On Wednesday we considered the calendar’s command to “March Forth!” My friend and Navigator colleague Debbie Friley, who lives in St Petersburg, Florida, gets up every day with a clear vision to “march forth” and share the gospel. She sent this story a couple of weeks ago. Too good not to share:

What you’re about to read was bathed in prayer long before these men arrived to deliver my new table. I prayed over my living room and kitchen, asking God to fill each room with His presence. I even put on praise music while they were here because “God inhabits the praises of His people.” 🥰

Today, my new table was delivered and assembled by three guys. I made them espressos, and afterward I asked if I could talk with them for a few minutes. They all agreed — and even said they had time. They are all from Venezuela. We stood together in my kitchen as I clearly shared the gospel with them. Each one acknowledged that they are sinners and that they could not get to heaven by their works. All three prayed to receive Christ right there in my kitchen. We joined hands and prayed together, and immediately afterward one of the men texted his wife to tell her what had just happened!

The angels were rejoicing in heaven today!

“There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” — Luke 15:10

Please pray for Ricardo, Jesus, and Dioskar.

We all rejoiced that they came to Jesus on ❤️ Valentine’s Day — and I reminded them they will never forget that! They wholeheartedly agreed. Please pray that God will send believers to follow up with them (they work for Wayfair).

Of course, I tipped each of them generously. One of the new believers held up the Bible and said, “Thank you for the tip — but this is the greatest gift of all.” ❤️

Debbie attached a picture of the guys and a (not so good) picture of herself:

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him…Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” (John 4.28 – 30, 39, ESV)

Continuing through Isaiah, I won’t write anymore from Isaiah 44, which ends with a description of the futility of making and worshiping idols. I quoted that section back in December in the context of not asking AI for advice.

Isaiah 45 changes gears, opening with Cyrus, the Persian ruler who liberated Israel from the Babylonian captivity:

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.” (Isaiah 45.1 – 4, ESV)

This is Cyrus who authorized the rebuilding of the temple:

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1.1 – 4, ESV)

But the main message of Isaiah 45 is that even though Cyrus is a powerful ruler, he is subject to God:

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. (Isaiah 45.5 – 7, ESV)

The LORD has commissioned Cyrus:

“…I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45.12, 13, ESV)

We’re reminded of the first commandment: “No other gods.”

I am the LORD, and there is no other…Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.” (Isaiah 45.18, 22, 23, ESV)

Who’s in charge?

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21.1, ESV)

Who wins?

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.9 – 11, ESV)

Isaiah 43 opens with a “fear not” promise:

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43.1 – 2, ESV)

Then this promise, which Navigators founder Dawson Trotman claimed in the context of a disciple-making ministry:

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 43.4, ESV)

Dawson would teach that we must give up our lives to reach and develop others. There are those who don’t accept Dawson’s using Isaiah 43.4 in this way. In context, it’s clearly about the nation Israel. But for that matter so are Isaiah 43.1, 2, often claimed for “my” protection or Isaiah 41.10 for “my” strength.

But what about claiming such a verse for ministry guidance? Consider this one, coming up in our readings shortly:

And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49.5, 6, ESV)

It’s clearly Messianic: “I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” But guess who claimed it for his own ministry?

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13.46, 47, ESV, emphasis mine)

Yep. The Apostle Paul claimed Isaiah 49.6 “out of context.” I rest my case. The point is that God uses his word any way he chooses. Listen for his word to you while you read. I have written about this practice before with examples.

Here’s a ministry promise I claimed from the next chapter:

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44.3, ESV)

“I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring…” I want people I’m discipling to be filled with the Spirit and hear from God directly.

Maybe God’s speaking to us through Words written centuries ago is part of the “new thing” that’s also in Isaiah 43:

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43.18, 19, ESV)

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4.12, ESV)

We continue moving through Isaiah, a section filled with “favorite verses.” Today, a clear Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 42:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

• I have put my Spirit upon him;
• he will bring forth justice to the nations.
• He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
• a bruised reed he will not break, and
• a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
• he will faithfully bring forth justice.
• He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. (Isaiah 42.1 – 4, ESV)

The Gospel of Mathew cites it:

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him (after healing someone(!)…on the Sabbath).

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” (Matthew 12.14 – 21, ESV)

Wait! There’s more about the Messiah in Isaiah 42:

• I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
• I will take you by the hand and keep you;
• I will give you as a covenant for the people,
• a light for the nations,
  • to open the eyes that are blind,
  • to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah 42.6, 7, ESV)

There’s also a promise for guidance:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. (Isaiah 42.16, ESV)

And, as Eugene Peterson pointed out, even though the predominant themes of chapters 1 – 39 is judgment, and 40 – 55 is comfort, and 56 – 56 is hope, all three themes are sprinkled throughout. Here’s a judgment section in Isaiah 42:

Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.

The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. But this is a people plundered and looted…Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? (Isaiah 42.18 – 24, ESV)

Back to Jesus:

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3.16, 17, ESV)

When May 4 rolls around, the Ewellogy has been known to pay tribute to Star Wars: May the 4th Be With You. But not until my friend John Ed Mathison posted a blog in 2024, had I ever thought about “the only calendar day that’s a command:”

March 4th!

March Forth! It’s not a bad word. It’s essentially what God told Joshua:

Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. (Joshua 1.2, ESV)

That’s encouraging(?): “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore…” Therefore, what? Mourn the loss? Hold a memorial service? NO!

March Forth…into the land.

As the old saying goes, are you standing on the promises or sitting on the premises?

March Forth…on the path God is leading you.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28.18, 19, ESV)

In other words:

March Forth!

