10 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Message: The Power and Infallibility of Scripture
Time: Isaiah prophesied from 739–681 BC to a nation that had turned a deaf ear to the Lord. He wanted to see the nation of Judah return to serving God with humility and love for their neighbors. But he was called to pronounce judgments to on a people offering meaningless sacrifices in the Temple and committing injustices throughout the nation. It provides the most prophetic picture of Jesus in the entire Old Testament.
What the Lord is Saying:
Scripture is God-breathed meaning that it is inspired by God and this means that He actually spoke through each writer and the words penned in Scripture are considered the words of God. Yet each Word still represents the personality of the author. Scripture speaks to man and provides him with everything that he needs in life. It serves as the foundation for every situation man may find himself in and it equips man for every good work. This Word completes man. Without, we are incomplete.
Scripture has the highest authority in life. I think many understand this and this is why interpreting scripture has become such a big deal and defines many religions today. But the Word of God is consistent. Scripture holds a greater authority than any man-made structure.
In these verses in Isaiah he records that Word will not return void. The Word of God has no chance of failing. It is 100% useful each time. This doesn't mean that every person achieves salvation because many hearts are hardened toward the Word of God and God. But even that hardening is complete. It is true that God loves the world, but the entire world does not accept the things of God. And God makes this clear in His word.
Isaiah 55 is an entire chapter chronicling the promises of God. It provides an invitation to the feast and the promise to Israel and then the preparation of the feast, namely repentance and the encouragement to it because of God's faithful promises. It makes mention that man can come to God and receive what He needs. What He needs most of all is to be restored to God. In verse 3 - Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you. God promises a promise to His people to be their God. He tells us to come to Him and this promise will be realized.
The wicked have the promise that God will restore them. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him. We are all fragile in our sin. We are all ashamed of our mistakes and the results those mistakes have on our lives. We know we are being disobedient. God makes it clear that if we forsake our way and admit our sin then the Lord will return to us and have compassion. When we are sorry, he forgives us. I think this is hard for us to accept many times because we are deep in our own thoughts of who we are and we think who we are is too great of a problem for God. But God then declares - My thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor are your ways My ways. Again, we are to trust for God's ways are not man's ways.
In all of these truths of God rescuing us, God restoring us, God declaring to us that we are loved and we are His as we come to Him, He makes it known that His word is complete. My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. It will accomplish its purpose. People always want a visual of God, but God has given us a visual in His word. The written word provides us what we need, all that we need. It is complete.
Promise: While the Word of God is spoken to fallible humans it was spoken by an infallible God, so that it does not teach falsehood. It is either all right or all wrong, but there is no middle ground.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the truth of Your Word and thank you that I can see you in this word. I can know about a person by reading words written by him. I do this throughout my life. I don't need pictures, but the words make a picture. You have given me all that I need, my need is simply to trust in You and trust that You are complete, and God's word is complete. I love discovering the Word because it often surprises me of the clarify of it when I read it. Like on Sunday at church, and studying a simple passage and how it comes alive and we all walk out of the service amazed of the clarity of the Word of God. It is because God we have met You and we have seen you and experienced You and know you better. We have received what we need. We thank you for this and how you speak through fallible men your perfect ways. You are great Lord, great indeed and we praise Your name.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with February being about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve.
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