Finished "Isaiah"

Loads of great prophecy in Isaiah. I love seeing Jesus foretold in these passages!

Something I wrote in the margin by 1:10-15; God doesn't want sacrifice. He wants our hearts. If we say we are believers and then act in defiance of God's Word, He knows the difference.

You can sacrifice all you want. You can fast. You can pray. You can go to church every Sunday. But you can't fool God. You can't hide your heart from Him.

8:19 "When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

God is the Living God. He is not ruler of the dead, but of the living. Something to think about when we believe we are talking with the dead through ghosts of mediums. Who are we really talking to? I'd say we're consulting with the ruler of the dead, those who are forever separated from God, not our loved ones.

14:12-14 " How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'"

The fall of Satan.

And my very favorite at the end, "That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom. For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;" 66:11-13

This is directed at Jerusalem but I love the mothering imagery. You always hear about God being "the Father", Jerusalem as the Mother is beautiful. I don't believe that Isaiah is speaking literally about the city but about God's people. The whole family image just moves me.