I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. – Isaiah 50:6

Today's Scripture Reading (October 29, 2026): Isaiah 50

In the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," a great scene shows the family gathered around the dinner table. They are ready to eat, but before they do, they want to pray. Ricky Bobby begins the mealtime prayer by addressing it to Baby Jesus. He is reminded by various family members that Jesus grew up, but that fact has little effect on Ricky, who starts his prayer over again. "Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawin' at the air …" Ricky is pressed by the other characters that Jesus was a man and that he had a beard, but Ricky Bobby is undeterred. After all, Ricky likes the baby version of Jesus the best. 

As I write this, Christmas is getting close. It is still almost two months away, but stores where I live start putting up Christmas decorations as soon as Halloween is over. A reminder that the joyful time of year is closing in on us whether we are ready for it or not. And many of us would admit we like the baby version of Jesus best. At its best, Christmas is a happy time. At least, that is what we want it to be. The Christmas story is filled with comforting images: a baby in a manger, surrounded by love; angels descending from heaven to bring the good news to shepherds; and even wise men bringing gifts to the child they believe will one day be "The King of the Jews." However, along with the comforting images, there are also disquieting ones, including a prophecy from an old priest named Simeon:

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too (Luke 2:34-35).

They were probably not the exact words that Mother Mary was waiting to hear.

Yet in some of the earliest writings about the Messiah, the suffering of the one who would be the Christ is also a common thread. We can't speak of the birth of Jesus without being reminded of the death for which he was born. As much as the birth of Christ might comfort us, his purpose is fulfilled only in his death. This purpose is one reason the death and resurrection of Jesus were immediately recognized, while the birth wasn't celebrated for centuries.

This passage in Isaiah is messianic (meaning it is about Jesus). Jesus attests to that fact. As he was preparing for his last journey into Jerusalem, he said,

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him …" (Luke 18:31-33).

The scene Jesus had in mind seems to come directly from this passage in Isaiah. There is no mention of Jesus's beard being pulled out by his tormentors (Isaiah mentions it), but it would not be surprising if they did; that painful act would have been a common torture of the day.

So, our reality is that even in the joy of our Christmas celebrations, we are reminded of the death of Christ. In many ways, the two events cannot be separated. As much as we may want to pray to Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus – the Baby grew up, and he had a beard that could be pulled out and a back that would be laid open to the flogger’s whip; the Baby who was born to die so that we might live. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51

Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother's womb he has spoken my name. – Isaiah 49:1

Today's Scripture Reading (October 28, 2026): Isaiah 49

Christmas is coming. I guess that is an ever-present reality. I mean, the day after Christmas, some people start planning for the next Christmas celebration, which, depending on the year, is only 364 or 365 days away. I have friends who have already finished preparing for a Christmas celebration that is now just under two months away. I have always waited until much closer to the day before I start my preparations. However, even when Christmas is still months away, the story of Christmas is always with us. The Incarnation, God with us, shapes our faith and everything that we do.

The eighth-century B.C.E. prophet Micah wrote about the coming incarnation. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5:2). The biblical historian Luke wrote that;

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33).

Isaiah sends a message to distant lands: someone is coming for them. The Messiah's coming was not just an event important to Israel. His coming would matter to the entire world. Before he was born, God would call him, supporting Micah's message that his roots would be "of old, from ancient times." Luke confirms Isaiah's message that "from my mother's womb he has spoken my name" by declaring that the angel called him Jesus before he was even conceived.

So, Merry Christmas. The celebration might still be a couple of months away, but the reality of the Incarnation of the Messiah is with us every day of the year, and not just in the cold, snowy days of December.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 50

Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob." – Isaiah 48:20

Today's Scripture Reading (October 27, 2026): Isaiah 48

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Infinite Regress," Seven of Nine is confronted with a Borg version of multiple personality disorder. Voices begin to speak to Seven, and at times the voices threaten to overwhelm her. She starts responding to stimuli that aren't there. The result is confusing; Seven can't understand what's happening to her. It might be the most terrifying condition a person can suffer through: finding yourself in a place where you can no longer trust your own senses, yet knowing you need to take some kind of action.

Earlier in this blog, we discussed the theory that the chapters starting with Isaiah 40 were written later than the book's first thirty-nine chapters. A few passages seem to have been written later. Again, part of the issue is with verses like this one. This command makes absolutely no sense if it was written to the pre-exilic Judean community who had no idea that they were going to spend 70 years in exile in Babylon. For those living in Judah during the lifetime of the original Isaiah, Babylon wasn't even a threat to Judean independence. The passage in itself is a reaction to a stimulus that just is not there, not yet. However, it was a badly needed message for those who were taken to Babylon and a reminder that they would one day be redeemed by God and returned home.

