The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 220: Prophecy Fulfilled (2023)

Episode Date: August 8, 2023

Fr. Mike points out that the prophecy from Isaiah 61 is fulfilled by Jesus (as described in Luke 4). In Ezekiel, Fr. Mike draws our attention to the importance of the Sabbath as the sign of the covenant with God. The readings are Isaiah 61-62, Ezekiel 20, and Proverbs 13:13-16. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation. Discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today, it is day 220. Well done. We are reading today from Isaiah 61 and 62.

We only have, counting today, four more days left of Isaiah. We have Ezekiel chapter 20. It's a longer chapter. And we also have Proverbs chapter 13, verses 13 through 16. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking

on subscribe. And that's all we're saying about that because it's day 220 and we're reading Ezekiel chapter 20 and Isaiah 61 and 62 and Proverbs 13 verses 13 through 16. The book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 61. Good tidings for the afflicted. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion,

to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancientified. They shall build up the ancient ruins. They shall raise up the former devastations. They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Aliens shall stand and feed your flocks. Foreigners

shall be your plowmen and vine dressers. But you shall be called the priests of the Lord. Men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Instead of your shame, you shall have a double portion. Instead of dishonor, you shall rejoice in your lot. Therefore, in your land you shall possess a double portion. Yours shall be everlasting joy. For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself

with jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Chapter 62, The Vindication and Salvation of Zion. For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. until her vindication goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication and all the kings your glory. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed forsaken and your land shall no more be termed desolate. But you shall be called, My delight is in her, and your land married. For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. Upon your walls of Jerusalem I have set watchmen all the day and all the night. They shall never be silent. So shall your God rejoice over you. his right hand and by his mighty arm. I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored. But those who garner it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.

Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. And they shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And you shall be called sought out, a city not forsaken. The book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 20, Israel's continuing rebellion. In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat before me, and the word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them,

Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of their fathers and say to them, thus says the Lord God. On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them saying, I am the Lord, your God. On that day, I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. And I said to them, cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves

with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God. But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me. They did not every man cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the

wilderness. I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live. Moreover, I gave them my sabbaths as a sign between me and them that they might know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, but rejected my ordinances by whose observance man shall live. And my Sabbaths, they greatly profaned. Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness to make a full end of them.

But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, because they rejected my ordinances, and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols. And I said to their children, the Lord, am your God. Walk in my statutes, and be careful to observe my ordinances, and hallow my Sabbaths, that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I,

the Lord, am your God. But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes, and were not careful to observe my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live, they profaned my sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness, but I withheld my hand, and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their father's idols. Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they could not have life,

and I defiled them through their very gifts gifts and making them offer by fire all their firstborn that I might horrify them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord. Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, thus says the Lord God. And this again, your fathers blasphemed me by dealing treacherously with me. For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give them, then whenever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering.

There they sent up their soothing odors and there they poured out their drink offerings. I said to them, what is the high place to which you go? So its name is called Bama to this day. Wherefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go astray after their detestable things? When you offer your gifts and sacrifice your sons by fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you,

O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. What is in your mind shall never happen. The thought, let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone. God will restore Israel. As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. And there I will

enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God. I will make you pass under the rod and I will let you go in by number. I will purge out the rebels from among you and those who transgress against me, I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn,

but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, Go, serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me, but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols. For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel,

all of them shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts with all your sacred offerings. As a pleasing odor, I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples

and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country which I swore to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all the doings with which you have polluted yourselves. And you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,

says the Lord. A Prophecy Against the Negev And the word of the Lord came to me, Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land in the Negev. Say to the forest of the Negev, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I will kindle a fire in you and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it. It shall not be quenched. Then I said, Ah, Lord God, they are saying of me, Is he not a maker of allegories?

