Daily Bible Devotionals

“If you return, Israel – this is the Lord’s declaration –you will return to Me, if you remove your detestable idols from My presence and do not waver, then you can swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him and will pride themselves in Him. For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds.” Jeremiah 4:1-4 (HCSB)

Today’s chapter begins with a solemn call to repentance but quickly moves to an arresting prediction of judgment. Judah’s repentance must not be superficial; it must be sincere. “Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among thorns.”

It is a matter of fact that people do not surrender their lives to Jesus out of convenience.  Rather, they surrender out of desperation. Salvation is not an arbitrary decision. Nobody says, “I could go fishing today, or maybe I’ll follow Jesus.” Consider my salvation story. I grew up around Christians and heard the gospel hundreds of times but never responded. I felt I was doing just fine on my own and didn’t see where I needed to change anything.

But the Lord allowed difficult circumstances in my life, which “plowed my ground,” so to speak. My unresponsive, rebellious spirit was broken, and that season of broken desperation created the perfect “soil condition” for new seed. Before God’s “plowing,” my heart was full of deep-rooted cynical thorns. He prepared good ground for the good seed of His gospel, the perfect conditions from which to choose Him.

This is precisely what God does with Judah and Jerusalem in today’s chapter. He is commanding them to look past their outward religious appearance (or what’s left of it) and focus on the internal: their hearts. It is possible for one to go through the motions of religion: learn to speak, act, and serve in the manner of a true believer, yet to do so without having surrendered their heart to Jesus. As pertains to being a follower of Jesus, the “heart of the matter” is a matter of the heart. A true believer is, first, one inwardly. Their inward transformation motivates good works. The non-believer may do good works, but eventually, their core motivation will be exposed to be selfishly motivated, to be seen as righteous by men instead of pleasing the Lord.

Judah was beyond trying to appear righteous; they were openly idolatrous. They had abandoned God’s command for their lives to be consumed with His Word.  

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (HCSB)

The over-arching lesson today is that God is holy. He will righteously judge sin - even among His children - and He commands our hearts to be separate, undivided, and completely devoted to Him. “Echad” (One) as He is Echad.  Deut 6:1-5; John 17:21

“Return unfaithful Israel. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in My love. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You have scattered your favors under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice. This is the Lord’s declaration. ‘Return, you faithless children’ – this is the Lord’s declaration – ‘for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.’” Jeremiah 3:12b-15 (HCSB)

Unlike the discourse of denunciation in Chapter 2, this second prophecy is one of repentance with a message of hope for all who would return to the Lord. First, though, it also contains a solemn warning in the form of an object lesson.  

Judah knew the Lord had given Israel a “decree of divorce” (verse 8) for her idolatry. Yet she imitated Israel’s evil examples. Judah’s sin was worse because she had seen God’s punishment for Israel’s idolatry. Therefore, Judah could expect a similar discipline.

An attempt at reform had been made under the leadership of good king Josiah, yet Judah had not returned to the Lord with her “whole heart,” only in pretense. Certain outward forms of religion had been established, but there had been no true repentance and obedience. (verses 6-10)

While Judah awaited her fall and exile, the Lord turned to Israel with an offer of mercy to all who would return to Him.  Israel had been deported for many long years, but to His “wife” whom He had “put away,” there came a call to repentance and a promise of restoration. The Lord’s message is addressed to the wretched remnant of a fallen nation, but it constitutes a direct message of hope to Israel and an implied one for Judah. (and to us!)  She, too, might be restored to divine favor if she should return to the Lord.

It is important to note that restoration would be granted to a purified remnant. From this remnant, a new people of Israel would be developed and brought to Zion: one person from a city and two from a family. Not ALL Israel (or Judah) would repent, which is the crux of the apostle Paul’s statement:

“Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” Romans 9:6 (HCSB)

The kings of this remnant would “shepherd” the nation “with knowledge and understanding.” Religion, for them, would not be a matter of forms and symbols but an experience of the heart. Even the sacred Ark, which stood in the Holy of Holies “would neither be remembered nor replaced.” (Jeremiah 3:16). Jerusalem would be called the “throne of the Lord,” and all the nations would be gathered to it.

