Author: Dave Dishman (Page 248 of 458)

When we say someone went all “old testament prophet,” we refer to them blasting a harsh (but usually deserved) message. Of the many old testament prophets who put punch in the phrase, few match Isaiah.

The Lord told Isaiah to walk around stripped and barefoot as a sign against Egypt and Cush. Isaiah obeyed, and lived three years without shoes and either totally naked, or with only a loin covering as he preached.

The Lord said: Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared.

Read the text—I am not making this up.

A street preacher with buttocks bared would get arrested today (except maybe in Boulder), but Isaiah endured and obeyed. Through long years of cold and heat and stares and derision, he persevered and delivered the Lord’s message. Old Testament prophets had to be tough.

Few if any Egyptians or Cushites took Isaiah’s words to heart. His actions appeared to be a futile exercise in dramatic street art. But even if no one turned to the Lord, everyone remembered Isaiah and his message—even if the remembering came too late.

At times the Lord nudges us in a direction that looks fruitless. We cannot imagine the end result, yet the nudging continues. Perhaps we follow through, and still don’t see any meaningful results. Does the Lord lead us down dead ends?

Ask Isaiah. He pulled off his britches (along with his dignity) and exhorted the masses for three years with no obvious results. Not to mention few friends and even fewer party invitations.

The Lord leads us into dead ends at times. Always for his purposes, although we may never discover them. That’s a hard part of the life of faith—just ask Isaiah.

Isaiah 20 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jonathan Farber

After a five minute ride into the bay, our guide dropped us in. The serene blue surface gave nothing away, but once submerged a new world opened before our eyes. We swam atop a massive underwater trench, lined with coral and filled with an endless array of living creatures. Brilliant colors of fish danced in the sunlight to create an otherworldly scene. Fins flashed in coral caves, while far below scuba divers emerged from mysterious fissures.

Snorkeling in Roatán, Honduras, proved the highlight of our family vacation, and indeed one of the most fantastic natural sights I’ve ever seen. I never dreamed of the glories to be found in the depths of a coral reef. Best of all, the deeper we went the better it got.

In the life of the believer, the Holy Spirit serves as our guide to greater depths.

The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along (I Corinthians 2:10, The Message).

Paul taught on the Holy Spirit, pointing out how only those with the Spirit—followers of Jesus—can truly understand the ways of God. Those who don’t believe yet, or turn away from the Lord, are on the outside. Without the Spirit one cannot possibly understand the Lord.

This very day I can ask the Holy Spirit to take me from flitting around on the surface to diving into the depths. Through the scriptures and those around us we’ll begin to fathom the Lord in refreshing ways.

Drop into the waters—a new world awaits.

1 Corinthians 2 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Shifaz Abdul Hakkim

It’s interesting to contemplate what counts as wisdom and what counters as foolishness in our world. For instance, is it wise, or foolish, to invest in crypto-currency? Time will tell, I suppose.

For many the way of Jesus shows like a bad investment. Paul writes, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Paul adds, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

The idea that God appeared on this earth in human form, then was murdered and buried and rose from the dead, sounds ludicrous on first pass. What a foolish message to preach. People look at you cross-eyed.

But Paul preached it. Peter and Priscilla and Aquila preached it. Men and women preached it over the centuries and across the continents. Everywhere this message is met with either skepticism or incredulity or indifference or hostility—or welcomed as the power of God.

For those of us who preach this message, it’s tempting to smarten it up a bit. Make it a little more palatable, add a clear-coat. On first glance it’s an ugly message—I’m perishing, I’m foolish, I’m weak and I’m lost, separated from my Creator. God offers only one way out—this crazy story about Jesus.

But when it dawns on us that we’re stranded in an ugly place with no way out, then the foolishness of the cross starts to look like the power to save. Then Christ Jesus becomes for us wisdom from God—our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

That’s foolishness we can count on, live in, and share with the world.

I Corinthians 1 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jack B

Big yellow buses parade though my neighborhood as schools reopen their doors. Most kids seem excited to get back and see friends they’ve missed over the summer (and most parents are super excited to send their angels out the door). But in nine months, those same kids will eagerly anticipate summer break.

A school term is only one situation with an anticipated end day. I counted the days down to the finish of a semester, all the way through college. Later I looked forward to the end date of jobs, and I knew exactly when to pick up my paychecks.

Isaiah recorded a prophecy against the neighboring kingdom of Moab with such specifics: But now the Lord says; Within three years, as a servant is bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.

Not many biblical prophecies carried such an exact timeline, and within three years the invasions of Moab started. No mention of any Moabites taking Isaiah’s words to heart, but I’m sure folks paid more attention to Isaiah. He nailed it.

Or rather, the Lord nailed it. We can count on the words of the Lord, good or ill. When the Lord speaks, take notice. Of course, the issue becomes—how do we know what the Lord is saying?

We don’t run into prophets like Isaiah roaming about, but we do hold in our hands the writings of all the prophets, as well as Jesus and his disciples. If you want to know what the Lord says, that’s the place to start.

Just as Isaiah spoke to his people, the Lord speaks to us through his word. And like the Moabites tragically understood, we can count on the fulfillment of his promises.

Isaiah 16 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya