King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Chapters: Isaiah Chapters 58-62
Message: The Redeemed of The LORD
Hello My Friend,
I want to apologize for my being so inconsistent with the devotions, between my mom, work, husband, and life in general pulling me from every direction my ministry has taken a toll. I literally asked God not to take it away from me, but understood if He did because I have neglected it so much that I do not even know if I am reaching anyone anymore, including Him. Did you ever feel that way? Like no matter what you do there seems to be no end in sight to your affliction and that even your prayers are not being heard? Then as I am reading the chapters for today God so graciously pointed out this out to me, [Isaiah 62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.]
Of course, God was referring to the day that His Son would reign the earth from Zion also known as the city on top of a kill in Jerusalem, but those who receive Christ as their Saviour are truly a holy people redeemed by Christ Himself, not of any of our own works, but through His finished work. Jesus said this when He was on the cross just before He died “It is finished” [John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.]
Now, those who put their faith and trust in Christ as their Saviour may face a mountain of affliction and their faith be tried until the day God brings them home, but one day there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more affliction, and no more trying of their faith because they will be with Jesus when He returns, and even before then, [Romans 14:7-9 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.]
People worship, pray, and fast every day in an attempt to reach God, but let me tell you, He will not hear them for one of two reasons, they are either unsaved or unrepentant. The majority of people who pray and fast to God do it for the wrong reasons, and God knows this. As we continue in the reading of Isaiah, God addresses the issue of hypocritical prayer and fasting, apparently, the Jews were fasting and praying to God and were angry because He was not answering them.
[Isaiah 58:1-4 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.]
[in the day of your fast ye find pleasure,] The very Lord whom they have rejected were only pretending to be earnest in their seeking answers from God. They were fasting and praying to God for things that gave pleasure to their flesh like fame, fortune, and vengeance. They were covetous, unmerciful, and unforgiving to those who owed debts they could not pay, not to mention full of greed, envy, and spite toward their fellow laborers and yet were unwilling to repent of their own sins.
[Isaiah 58:6-9 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;]
[thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?] The object of fasting and praying is not to bring pleasure to our own flesh, but to afflict our flesh in a way that brings us to get God’s attention more and to let Him know that we seek His help alone. Through Isaiah, God, goes on to explain that if they pray and fast the correct way, He will not only hear their prayers, but guide them to great prosperity.
[Isaiah 58:11-14 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.]
[The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.] A breach is separation between family and friends who disagree on something and for a long time Christ’s Church has been breached. When persons, families, neighborhoods, churches, or nations, who were once separated from the Church show repentance and sorrow for sin, they will become the repairers of the breach and restorers of the old paths that lead the lost to Christ, [Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.]
While we do not need to fast to get God’s attention, when we do it for Him, it does bring us to a deeper level of communicating with Him as we take our minds off our flesh for a while and focus of our attention is on something else. Now, the very first thing that we need to be doing in order for God to hear our prayers and see our fasting is to make sure that we are saved to begin with. Religion does not save us nor does ignorance. As God continues to address this issue, He points out that their sin has blocked His ears.
[Isaiah 59:1-4,7,9 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.]
[we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.] Even saved, born again Christians can walk in darkness, and while God is ready and waiting for them to come back into the Light, He will not hear their cries without sincere repentance. And here is the thing, we can trip and fall a thousand times a day, and as long as we are sincere in our confession and repent, then He will forgive us and we will see the Light again. However, He will not hear one prayer or acknowledge any fasting if it is not confessed sincerely, [1 John 1:6-8 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.]
Point blank, without Christ, there is no salvation! No matter how much prayer, fasting, or other works that are done to get His attention, there is no salvation without accepting that Christ died a sinless death and arose three days later to save those who believe this. Jews have no excuse as to why they refuse to accept that Christ is the Messiah and Gentiles have no excuse as to why they refuse to accept that there is nothing else to do to get saved. Through Isaiah, God continues to address why Jesus was necessary.
[Isaiah 59:10,12,14,16,20 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; 14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.]
