A Lot To Go Over

I haven't blogged in a while. Bad, Madelyn! So, since I haven't blogged in a while, I have a lot to go over. All of this post will be my observations on the book of Isaiah, or maybe just some stuff from Isaiah I want to share. Isaiah is a pretty rad book. I like it. A lot.

Isaiah 50:6-9
"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."

Wow. That sounds pretty terrible. I mean, imagine just standing there, letting people whip and beat you. Willingly exposing your back, knowing the pain that is coming. How hard would it be to offer your face and head to those who wish to pull out your hair? I'm hesitant sometimes to even let someone brush my hair for fear they'll accidentally pull too hard. And why would anyone in their right mind let people mock them and spit in their face? I know I would find it difficult to refrain from hurling insults and spit right back at them. Heck, I would find it close to impossible to hold back! So really, why withstand this? Why take it from these people? Well...

"Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame."

Isaiah 51:1-2a
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth."

'Remember your roots', 'Remember where you came from', 'Always go back to your roots' are all phrases that were reiterated to me one day. I was told to stay loyal to where I had come from. I was told that if I ever had trouble, I should go back to my roots. If I ever forgot myself I needed to go back to my roots, back to where I came from. In the midst of this lesson, I found myself thinking about how I need to remember not only who I am, and where I came from, but also whose I am.

It's so easy to go off on your own tangent, completely forgetting your past. However, in these verses from Isaiah, we're being told we need to remember our roots. We need to look to the rock from which we were cut and the quarry from which we were hewn. Most importantly, we need to remember that we are God's. We can always find our identity and our hope in Him, should we ever lose either of those things.

Isaiah 56:4-7
"For this is what the Lord says: 'To the mutilated who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.' "

You don't have to be a certain age, race, or gender to be a follower of Christ. You don't have to be able to do a back flip, run a marathon, or know the entire bible by heart. There are only two requirements. 1: Pursue God and His will with all your heart. 2: Uphold God's commandments. It doesn't matter if you're broken. It's the sick who need the doctor, not the healthy. Anyone and everyone can be a follower of Christ.

Isaiah 61
Closely related to the subject of chapter 56, is chapter 61.

"The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me."

The author of Isaiah is saying that because the Spirit of God is upon him, and because God has anointed him, it is his duty to "preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all captives, pardon the prisoners" and much, much, more.

Now, if the author has all these responsibilities because he is anointed by God, wouldn't it only make sense for everyone who has been anointed by God to have the same responsibilities? And doesn't everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have the Spirit of God in and on them?

I am anointed by God. You are anointed by God. Your best friend is anointed by God. That means it's MY job to preach good news to the poor. That means it's YOUR job to heal the heart broken. That means it's OUR job to announce freedom to all captives and pardon the prisoners. We need to embrace these responsibilities and make sure we are performing and carrying out our tasks.


And thus ends my commentary on some chapters of Isaiah. I'm almost done with Isaiah, and I'm thinking about either reading Nehemiah or Habakkuk next. What say you?