shelteredunderhiswings

(Isaiah 10:1-2) Why do we humans tend to pass laws that oppress the weak and poor? I believe we tend to pass laws that oppress the weak and the poor because we see them as a burden that we as a society have to carry. If the weak and the poor could support themselves they would not be called weak or poor. We also place value on people that are strong(opposite of weak) and rich(opposite of poor). You can look at it like this, since you can not physically remove them in all cases you can remove what little power that they do have which is their voice, their ability to let their plight to be know. What can we as Christians do to prevent this? Christians should always be a champion to the poor and weak not only in their communities but in their own homes. We should always make sure that laws are not oppressive to those who have less or are to feeble to take care of themselves. We should stand against laws that only benefit the rich and the strong because these laws are the oppressive laws. What can we do to help the poor and weak in our communities? We can volunteer within organizations that already support the poor and the weak in our communities. I am not just talking about just Thanksgiving and Christmas either. We can give clothes, food, money, and our time.

(Isaiah 9:6-7) What in the text convinces us that the Child/Son is the Messiah himself? God told many prophets that the messiah would come from the Lineage of David. That he would bring 4 things when he would bring his kingdom. He would bring order to it, establish it on this earth, his divine judgment would clearly be seen, and his perfect justice would bring us peace(dying for our sins). Also his kingdom would see no end. All other kingdoms are now dust or ancient history but his would not fall to such powers. What do you learn about the Messiah from the four word pairs describing him? Imagine God declaring to the people of Israel the names of this divine person. Four distinct names, five distinct meanings. No one that I can recall does God gives these names too. He is basically declaring that within these names you have a messiah. All five names come to life only in the person of Jesus Christ. Which of these saving attributes do you need most in your life right now? I need a Counselor, someone who can listen and relate to my affections and my shortcomings. I find him very easy to talk to and its easy to open every door to my soul and let him in. He knows the weight of my guilt, my shame and my sorrow under the weight of my sin. He is always ready to forgive and to cleanse me.

Q2. (Isaiah 8:14-15) In what sense is Yahweh (and his Messiah Jesus) a "stumbling stone" and "a trap and a snare"? That answer is answered by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 The Jews require a sign and a crucified messiah is not the sign they were expecting. The messiah that Israel and Judah were waiting for was a conquering king. Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross as a criminal, rejected my the Jewish authorities. The cross was an instrument of death which killed the men who hung on it. The cross killed Jesus as it did the two thieves that hung their with him. The biggest difference is what would happen 3 days later. Our conquering King Jesus would conquer sin and death by his resurrection and his ascension. In what way are people broken in this stumbling? They are broken in their stumbling because they rejected the corner stone. That corner stone is Jesus who they rejected and it will be him who they will stand in front of to give an account of their lives when they die. They will see Jesus throughout the old testament but it will be too late. They try to be perfect by obeying every law and commandments but their hearts are far from God. Most people who reject Jesus will have to try to enter heaven on their own Why do you think people stumble over a God who is almighty and righteous and must be obeyed? I believe people stumble because we are human, weak and sinful. Human in that we fail, falter and always come up short. Weakness in many vices that ensnare us and makes us prisoners to them. Sinful in that we rebel and try to make it on our own and on our own terms. Sin makes us feel guilty because of its weight and the stain of it. We stumble because we walk in our own darkness and not the light that is God. We often forget that he must be obey in order to love him.

Q1. (Isaiah 7-8) What was the gist of Isaiah’s prophetic instruction to Ahaz? God is asking King Ahaz to do something he has never done in his entire life...He asking him to trust him. You call also look at it this way. God says they will fail they will not prosper only you have to believe what I say is true. Why do you think Ahaz chose to disregard it? King Ahaz did what was evil in the eyes of God. How can a person obey God when he has spent his entire life disobeying God? He did not have a repentant heart nor did he make even an effort to meet God half way. What did Ahaz do instead? God is telling him that if he disobeys he will NOT establish his kingdom. In 2 Chronicles 28 We see King Ahaz fulfilling his own prophetic instruction by not obeying If you live your life in total disobedience to God, I don't know how you can just start listening when it is so foreign to you. What was the consequence of this disobedience? Since King Ahaz did not heed God's instruction it would be very bad for Judah many would become slaves to Damascus. God even had to use another prophet Obed to tell the Israelites not to take their brothers and sisters captive. King Ahaz honestly believed he was in control. I am King so I will do this my way. King Ahaz would pray and make sacrifices to the God of Syria so they could hear him(failure). I will seek help from Assyria and send them gifts(failure). God requires us to obey him for our benefit and our children's benefit. Why do we sometimes seem to think that we’re smarter than God? Three words. Pride, Pride, and more Pride! I tend to look at the storm or the mountain in front of me. I say I can overcome this storm or I can climb this mountain on my own. I often forget it was God who made the storms and the mountains. He wants me to conquer that storm or mountains with his help using his strength not mine. Why is it sometimes so hard to do what God tells us to do? Often what God tells me to do is exactly what I don't want to do. Obedience is a hard thing to do when you have been born with a rebel's heart. Submitting, surrendering and trusting are very hard things for my will to do. They are alien to my will, to my flesh. That is why I needed to be born again. Born to a new will and heart for God.