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 13, Verses 13-16 He who despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who respects the commandment will be rewarded. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death. Good sense wins favor, but the way of the faithless is their ruin. In everything a prudent man acts with knowledge but a fool flaunts his folly father in heaven we give you praise and glory we thank

you so much for this day and thank you for your word thank you for this opportunity to be together and thank you for constantly calling us back to yourself. Thank you for constantly, gosh, Lord, your word in Isaiah of promise, your word in Isaiah of consolation, your word in Isaiah of yes, destruction and horrible things have to happen, but it's all so that we can come back to you and you can bless us. So help us come back to you and please bless us this day. Especially bless the members of this community, God, who stand in particular need of your help right now. Who stand in particular need of our prayers and stand in particular need of your grace.

Give them your grace this day and every day. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Okay, gosh, you guys, Isaiah 61, 62, so phenomenal. I keep saying this and I apologize for this, but in our lectionary, like again, the list of readings that we read at Sunday masses and daily masses, chapters 61 and 62, like Isaiah is read a lot

in these places in the lectionary. And so it's all so, so good and so powerful and also in many ways so familiar. But one of the things that is so helpful for us is the context. And the context is incredible because say, for example, chapter 61 begins with the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted, sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, broken liberty to captives, opening a prison to those who are bound, a year of favor of the Lord's favor, and vengeance of our God. You can read the whole thing, I guess. But this is Jesus, when he goes into the synagogue in Luke chapter 4, this is what he picks up. And he reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and saying that this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing this day. And you guys, we've been

on this journey for 220 days. And so we know, like, we know that this has been hundreds and hundreds of years in the making all the way to Isaiah. And then even hundreds of years after this, finally, Jesus walks into that synagogue and he says, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing today. And we just realized, oh my gosh, Lord God, what an incredible gift in Luke chapter four verses 18 through 19, um, verses 18 through 19 that this scripture is fulfilled in Christ and so what is it it's all about blessing good tidings for the afflicted is the subtitle of chapter 61 and it goes on about I the Lord what I hate robbery hate wrong

I love justice I hate evil you know this these things I love goodness I therefore I hate evil. You know, these things. I love goodness. Therefore, I hate sin. And therefore, I will faithfully give them the recompense and I'll make an everlasting covenant with them. And again, just highlighting God's promise to make an everlasting covenant at the last supper. What does Jesus say? This is the takes up a chalice of wine and transforms it by his power of his word and the Holy Spirit into the sacrament of his blood. And he says, this is the blood of the new and eternal covenant, the everlasting covenant, which is just incredible and such a gift for us. Now going on in chapter 62, this is like, again, one of those places where the context helps us so much because remember, this is Isaiah preaching and this is Isaiah speaking

in the Lord's voice. And he's saying, Isaiah 62, for Zion's sake speaking in the Lord's voice. And he's saying, Isaiah 62, for Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until her vindication goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication and all the kings, your glory. Now, remember context. You guys, we've been journeying for so long with Isaiah and all this destruction, all this divided kingdom and all of these, you know, the Assyrians coming in, getting

pushed back, but now here, the Babylonians coming in and doing their damage. And we recognize that here's the prophet and God, you know, speaking through the prophet saying for Zion's sake, I will not keep silent for Jerusalem's sake. I will not rest. Why? Because Zion is being under attack. Jerusalem is under attack. And he's basically saying so powerfully, yes, you have a crown of beauty.

You should be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. No more shall you be termed forsaken or your land desolate, but you shall be called. My delight is in her and your land married. And that is just, ah, it's worth just reflecting on this, that Lord has sworn that he's going to rejoice over you. He says, so shall your God rejoice over you. One thing I skipped over in chapter 61 is the switcheroo. And the switcheroo here is God says, switcheroo is a technical biblical term. He says, grant to those who mourn in Zion, I'll give them a garland instead of ashes. Like I'll give them a crown, right? A royal diadem instead of ashes. Ashes are a sign of mourning. Garland is that

sign of joy, right? It's a sign of, here's a wedding festival. An oil of gladness instead of mourning. And the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. And just think of those three switcheroos, right? Garland or crown instead of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit that they may be called oaks of righteousness. And it's just what a gift that God is promising to his people in this way. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel chapter 20, it's a long chapter, obviously. And in it, the Lord of the Lord is coming to Isaiah to speak to those elders who have presented themselves before Ezekiel saying, okay, what does God have to say to us? And it's almost one of those

situations where God is like, how dare you? And he gives them a synopsis, right, of their lives, the synopsis of the people of Israel. And here are all the places. I chose you and you're unfaithful. I chose you again and you're unfaithful. And I chose you again and you're unfaithful. You rejected my ordinances. You did not walk in my statutes.