[therefore his arm brought salvation unto him;] No one can go directly to God without an intercessor because we are covered in sin. Before Jesus became our intercessor, God used priests or prophets, but they too had to be consecrated in order to stand before Him on their behalf. The Law, while it gives us a guide, to live by after we are saved was not perfect as we are naturally born sinners, it was a temporary fix until Jesus gave His life for all mankind, [Hebrews 10:1,3,10,12 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;]
I know the first thing I do when it seems like God is not answering my prayers is check to see if I have done something that He is not pleased with. It is a painful life to live in sin being saved, but God’s mercy endures. We are reminded of this through Isaiah, and that one day all this will be over, we who are saved and have endured the judgments in this world will join Christ in His Kingdom.
[Isaiah 60:1-3,7,9 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. 9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.]
[Surely the isles shall wait for me…to bring thy sons from far…unto the name of the LORD] This includes both Jews and Gentiles who believe in and accept Christ as their Saviour. In fact, as you read into the chapter something else is revealed about the birth of Christ. Kings and wise men from all over the world followed the star that led them straight to Jesus. Many say that they found Jesus at His actual birth, but the wise men actually found him about two years later in Egypt, [Matthew 2:10-11 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.]
We are made joint heirs with Christ alone through our faith in Him, on top of that we will receive an inheritance which God will give us. That gift actually does come with some trials and tribulations while we are here and await the Saviour’s return, but all who wait for Him will be glorified.
[Isaiah 60:15,18-21 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. 19 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.]
[call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.] The walls shall be called Salvation because every saved, born again Christian shall be safe behind the wall of the blood of Jesus. The gates shall be called Praise because after the thousand years that Christ will reign upon the earth, shortly after, the new earth will just appear, and that is where we will live forever, [Revelation 21:22-25 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.]
[and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.] This is proof that there will be an expected end to all pain and sorrow as we know it and even death itself, [Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.]
As much as we think that we are ready and prepared for the day that Christ returns, none of us are. And while we may be eager for His return, we must understand that it is going to get a lot worse before He does, [Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.]
[that they might be called trees of righteousness,] There is only one passage to come to mind here, [Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.]
To meditate on God’s word is to our own advantage as it will enable us to walk in it as the Holy Spirit works on us to apply it to our lives. Blessed are those whose footsteps are ordered by the Word of God for they shall find both peace and prosperity no matter what affliction they face while they are here on earth. Through Isaiah, we get a glimpse of what it will be like when Christ returns and His saints actually reign the earth with Him.
[Isaiah 61:6-8,10 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. 8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.]
[But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD:] In the beginning when God addressed believers He intended all who worshiped Him to be priests, meaning that they could have direct, one on one communication with God. All that changed during the Exodus when God appointed Aaron and his sons as priests, and that remained until Christ’s passion, [Exodus 28:1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.]
[I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth,] Jesus said it this way, [John 10:8-9 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.] Those who have this notion that religion, race, or their own righteousness can save them, will have a huge awakening upon their physical death when they see Jesus and find out that He really was their only way to their salvation. Then all who receive Him will actually become His bride and forever be joined with Him. Through Isaiah, we see what type of marriage God will have with His bride.
[Isaiah 62:1-5 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. 2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. 3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.]
[thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah:] [Hephzibah;My delight is in her. Beulah; to marry, rule over, possess, own.] Beulah is Israel’s future name when she is restored to her divine Husband, the Lord, Jesus Christ Himself, [Revelation 21:9-10 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Isaiah 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. Isaiah 60:16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. Isaiah 61:8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Isaiah 62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.]
Today’s Prayer: God, I cannot fathom the amazing grace that You gave me and still give me. To take a life that was a complete mess and turn it into one that has meaning is truly a miracle that only You can produce. Thank You, for seeing something in me that is of good use to you, thank You, for your grace and mercy and for Your promise to never leave nor forsake me. Lord, as I humble myself before You, be merciful to me, lead me and guide me, help me to never lose the Light of Christ in me and keep it shining that I might guide the lost to Your and receive Your glory even before I see You face to face. I love You Lord and ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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