The Voice of the Prophet, Day 41 Fake! Read Isaiah chapter 41. As you read through Isaiah chapter 41, we really see the contrast between the real and true God and all the fake idols that the people have been worshiping. The verses go into detail about the craftsmanship and all the steps that were taken in order to create these fake gods. These sad gods can’t do anything on their own. How stark of a contrast that is compared to the one true God who actually created everything else. No one created him. He created everything. The idea that God is strong and powerful, and that he strengthens us…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 40 Wait and Hope. Read Isaiah chapter 40. A lot of people see a shift in Isaiah starting in chapter 40. The first 39 chapters deal more with the judgment that is coming and the last 27 chapters focus more on the hope and promise of God. We see God’s promise listed here. The final verse in the chapter, verse 31 reminds us that we need to hope, or some translations say “wait,” on the Lord. What does it mean to hope in something. We are living in confidence each day that we know exactly what God is going to do and as a…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 39 Only focused on me. Read Isaiah chapter 39. How does king Hezekiah use his remaining 15 years of life that God has given him? We saw that gift come in the lesson yesterday and today, we read that a special envoy from Babylon was received by the people of Jerusalem. King Hezekiah was a tremendous host. He showed them everything in his kingdom: all his riches, all his storehouses, everything. He had shown these people because they were from a far off land and he thought they posed no danger and no threat. Isaiah comes to Hezekiah later, and tells him that these…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 38 “See my obedience.” Read Isaiah chapter 38. King Hezekiah has fallen ill. We see in this chapter that despite the incredible victory that the people experienced in the last chapter, their king is not immune to the basic illnesses that still plague the area. He becomes sick and God let’s him know that he is going to die. Hezekiah, just like he has done many other times before, falls on his face and prays to God. He reminds God that he loves him and that he has done many great acts of obedience to God because he loves God. God hears his prayer…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 36 The rebellion. Read Isaiah chapter 36. The invasion is coming. The people of Judah have rebelled against the Assyrians and not paid the tribute they had agreed to. As a result, the Assyrians are coming to threaten and conquer them. As a part of the threats, the leader makes fun of the people of Jerusalem asking why they aren’t just giving up and giving in to the Assyrians. What could they possibly be hoping in that would keep them from just surrendering to Assyria? He makes up several things and asks what possibly they could potentially be depending upon that would cause them…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 34 Define success. Read Isaiah chapter 34. As God continues to discuss judgment on the people of Israel, we are forced to examine what it is that we use to define success. God talks about the fact that he’s going to take away everything in the kingdom and the people will be left with nothing to call a kingdom. The very items and status that they used to define success will be ripped away from them. How do we define success in our lives? When we come to the end of the day, how do we know whether or not we’ve had a good…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 33 The key. Read Isaiah chapter 33. So many people, myself included, are looking for the key to life, the key to happiness, or the key to wisdom. Here, as we see God explaining more about his righteousness and judgment, we understand that God himself is actually the key. God is the key to the treasure of knowledge and wisdom. God is the key to the rich store of salvation. As we think about a key, we realize that keys are there to unlock something that, without the key, we wouldn’t be able to access. Without God we will not be able to access…

The Voice of the Prophet, Day 32 Peace and Confidence. Read Isaiah chapter 32. In all the discussion from previous chapters about the Lord’s judgment, we need to make sure we understand exactly what God’s justice brings about. You see, God bringing judgment on people paves the way for the righteousness of God to be seen. When God’s justice is experienced, God’s righteousness overflows. There’s some incredible benefits to the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness brings peace and confidence. Without God’s righteousness, we cannot experience peace and we will not have confidence. We cannot experience God’s righteousness without understanding God’s justice. These two things go together. We must understand and…