Insights from Isaiah: Part 5

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

The Cornerstone

In biblical times, construction engineers used several specialised components and tools. Jesus of Nazareth would have been familiar with these because he was a carpenter by trade, and in those days, a carpenter was a master construction worker and not just someone who made wooden furniture. We, too, need to be at least familiar with key construction elements because they have become incorporated into the scriptures as symbols of truth concerning both Jesus, the church of which he is the head, and our Christian lives.

Isaiah 28:16-19 mentions three of these symbolic construction elements: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line”’

The Measuring Line was a thin rope giving the workers a true horizontal line on which to build. You see this today when a bricklayer stretches out a measuring line for every row of bricks he needs to lay. This rope can be marked with precise units of measurement so that the wall built can be to the exact length required. The Plumb Line is a thin rope with a weight at one end used to give the construction a true vertical dimension. The Cornerstone is the most important component of all. It is a large rectangular rock cut with great precision and served as the foundational corner of the construction. The first two walls start from the cornerstone and, using the measuring and plumb lines, form the accurate and sound basis for the whole building.

Old Testament Symbolic Applications

In the prophet Isaiah’s time, the cornerstone was a potent symbol for the coming Messiah who would be the foundation of the Kingdom of God. The measuring line and the plumb line were symbols of the divine building standards of the kingdom, justice and righteousness. The cornerstone also came to stand for the Law of God and the Temple of the Lord.

Although not explicitly stated, most scholars accept that King David wrote Psalm 118. Verses 22 and 23 of this Psalm read, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord; it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it’. HCSB Now this adds a significant detail – the cornerstone selected by God was rejected by his entrusted builders, but later became the foundation of the Messianic kingdom. Then, almost exactly 1,000 years later, Jesus Christ, God the Son, stood before the errant builders of the kingdom, the Pharisees, and said: ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes?‘ (Matthew 21:42). The Pharisees understood full well that Jesus was referring to himself as the chosen cornerstone and themselves as the faithless builders.

A New Understanding of the Symbolism of the Cornerstone

The Lord Jesus Christ, the messianic cornerstone of the Kingdom of God, not only applied the symbolism to himself but gave it a new and significant meaning.

The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote in Romans 9:31-33; “Israel, pursuing the law for righteousness, has not achieved the law. Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written: Look! I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over, and a rock to trip over, yet the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame.” Here Paul was saying that the Jews tried to find salvation (righteousness) by obeying the law rather than by accepting Jesus as saviour and Lord. He was drawing a contrast between works and faith. To do this he blended Isaiah’s words of Isaiah 28 with what the prophet wrote in verse 14 of chapter 8; ‘For both houses of Israel he (God) will be a stone that causes men to stumble.’

God, himself, is either a cornerstone on which to build or a rock over which people stumble!

The Apostle Peter also made use of Isaiah’s words when he wrote, ‘Coming to Him, a living stone – rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God – you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: Look! I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and valuable cornerstone, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame! So the honour is for you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected – this One has become the cornerstone, and A stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that trips them up.’ 1 Peter 2:4-8 HCSB

So there you have it! Jesus is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God’ Not the Law, not good works, but faith in him alone is THE cornerstone on which the eternal kingdom stands.

Building or Stumbling in Modern Days

All major world religions, including Judaism, are based on the foundational concept that right standing with God and humanity is achieved either through meritorious works or adherence to a religious system of law, or both.

True Christianity, on the other hand, is based on the foundational belief that spiritual life and right-living is in and through Jesus Christ. Not law, and not good works, but by faith in Jesus as God incarnate and the only way into the eternal kingdom of God.

Now this is offensive to religions of all kinds. This why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:23, ‘We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.’ Jews cannot accept that the promised Kingdom of God is built not on law, ritual, and right living, but on the person of God incarnate himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. The very thought that Jesus is God has always been a blasphemous offence to them, an offence worthy of death … even death on a cross! To the Greeks, it was just a foolish idea that did not conform to their norms of philosophy and humanistic logic.

