ISAIAH LESSON 67


     We will begin this lesson in Isaiah 58:1 "Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."

     This sounds like God giving a message to Isaiah to sound the
warning trumpet. The warning from God, many times, comes from God's
workers. The preachers of our day need to sound the trumpet. This
trumpet of warning is because of the transgressions of the people. The
whole world today is in even worse condition than the house of Jacob
in their day. Sin is running rampant. God will not sit idly by and let
this happen. The preachers who are not sounding a warning to their
people will be responsible for the sins of the people God has for them
to minister to. A shepherd, or shepherdess, guards the sheep. When
danger is near, they sound an alarm. They are responsible for the
sheep.

     Isaiah 58:2 "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."

     It seems they had a form of godliness. They were going through
the formality of serving God, but their hearts were not in it. They
were honoring God with keeping the ordinances, but they really did not
honor Him in their hearts. Jesus called this type of person whited
walls. They look good on the outside, but underneath they are nothing.
Some churches today are so formal in their worship, that there is no
Spirit. Ritualistic service is not what God wants. He wants our
hearts.

     Isaiah 58:3  "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."

     The type of fasting they were doing here, was a waste of their
time. This fasting was just a show for the world. It was as if they
were saying, I have fasted now, what are you going to do for me in
return, God? It was as if it were a trade off. Speaking of the Jews
here, they felt that God had not kept His bargain with them if He did
not immediately reward them for fasting. Fasting should be a time of
total dedication to God. It should be a time of worshipping God not
hampered by things of the world. God does not owe us anything. To
expect Him to respond, is not trusting His judgement. This type fast
would be unacceptable to God, then or now.

     Isaiah 58:4 "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."

     Fasting should be a private thing between you and God alone.
Look, with me, at what Jesus had to say about this very thing.
Matthew 6:16 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a
sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear
unto men to fast.  Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
Matthew 6:17 "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash
thy face;" Matthew 6:18 "That thou appear not unto men to fast, but
unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in
secret, shall reward thee openly."

     Isaiah 58:5 "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a
man to afflict his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? wilt thou call this a
fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?"

     The answer to this is no. This is not what God wishes. God does
not just want a man to go through the formality of bowing his head to
Him. He does not even want you to tear your clothes, and throw sand on
your head. God wants you to have an humble heart. He wants your heart
to be stayed upon Him. The acceptable fast to God is total dedication
to Him from your heart. God is not interested in an outward show. He
wants you to truly love Him in your heart.

     Isaiah 58:6 "[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?"

     God is saying in this, if your heart is right with Me, set the
captives free. Stop laying burdens on others too heavy to bear. Break
every yoke you have placed on others. Do unto others, as you would
have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. Above all, Love
God with your whole heart. This is the acceptable fast to God.

     Isaiah 58:7 "[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?"

     Jesus said it this way. Inasmuch as you have done it to the least
of these thy brethren, you have done it unto me. Feed the
hungry, clothe the poor. Help those who cannot help themselves. Help
those of your own family who are the family of God.

     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."

     I love the following Scripture that is saying the same thing.
Matthew 5:16  "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  When
you are full of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are full of His Light, for
He is the Light of the world. This is that new life in Christ that we
speak of. Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me."  It is not necessary to tell people you
belong to God, when you have Christ living in you. They will know it
by the life you live.

     Isaiah 58:9 "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;"

     James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much."  John 15:7 "If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you."  Now, we see how to get our prayers answered. We must be in
right standing with God. When we pray, He answers. Whatever you do for
others, will be done unto you. Mark 11:25 "And when ye stand praying,
forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is
in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."

     Isaiah 58:10 "And [if] thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness [be] as the noon day:"

     When you have love and compassion for others and help them in
their need, the Light of God within you becomes brighter and brighter.
This Light does away with all darkness. To be possessed of the Light
of Jesus Christ does away with all darkness.

     Isaiah 58:11 "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."

     Jesus says it the best in the following Scripture. Luke 6:38
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you
again."  God will not withhold any good thing from you, when you have
a generous heart to others. He repays you in every way. You will
prosper, and be in good health. You will not go hungry, or thirsty,
because you have given to others. Psalms 37:25 "I have been young, and
[now] am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging bread."

     Isaiah 58:12 "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."

     Israel was in a terrible state at the time Isaiah wrote this. God
will bring them back into the land and it will flourish, if they keep
His commandments. This is, also, speaking of the time when the veil in
the temple will be torn from the top to the bottom opening the way to
God for all who will believe.
     Isaiah 58:13  "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:"

     Now, we see that the blessings of God will be upon Israel, if
they obey God. If they follow in His ways, He will bless them. The
promises made to Abraham which come down to them will be a blessing to
them, if they will honor and respect God in all they do, all they say,
and all they are in their hearts. One day in seven belonged to God.
They must stop and remember Him on His day. Sabbath helps man, as well
as God, but it, also, shows trust in God that He will keep His
promises.

     Isaiah 58:14 "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]."

     God had promised Abraham the land. He had, also, promised to
bless all the nations of the world through him, if he remained
faithful to God. His descendents had wandered away and gone after
false gods, but God is renewing His pledge here. He has forgiven them
of the past errors, but they must be obedient to His Word and His
ways. Whenever God promises anything, He will do it. He is not like a
man, that He should lie. God is Truth. All He asks is that they love
Him and delight in Him. Again He says, if they keep His commandments,
He will bless them. The other side of this is, if they do not obey
Him, curses will follow.
























                          Isaiah 67 Questions


1.  Verse 1 says lift up thy voice like a ____________.
2.  Who is speaking in verse 1?
3.  What was Isaiah to do?
4.  Why do preachers in our day need to sound the trumpet?
5.  What is the job of a shepherd, or shepherdess?
6.  It seems they had a form of _____________.
7.  What was wrong with their worship of God?
8.  What did Jesus call this type person?
9.  If God does not want ritualistic services, what does He want?
10. What was their fasting?
11. It was as if they were saying what to God?
12. What should true fasting be?
13. What does verse 4 say they fast for?
14. Quote Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 through 18.
15. What is the answer to verse 5?
16. What is the fast God has chosen?
17. Love your neighbor, as ____________.
18. We are to ______ the hungry, and _______ the naked.
19. Quote Matthew chapter 5 verse 16.
20. Quote Galatians chapter 2 verse 20.
21. What reveals to the world whether you are a Christian, or not?
22. What chapter and verse in James is saying the same thing as verse
    9 here?
23. Who gets their prayers answered?
24. Quote Mark chapter 11 verse 25.
25. What causes the Light of God within you to become brighter and
    brighter?
26. Quote Luke chapter 6 verse 38.
27. What does Psalms chapter 37 verse 25 say they have not seen?
28. What must Israel do for God to restore them?
29. What does keeping the Sabbath show?
30. What promises had God made to Abraham, that He renews in this
    lesson?