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FROM TODAY’S RECAP:
- Isaiah 6:9-10
- About the TBR Team
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The Bible Recap
Day 208 (Isaiah 44-48) - Year 6
SHOW NOTES: - Head to our Start Page for all you need to begin!- Join the RECAPtains- Check out the TBR Store- Show creditsFROM TODAY’S RECAP: - Isaiah 6:9-10- About the TBR TeamBIBLE READING & LISTENING:Follow along on the Bible App, or to listen to the Bible, try Dwell!SOCIALS:The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | TikTokD-Group: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/XTLC: Instagram | FacebookD-GROUP:D-Group is brought to you by the same team that brings you The Bible Recap. TBR is where we read the Bible, and D-Group is where we study the Bible. D-Group is an international network of Bible study groups that meet weekly in homes, churches, and online. Find or start one near you today!DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.
- Duration:
- 8m
- Broadcast on:
- 26 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. Today's chapters reiterated a lot of the themes we read about yesterday. First, that God chose Israel to be His people and that they will continue to be as people throughout the generations. Second, that He is the one true God, and anyone who worships idols is foolish and sinful and wasteful because the idols they're worshipping are handmade and will ultimately be destroyed. Third, God points out His sovereignty over all things. While He has chosen Israel, there are some whom He has given undercerning hearts and closed eyes. This is His judgment on their idolatry. We first saw this in 6, 9 through 10, and it shows up repeatedly in Isaiah, and is even quoted by Jesus in the New Testament. But part of being sovereign means that even those whose hearts are far from Him are still used to serve His purposes. We see this with King Cyrus again today. Even though He wasn't a follower of Yahweh, God still uses Him for His glory. In 44-28, God says, "He shall fulfill all my purpose." Chapter 45 starts out with a long passage about Cyrus, reminding us that we serve a God who makes even His enemies' plans bend His will. God is the one who equips Cyrus, even though Cyrus doesn't know Him. God is working through Him. God is doing the heavy lifting here, breaking the doors of bronze and cutting the bars of iron, creating darkness and calamity, bringing rain and light and fruit, and ultimately using all of this to set His people free from exile. In chapter 46, God points out that Babylon, Israel's captors are idolaters. It should come as no surprise that the ones who took Israel into exile aren't followers of Yahweh. He paints a picture of them having to lug their idols around and how that weighs them down, prevents any kind of forward motion, and ultimately leads to bondage. Personally, that hit a little too close to home for me. I don't really like relating to Babylon. But back to the prophecy. What's been prophesied here about Babylon's bondage actually happens when King Cyrus of Persia comes against them. And in contrast to Babylon carting their idols around, Yahweh points out that He is the one who carries Israel. He says He's carried them from the womb and will carry them even when they're old. Cue the footprints poem. And remember yesterday when He told them to forget the things of the past because it was infringing on their capacity to remember the important things? Today, He tells them to remember, to recall who He is to them. Here are some of the things He says about this in verses 8 through 11. Remember this. Recall it to mind. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it." God has shown them who He is and He can be trusted to keep being that person in the future. His consistency is so comforting. In chapter 47, God addresses Babylon, the people who lead Israel into exile. Babylon is arrogant and entitled, those two things often go hand in hand, and God promises to humble them. They will seek help from an abundance of wicked sources, from idols to sorcerers to astrology who will all fail to save them. Then in chapter 48, God speaks to Israel again. They were giving lip service to God and claiming Him without actually knowing Him, so He takes time to remind them. He basically says, "All that stuff you just went through, remember how I told you it was about to happen? I gave you a heads up about it because it's one of the only ways to get your attention since you're so stubborn and forgetful. That way, you'd have no excuse for thinking your idols were the one who rescued you. It was me all along. And now that you know my track record, that I do what I promise, I'm going to tell you some brand new things I'm about to do. You've never heard anything like it. God is setting them up for the promise of the Messiah. He tells them that He will do all these incredible things, defer His anger, restrain it, not cut them off, and He will do it for His name's sake, for the sake of His praise, for His own sake. What does all this mean? There are two possible reasons and motives behind restraining your anger toward someone. First, you might do that if you believe they've been falsely accused and aren't actually guilty, which means you'd be restraining it for that person's sake. But that definitely isn't the case with Israel. God knows their sin. Israel knows it, Isaiah knows it, and even we know it. Second, you might restrain your anger toward someone who is guilty because you're displaying your own character, that you're a person who seeks out opportunities for forgiveness. That's what God is doing here. It isn't for Israel's sake that He withholds His anger. It's to show us and them and everyone what kind of a God He is. He is a God who forgives sinners. And maybe that sounds selfish or showy to you that God's priority is God's glory. And if so, then just think for a moment what things would be like if we were His first priority? How backward would that be? For a holy, glorious God to worship fallen humanity, I wouldn't trust that God. But I trust a God who prioritizes His glory, not only because it's right and fitting, but also because, selfishly, I benefit from it. Here's what I mean by that. I'm not married, but I've heard many counselors say that the best thing you can do for your children is to put your marriage first. Otherwise, the child becomes an idol that replaces the spouse and drives the wedge in the marriage. But when the marriage is the priority over the children, the children feel secure and blessed as a result of not being the ultimate focal point. That's sort of the way I view this thing with God's glory here. In the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit are focused on displaying their glory and character throughout the universe, then I reap the benefits. Namely, God withholds His anger from me, pays for my sins, and adopts me into His family. I love being the recipient of the overflowing love from the Trinity. My God shot today was in 45-19. God is speaking to Israel and reminding them of the relationship He's had with them all along. He says, "I did not speak in secret and a land of darkness. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.'" I love this reminder from God in the midst of our seeking Him that none of this is in vain. Even on the days where you feel perplexed by what you're reading, and I fail to address the part that confused you most, none of it is in vain. God responds to our efforts to know Him because He's the one who initiated this desire to begin with. He doesn't thwart your desire to hear and know Him. He gave you that desire. He delights in that desire. He's meeting you in that desire. And He's where the joy is. If you've spent any time around me, you will know, "It doesn't take me long to bring up my team. They are the best. This is not a one-woman show here at TBR. It's more of a team event. And I want to introduce you to my teammates." Each episode is researched and written by me, Tara Lee Cobble, and sound engineered by Alison King. Charlotte Blackwell and Omar Cardenas help with loss synopsis de la bibliot, our Spanish arm. Lindsay Herring created all our YouTube videos as well as our videos for social media, while Sarah Yocum and her team help manage our social media accounts. Brooke Stewart runs our TBR store, Sarah Billings answers all your emails, and Emily Pickell is our recaptons manager. Laura B. Shelf and Olivia Lee help with operations, and Bonnie Hartwig is our TBR director who helps oversee the whole team and all things TBR. As a big team. And all of us here on Team TBR are grateful for you, our listeners, because you make this both possible and wonderful for us. Thank you for being here today. We love reading the Bible with you.