Things haven’t changed much. In today’s society, where truth is subjective and personal at best, speaking about ‘god’ is marginally acceptable, but speaking of Jesus is seen as judgmental, narrow, and prejudiced. Speaking about religious things is generally regarded as acceptable if boring and irrelevant. Speak about Jesus as the way, the truth, the life and the only way to the Father, however, and you get a very different reaction. Just to strengthen my point, my language checker picked up the following words from the previous paragraph ‘now this is offensive to religions of all kinds’ and tried with bold purple underlines to convince me to change it to ‘Now this isn’t very respectful of religions of all kinds.’ Say no more!

The Depth of the Cornerstone

In ancient times, the cornerstone of a building lay on a flat foundation, but the metaphorical cornerstone contemplated in this article starts under the surface. At its deepest level lies the radical recreative act of the Holy Spirit that Jesus referred to as the New Birth. Without this, ‘salvation’ is nothing more than a religious term for a realignment of certain values.

At the next level of the cornerstone is Jesus-centred biblical interpretation. For Jesus to be the cornerstone of our lives, we need to correctly understand the bible’s revelation of who he is, what he said and did, and what he reveals of the character and nature of the Godhead. Further, we need to interpret all of scripture through the lens of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Amazingly, so many Jesus-followers do not understand the importance of this foundational level of our Faith.

Almost all accept the inspiration and authority of the bible yet feel free to interpret it any way they like. I have written a lot on this, and HERE is the most complete.

The metaphoric cornerstone breaks the surface where Jesus provides the model for how to live and minister. At a moral and ethical level, the Lord Jesus is our example of right living. However, he also acts as our model of how to minister to others in the power of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, this aspect is often ignored by Christians other than those who self-describe as Pentecostal or Charismatic. I have written much about this, too, and you can find one such article HERE.

The Church Built upon the Rock

A final aspect of Jesus as the cornerstone I would like to touch on is how this relates to the church. Jesus is the cornerstone of eternal life (salvation), of the scriptures, of moral, ethical, and ministry life, and also of the church.

Paul wrote, ‘You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.’ ( Eph 2:19-22)

This says it all!

A One-passage Summary

I have already quoted 1 Peter 2:4-8, but I repeat it here as a wonderful summary of what I have been discussing in this article.

Coming to Him, a living stone- rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God – you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: Look! I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and valuable cornerstone, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame! So the honour is for you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected – this One has become the cornerstone, and A stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that trips them up.’

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Insights from Isaiah: Part 4

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

Hello again. This time, I want to share insights into just one passage, as it is a little longer and more complex than usual. However, I think it is important that we understand this passage of Isaiah because it says important things about the nature of God, yet the way it is commonly translated nowadays is confusing.

Isaiah 6:9-10 “Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise, they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed”.

(From Holman Christian Standard Bible.)

When I first read it, this passage confused me. Isaiah had just said to God that he was available to be sent by him to the nation of Israel to speak as his prophet. God then commissioned him to tell the people that Yahweh would dull their minds so that they would not understand what God was saying to them. Why? Because he did not want them to turn to him and be healed?? Say what now?! This doesn’t sound much like the redemptive God I know. You know, the one the prophet Nehemiah interceded for because he knew that the Almighty was gracious and merciful? (Neh 9:31)

However, all I needed to do to clear my confusion was to see how Jesus understood the divine commission to Isaiah. When the Lord walked among the people of Israel, he used a lot of parables to teach them. On one occasion, when his disciples asked why he spoke to them in stories, Jesus answered: “The reason I use parables in talking to them is because they look, but do not see, and listen, but do not hear or understand. So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: “This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see, because their minds are dull and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.” Jesus quoted the passage from Isaiah that puzzled me, but now, thanks to him, I could understand the meaning of what Isaiah recorded. The Prophet was not presenting God’s will for his people, but simply stating their recalcitrant condition.