There would be another problem. After 70 years in Babylon, Babylon had become the only home many exiled Jews knew. So when the moment of release came, many seemed unwilling to return to Jerusalem and Judea. It was like they had a personality disorder; in this moment, they identified more with Babylon than they did with their homeland, and more with the gods of Babylon than with the God who had promised to them the very land into which they were being invited back.

So, Isaiah instructs the people to scream the news from the rooftops. God has redeemed the descendants of Jacob, and he is calling them home. This message needed to be repeated continually, as far as the Babylonian empire extended, until the children of Jacob heard it and returned to their land, their homes, and their inheritance.

Sometimes we miss the obvious. Like a person who can no longer trust their own senses, we tend to forget who we are and that our Father loves us. We forget He is still calling us to make a difference. Sometimes we need someone willing to remind us of what should be obvious, someone willing to shout the message from the rooftops in the hope that we will hear it and understand. We are the loved and valued of God, and God is calling us to a purpose, a purpose that can only be fulfilled by us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49

All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. – Isaiah 47:13

Today's Scripture Reading (October 26, 2026): Isaiah 47

I don't like horoscopes. I know quite a few people who never leave the house without checking their stars, but it has never made much sense to me. I am also not big on fortune tellers, or fortune cookies, for that matter. My problem with all of this is that it feels like I am waiting for life to happen to me. Either I have a tall, dark, and handsome stranger in my future or not (being a guy, I am not sure what I would do with one of those, but maybe you ladies can tell me why you are all meeting the same guy), but either way I am just not convinced that any of it is written in the stars. I want to pursue life and chase it down, not passively wait for life to happen to me.

The real message of Isaiah seems to be that Babylon had become complacent. There seems to have been a change in the way that the Empire was being run following the days of the proactive Nebuchadnezzar. The current method of defending the Empire seemed to rely on the nation's magicians: enlisting stargazers to read the stars and predict the enemy's moves, then using their magic to stop the attack, all without expending any physical energy in their own defense.

Isaiah reminds Israel that the strategy wouldn't work. Babylon's reliance on its stargazers to predict the future and their magical defense of the Empire was about to fail. All their chasing after astrologers and stargazers, and all their readings of the monthly reports from their fortune tellers, would accomplish nothing except make them tired. In the end, Babylon would still fall.

All of this might help explain the strange night Babylon fell. That night, Belshazzar, the prince left in charge of the city, was enjoying himself at a drunken feast with his friends while the city's gates were left undefended. The city's lack of preparedness might simply be because the prince trusted his magicians and astrologers more than his advisors. Although we know Belshazzar received numerous reports about the advancing Persian army, he chose to ignore them, trusting the stars instead of his military.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 48

 

From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. – Isaiah 46:11

Today's Scripture Reading (October 25, 2026): Isaiah 46

The Shahbaz was a fabled bird said to live in Iran's mountain ranges. The Shahbaz has been described as being a bird much like the American Bald Eagle. Like the Bald Eagle, the Shahbaz was regal in nature; in fact, the name "Shahbaz" means "Royal Bird." However, the Shahbaz was more than just a bird. For the ancient Persians, the Shahbaz was a god. People believed the Shahbaz guided the Persian Empire. Circling high above the sacred Persian land, the bird's eyes saw everything that happened within the empire, and it protected the people and their king.

What is maybe significant for Bible scholars is that archaeologists have found flags and military standards from the time of Cyrus the Great decorated with this mythical bird of prey. It is thought that, beginning with the reign of Cyrus the Great and continuing through his immediate descendants, the Shahbaz became the symbol of Persia and was celebrated on the standard that flew above the empire's conquering military. Some have suggested that the Shahbaz was an appropriate symbol for Cyrus, whose armies struck swiftly and often without much warning.

So once again we have a very specific prophecy given to the Judean exiles living in Babylon, reminding them that God is already at work in sending them relief. Isaiah speaks of God summoning a bird of prey from the East. The allusion seems to be to the Shahbaz, represented by Cyrus and the Persians. According to Isaiah, God summons Shahbaz to fly to Babylon and send his people home, and Isaiah makes it clear that this foreign king serves the purposes of Israel's God.

