Tag: Isaiah

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The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Prediction #3- His appearance will not be notable. (53:2)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(2)  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Isaiah 53:2

Explanation:

The prophet goes on to talk about what would not be notable about this servant who we know to be Jesus Christ. What was notable about Jesus was not his physical appearance. He had two feet, two hands, a nose, armpits and hair. He grew. He aged. This prediction tells us that he was not particularly attractive. As we read the accounts of Jesus in the New Testament this is substantiated.

When he was being betrayed, he had to be pointed out by Judas through a kiss.  He looked to those guards like every other man there.

When the woman at the well met him, she wasn’t struck that He was the Messiah by his appearance. He had to tell her that He was the Messiah.

(25)  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. (26)  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

John 4:25-26

What was notable about Jesus to this woman?

(28)  The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, (29)  Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (30)  Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

John 4:28-30

The Word He revealed to her, the truth that He gave to her, and the way that He treated her was what impacted her, not his appearance.

Application:

A principle in scripture that helps us understand how God views things is expressed in 1 Samuel 16:7.

(7)  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7

Jesus did not emphasize the external over the internal and neither should we. Who we are on the inside should be primary, and it should affect the outside. As God regenerates us, and begins to change us it is always from the inside out.

Response:

Lord, help me to not worry about the external more than internal. Amen.

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The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Prediction about Jesus Life #2- His coming will be notable. (53:1-2)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(1)  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (2)  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:

Isiah 53:1-2

Explanation:

Verse 2 emphasizes both the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. What does the expression “tender plant” mean? Dr. John Phillips tells a story about a gardener who helped him understand what a “tender plant” is. The gardener pointed out that “all plants are catalogued in one of three ways: they are hardy, half-hardy or tender. A hardy plant is one native to the area.  It will take ready root because it feels at home there. A half-hardy plant is not native to the area, but it comes from a place that is similar.  It will readily grow where it is planted because it finds the climate, the type of soil, the temperature, and the weather similar to what it has been used to. A tender plant, however, well, that’s another story.  It comes from quite a different place.  It does not find the soil in its new location congenial, nor does it like the climate.  It really belongs somewhere else.  It is an exotic plant from far, far away.” 

Isaiah says our Lord was on earth as a tender plant.  He comes here from far, far away.  He was not a native of this planet of ours.  His nature was not like ours because He was God in flesh.  He had no sin nature, but rather He was absolutely holy.

Isaiah describes Him being like a “root out of a dry ground”. Imagine walking through the most barren dessert, as parched as anyone you have ever seen in any movie depicting such things, and there right in the middle of a sand dune you see a gigantic, bright green watermelon connected to a vine coming out of the ground. That would blow your mind.  You may even be tempted to consider it a mirage.

In terms of Israel’s history this is exactly what Jesus’ coming was like. The prediction is that He would be like a “root out of dry ground”. God had not spoken.  There had been no new revelation from God for 400 years.In terms of God working and revealing like He had, it was a time of desert.Jesus’ coming, like all that we celebrate with Christmas and Easter, was quite extraordinary. There was no new Word from God for hundreds of years, and then the Word made flesh, dwelling among us. Like a watermelon in the desert- like a root out of dry ground- he showed up and changed everything.

Hebrews, which we will be studying in the weeks to come, states it this way:

(1)  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets (2)  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Hebrews 1:1-2

Application:

When we get saved God regenerates our hearts. The Bible says that those who are in Christ are a new creation. We ought to be different from the world in the way we think, act, and live. When we get saved our new home and our new, first citizenship is in heaven.  We live for a new city and a new country. That means that like Jesus, we are no longer of this world, though we are in this world. We are missionaries, realizing that we are still on the earth to proclaim Christ to those around us.

Response

Lord, please help me to not love this world system, and to make sure that I identify myself as a citizen of heaven first and foremost.

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Episode #13- Isaiah 65- Future Hope

On By Ben JenningsIn PodcastLeave a comment

Session 13– Future Hope
Isaiah 65:17-25 

We can have hope today by seeing the results of God’s future plans for us. 

  1. Joy v.17-20
  2. Abundance. V.21-24
  3. Peace. V.25

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Isaiah- Week 13- Day 2- Isaiah 65:21-24

On By Ben JenningsIn Devotional1 Comment

Abundance

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.  (22)  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.  (23)  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.  (24)  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Isaiah 65:21-24 

Explanation:

God’s future plans for us include so much joy, as we looked at yesterday.  The second result of God’s plans for us is abundance. 

Meaningful work was instituted by God before the curse. 

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.   

Genesis 2:15

Work was not a part of the curse.  Toil in work was part of the curse on this earth. 

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;  (18)  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  (19)  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.   

Genesis 3:17-19

So in the millennial and eternal kingdom work will continue.  Because of the limits of sin in the millennial kingdom, and the absence of sin in God’s eternal kingdom, there will be a lack of corruption.  Injustice will be a thing of the past.  In the new kingdom there will be work, but the work will be enjoyable (v.22).  Work will bring about an abundance of things to enjoy because the efforts will be “blessed of the Lord” (v23).  This is much like what work was like before the curse happened.  Consider Genesis 2:4-9:

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,  (5)  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.  (6)  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.  (7)  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  (8)  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.  (9)  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.


Genesis 2:4-9 

In this time God will be quick to respond and listen to His people.  He will take joy in blessing them and will freely do so (v.24). Verse 24 makes it sounds like he wants to answer them as soon as they begin asking.  It makes me think of a loving Father who cannot wait to bless his kids with things that will be really good and enjoyable for them.

Here is the point:  In that day there will not be a lack.  There will be an incredible abundance.  We will have everything we need, and we will enjoy God’s blessings in a way that is good for us.  The blessings of God will not be what we worship but will be what we enjoy.  His blessings will cause us to love and enjoy Him more. 

Application:

We can have hope today because of the incredible future of abundance that God has planned for us.  We may have to endure lack on this earth, but the truth is that everything on this earth is going away anyway.  The only thing that will last on this earth is the Word of God and the souls of people.  This is why Jesus told us to live for that future instead of this present circumstance:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  (20)  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  (21)  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Response:

What is one way you can invest in eternity today?