Q6. (Isaiah 6:9-10) How do you make sense out of these verses? God is spirit and only the spirit of a man can worship God. Israel long ago failed to listen to God and more importantly to love him. A father knows his stubborn children and even their careless ways. In essence he is saying you chose this upon yourselves when you refused to be corrected. I have loved you and warned you of your sins. Is Isaiah called to an impossible mission? No I do not believe it is impossible. In fact God uses most painful methods to win us back to him. Sometimes a heart will get so hard like stone that it needs to break. When it does break the poison leaks out and he can being the healing process. Also pride tends to draw us away from God onto ourselves and our own merits. We also learn from other peoples mistakes. Why will Isaiah's prophecy make the task worse? The task of correcting the children of Abraham has been the most unfortunate and painful task for every prophet of God. They are not called a stiff necked people for nothing. Sometimes when we are so immersed in our lives or even in our sins we are blind, deaf and dumb to the truth. In which parable did Jesus quote this passage (Matthew 13:1-23)? The parable of the sower is the one in which he chooses to place Isaiah prophecy on his generation. He spoke to them in parables, they witnessed and even heard of many of his miracles. They even did not understand the signs that showed who Jesus was. In Jesus' parable, is there any frustration in preaching the gospel? Yes I believe there is frustration because we see people are like the seeds found in this parable. If you notice it does not end well for those seeds and it’s those seeds we try to help the most. It’s not our job to grow or even nourish the seeds but to sow. Is there any hope? Can God take a plant out of stony ground and plant in good soil? Yes he can in fact I have moved plants from rough areas to more fertile ground. I have had to remove rocks out of a plant bed too. God is constantly removing rocks and weeds out of my life. As painful as it is I love him for it!

Q5. (Isaiah 6:5-8) What is Isaiah's reaction to the vision? Isaiah recognizes his own frailty and those of his people. Imagine seeing that vision and realizing that tis unclean lips were the same that were used to praise and worship God. That is why he felt undone. Sin separates us from God. It also convicts us and we actually see our blight in the true light of GOD’s holiness. How does God deal with Isaiah's fear? God sent the seraphim to him so that he could remove the iniquity and purge from his lips sin. A live coal from the altar of God is used to burn away sin. By removing his sin from his lips God also removes the fear from his heart. What question follows Isaiah's cleansing? In the cleansing Isaiah found courage even in the mist of God. The Lord needed to send someone to the people of Israel; Isaiah announced that he would go. What is Isaiah's response to God's question? “Here I am, send me”. God never forces a task even onto a prophet instead he challenges the fear that he once had. What is your response when you sense God calling you? Moses had his burning bush, Isaiah had a vision where he had to be cleansed by a live coal from the altar of God. God has different callings for everyone. Not everyone is called by the same way or method.

Q4. (Isaiah 6:1-4) Why do you think Yahweh revealed himself in this way to Isaiah? The primary reason was that King Uzziah in his heart he lifted himself up and tried to go into the temple to burn incense to God. He would become a leper until his death. God wanted to show Isaiah why King Uzziah was unworthy to offer incense to him. 2 Chronicles 26:16-23 We often ask the question" why would you do this to your servant?" In seeing God's holiness even Isaiah realized he was a man with unclean lips. In what ways does this vision reveal God's majesty? In seeing that the seraphims had to cover there face and feet tells you that even the heavenly creatures that dwell before God must hide themselves from this Glory and majesty. Even the servants have to hide themselves from his presence. What do we learn about Yahweh from the serphaim's chant? God is a Holy God and that he is Lord over all creation. "The whole earth is full of his glory" I take this as in everything that was made by God we see his handy work and his purpose. The earth does not possess the sum of his glory but that there is glory found and much more then we can see or imagine.