Even his disciples did not understand the intended meaning of the parable. It is also clear that he was not saying that their lack of understanding was God’s will for them, because he immediately taught them what his parable meant. Because: “Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer sowing grain …” (Matthew 13:18).

Later, as recorded by John (16:29) the disciples confirmed that his parables usually left them scratching their heads because they exclaimed “At last you are speaking plainly and not in parables.”

There are untold numbers of professing Christians today who also do not understand the Isaiah passage, and the reasons for this provide two important lessons for all of us. Here they are:

They lack understanding of the Triune God’s nature and character. If we read Isaiah 6:9-10 as it is translated in the NIV, HCSB, and ESV, which are three of the most widely read versions of the bible, without raising immediate objections, it reveals our concept of the Almighty. If God is good all the time, perfect love and light, then would he really say what these translations say? The option that God had judged his people and was now imposing punishment is just not tenable. In fact, that same prophet, Isaiah, spent the last seventeen chapters of his writings setting out the most wonderful promises of a future hope, God’s love and comfort.

So, foundational to sound biblical interpretation is the truth that the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5) God is GOOD and JUST all the time.

The second lesson for us is that failure to grasp that Jesus is central in everything, even biblical interpretation. In the current case, Jesus quoted the exact passage, and so it’s easy to see how he understood the Isaiah passage. Sure, we could argue that Jesus was quoting from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), but that doesn’t make any difference. In Matthew, Jesus frames his response to the disciples in the context of the people of Isaiah’s day not having revelation, whereas they, the disciples, did have revelation. This revelation is, of course, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when we cannot match a passage of scripture to something Jesus addressed directly, we can always deduce it from what he said, did, and revealed about the nature and character of the Godhead. You see, all who are born again of the Spirit of God have been given access to the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven through the written Word of God (the bible) and the living Word of God (Jesus Christ). “As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear. I assure you that many prophets and many of God’s people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.” Matthew 13:16-17 TEV

Therefore, God is good and Jesus is central; these two foundational facts must inform our understanding of the scriptures.

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Insights from Isaiah: Part 3

1 Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

First Insight

Isaiah 1:18-20: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken NIV

This is a well-known text, but I want to highlight something you may not have considered. The statement comes just after a divine castigation of Israel. God tells his people that he is sick of their insincere offerings; “Stop bringing me meaningless offerings!.” He tells them that he cannot bear their evil assemblies and that their festivals have become a burden to him. He even tells them that when they pray he will not listen to them. He concludes by making it very clear what he expects them to do: “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

The Lord then says something that no co-called deity of the ancient world would have said: “Come let us reason together.” He tells them that he is prepared to make their ‘bloody’ sins as white as snow… IF. And this is what I would like to point to in this passage: IF they are willing and obedient, he will reward them abundantly, but IF they resist and rebel, then they will be ravaged by war. God was allowing them to decide for themselves, to choose his way by exercising their wills.

Since the days of John Calvin, there has been much debate in the church as to whether we have meaningful discretion or whether everything we think and do is divinely predetermined. Yet, right here in the Old Testament is a clear divine call for people to decide for themselves. God himself placed a choice before them and called on them to decide which of the two options they would choose. Of course, we also all know that right at the very dawn of human existence, our creator God placed a free-will choice before Adam in the form of the fruit of a special tree. (Genesis 2:16-17)… And we know how that played out!

Did this all suddenly change when the Lord Jesus incarnated and introduced a New Covenant? Clearly not! Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem , Jerusalem , you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37) He gave the rich young ruler the choice to follow him (Matthew 19:16–22), he gave the woman caught in adultery a choice (John 8:1–11), and he gave the paralysed man at Bethesda a choice (John 5:1–9). Jesus addressed the Jewish leaders with, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40).

Moreover, he didn’t change his mind at the time of the Protestant Reformation when Calvinist pre-determinism became popular?! No amount of clever verse-picking and philosophical argument even comes close to proving that Paul’s teaching overwrote the Lord’s and reversed an eternal key principle.

