Today’s Reading: Isa 42:10–43:28, Luke 16:1–17:10, Job 9:25–35
Today’s Theme: Look to see
We need to look in order to truly see. If we do not open our eyes and look, how can we see? We need to hear the word and should give thanks to Jesus our mediator.
Isaiah 42:10–43:28
Look to See
Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! (Isaiah 42:18, ESV)
Today’s Old Testament passage is so full of rich truth but we will only be focusing on one point.
Yesterday we looked at the prophecy of the servant of the Lord, who would bring deliverance to Israel and the world, this is Jesus. We read about Him again today in the early part of our passage but now the servant being spoken about is Israel as a nation.
God calls them to attention and it sounds like a contradictory statement, asking the deaf to hear and the blind to see.
This is the point, we may hear and see many things but miss the message God is giving us because we are not actually paying attention. We need to consciously decide to look, to linger and think about what we are looking at and have our ears open to listen to God’s message.
Look in order to really see and listen in order to really hear.
Much of the rest of today’s passage is speaking about God’s faithfulness and love towards Israel and their restoration which we are seeing in our own day. Let’s pray that they would look and see right past religion and tradition to see the God who loves them and the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Luke 16:1–17:10
Hear the word
And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” (Luke 16:30–31, ESV)
This parable makes clear to us the reality of the afterlife and the suffering of hell. The sinful nature of the rich man in hell has not changed and reveals itself in the simple words “No”.
Abraham had told the man that his brothers had the words of Moses and the prophets and that through these words they could escape hell. The man refuses the simple submission to the word of God as the solution, he proposes the fantastical idea of someone rising from the dead with tales of woe.
The fact is one did rise from the dead, Jesus, and yet men remain unrepentant. The problem is what we noted before, they have ears but do not listen and eyes but do not see.
We pray today that sinners would not look for stories of people who have apparently seen heaven or hell but would instead listen and pay attention to the gospel found in the Bible.
There is a lot more to consider from today’s New Testament reading including being faithful in little, walking in forgiveness, having faith and being dutiful servants.
Job 9:25–35
Jesus the mediator
There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. (Job 9:33, ESV)
Although some of Job’s context was wrong and his understanding of the character of God was skewed, seeing Him as a heartless, capricious judge when in fact the Old Testament often speaks of His mercy and loving kindness. It is however true that until Jesus came there was no mediator between man and God.
We give God thanks that we do have a mediator, God’s servant, Jesus.
From 17th until 23rd August the Daily Bible Reading notes will take a shorter summarised format for the summer break.
Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.