can’t do this.”

“I know you can’t, Omer. BUT I can.”

“God, I can’t do this.”

“I know you can’t, Omer. BUT I can.”

I did it today. I’m sure I’ll do it at least one more time this week. I’m sure it will only be more consistent in coming months (w/ more children, more GRAMMATEUS, more work, more meetings, more blogs, more readings, etc.)

This mantra is good for my soul. May it be good for yours as well.

1 Peter 3-5

Peter continues his letter with more applications–how wives should behave, how husbands, those who are facing persecution, and those who are leading God’s people should behave. Somewhere in all that, he even makes use of Psalm 34. I know this, not because of handy Bible references that are in most Bibles, but because I’ve actually memorized that Psalm. It’s a very good one, and in many ways, it serves as a summary of my life.

Concerning memorization, I haven’t memorized very much. I am working at memorizing more. Having Scripture in my mind and heart, as a part of me, makes it so much more meaningful and accessible, not just for myself, but for others as well. You know what I mean, because you know when you meet someone who has the Scriptures in their DNA. It governs their whole way of life, their speech, their countenance, everything. I pray God molds me into that type of person. I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t work to memorize large portions of 1 Peter. It surely wouldn’t hurt. Plus, it would give me wisdom for how to handle nearly every situation, much like the Proverbs.

When Ezekiel and John were told to eat the scrolls, I think the above paragraph is what was meant.

And somehow, God, in His Spirit, is working behind it all–in Peter, in Psalms, in Proverbs, in Ezekiel, in John, in Omer.

1 Peter 1-2

Where do I start?

This is a difficult letter to understand, upon a first glance. You really have to sit down and spend some time studying it to make sense of what Peter is saying.

Warning: I haven’t spent much time with this. These are introductory, cursory remarks.

He starts by talking about our salvation and the living hope we have. He then moves into the application of that truth. We need to be living holy lives. And I love that line in vs 13 about girding up the loins of your mind. So that’s a snapshot of chapter 1.

Chapter 2 (which if you remember, no one really divided their own letters into chapters or sections, they just wrote) begins with more encouragements to live uprightly, giving all kinds of wonderful imagery to spur us onward and upward. He talks about our position in Christ and how Christians should act before authorities and how they should act if they suffer.

Basically it boils down to this: Christians should look like Christ.