We interrupt this blog series to bring you a word from our sponsor…

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19.1, 2, ESV)

I never cease to be amazed at the combination of orderliness in creation and the ability of smart people to figure it out. This morning, at 4:30 a.m., Mountain Time, there was a lunar eclipse, exactly as predicted. June and I didn’t even have to leave our bedroom, thanks to a window that faces exactly west.

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved… (Joel 2.28 – 32, ESV)

We’re entering a section of Isaiah that’s a virtual highlight reel of promises and insights into the God who cares about us. Yesterday’s snippets from Isaiah 40 ended with a verse many of us have memorized:

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40.31, ESV)

Isaiah 41 continues the theme with this gem, again, something many of us have memorized:

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41.10, ESV)

My friend Ray Bandi, whom I mention from time to time, had a stroke in 2016. He still suffers from aphasia, the inability to call up a word he wants to use in a sentence. But in the early days after the stroke, it was worse. He displayed a phenomenon that I think could get him into textbooks. He would want to comfort his wife with the words above: “Fear not, for I am with you…I will strengthen you, I will help you…” But he couldn’t call up the words, so he would say to her, “Look up Isaiah 41.10.” He knew what was in the verse even though he couldn’t speak it, but he could speak the reference! There’s as good a reason as any for a robust scripture memory program.

Isaiah 41 continues:

For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41.13, 14, ESV)

And there’s the now familiar diatribe against idols at the end:

Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you…Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind. (Isaiah 41.24, 29, ESV)

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5.21, ESV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1.7, NKJV)

Yesterday we looked at Isaiah 40’s inspiration for Handel’s Messiah. Today, we finish Isaiah 40 with marvelous truths about God, truths worth meditating on. I’ll let the text speak for itself:

The greatness of God:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?…Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. (Isaiah 40.12…15, ESV)

The futility of idols:

To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. (Isaiah 40.18 – 20, ESV)

The insignificance of world leaders:

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40.21 – 23, ESV)

Who sees and knows:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40.27, 28, ESV)

And (best of all!), God gives power to the weak:

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40.29 – 31, ESV)

We change gears in Isaiah, moving from messages of judgment (chapters 1 – 39) to messages of comfort (chapters 40 – 55). The opening is dazzling:

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, That her iniquity is pardoned:.. (Isaiah 40.1, 2, KJV)

It’s also the opening song (after the Overture) of Handel’s Messiah. Isaiah 40 contains the text for FIVE songs in the Messiah. I’ll provide you the links. Please take a few minutes to immerse yourself in scripture and great music.

This clip features the tenor solos “Comfort ye” followed immediately by “Ev’ry Valley,” which comes from verse 4. (Click the picture.)

Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low: And the crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain. (Isaiah 40.4, KJV)

The first chorus in the Messiah comes from verse 5:

And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40.5, KJV)

You can hear it here.

Isaiah 40 continues as does Messiah:

O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion:

O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! (Isaiah 40.9, KJV)

And finally, one of June’s favorites since she was with child in Biloxi, Mississippi, when we sang this in a community chorus at Keesler Air Force Base:

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with his arm, And carry them in his bosom, And shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40.11. KJV)

There’s more to Isaiah 40, and we should save it for another day. Let’s close with verses from the first part, verses that were the inspiration for John the Baptist:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” (Matthew 3.1 – 3, ESV)

Isaiah’s version:

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40.3, 6 – 8, ESV)

We are coming to the end of the first major section of Isaiah:

• Messages of Judgment (chapters 1–39)
• Messages of Comfort (chapters 40–55)
• Messages of Hope (chapters 56–66)

The section ends with chapters 36 – 39 essentially replicating 2 Kings 18 – 20. Yesterday we looked at chapters 36 and 37, the encouraging story of God delivering Jerusalem from Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah.

Today we look at Hezekiah’s end as recorded in Isaiah 38 and 39. A rough start:

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” (Isaiah 38.1, ESV)

As an aside…

I’m not planning to die anytime soon, but “set your house in order, for you shall die” is a good word. It’s on my list of things to do during Lent. My friend Rich Hughes dropped dead. Now that taxes are done, “setting my house in order,” i.e., organizing my financial information and other actions is the next thing.

For Hezekiah, dying is a problem. We’ll see shortly that God gave him 15 more years. We read in 2 Kings 21.1 that after Hezekiah’s death his son began his reign at age 12. Can we conclude that Hezekiah was childless? How then will King David’s line continue?

Again, Hezekiah goes to prayer:

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (Isaiah 38.2, 3, ESV)

Isaiah reported that God had heard his prayer and given him a reprieve:

Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. (Isaiah 38.4 – 6, ESV)

Hezekiah then writes a psalm which ends:

The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD. (Isaiah 38.20, ESV)

But then Hezekiah doesn’t finish well. He receives the envoys from Babylon (from too far away to matter, right?) and shows them all his treasures with pride as the 2 Chronicles commentary confirms:

Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to GOD and was given a reassuring sign. But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. (2 Chronicles 32.24 – 25, MSG)

Back to the Babylonian envoys:

And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. (Isaiah 39.2, ESV)

Oops.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

Ouch. But Hezekiah doesn’t care…

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.” (Isaiah 39.3 – 8, ESV)

Not much of a legacy, beginning with his son Manasseh who reigned for 55 years and was one of Judah’s worst kings.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. (2 Kings 21.1 – 2, ESV)

Lord, help us all to finish well! After a terrible reign, a brief captivity in Babylon, even Manasseh finished well!

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9.25 – 27, ESV)