Interestingly, there is no record that the Ark ever returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exiles returned. Therefore, at Jesus’ crucifixion, when the curtain was torn in the Holy of Holies, it quite possibly revealed the Ark’s absence, as well as ushered in a new era where the Holy Spirit would reside in the hearts of men, teaching them the truth of God’s Word. Luke 23:45; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Mathew 23:8-10

“Has a nation ever exchanged its gods? (but they were not gods!)  Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. Be horrified at this, heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled. This is the Lord’s declaration. For My people have committed a double evil: they abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:11-13 (HCSB)

The Samaritans were “half-breeds”: part Jewish and part Gentile. When Israel returned (from their 70-year exile), the Samarians were not considered “Jewish,” and they were prohibited from worship at the Temple. Why? They were the living proof of Israel’s past apostasy. That is why the Jews hated them. The Samaritans were a constant reminder of Israel’s national sin of inter-marrying, which led to their idolatry. Today’s chapter is very similar to the first half of John, chapter 4: The Samaritan Woman at The Well. Compare Jeremiah’s (above) “living water” with Jesus’ use of the same imagery.  

“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. ‘Give Me a drink,’ Jesus said to her, for His disciples had gone into town to buy food. ‘How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ she asked Him. ‘For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.’ Jesus answered, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.’” John 4:7-10 (HCSB)

Furthermore, consider Jeremiah’s imagery of “virgin-turned-harlot” Israel in relation to Jesus’ revelation of the Samaritan woman’s five husbands...the same number of nations who had controlled Israel between Jeremiah and Jesus.

“Can a young woman forget her jewelry or a bride her sash? Yet My people have forgotten me for countless days. How skillfully you pursue love; you also teach evil women your ways.” Jeremiah 2:32-33 (HCSB)

“‘Go call your husband,’ He told her, ‘and come back here.’  ‘I don’t have a husband,’ she answered. ‘You have correctly said, “I don’t have a husband.”’ Jesus said. ‘For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’”  John 4:16-17 (ESV)

Jesus and this woman have a verbal exchange (John 4:19-24) about the Samaritan forefathers’ digging the well and commanding them to worship on a mountain other than Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. But Jesus tells her how, in the future, it won’t matter what mountain people worship on. Rather, they should worship in “spirit and in truth .”When we place our faith and trust in Jesus at the moment of salvation, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose ministry is to reveal the Word of God. Literally, we worship Him in “Spirit and Truth” when we read His Word, enabled by His Spirit, who reveals more and more of God to us each day.

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us?’  ‘I Am He,’ Jesus told her, ‘the One you are speaking of.’” John 4:25-26 (HCSB)

“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then said I: ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’ But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.’” Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NKJV)

We all have excuses for why we cannot follow God’s calling.  

Moses had an excuse.

“Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’” Exodus 4:10 (NKJV)

Isaiah had one.

“So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5 (NKJV)

Gideon had one:

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ Gideon said to Him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’ Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’ So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’”  Judges 6:12-15 (NKJV)

Do you struggle for the right words to share the gospel? Not a problem for God! (Luke 12:11)  Sinful lips? God has a fix for that. (Ephesians 4:22-24) Are you weak? His strength is made perfect in weakness! (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)   Too young in the faith to be taken seriously? Faith has no age limit. (1 Timothy 4:12-15)

So, let’s cut to the chase. What is your excuse for not faithfully responding to God’s call? I am not talking about the call to salvation. I am talking about how, now that we are saved, we must be willing to follow His leading: all day, every day. Let’s be about the tasks He ordained for us when He formed us in our mother’s womb!

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make will endure before Me” – the Lord’s declaration – “so will your offspring and your name endure. All mankind will come to worship Me, from one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, says the Lord. As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their maggots will never die, their fire will go out, and they will be a horror to all mankind.” Isaiah 66:22-24 (HCSB)

Having begun his prophecy with a statement of Israel’s sinful and apostate condition, Isaiah closes with a vision of the new heavens and the new earth.  

“Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.” Isaiah 40:1 (HCSB)

The word of “comfort” promised in chapter 40:1 has by now reached its climax. Throughout the exile, the true Jew lived inwardly as an inhabitant not so much of a foreign prison but of his own broken heart. The healing of that broken heart has come through the prophet’s evangelical insistence on the centrality of Messiah in the redemption of God’s covenant people. Jesus came to provide the atonement necessary for sinners to be reconciled to God.  

