Author: Dwight Clough

… even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. — 2 Chronicles 26:19 The MessageKing Uzziah obeyed God. He became powerful. His country became powerful. Then pride carried him away, and he entered the temple to burn incense — something strictly forbidden to anyone except God’s priests.The priests confronted him. He became enraged. God judged, and Uzziah spent the rest of his life leprous.This passage caught my attention because it reminded me that God always has a million options at His disposal. I recently was in a discussion with someone about the free will of man and…

"… If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." — Isaiah 7:9-11King Ahaz was a wicked king (see 2 Chronicles 28). War was brewing and he had reason to be afraid. His kingdom was being beat up right and left. He looted the LORD’s treasuries to forge an alliance with Assyria. But Assyria took the loot and bullied Ahaz. In the midst of all this turmoil, the LORD reaches…

Also, at that time, people will say, "Look at what’s happened! This is our God! We waited for Him and He showed up and saved us!" — Isaiah 25:9 The MessageWhy does God make us wait? I think it has something to do with value. Some of our brothers and sisters are suffering — some of them suffering beyond our comprehension. I wish I could free them from their suffering now, today, this very moment. But I cannot. Some are experiencing what the world would call a string of bad luck. Nothing seems to go right. Things go from bad…

And GOD will wipe tears from every face. — Isaiah 25:8When do our sorrows end? They end when we come into the presence of God.I’m not a TV watcher, but I do enjoy one show: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. On this program, a family with a need allows a team of designers and contractors to remodel their home while the family goes on an all-expense-paid vacation. Here’s the deal — you hand over the keys to the house and seven days and $500,000 later, the team hands you back a totally different house.One week the show was about a single…

But here on this mountain, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies will throw a feast for all the people of the world … — Isaiah 25:6 The MessageRemember the end of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies? The ship shows up, and suddenly everything changes. The boys cease to be savages and, once again, are merely school boys. Someone else is in charge. Order is restored. The tragedy is over, real life resumes.God is on a mission to bring things back to normal. Our sin-infested planet, with all its attendant pain, injustice, deceit and darkness is not normal. We must remember some important things. …

When [the Egyptians] cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship … they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them. — Isaiah 19:20-22There is a pattern in human history. Sin and…

Can this be the one who terrorized earth and its kingdoms, turned earth to a moonscape, wasted its cities, shut up his prisoners to a living death? — Isaiah 14:16-17 The MessageI have a strong distaste for bullies. It probably comes from having been on the receiving end of a certain amount of bullying all the while I was growing up. When I entered 7th grade, there was a practice among boys at Sunset Junior High School called initiation. The concept involved an 8th grade boy walloping a 7th grade boy in a place where he would rather not get…

Exactly as I planned, it will happen. Following My blueprints, it will take shape. — Isaiah 14:24Confidence. When I was a high school student, I took a class in competitive debate. At first I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" I hated it! I was so, so bad at it. Back in those days we would research a topic and write quotes from experts that we thought might support our position on index cards. Well, in the beginning, I got up, read my pile of index cards and sat down. I’m sure some people in the room had to…

Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims — Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity … — Isaiah 10:1-2Over seventy-five years ago the stock market crashed. In a few hours, people lost everything they had. Some of you may be old enough to remember that day — Black Tuesday, the start of the Great Depression. One thing I have discovered in life is this: Fortunes can quickly change. We may think that security comes in the form of a good job, a late model car and a nice…

Reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off. — Isaiah 3:10 The MessageFrom Genesis to Revelation, this message permeates the scripture. To Cain, God says, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" At the conclusion of the Bible, Jesus declares, "My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." Why repeat it here in Isaiah? This verse is like a fish swimming upstream. All around it are pronouncements of woe and judgment, of God’s wrath poured out on a nation gone mad with sin. But as…