So then, for me, a key takeaway from this passage is that almighty and all-powerful God is prepared to reason with his people and give us enough decision-making capacity to decide whether or not to heed him and obey. However, there are consequences to the decisions we make, especially if they are wilfully disobedient.

Second Insight

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” HCSB

I think the best way to understand the prophet’s use of the word ‘woe’ is as a solemn and heart-breaking warning of impending disaster and even divine judgment. Jesus addressed the Scribes and Pharisees of his day many times with this word. They were doing what the prophet Isaiah warned of; they were calling evil, good and what was good, evil.

In our times, we have religious leaders and preachers who also do this, and so woe to them. We also have politicians who do this on a grand scale. Woe awaits them as surely as night follows day. However, when I read the prophet’s warning to the people of his day, my mind extends beyond the purveyors of lies, misinformation, and ‘darkness’, to those who aid and abet them … and that could be us!

Is it possible that sometimes we pass on their lies and confusion? If we do, then I am sure it is not out of a desire to harm or spread evil, but rather through our woeful lack of fact-checking and critical thinking. A story pops onto our newsfeed, or a friend forwards something on WhatsApp or Facebook, and we just share it without much, if any, thought. We fail to think about the content of the communication, even at a common-sense level, and we seldom, if ever, make a serious attempt to check its source and fact claims. In failing to do this, we are aiding and abetting those who call evil good and good evil. It is not a pleasant thought, but one worth considering seriously. If you would like something to help you think through this modern-day woe, then click on https://truthistheword.com/how-to-evaluate-truth-claims/ or https://truthistheword.com/how-to-fight-fake-news/

Third Insight

Isaiah 2:22 “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?”

The phrasing here is almost poetical, but the New Living Translation makes the meaning very clear with “Stop putting your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. How can they be of help to anyone?”

We all put trust in people and their work countless times a day. We accept a lift from a friend and tacitly put our full trust in them not to cause us injury or even death. Then there are the people who manufactured our friend’s car … and the mechanic who last serviced the brakes!

However, I don’t think this is the class of trust to which Isaiah refers. The context here is God versus human beings as our primary source of trust.

The question is, do we trust primarily in God or something or someone else? In Old Testament times, pagan people trusted their imaginary regional gods like Moloch, Baal and so on. In many third-world countries, many people trust in their departed ancestors for blessings and benefits. In more Western-oriented cultures, the choice is between God and science, technology, wealth and power. So perhaps for most people reading this post, a paraphrase of what Isaiah wrote could be “Stop trusting in man-made philosophies and human products, which are all as frail as breath. How can they be of help to you?”

The question that occurs to me, though, is, in what ways do I evidence my trust in God rather than myself or others? I can think of many, but here is just one. When confronted with a choice between biblical truth and the opinion of others, which do I choose? Sometimes the teachings of scripture are clear, but often the bible just presents us with principles. “Do not steal” is a command and not just a suggestion (Romans 13:9). However, what about biblical principles such as Proverbs 11:1: “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is his delight.”? So, overcharging someone because you think they won’t notice is not the same as pickpocketing? Think again. We are all faced with life situations that are not regulated against in scripture, but are covered by biblical principles. To violate a principle is surely akin to disobeying a command. When we are guilty of either, are we not, in effect, failing to trust God and his ways? On the positive side, when we obey a biblical injunction or comply with a scriptural principle, we are displaying our trust in God.

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Insights from Isaiah: Part 2

1 Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

Insights from Isaiah Part 2

In my last article, I mentioned that I had asked an AI to identify how Isaiah portrays the nature of God, and that in this current article, I would reveal what it had to say – here it is:

Perplexity’s understanding of God’s nature and character

“The prophet Isaiah reveals God’s character and nature through deeply personal and relational qualities that showcase His heart toward humanity. Rather than merely describing divine functions, Isaiah presents God as possessing profound emotional and relational characteristics that define His very essence.

