Guidance and Encouragement from Isaiah

By Dionne Laborde

Guidance and Encouragement from Isaiah is an exploration of some of the verses found in the prophetic book of Isaiah. Some scriptures were chosen from Isaiah and other books as well that were interpreted for encouragement and guidance. God’s Word is full of encouragement. And when we find that light, we should try to shine it on others. Isaiah is the one Old Testament prophet who spoke a lot about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Thus, there is so much hope found in Isaiah. Take this journey and discover what God said through Isaiah, and your life will never be the same—for the best.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685264789

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction

Isaiah's Calling

The Promise of the Coming Messiah

God Helps Those Who Hurt

The Blessings from Righteousness

The New Earth

Positive Affirmations

References

About the Author

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Guidance and Encouragement from Isaiah

Dionne Laborde

ISBN 978-1-68526-477-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68526-478-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Dionne Laborde

All rights reserved

First Edition

Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission of Zondervan.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

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To God, my Father, my Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, thank You for all You have done for my family and me.

Introduction

I have often read the book of Isaiah in the Bible for comfort and encouragement. Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet before Jesus was born. God called Isaiah to lead Judah and Israel, His people, back to Him, as they were in great sin. When reading the Old Testament, I often look at Israel and wonder if I have offended God the way they did. Essentially, I am trying to learn from their mistakes, so I will know what displeases God. I am also trying to learn the things the Israelites did that pleased God and how He blessed them as a result.

While reading the Old Testament of the Bible, I have a glimpse of the relationship between God; His people, Israel; and other nations. I can see immediately the bond God had with His people, Israel, because they were the seed of Abraham. God honored His covenant with Abraham and with Abraham's descendants, including his grandson, Jacob, who was first given the name Israel.

So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak. When the Man saw that He had not prevailed against Jacob, He touched his hip joint, and Jacob's hip was dislocated as he wrestled with Him. Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But Jacob said, I will not let You go unless you declare a blessing on me. So He asked him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked Him, Please tell me Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And He declared a blessing [of the covenant promises] on Jacob there. So Jacob named the place Peniel (the face of God) saying, For I have seen God face to face, yet my life has not been snatched away." (Genesis 32:24–30)

It was through Jacob's wrestle with God trying to get blessed that Abraham's descendants, through Jacob, received the name Israel. And God eventually became known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also, Jacob and his son Judah were in the lineage of Jesus. Thus, Jacob became very blessed, the very thing he wanted when he wrestled with God. The nation of Israel was and is the most blessed people because of their special relationship with God. God has always honored His covenant with the Hebrews, but many of them failed Him miserably during the times of the Old Testament. And prophets, like Isaiah, were called by God to lead the people back to righteous living. God is always the faithful One, the Holy One, and the righteous One and never stops loving His children. God just waits for the prodigals to come back to Him. It is important not to judge Israel because everyone has failed God in their lifetime. However, we have a new covenant relationship with God because of Jesus. Now we are at peace with God and righteous through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

However, it is still fascinating to read the history of the relationship between Israel and God as there is so much to learn and explore. In this book, I will highlight some of the encouragement God spoke through Isaiah to the people of Judah and Israel and to the world today. For when God blessed Israel, all the Gentiles (non-Jews), who are in Christ, received those blessings too.

Isaiah's Calling

To understand why so much blessing was coming to Israel and Judah, we must start with the need for the blessing. The people needed help because they could not be righteous in their own doing. (In fact, it is impossible for anyone to be righteous in their own strength.)

Isaiah was among other classical prophets during eighth century BC (1). Isaiah prophesied to the four kings of Judah: Uzziah (Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. His oracles comprehended the extremities of the prophetic message, which rabbis called ‘words of comfort' and ‘words of reproof,' with varying degrees of counsel in between (1).

Isaiah was called by God to prophesy to Judah and her kings.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple. Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings: with two wings he covered his face, and with two wings he covered His feet and with two wings he flew. And one called out to another, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is filled with His glory. And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the alter with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, "Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? Then I said, Here am I. Send me! And He said, Go tell this people: Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.' "Make the heart of this people insensitive, their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their Ears, Understand with their hearts, And return And be healed. (Isaiah 6:1–10)

An Old Testament scholar named C. Hassell Bullock wrote about Isaiah's sinful past and encounter with God in his book, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books:

His self-image, cut from the same fabric as Israel's, was that of a man of unclean lips. And having seen the vision of the Lord sitting on His throne in majestic glory, proclaimed by the seraphim as thrice holy, he keenly sensed the judgment of God on his personal condition (Woe is me, for I am ruined! For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, 6:5). At Isaiah's confession, which was at the same time a plea for pardon, the seraph's cleansing touch with a coal from the alter removed the prophet's sin and extended the range of his hearing past the seraphim's hymn of the threefold holiness of God (trisagion) to the voice of Yahweh Himself: Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? (6:8). Forgiven and summoned to a mission for the Lord, Isaiah responded with the unembellished, Here I am. Send me! Yet when the Lord had detailed the awesome assignment, the prophet's Lord, how long? exposed the deep trauma he felt over a mission with such dreadful prospects of failure (6:9–11a).(1)

Isaiah was willing to be sent to prophesy to the lost, wicked kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. Judah was in such great sin that God compared them to Sodom and Gomorrah. Judah had some evil kings who led the people into idolatry and sin. The sins of Judah were many: idolatry was practiced all throughout the land; the wealthy oppressed the poor; the nation spent a lot of its wealth on the military; the daughters of Zion were proud and walked with outstretched necks and seductive (flirtatious, alluring) eyes all through the streets and had mincing steps and an affected gait (2). There were many who rose early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink then stayed up late in the night until wine inflamed them (2). They had lyre and harp, tambourine and flute, and wine at their feasts; but they did not regard nor even pay attention to the deeds of the Lord, nor did they consider the work of His hands. Many justified the wicked by acquitting the guilty for a bribe and then took away the rights of those who were righteous (2).