And this key thing in chapter 20, and this is gonna be significant for Ezekiel and for the entire Bible, but talks about, and you also profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols. Now, I don't know if you noticed this, but in chapter 20, and also throughout Ezekiel, we noted this a day or two ago, the power and the importance of Sabbaths, and of keeping the Sabbath, and recognizing how important this not only was for the people of Israel, but how important it is for us, Christians. Now, obviously,

I think we might've mentioned this at some point in the last 220 days, Sabbath, Shabbat, Shabbat is the number seven, right? So it denotes not only Saturday, but also denotes the word covenant. It's the same word. And so it's the number of covenant. And Lord God says through Ezekiel today that the sign of my covenant is the Sabbath, that the sign of the covenant of covenant worship. Remember this, you become family with each other when you make a covenant with each other, become family. So I made a covenant with you, says the Lord God with his people of Israel.

And the sign of that is Sabbath. The sign of that is you get to rest. The sign of that is you're no longer a slave. And the sign of that is you take that time and you worship me on this day. And so we recognize the importance of the Sabbath because it is a sign of the covenant, sign of the fact that, no, I'm in relationship with God.

And this is why we can't just overlook this and say, well, that was Saturday, that was the Old Testament. But you know, Christians, we worship God on Sunday. There's a whole reason for that. It's because that day of the Lord's resurrection, the Lord's day has surpassed, has become the new Sabbath, right? It's become the new day of creation because it's the eighth day. But it still is a sign of the covenant for us to worship and to rest on Sundays. The people of Israel that Ezekiel is speaking to, preaching to, and the Lord God is

talking, you know, in many ways, giving them a talking to. It wasn't just because they were doing evil things to each other. It wasn't just because they were being unjust, although that is one of the accusations leveled against them. It's also because they did not walk in my ways, says the Lord God. In my my Sabbath they greatly profaned. And I think it's worth it for us to just recall that for ourselves and ask the question, okay, the two primary tasks of Sabbath is to worship and to rest. To worship, meaning to live as someone who belongs to the Lord, and to rest, meaning someone who is not a slave. And I get to ask myself this same question is, do I live like that?

Do I live Sabbath? Do I live Sunday like this? Is it truly the Lord's day where I give him the worship he's asked for and I enter into rest, not resentfully and not gloomily and also not legalistically, but freely? Remember, you're not a slave. You get to be free. You get to rest on Sunday. Now, I mentioned this before, but you can see with the emphasis that Ezekiel and the rest of the Bible, of course, places on Sabbath, you can see that the Pharisees were not like

the evil ogres who got it all wrong in terms of wanting to keep the Sabbath holy, but they missed out on the heart of the Sabbath, as we mentioned before. So keeping that in mind, we're still called to keep the Lord's day holy. And we do that by giving him the worship he's asked for and by entering into rest. And sometimes in such a great way that rest can involve family. It can involve friends. I know that there are many people who are alone on weekends and alone on Sundays, and they go to church by themselves, and they sit by themselves, they pray by themselves, they go home by themselves. And that, please, if that's you, know that my prayers are with you, and the prayers of this community are with you too, because you're not alone. You're not alone. You're part of this community, and we are praying for each

other, and we are praying for you, especially in those lonely times, especially when those lonely times have become difficult times. We are praying for you and we're praying for each other. Please, please pray for me because as I said, I'm praying for you. My name is Father Mike and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you