God’s Tender-Heartedness and Compassion

“Isaiah presents God as fundamentally tender-hearted and compassionate, particularly evident in the second half of the book. The opening of chapter 40, “Comfort, comfort my people,” establishes God’s tender nature as He speaks gently to Jerusalem. This tenderness is beautifully illustrated in Isaiah 40:11, where God is portrayed as a shepherd who “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young“. This image reveals God’s complete harmony with those He carries, like a parent whose heartbeat calms a restless child.

God’s compassion is rooted in His covenant bond with His people. In Isaiah 63, multiple fatherly characteristics emerge – compassion and kindness, love and mercy, lifting up and carrying, providing rest and guidance, and tenderness. The text reveals that God’s heart yearns for His people, declaring, “Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore, my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him”.

Fatherly Love and Devotion

“Isaiah reveals God’s character as a devoted Father who maintains unwavering love despite His children’s rebellion. In Isaiah 63:16, the people cry out “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” This passage demonstrates that even when earthly patriarchs might abandon their descendants due to sin, God’s fatherly love remains constant.

God’s fatherly character includes delight in His children. He genuinely likes His son, delights in him, remembers him, and has great empathy for him. This paternal love is not merely dutiful but filled with genuine affection and pleasure in His people. The Father’s heart is revealed as one that sacrifices to redeem His children, buying them back like any good father would sacrifice his means to rescue his child.

Loving Correction and Discipline

“Isaiah presents God’s character as including loving correction that flows from His fatherly heart. In the opening chapters, God calls heaven and earth as witnesses, saying “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me“. This reveals the pain of a loving parent whose children have turned away despite His nurturing care.

God’s discipline is characterised by patient persistence. Even when His people rebel and provoke His anger, He continues to call them back to relationship. His correction reveals both their true heart motives and His own heart, showing how He feels about their sin while maintaining His love for them. This discipline is described as coming from “inexpressible love” and “love of complacency and delight” that remains “invariable and unchangeable” even under affliction.

Faithful Remembrance and Loyalty

“God’s character is marked by faithful remembrance of His people. Even when they forget Him, He declares through Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands“. This reveals a God whose memory of His people is more reliable than the strongest human bonds.

His loyalty transcends human understanding. While earthly relationships may fail, God’s covenant faithfulness endures. His mercies are “renewed every morning,” demonstrating the consistency of His loving character. This faithful nature is evident in His promise to restore and redeem, even after judgment has fallen.

Gentle Guidance and Provision

“Isaiah reveals God’s character as marked by gentle guidance. He “gently leads those who have young,” showing special consideration for the vulnerable and those carrying a burden. His guidance is not harsh or demanding but accommodating to the weakest members of His flock.

God’s provision flows from His shepherd heart. He knows the needs of His people intimately and provides accordingly. His care extends beyond mere physical needs to emotional and spiritual comfort, speaking “tenderly to Jerusalem” in her time of distress.

The Antithesis: Divine Grief and Righteous Anger

“Isaiah also reveals the painful emotions God experiences when His character is rejected. He experiences genuine grief when His children rebel against Him. This is not the anger of a tyrant but the heartbreak of a loving Father whose children have chosen destructive paths.

God’s righteous indignation emerges when His people persist in rebellion despite His patient love. In Isaiah 1, He expresses frustration that even animals know their master while His people “do not know” and “do not consider”. This anger is not vindictive but flows from His love being spurned and His children harming themselves through their choices.

The Integration of Justice and Mercy

“Isaiah’s genius lies in showing how God’s tender mercy and unwavering justice are not contradictory but complementary aspects of His character. His justice flows from His love – He cannot allow His children to destroy themselves through sin. His mercy provides the way back through redemption and forgiveness.

The prophet reveals that God’s character encompasses both the pain of necessary discipline and the joy of restoration. He is simultaneously the God who must address sin and the God who provides comfort and healing. This integration is perfectly demonstrated in the suffering servant passages, where God’s justice and mercy meet in sacrificial love.

