Gods Word For You

  • God's Word For You is a free Bible Study site committed to bringing you teaching and studies firmly grounded in the Bible, and the Bible's answers to your questions.


  • All God's Word For You Bible Studies are written from a reformed, conservative, evangelical perspective that upholds the historic fundamentals of the Christian faith.

  •  

    God's Word For You acknowledges that God exists, that He loves us with an incredible love, and that He has spoken and continues to speak to us in the Bible, his written Word.

  •  

    This site affirms that God has provided in and through Jesus Christ his eternal Son, a way of forgiveness in which we can live in his presence guilt free, acquitted and at peace.

› ‹

  • Home
  • The Author
  • Copyright
  • Links
  • Sitemap
  • Search
  • Books
  • Polls
  • www.godswordforyou.com

Our Site

  • Home
  • Bible Studies
    • Amos
    • Assurance of Salvation
    • Colossians
    • Colossians Verse by Verse
    • Corinthians
    • Developing Christian Community
    • Ephesians
    • Galatians
    • Genesis
    • Gospel of Mark
    • Hebrews
    • Isaiah
    • Job
    • John's Letters
    • Knowing Christ
    • Knowing God
    • Lord's Prayer
    • Lord's Prayer Short Studies
    • Marriage
    • Matthew
    • Old Testament Overview
    • Peters Letters
    • Philippians
    • Prayer
    • Romans
    • Salvation
    • Salvation and the Work of Christ
    • Satan and Demons
    • Suffering Revisited
    • The Gospel of John
    • The Holy Spirit
    • The Miraculous
    • Who is Jesus
    • Worship
  • Revelation
    • Introductory Notes
    • Revelation - the Big Picture
    • Overview of Revelation
    • Studies in Revelation
    • Worksheets
    • Appendices
    • The Theology of Revelation
  • The Church
    • Missional nature of the Church
    • Egalitarian or Complementarian?
    • A Christological Model of Gender Roles
  • Women
    • Women of Faith
    • A Woman of Excellence
    • Women in the Church
  • Individual Studies
  • How To ...
    • Deal with false teaching
    • Deal with Guilt
    • Study the Bible
    • Understand the Bible
    • How to Prepare Bible Studies
    • Defend and Define the Faith
  • Message Outlines
  • Answers
  • Glossary
  • Living for Jesus
    • Setting Biblical Foundations
    • Knowing Yourself
    • Managing Yourself
    • Spiritual Disciplines
    • Witness and Evangelism
    • Christian Ethics
    • Serving in the Church

Thought For The Week

THOUGHTS FROM ISAIAH

THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL

Isaiah’s first accusation against the people of Israel concludes with the charge:

‘They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him’ [1:4].

Such accusations continue:

‘… they have … spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel’ [5:24].

‘Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!’ [37:23]

The God whom Israel has rejected, the God whom they have despised, is ‘the Holy One of Israel’.

This title points to the utter uniqueness of God: he is not one god among many gods. He is totally distinct from all else – totally separate from the created universe, and totally separate from the gods created by man. He is the God who alone is God. There is no other ‘god’ with whom he can be compared: he is ‘the Holy One’ – the separate one, the only one of his kind.

Thus Isaiah’s message contains repeated reference to this total otherness of God:

‘To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? …
To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Says the Holy One’ [40:18,25].

‘Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from met here is no saviour’ [43:10,11].

‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God …
Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one’ [44:6,8].

‘… there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Saviour;
there is none but me’ [45:21].

‘I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me’ [46:9].

It is this fact that renders Israel’s rejection of God so horrendous: in doing so they have rejected the only God who really is ‘God’ and have put in his place human ideas of god, counterfeit gods. Of these counterfeit gods Isaiah says:

They are man made and dependent on man [40:19,20; 41:7; 44:12-20; 46:6,7]
They know neither the past nor the future [41:22,23]
They are less than nothing, utterly worthless [41:24]
They are ‘but wind and confusion’ [41:29].

Not only are these counterfeit, substitute gods worthless and detestable, but they also rob those who worship them of their true identity and dignity:

‘… he who chooses you is detestable’ [41:24

‘Those who speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant …’ [44:9]

‘They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see
and their minds closed so they cannot understand’ [44:18]

‘They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves’ [Jeremiah 2:5].

To belong to the Holy One of Israel, to be in positive relationship with the Holy One, is to be ‘holy’ – set apart, separate, belonging to God, his treasured possession –

‘For you are a people holy to the LORD your God’ [Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2].
‘… the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour’ [55:5].

It was belonging to the Holy One that made Israel ‘holy’. It was God, the Holy One, who had created the nation of Israel out of nothing, redeemed them from slavery, given them glory. In rejecting and despising the Holy One of Israel they have rejected and despised not only God but also the identity and glory which they derived from God.

What relevance does this have in the twenty-first century?

Today we do not have to look far to see the increasing corruption and degradation of the human. God has, for the most part, been rejected, and in rejecting God, in despising all knowledge of God, humans have robbed themselves of the unique dignity and identity bestowed by God in creation and that unique glory that derives from a positive relationship with God.

Today, as in the days of Isaiah, the challenge of Isaiah’s message must be proclaimed:

‘Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near’ [55:6].

Only with such a repentance can God be rightly honoured; only with such a repentance can humans again be truly glorious.

© Rosemary Bardsley 2014, 2023

NEW STUDIES

  • John's Final Command
  • John's Final Statement
  • THREE TRUTHS ABOUT BELIEVERS
  • Confidence in Prayer
  • Who do you think you are?
  • Thoughts
    • Back to Basics
    • Christmas
    • Encounters with Jesus
    • Ephesians
    • Following Jesus
    • Gospel Freedom
    • I make all things new
    • Isaiah
    • Issues
    • John's Letters
    • Parables of Jesus
    • Principles and Priorities
    • Promises
    • Salvation in Colossians
    • Salvation in Ephesians
    • The Cross
    • The Gift of Righteousness
    • The Great I AM
    • The Passion of Christ
    • Thoughts from Peter's Letters
    • Thoughts from the Revelation
    • Thoughts from Romans
    • Thoughts from Psalms
    • Thoughts on Creation
    • Thoughts on Prayer
    • Thoughts on the Church
    • Thoughts to live by
    • Understanding Grace
    • What is God like
    • What is human
    • Worldviews

© 2001 - 2023 Copyright God's Word For You - Rosemary Bardsley.

godswordforyou.com acknowledges that God exists, that He loves us with an incredible love, and that He has spoken and continues to speak to us in the Bible, his written Word. Over and above all, this site affirms that God, in a manner totally contrary to how we would think and act, has provided in and through Jesus Christ his eternal Son, a way of forgiveness in which we can live in his presence guilt free, acquitted and at peace.

Back to Top