Q3. (Isaiah 5:1-6) What was the vintner’s vision for the vineyard? A very well kept vineyard in which wine would be produced. Many hours and a lot of toil was placed into this vineyard as well as the choice vines that were used. What did he do to accomplish his vision? Removed all the rocks, created a hedge, a tower for protection, a wine press so that the wine can be made right there. Everything that could be done for the vineyard was done. What happened when the crop came in? The crop that came is was a wild grape. Wild grapes are bitter and even in some cases poisonous. You can not make wine especially out of these wild grapes. What did the vintner say he would do with the vineyard? He removed the hedges that kept out wild animals and people out. He would allow it to be overgrown and even trampled underfoot. What does this parable mean? That God prepared a place for the people of Israel. He made a hedge around them and kept them safe from their enemies. The tower is the temple that guarded over Jerusalem. He planted from a choice stock...that of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Even with all of this the people became like wild grapes. Sin distorts the vine and even the fruit. God will remove the hedge around Israel so that others will invade and conquer them.

Q2. (Isaiah 2:1-5) What does this prophecy of the future Jerusalem tell us about God’s plan for the Gentiles? I am reminded of the city on a hill where the light of God shines for the world to see. I have notice that "the mountain of the Lord's house" is singular while the mountains and hills are plural. The one mountain maybe is the one temple of God and the mountains and hills are the different churches thought the world. So when you go to church you are going to a small representation of his temple. We will always long to go to the actual temple of the Lord found in Jerusalem. God will gather up his church to one place. About God’s plan for the Jews? It is interesting that the words WAYS and PATH are used because he would use them more profoundly in Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3. Jesus used those same words. "I am the way.....John 14:6 In other words God would provide a specific way to him. A path that would be lighted by the messiah himself. About spiritual hunger? It is interesting that many people shall go and say to one another let us go. First that they are not ashamed to go to God(repentance) and that they want to go. They long or desire to go and worship God. They will go with those who believe as they do. No one wants to worship God alone. About peace? Interesting that after he rebukes them they themselves turn weapons of war into instruments of growing crops. They are recycling their weapons for tools of honest labor. "Neither shall they learn war any more" When I was in the army I had to train a lot in warfare. What I am seeing is that there will be no need for an army, no need to train men to fight or go off to war. No military schools or places that teach how to defend yourself when there will be peace.

Q1. (Isaiah 1:2-20) In what way is Judah confused about its identity, according to verses 2-4? What are the consequences when Christians today suffer from such identity confusion? What injustices does God accuse his people of in verses 15-17? In verses 18-20 God argues that their behavior is "unreasonable." Why is it unreasonable? What does God offer as an alternative? In what way is Judah confused about its identity according to verses 2-4? My understanding is that sin naturally corrupted Judah (its occupants) to the point that they forgot who brought them up in the first place. This is far beyond a rebellious teen, what he is saying is "Your iniquities has clouded your vision so you don't see who or what you are." He reminds them this in "they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger" What are the consequences when Christians today suffer from such identity confusion? When we sin our vision is obscured which makes us powerless to overcome sin. In Christ we have power to overcome sin but only when we repent and realize it is the power of GOD and not ourselves. Sometimes we believe that we are sin instead of believing that we sin. If you believe that you are the sum total of every act that is done against GOD then you will live like nothing you can do can ever erase those acts. Christ already paid for your rebellious acts so why do we still carry our burdens on our shoulders. To often we believe we are the sin instead of the saint who occasionally sins. What injustices does God accuse his people of the verses 15-17? God is saying the hands that you used for sinning is the same hands you used for praying. Its like asking a Chef who just finish working on a garden outside to go inside and make a dinner without washing his hands. Dirt and whatever he was working on in the garden will contaminate the dinner. Would you eat a fine dinner knowing that the Chef never washed his hands before making that dinner? God saw their unwashed hands and heart. In verses 18-20 God argues that their behavior is "unreasonable." Why is it unreasonable? It is unreasonable because sin removes your reasoning ability. Think of Eve in the garden think who she could have asked for help. Instead she reasoned that" And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof, and did eat." Gen 3:6 In her reasoning she believed that if it is good, if it is pleasant to the eyes and if causes you to desire to be wise the this little sin is OK. So to her, having that fruit was worth the penalty of death. Not until they were removed from the garden did they feel the ramifications of there actions. What does God offer as an alternative? The alternative is the act of repentance. Repentance for me is an acknowledge my sins before God. That Christ is the only one that can remove the burden of sin. That his blood washes my sins or cleanses my sins from me. Now my sins are separated from me. God has always separated Israel's sins from Israel. Israel has to repent and acknowledge that sin in order for it to be removed. That is something that only God can remove from his people.

Hello Just recently rededicated my life to Christ. I believe the Lord has drawn me to the book of Ephesians. I would like to also learn about the city of Ephesus especially during Paul's time. I will be a father again as soon as Monday, our first son. Have a 16 month old who is daddy's little girl. I pray that the Lord opens my heart, eyes and mind to his precious word. God bless everyone. Shelteredunderhiswings