Days of Grace in Action, C. R. Oliver [the red fox clan txt] 📗

is preaching (commanding) to the nations. Notice also, the reason is that His people are "glorified." The Glorious Church is to command the nations, for they are drawn together by God's power resting upon that body (Isaiah 55:5). 

Verses 6-9 
"Seek the Lord" and He will abundantly pardon. (In the next few chapters such pardon will be seen in abundance.) Verse 6 is the heart of the gospel appeal. Jesus said, "Ask and it shall be given you, Seek and you will find, Knock and it shall be opened to you." When men seek the Lord and find Him, they willfully cast off their sins and banish their wicked deeds. This is the plan of God for redemption and the plan reflects His way of being and doing. 

Verses 10-13
Verse 11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. His Word is the only infallible word.

My Word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it. 12 You will live in joy and peace.

Who sends His Word out? He does. Once sent, it accomplishes all He intended. It finds favor and prospers everywhere He sends it. The end result is joy and peace for His people. One would think there would be more joy and peace among Word people than there is! 

The sower and the seed.
Jesus taught about the sower and the seed. He pointed out how briars and thorns seek to keep the Word from being effective, but in these verses, His Word overcomes the briars and thorns. The difference is this--Jesus was talking about broadcasting the Word to all hearers. In this passage, God is addressing His people. (O' how the Word prospers in His chosen ones!) 

Chapter 56
The first eight verses seem disjointed from the remainder of the chapter. I believe this is because the chapter break should begin with verse 9 and be connected to Chapter 57. As we have dealt with this passage earlier, there is but one other point which must be made.

Isaiah 56:7-8
7 I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer. 

"I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for My Temple shall be called 'A House of Prayer for All People'!" 8 For the Lord God who brings back the outcasts of Israel says, "I will bring others too besides my people Israel." 
TLB

This is the spiritual Temple of His Grace. God has not occupied the Temple at Jerusalem since He departed it in Ezekiel. MY TEMPLE is now in the hearts of man and His dwelling is in the Temple above. Examine these verses for the "I" passages. Note who He brings, "the outcasts of Israel," and joins to others. National and religious Israel did cast His people out and as the Gospel Word prospered, the heathen (Gentiles) were brought in. There is room in His Temple for you and me. 

Chapter 57
The last few verses of Chapter 56 are reasonably joined to those of Chapter 57. A change of tenor is noted in that the Lord reveals His Grace in the face of their demeanor.

Isaiah 56:9 to57:1
9 Come, wild animals of the field; come, tear apart the sheep; come, wild animals of the forest, devour my people. 

10 For the leaders of my people--the Lord's watchmen, his shepherds--are all blind to every danger. They are featherbrained and give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie there, love to sleep, to dream. 11 And they are as greedy as dogs, never satisfied; they are stupid shepherds who only look after their own interest, each trying to get as much as he can for himself from every possible source. 

12 "Come," they say. "We'll get some wine and have a party; let's all get drunk. This is really living; let it go on and on, and tomorrow will be even better!" 
TLB

Pardon me, but is this a commentary on modern leadership? It sounds to me that God is saying, "Those Shepherds, who could have prevented the ravishing of my flock, were too interested in other things to do their job?" THAT is the exact case today! The wild animals (devourers) have every right to come against His people, for the gate has been left open. O, I wonder will this text ever be preached?

Isaiah 57:1, 2
The good men perish; the godly die before their time, and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. 2 For the godly who die shall rest in peace. 
TLB

So, now we know a principle of heaven!

Isaiah 57:3-58:1
"But you--come here, you witches' sons, you offspring of adulterers and harlots! 4 Who is it you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! 5 You worship your idols with great zeal beneath the shade of every tree and slay your children as human sacrifices down in the valleys, under overhanging rocks. 6 Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them, and they, not I, are your inheritance. Does all this make me happy? 7 You have committed adultery on the tops of the mountains, for you worship idols there, deserting me. Behind closed doors you set your idols up and worship someone other than me. This is adultery, for you are giving these idols your love instead of loving me. 9 You have taken pleasant incense and perfume to Molech as your gift. You have traveled far, even to hell itself, to find new gods to love. 10 You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. You strengthened yourself and went on. 11 Why were you more afraid of them than of me? How is it that you gave not even a second thought to me? Is it because I've been too gentle that you have no fear of me?

