Monday – September 9, 2024, Elul 6, 5784
DO NOT HOLD BACK
Video link: https://youtu.be/zysxhVGUtLM
Greetings dear friends, partners, and followers of this Ministry and The Three Minute Word. The Lord is good and greatly to be praised. Dear ones we are so blessed to have the whole of the Word of God, light for our path. These people in the time of Isaiah did not have what many today unfortunately take for granted. The featured picture is of an old Church in the State of New Mexico. These Church pictures are to remind us to pray for the Church, your local Church and the greater Church.
Now, let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible Text diving into chapter 58 of Isaiah. Please continue to read out loud, yes, out loud, you know why.
Isaiah 58:1-3 (NASB)
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.
As we delve into this 58th chapter of Isaiah we see that it has much about fasting. In general fasting is taught as abstaining from food, in total, in part, and variable lengths of time. The Chapter starts with God talking to His Prophet, Isaiah, then as we enter verse three there is a transition of God talking to Isaiah and He starts talking to His people through the Prophet Isaiah. In the first verse the Lord instructs Isaiah to speak loud and not to soften the message at all. We all have a filter of the flesh, perhaps, otherwise known as bias, which if we are not careful can modify how (tone, volume, inflections, emphasis) the message is delivered and even the exact wording of the message.
As we go into verse two, is any of this remind you of our day? I sure hope it does for our names are written all over it. The Lord says they (in the minds of the people) seek me every day, they say they delight to know my ways. They declare themselves as a nation of righteousness not having forsaken the commands of God. They ask for justice and delight in the nearness of God. The Lord is about to unmask that this is all a fiction in their own minds.
In verse three the Lord then recounts their complaints against Him. They say they have fasted (abstained from food) and nothing happened, apparently, He did not see. The Lord’s response is that their minds are in other places and they drive those who work for them mercilessly. Consider what the Lord spoke through Titus in the New Testament.
Titus 1:16 (NASB)
16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
Does all of this remind you of something that Jesus spoke about?
Matthew 15:7-9 (KJV)
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here tomorrow. Remember, we love you, the Lord loves you, and there is nothing you can do about either one.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
REMINDERS
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