Isaiah portrayed God as the sovereign Lord of history and as the supreme Creator of the universe, powerful and majestic. He made the very planets that ignorant men were worshipping. He knows the end from the beginning, determining the outcome of the universe. In short, Israel’s exile was no accident but part of His plan. It was God’s punishment for Judah’s apostasy, but He arranged a way back for the remnant, those who remained faithful and believed through it all.  

Yet for all God’s power and holiness, He is also tender and gracious. This reality of God is lost on many “New Testament” Christians. That is, many people believe there are two “Gods” in the Bible. To them, the “Old Testament” God is angry and unappeasable. Their “New Testament” God is loving and gracious. Isaiah describes God in both terms. He is obviously holy and powerful…but also Israel’s Lover (43:4), their Mother (49:15), and their Husband (54:5). It is inconceivable – blasphemous even – to think that He would abandon his own people. “His people,” Isaiah is quick to point out, are those whose righteousness is counted to them when they believe, by faith, in Messiah. Nobody expects to see Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:25-33), Korah (Numbers 16:32-33), or Judas (Matthew 26:23-25) in Heaven…even though they are all Jews. Simply being Jewish does not ensure salvation. Only those who lived in faithful expectation-of (pre-advent) and faithful belief-in (post-resurrection) Messiah Jesus will be saved.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 (NKJV)

The good news of the gospel is that while salvation comes exclusively through Messiah, it is offered to men of all nations who will believe in Jesus by His grace through faith.

“I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said: Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by My name. I spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in the wrong path, following their own thoughts. These people continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in gardens, burning incense on bricks, sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating swine’s flesh, and polluted broth in their bowls. They say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come near me, for I am holy for you!’  These practices are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.” Isaiah 65:1-5 (HCSB)

The prayer for revival in chapter 64 is answered in the opening verses of chapter 65. God’s answer to Isaiah’s prayer for revival is of such magnitude that we are meant to learn from it and be thankful. Israel’s near-dead condition would not last long – at least, not as God measures time.

God’s answers to our prayers are sometimes in terms that surpass our understanding. Even though we struggle to think His thoughts (based on our comprehension of what we have read in the Bible), we must understand that His ways and thoughts are so different than ours, to the point that unless He reveals His thoughts, we could only guess them, at best.

It is possible to see the remaining two chapters (65-66) as the answer to the prayer of Isaiah 64.

“After all this, O Lord, will You hold Yourself back? Will You keep silent and punish us beyond measure?”  Isaiah 64:12 (NIV)

The answer, in part, is as follows: God will show Himself to a multitude larger than you can imagine. His people, though they may be in a pitiful condition at present, will be restored to prosperity. Even though Israel was chosen as God’s special nation, not everyone in Israel chose the Lord. (i.e., not every Israelite was a true believer)

“For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” Romans 9:6b (NIV)

What distinguishes the true community of God is not the division between Jew & Gentile but between those who “seek” God and those who “forsake” Him.  (65:10-11)

When the apostle Paul saw that far more Gentiles than Jews believed in Jesus, he faced a problem for which he needed a Scriptural answer. He found it in Isaiah’s prophecy, and he said so in Romans 10:20-21, where he quoted Isaiah 65:1-2. The obstinate Jews of Isaiah’s day (who were intent on pursuing their own ways) were cut off, whereas Gentiles – a nation who did not call on God – were grafted in. (Romans 11:22-24). Salvation has always come by grace, through faith, whether the believer is Jew or Gentile. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Matthew 21:43; Deuteronomy 32:5-6, 21)

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Isaiah 64. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“Look down from Heaven and see from Your lofty home – holy and beautiful. Where is Your zeal and Your might? Your yearning and compassion are withheld from me. You are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us. You, Lord, are your Father; from ancient times, Your name is our Redeemer.” Isaiah 63:15-16 (HCSB)

At the heart of Isaiah’s prayer is Israel’s need for revival. But what is revival? Today’s chapter brings out some important aspects of it.