Cyrus the Great became known as the great liberator for sending the slaves and exiles of the nations he conquered back home. This practice of freeing exiles earned Cyrus the Great something very few conquerors could claim: the respect of the people he ruled.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 47

This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut – Isaiah 45:1

Today's Scripture Reading (October 24, 2026): Isaiah 45

I have had friends and relatives who love to talk about Biblical prophecy and the end of the world. One of these friends was searching for specifics about the end, but as much as some might argue differently, the Bible never gives us specifics about future events. When the Bible speaks of the future, the words are veiled and often become clear only after the events have already become reality. An example of this might be the famous prophecy of Isaiah that "the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son" (Isaiah 7:14). Critics of the passage are quick to point out that the church has misinterpreted the prophecy; that the passage should be read as "a young woman will be with child," which is not all that amazing. We do know, however, that the Christian Testament writers did not interpret it that way. For them, Mary the virgin (and a young woman) giving birth to a child (Jesus) fulfilled the Isaiah prophecy. We understand the prophecy more fully after Jesus' birth than we did before. However, it is also significant that Isaiah did not say the Virgin Mary would conceive and give birth to a son; the prophecy is simply not that specific.

Specificity is one of this passage's problems. If we regard the whole Book of Isaiah as being written in the late eighth or early seventh century B.C.E. by a single Isaiah, Cyrus being named in this passage is significant because Cyrus would not even be born for another century and a half. It is not what prophecy does. Instead, this prophecy is specific, naming Cyrus as if the words were written during the days of Cyrus the Great and the expansion of his empire throughout the known world. Could it be that the purpose of the passage is not to give prophecy of the rise of an unknown king, but rather the writer of the prophecy is giving an explanation about the rise and reign of this very specific king, because the prophet is one of those who are watching Cyrus rise?

Cyrus, like Nebuchadnezzar, was God's anointed; he was part of God's plan. If this passage was written from the perspective of the Babylonian exile, then the prophet needs the people to understand that everything is going according to God's plan. Nebuchadnezzar, the foreign king responsible for their presence in Babylon, was God's anointed king. Nebuchadnezzar was raised by God according to his plan to fulfill God's specific purpose. Now Isaiah reminds the exiles that Cyrus the Great is also God's anointed. God raised Cyrus to lead the empire for exactly this moment. The gates of the city would be left open so that Cyrus would not be kept out.

Isaiah might even be speaking specifically of the City of Babylon, because that almost precisely describes the events of October 7, 540 B.C.E. On that night, Cyrus entered the city of Babylon unopposed. God had raised Cyrus as the other bookend of the exile. Cyrus would return Judah to the home of their ancestors, and Judah would once more realize they had never been out of God's hands.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 46

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. – Isaiah 44:3

Today's Scripture Reading (October 23, 2026): Isaiah 44

Lucy Jane Rider Meyer had planned to work as a medical missionary in a foreign country. The man she planned to marry was also preparing to become a doctor, and he was bound to work alongside his bride in the same foreign country that needed their specialized talents. But in 1875, life dealt the young couple a blow. Lucy was 26 when her fiancé passed away, and with him, all the dreams she had for the future. However, unforeseen circumstances could not tear Lucy away from her purpose. She had a heart for the poor and oppressed. Instead of finding fulfillment of that purpose in a foreign land, she found a way to fulfill her dream at home. Her heart's desire led her into a life dedicated to social work and to serving those experiencing poverty in the midst of the city, the ones most of us have become used to not seeing.

Lucy saw them, and their presence drove her to seek a solution. Ultimately, she understood that the only real solution would have to come from God. One day in 1884, she read these words in Isaiah 44. God promised he would come to those who needed him, and the people she worked with desperately needed him. These urban poor were the dry ground that desperately needed a flood.

And so Lucy Meyer, a social worker in Chicago working with people experiencing poverty, penned these words:

I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground;
Open your hearts for the gifts I am bringing;
While ye are seeking Me, I will be found.

Meyer claimed these words for the people with whom she worked. Originally, the words were intended for another group of people who were oppressed against their will. Israel thought they knew God, but that was before the exile, before the temple had been torn from its foundation. Now they were seeking him, hoping almost against hope to one day find the God of their youth, the One their ancestors worshipped.

God then responded that all who were willing to seek him would find him. On that day, his Spirit would be poured out on the ones most in need. The thirsty would drink, and the desert would receive so much water that it would overflow. The captives would be released. Meyer recognized that the original promise for Israel was now a promise to anyone who recognized they needed God, even the unseen ones who had captured her heart.

Maybe one side effect of our overconfident civilization is that we have become the ones who don't need God. We think we are self-sufficient and can handle life all by ourselves. All that really means is that we are the ones God will not pour himself out over, because we believe we don't need Him.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45