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The Scriptorium

"Send Me."

Isaiah's call is the model of God's call to each of us.

Isaiah’s Remit: Isaiah 1-6 (7)

Pray Psalm 146.1, 2.
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Review Isaiah chapters 1-6.

Reflect.
1. Do you see any parallels between the spiritual condition of Judah and Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day and the spiritual condition of churches in our day?

2. Does God still bring His judgment to bear against His people in our day? What forms does this take?

Meditate.
The problem God exposed with the people of Judah and Jerusalem was that they were not taking His Word seriously. They practiced the outward forms of religion – going to the temple, offering sacrifices, observing feast days, and the rest – but they lived each day a religion of convenience rather than obedience.

It suited their interests and purposes to ignore much of the teaching of God’s Law and to make room in their lives for practices and morality imported from the surrounding pagan nations. To curry friendship with their unbelieving neighbors, the people of God set aside most the daily practices that were meant to distinguish them as a people holy unto the Lord. Instead, they lived more like their unbelieving neighbors, seeking their own interests, taking advantage of others, not caring for those in need, giving in to many fleshly desires, and adopting everyday pagan religious practices.

The situation had become dire, as the people of Judah and Jerusalem had all but lost their identify as the people of God. They were rapidly becoming like the nation of Israel to the north, which was so badly compromised in all aspects of life, that God would shortly remove them as a nation altogether.

As we shall see, what happens to Israel is intended as a warning to Judah: Repent and return to the Lord, that your sins may be forgiven and you may be saved and restored. But the people to whom Isaiah was sent would be no more receptive to the Word of God than the people of Israel had been to the prophets sent to them.

The judgment of God must fall. He would be faithful to His Word and covenant, even if His people were not, and that would mean bringing judgment as He had promised when the people turned from Him. But God was not finished with His people. Part of Isaiah’s remit was to hold out the hope of a remnant, of restoration and revival, of a renewed covenant relationship with God, and a new world to come.

God raised up Isaiah to warn His people, call them to repentance, and point toward the hope of restoration in the coming blessings of the Lord. God called Isaiah, and his response – “Here am I! Send me.” – is an example to every one of us.

Prepare.
1. Why did God have to bring His judgment against His people? Why couldn’t He just continue loving them and taking care of them? 

2. The writer of Hebrews warns against neglecting our great salvation (Heb. 2.3). In what ways were the people of Judah and Jerusalem neglecting their salvation?

3. Meditate on 1 Peter 4.17. What did Peter mean? Is it time for “judgment to begin at the house of God” in our day? Explain.

“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” O divine secrets of Scripture! As long as Isaiah’s tongue was treacherous and his lips unclean, the Lord does not say to him, Whom shall I send, and who shall go? His lips are cleansed, and immediately he is appointed the Lord’s spokesman; hence it is true that the person with unclean lips cannot prophesy, nor can he be sent in obedient service to God. Jerome (347-420 AD), Homilies on the Psalms 41 (Psalm 119)

Show me Your glory, Lord! Cleanse me of all my sins! And send me into my Personal Mission Field to…

Pray Psalm 146.

This is a psalm of hope. Use it to call on the Lord to revive His people, to provide for our needs, open our eyes to His truth, and raise us up as His witnesses in this day when His churches have drifted from His great salvation.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 146 (Hallelujah! What a Savior!: Man of Sorrows)
Praise the Lord, my soul, give praise! While I live, His Name I’ll raise, 
and exalt Him all my days –God forever reigns in Zion!

Trust we not in prince or man – no salvation’s in their hand; 
death shall take them, breath and plans – God forever reigns in Zion!

Blessed are they whose hope resides in the Lord, Christ at His side. 
By Him heav’n and earth abide – God forever reigns in Zion!

He is faithful evermore; He gives justice to the poor, 
feeds the hungry from His store – God forever reigns in Zion!

Jesus sets the pris’ner free, heals blind eyes that they may see, 
lifts those burdened painfully – God forever reigns in Zion!

He the righteous loves the best; wand’rers in His grace are blessed;
needy ones in Him find rest – God forever reigns in Zion!

But the wicked who defame His eternal blessèd Name,
them He brings to ruin and shame – God forever reigns in Zion!

T. M. Moore

Where do the prophets fit with the rest of Scripture? How can I be a better student of God’s Word? Our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, can help you gain a better approach to and understanding of the Scriptures. Watch this brief preview video, then register at The Ailbe Seminary and enroll in this free online course.

Forward today’s lesson to some friends, and challenge them to study with you through this series on Isaiah. Each week’s lessons will be available as a free PDF download at the end of the week (click here). Get a copy for yourself and send the link for the download to your friends. Plan to meet weekly to study Isaiah’s important message.


If you value Scriptorium as a free resource for your walk with the Lord, please consider supporting our work with your gifts and offerings. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button  at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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