First, the Lord makes His presence and power known suddenly and dramatically. All revivals are marked by a mysterious, irresistible sense that God is near. His power is felt in an awesome way – like the way He had shown Himself at the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Someone who witnessed a revival in the 1800s said, “It was so evidently the work of God that not a dog dared move his tongue!”

Secondly, revival has a sense of holy fear. When God comes down, the nations tremble. Pride and arrogance are humbled. Unbelievers are convicted of their sins; believers are humbled and worship the majesty of God. During the Great Awakening in the eighteenth century (in Britain and New England), entire nations were affected; leaders were raised up, laws were changed, patterns of life were altered, and places of sin were abandoned. When God moves, everything is affected by it.

Thirdly, revival is a display of God’s righteous rule. It is the “impotence” of the Church-at-large that necessitates the cry for God’s coming. Revival is the sovereign work of God. By that, I mean that unless God comes and comes powerfully, there can be no revival. George Whitefield made thirteen trips to America in his lifetime, but only on one occasion (1740-1742) did revival break out. On the other hand, after a period of unparalleled blessing in his preaching in Scotland, William Charles Burns went to China and labored faithfully for twenty-one years with little fruit. That is why we must pray for revival instead of solely working toward it.

Fourthly, revival is a display of God’s mercy. God had withdrawn from Israel, but only for a season. He was angry, and He stood outside the door of the Temple, so to speak. The people’s hearts were hardened, and they had grown insensitive to the demands of the Lord. Things had reached the point where it was hard to distinguish Israel from the other nations. Can the same be said of us believers today? You see, when we act as the nations, we are rebuked as the nations. Were it not for God’s mercy (not giving the fullness of the punishment deserved), we would be utterly destroyed in His presence!

Lastly, during revival, there is a sudden conversion of sinners in great numbers. Most recently, the “Jesus Movement” of the 1960s and 70s is an excellent example of such a rush of new believers. Could the Lord be leading us to read His Word daily (literally, thousands of people are reading the Bible w/us daily) because He is sowing in us the seeds of readiness for such a coming revival?

“I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem until her righteousness shines like a bright light, and her salvation like a flaming torch. Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the Lord’s mouth will announce. You will be a glorious crown in the Lord’s hand, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. You will no longer be called ‘Deserted,’ and your land will not be called ‘Desolate’; instead, you will be called ‘My Delight is in Her,’ and your land ‘Married’; for the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:1-5 (HCSB)

Chapter 62 opens with yet another poem in verses 1-5 in today’s passage. Commentators are divided as to who the “I” is. Some think it may be Isaiah himself. If that were the case, it would mean that the prophet would not rest until the things predicted came to pass. Of course, we know that was not the case.

Others argue that the Lord is speaking here, which is my belief. That means that God Himself will not rest until what He has promised is fulfilled. Having spoken, He is eager to bring it to pass. God is always like that, anxious to show us He can be trusted. He is utterly dependable. He will not rest until the salvation that He promised for His people is accomplished.

The righteousness of Zion alluded to in the last verse of chapter 61, will shine out like the dawn. This is what Jesus does for sinners:  He makes them shine. (Ephesians 4:18; 5:8) The counterpart of this picture is Malachi’s description of the coming of Messiah.

“…the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings…” Malachi 4:2 (HCSB)

The Church-at-large is Messiah’s bride. The wedding gown and jewelry of 61:10 now make way for her change of name. We are familiar with the concept that new wives change their names. So, it is here in Isaiah’s prophecy. She will be called “Hephzibah”. (My delight is in her), as opposed to “Deserted,” and the land in which she lived will be called “Beulah” (married) as opposed to “Desolate.” Any wonder that faithful believers pray earnestly the Lord will bring forth the wedding day?

This whole “change of names” theme is very much like the story of the prophet Hosea.

“When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him: Go and marry a promiscuous wife and have children of promiscuity, for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity by abandoning the Lord.” Hosea 1:2 (CBS)

Two of Hosea’s children’s names were: “No Compassion” and “Not My People.” Of course, Hosea’s God-commanded adulterous marriage (and its subsequent offspring) was a greater metaphor for Israel’s spiritual adultery. Isaiah’s message is similar to Hosea’s: When we repent, our identities change. Hence, God changes our names.