Through Isaiah’s revelation, we see a God whose character is fundamentally relational, emotional, and deeply invested in the wellbeing of His people. His nature is not distant or mechanical but warm, personal, and profoundly loving, even when that love requires difficult correction.”

Some observations

The way AI, in its current stage of development, works is that it searches its vast database and the Internet, and then logically deduces its answer from all that information. Its response consists mainly of a filtered summation of the consensus of its available data. That is very useful, but a major caution is that the AI shapes its response, to an extent, by the wording of the questions posed.

In my case, I qualified my enquiry with; “Instead of describing divine functions like ‘judge’ or attributes, like ‘holiness’ rather identify and expand on God’s character and nature in terms of qualities like tender-heartedness, loving, truthfulness, fatherly correction etc. and any antitheses of these you may identify”. So, if I had primed Perplexity with negative characteristics such as wrathful, vengeful, petty, disingenuous, devious, etc. then would I have got back something very different?

Well, guess what, I did just that, and here is what came back:

‘Isaiah’s portrait of God reveals a complex, emotionally rich character rather than a distant or abstract deity. In chapters 1–39, God is depicted as wrathful and passionate, expressing intense anger against injustice and covenant betrayal. His vengeance is not petty or vindictive but is driven by a desire to restore justice and protect His people. God’s jealousy is protective, and His patience is evident—He is slow to anger but decisive when action is needed. Importantly, Isaiah never portrays God as petty, capricious, or disingenuous; His actions are always purposeful and rooted in justice.

In chapters 40–66, Isaiah shifts to reveal God’s tenderness and compassion. God is shown as deeply comforting, nurturing, and merciful, offering forgiveness and restoration to His people. He is faithful to His promises, reliable, and gentle, even likened to a nurturing mother. God’s mercy is profound, as seen in the figure of the suffering servant who bears the sins of others.

Throughout both sections, Isaiah emphasises that God is neither indifferent nor devious. He is emotionally invested in humanity, combining fierce commitment to justice with genuine compassion. God’s qualities—righteous anger, steadfast love, and unwavering honesty—are integrated, not contradictory. Isaiah’s God is not small-minded or cruel but is intensely committed to both justice and redemption, offering a vision of divine character marked by both holy passion and boundless mercy.

My understanding of God’s nature and character, as portrayed by Isaiah the prophet, is very similar to what Perplexity produced in response to both my original query and its later qualification. God is:

Tender-hearted and compassionate
Devoted to his children
Loving in correction and discipline
Faithful and loyal
Gentle in guidance
Generous in provision
Experiences and expresses grief and righteous anger when he is rejected and rebelled against
Expresses intense anger/wrath against injustice and covenant betrayal

What stands out to me is that God is manifestly good and loving towards his children, and that this devotion moves him to anger and just correction towards the people or things that are not in the best interest of his children.

These are the qualities and characteristics that make God GOOD. We get confused when we separate divine anger, wrath, correction, retribution, and so on, from his overwhelmingly displayed love and kindness. Even when he punishes, God provides for forgiveness and restoration.

Now, where do we see the nature and character of the Holy Trinity on full display? Yes, of course, in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Last Word

I have written on this and similar subjects, and you can find them in on truthistheword.com. Here is one that amplifies this current post: https://truthistheword.com/god-is-good-all-the-time/

I have also taken a little more of your time than I usually do, because I think that the matter of God’s nature and character is probably the most profoundly important subjects imaginable. If God is not good then the bible lies in its declarations when it states that he is love and light. If his character is flawed then he is not God at all, but just an illusionary god of religion and human folly. If God is not good then salvation is a myth and there is nothing more to life than this life here and now. If God is not good then we have no basis for hope and true happiness. So, please settle this matter in your own minds and spirits once and for all… God is good all the time and in every way!