12 "And then there is your 'righteousness' and your 'good works'--none of which will save you. 13 Let's see if the whole collection of your idols can help you when you cry to them to save you! They are so weak that the wind can carry them off ! A breath can puff them away. But he who trusts in me shall possess the land and inherit my Holy Mountain. 14 I will say, 'Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones. Prepare a glorious highway for my people's return from captivity.'" 

15 "The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts. 16 For I will not fight against you forever, nor always show my wrath; if I did, all mankind would perish--the very souls that I have made. 17 I was angry and smote these greedy men. But they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired. 18 I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them andcomfort them, helping them to mourn and to confess their sins. 19 Peace, peace to them, both near and far, for I will heal them all. 20 But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still, but always churns up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace," says my God, "for them!
TLB

Beginning in Isaiah 57:3, the Lord changes His focus to the general public (whom the leaders have left as prey for the ravenous wolves). God calls them witch's sons, illegitimate children, children of liars and sinners. These "offspring of deceit" never stop searching for idols and new religions. 

God asks the question: "Have I been too gentle?" 

Because many pursued man-made righteousness and did good works, they felt justified in their endeavors. (They probably took up money for orphans; started charitable foundations, campaigned for the environment and ran relays to raise cash for veterans. They attended rallies and supported candidates they felt were worthy. They probably gave to the poor and needy and even had accurate scales in business.) God said He smote these evil men because "they went right on sinning, doing everything their evil hearts desired." 

Right in the middle of God's appraisal of the public, He breaks loose with grace passages that apply to the truly righteous.. The latter half of verse 13 and all of 14 and 15 constitute a much different tone. The Lord offers them a different outcome.

He who trusts in me shall possess the land and inherit My Holy Mountain.

I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell.

I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant heart.

Surprisingly, God extends His grace to the charlatans He knows are gross sinners. After telling them He is aware of their transgressions, He says, "I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway!" Grace is like that! God looks into the future and sees them repent and turn to Him. Grace is forward looking. God says He will heal them, lead them, comfort them and help them. Indeed, "God is good and His mercy endures forever." 

Chapter 58 
The title of the opening lines of this Chapter should be "Just look at them now." It is one thing to see into the future and call those things that be not as though they were, but it doesn't necessarily change the "nasty now and now."

Isaiah 58:1-2
Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell My people of their sins! 2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws--just as though they would obey them--just as though they don't despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services! 
TLB

Does this sound familiar? 

Could these verses apply to modern Christendom? Actually, these worshippers exceed modern ones. Isaiah is describing the "religious hypocrite (The Judas principle)." 

Isaiah uses the "straw man" method, by having the subjects offer their paucity hypothetically. (I can imagine Isaiah adjusting his voice and mockingly offering their statement of faithlessness.)

Isaiah 58:3ff
We have fasted before you,' they say. 'Why aren't you impressed? Why don't you see our sacrifices? Why don't you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don't even notice it!' 
TLB

All the elements of sound religious practice are proffered (shown in bold type), and the subjects are amazed that God is not "blown away" with their efforts. Any church official would ascribe these activities as being "top notch," but what does God say? He doesn't answer their prayers, but He does answer their argument.

Isaiah 58:4-5
I'll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. 4 Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with Me. 5 Is this what I want--this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?
TLB

The Lord then defines a fast and what is acceptable to Him. Why would He do this? The culture and society of that day had re-defined almost every aspect of the spiritual field. The same is true today. The Rabbi's of redefinition have taught the people "their view of what is acceptable to God."

Isaiah 58:6-7
6 No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat