Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. Joel Shaltanis, pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Plano, Texas, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 45. After five chapters of preparation, the cat is out of the bag: Cyrus of Persia is God’s messiah, His chosen king sent to free the exiles. How can this be! Isaiah 45 lets this bomb drop amidst objections and misunderstandings. In the end, it’s not so different from Abraham and Moses. God has done this to reveal Himself to the nations, although He remains hidden apart from His Word. Persia will only partly grasp the reality of Yahweh, confusing Him with the Babylonian god Marduk and their own god Ahura Mazda. Yet some will come to the Temple and hear the Scriptures, and ultimately, as Isaiah says, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, the true and only God.

Rev. Steven Theiss, retired pastor in Frohna, Missouri, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 44. When Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, the exiles from Judah didn’t know what to make of it. Isaiah speaks clearly in chapter 45: this is all God’s doing. This event only proves that the gods of Babylon are useless. Why would you cut down a tree and burn one half for fuel and worship the other half as a god? Idolatry is madness! We too waste so much time, effort, and resources on imitations of ourselves, what we make in our own image. Only the Creator can snap us out of it. Like Moses and Cyrus, God has sent our Lord Jesus to rescue us from alienation and guide us to new life.

Rev. Matthew Wurm, pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Brookings, South Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 43. God poured out His anger against Judah, and the Babylonians destroyed them. The exiles felt like God had abandoned them, like He was no longer their God—like He no longer loved them. Isaiah 43 presents us with the only instance in the whole Bible where God utters the Hebrew word for “I” followed by the Hebrew word for “love you” to refer to the whole of His people. He tells them that the exile was not due to any lack of love on God’s part; it was only because of their sins and the sins of their fathers. No other power in heaven or on earth created us, will save us, or loves us as God does in Christ Jesus.

Rev. Brian Davies, pastor of Lord of Glory Lutheran Church in Grayslake, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 42. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” Matthew quotes these words from Isaiah 42 to show their ultimate fulfillment in Christ: powerful but not self-seeking, just but not unforgiving, holy but not arrogant. The Judean exiles had been deaf and blind, receiving God’s punishment but not learning their lesson. We today are even worse, falling into sin despite the full revelation of Christ and the Scriptures. Yet by grace we are all transformed into God’s Christ-like servants, albeit imperfectly for now. We deal gently with the lost as ones who relate all too well.

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 29. At first glance it may seem strange to praise God for floods, earthquakes, and thunderstorms, as David does in Psalm 29. As destructive as these things can be sometimes, more often they are God’s way of renewing and preserving His creation. When God strikes the trees, floods the rivers, and shakes the mountains, He preserves and enriches life on earth, like the peaceful lullaby of a thunderstorm. Faith is audacious to call on such a powerful God, before whom even the spiritual powers tremble in fear. In the flood of baptism however, our sin has been washed away and we have been made true sons of God in Jesus Christ—sons who know God’s peace in the midst of the storm.

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Anaheim, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 41. The idols of the world are silent. The nations of the earth tremble in fear. The true God has called Cyrus of Persia to conquer Babylon and to set His people free. Like Abraham, God has called someone from the east who did not know Him to serve His righteous purpose. Cyrus would not come to faith the same way Abraham did, but he would call on God’s name by supplying the exiles and asking them to pray to Yahweh on his behalf. God uses a foreign power to transform His people from worm to sledge. Later, He would use a Roman cross to transform His Son and us in the resurrection.

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 40. The voice of God calls out to His people exiled in Babylon. They have suffered for their sins, but now they will be restored by God’s grace. This is Isaiah 40’s message of comfort, from the perspective of over 100 years after the previous chapter. Compared to God the Creator, Judah’s enemies are like dust and grass. The one who oversees the ways of the stars will guard the way for His people’s journey home. Centuries later, God would prepare the way for Christ the true Temple, and one day, He will lift us up on eagles’ wings to the life of the world to come.

Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 39. “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon.” This final and ominous prediction concludes the first part of Isaiah in chapter 39; the rest of the book will deal with God’s rescue from the Babylonians. Hezekiah had repented and had been healed, but he failed God’s test. He still trusted in princes, not God. Yet God still grants undeserved peace to him and his son Manasseh, peace which hints at God’s future restoration. We constantly falter like Hezekiah, but God still promises us future hope in Christ.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired pastor in Darmstadt, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 38. “Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” Thus Isaiah delivered God’s harsh judgment against Hezekiah. His administration had made an idolatrous alliance with Egypt, and his heart was full of pride. Isaiah 38 gives us not only the history but also Hezekiah’s psalm of repentance. The king laments how his life has been cut short, and yet in faith he still appeals to God, even against God’s own sentence. God gives a sign that He will heal not only Hezekiah, but all of Judah as He fights for the city against Assyria. God “adds” years to Hezekiah’s life and Similarly, when God brought His own Son back to life, He saved all of us His people from destruction.

Rev. Nabil Nour, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hartford, South Dakota, and Fourth Vice President of LCMS, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 37. The Assyrian Rabshakeh shouted threats of destruction at the gates of Jerusalem. Now what was King Hezekiah to do? He humbles himself before God and His servant Isaiah, trusting in the Creator of heaven and earth. Isaiah predicts that God will turn back King Sennacherib like a tamed horse. When the Assyrians later return to Judah, God works His miracles. Like with Pharaoh of Egypt, God works on Sennacherib’s heart and mind. God makes him worried when he hears a rumor about the homefront, and Yahweh sends His angel to strike down thousands of Assyrians. The combination puts the Assyrians into panic and disarray. They return home, and Jerusalem is saved from the siege.