Insights from Isaiah: Part 2 Read More »

Insights from Isaiah: Part One

2 Comments / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

Insights from Isaiah Part 1

There are many books of the bible that I love, but two stand out as my favourites, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New Testament. The Gospel of John fascinates and inspires me, and the book of Isaiah, from my earliest Christian years, has been a ‘place’ where I often ‘hear’ the Holy Spirit speaking to me.

The book of Isaiah is a unique work in several ways. It has 66 chapters, as the bible has 66 books. What is more, it is divided into two sections. The first 39 books reflect the themes of the Old Testament, and the second 27 correspond to the New Testament.

These correlations are not just incidental or artificial. Since the days of the Church Fathers, and more clearly since the medieval period of the church, the first part of Isaiah has been called ‘The Book of the King’, and the second part ‘The Book of the Servant’. Most scholars of all ages have seen these titles as referring to Isaiah’s prophetic insights and prophecies concerning the coming King of Kings, and paradoxically, the coming of a suffering servant who would save Israel from her bondage.

The Thematic Correlations

The correlations go deeper in that the first part of the book focuses on national identity, covenant rebellion, and judgment. The second part of the book has a strong emphasis on hope, redemption, and salvation. The first verses of Chapter 40 read, “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and that her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her in full for all her sins.” NLT

Unsurprisingly, it is impossible to pair each chapter in Isaiah to each chapter in the bible. However, the first books of both the Old and New Testaments do tie together in significant ways. For instance, both Genesis and Isaiah Chapter One begin with a form of cosmic courtroom scene. Then, Isaiah 1:2 invokes heaven and earth to witness Israel’s rebellion, echoing something of the great rebellion portrayed in Genesis. Then, Matthew 3:1-3 connects with Isaiah 40:3 with: ‘In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'”

There is also a connection between Isaiah 43:10-12 and John 20:30-31:

Isaiah – “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me, no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no saviour. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed.”

John – ‘Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

There is one last correlation I want to point out – it has to do with how the book of Isaiah and the last book of the bible (The book of Revelation) end. Isaiah concludes with “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord,” so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.’ The book of Revelation expands on this in Chapter 21.

The Shrine of the Book

During my third trip to Jerusalem, I visited a building on the Israel Museum campus called The Shrine of the Book. It was built in 1965 to house the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in the year of my birth, 1947. Its centrepiece is a replica of the Great Isaiah Scroll, dating back to about 150 years before Christ. The actual scroll, housed in the vault, is over a thousand years older than the next oldest complete Hebrew Bible manuscripts. Moreover, its text is nearly identical to the modern version of Isaiah, offering evidence for the accuracy of biblical transmission over the centuries.

The book of Isaiah is, in my opinion, the jewel of the Old Testament and is quoted or alluded to 85 times in the New Testament. From the Gospels to Revelation, Isaiah’s voice echoes through time and impacts us powerfully over 2,200 years after it was penned.

How this series will continue

I started by saying that Isaiah has been a source of personal inspiration, comfort and direction for me over the years. I know I am not alone, so I will not be focusing on the passages and verses that have become familiar and treasured for so many. Instead, I will pick up on lesser-known passages or familiar ones that contain insights that some may not have discovered.
An exercise for you
I have always found it more meaningful and exciting to discover things in scripture rather than have someone else point them out. So, I invite you to read through the book of Isaiah (or listen to an audio version if you prefer). This will be much more satisfying for you if, instead of reading passively, you form some questions beforehand and then look for the answers as you progress through the book. Here is a suggestion:

I asked Perplexity AI to identify how Isaiah portrays the nature and character of God. Here is how its response started: “The prophet Isaiah reveals God’s character and nature through deeply personal and relational qualities that showcase His heart toward humanity. Rather than merely describing divine functions, Isaiah presents God as possessing profound emotional and relational characteristics that define His very essence.” So, perhaps you too would like to learn something of God’s nature and character through the eyes of Isaiah the prophet. I will start the next post in this series by reproducing what Perplexity had to say.

Until we interact again in this blog, God be with you and bless you with insight into who he truly is.

Insights from Isaiah: Part One Read More »

Christopher Peppler