September 8-12
[M] Isaiah 45-48; 1 Corinthians 13
[T] Isa 49-52; Psalm 69; 1 Cor 14
[W] Isa 53-55; Psalm 128; 1 Cor 15
[T] Isa 56-59; Psalm 70; 1 Cor 16
[F] Isa 60-63; 2 Cor 1
Dwell Plan Day 181-185 | CSB | Digital PDF | Printable PDF
Notes from Jon & Chris
Monday
Isaiah 45 | This is a remarkable prophecy where God calls a pagan king by name more than a century before Cyrus of Persia was born. Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC and issued the decree that allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1–4). Ancient historians like Josephus even suggest that Cyrus read Isaiah’s prophecy about himself and was moved to fulfill it. What makes this chapter so striking is that God uses a Gentile ruler—someone who did not know Him—to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The same Cyrus who toppled empires became God’s chosen instrument to rebuild Jerusalem and release His people, showing that the Lord’s sovereignty extends over nations, kings, and the whole course of history.
Verses 4–7 bring this truth into sharp focus: Cyrus is only the tool, but God is the craftsman. “For the sake of my servant Jacob… I call you by your name,” God declares, making it clear that Cyrus’s victories are not his own achievements but God’s design. The Lord is the One who “forms light and creates darkness,” who “makes well-being and creates calamity.” He is the sovereign God who rules over all circumstances, raising up rulers and pulling them down according to His will.
This passage reminds us that no human power—no empire, no king, no cultural force—can ever stand outside the control of the Creator. God bends even unbelieving rulers to serve His purposes, so that His people might be redeemed and His glory made known.
1 Corinthians 13 | In this chapter, Paul is not giving the church a sentimental ode to love for wedding ceremonies, but rather a sharp rebuke and a vision for what true Christian community should look like. The Corinthians were a gifted church, overflowing with spiritual abilities, but they were fractured by pride, rivalry, and self-promotion. In chapters 12–14, Paul addresses how spiritual gifts are meant to build up the body of Christ, not inflate egos. It is in this context that he declares, “I will show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31), and that way is love. Paul is showing them that without love, even the most spectacular gifts are worthless. This chapter, then, is about how the church must reflect the self-giving love of God if it is to truly be the body of Christ.
The love Paul describes here is not rooted in fleeting emotion but in God’s own character revealed in Christ. It is patient, kind, and enduring; it bears all things and does not insist on its own way. In other words, this is love in action, love that embodies the gospel. It is the opposite of the Corinthian tendency toward division, arrogance, and competition. When Paul says that love is the greatest gift, he is elevating it above every spiritual ability because it alone reflects the very nature of God. Far from being a flowery poem for weddings, 1 Corinthians 13 is a radical call to the church: to lay down self-interest, to embody Christlike love, and to show the world what it means to be the family of God.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 | This famous passage is useful for straight up personal conviction! Conviction about our sin is something we must seek out and value in this world. We need fresh ways to see ourselves and our morally distorted hearts. One of the troubles we have with sinfulness and what makes sinfulness so difficult to deal with is this: we don’t think of sinfulness as a horror. We’re so used to our brokenness, weakness, and ruin that we can get quite comfortable in it. We aren’t alarmed by our sinful attitudes and thoughts like we should be. Here’s the trick to seek out some uncomfortable truths for yourself about yourself. Read these verses out loud, but instead of using the word love or a pronoun for love, use your own name. So instead of saying “love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast” you would say (if you were me!) “Chris is patient and kind, Chris does not envy or boast, etc.” It’s quite a shocking thing to do if you haven’t tried it before. It makes you painfully aware of just how unloving you really are. If you’re looking for material to bring you to confession before God, this is an effective way to get there.
Tuesday
Isaiah 49:14-15 | Doesn’t it sometimes feel like the Lord has forgotten you? There are seasons when, in His sovereign will, He leads you down a path you never would have chosen for yourself, or He begins shaping you in ways you resisted. In those moments, it can feel like He’s distant—like He’s not paying attention, or worse, like He’s forgotten you altogether. But hear this: that is never the case. Even when His hand feels heavy or His ways are confusing, God is still present, still faithful, and still working for your good. His promise to His people is unshakable—He will never forget you.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 | Let’s be honest, when you got to this part of the reading, you probably cringed a little, didn’t you? That’s one of the reasons I (Jon) love doing projects like this reading plan: they push us to wrestle with the hard stuff in scripture. And these two verses are definitely the hard stuff. So what’s going on here? I thought about writing a long explanation myself, but then I came across an author that explains it even better than I could. If you have the time, I encourage you to read it. It’s from Andrew Wilson’s 1 Corinthians for You (part of the excellent “God’s Word for You” series), and I think he does a great job unpacking this passage. Here’s his explanation, quoted at length.
There are various parts of the Bible, and of Paul’s letters, about which people say, “Surely it can’t mean that”. Usually, that is because we don’t like it. We read something that doesn’t fit with our modern sensibilities, so we do a huge amount of exegetical work to try and make it look as if it means something else. (Scholars who are not Christians can be a huge help here. Because they don’t claim to obey Scripture, they are sometimes better at admitting what it actually says.) But occasionally, the “surely it can’t mean that” reflex is based on the text itself. Something in the passage, or the book as a whole, makes it clear that the obvious interpretation is not actually correct. Nowhere is this truer than of Paul’s statement in verse 34: “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says”.
It sounds like an absolute ban on women speaking in the church service. But this cannot be what Paul means. He recently spent fifteen verses on the question of what women should wear over their heads while praying or prophesying in the church service (11:2–16), which would make no sense whatsoever if women were prohibited from public speech. He has also spent much of the last few chapters explaining how “each one” in the congregation has a gift, and how “each one” can and should use it—whether in songs, teaching, prophecy, languages or interpretation—for the edification of the body (14:26). So he cannot mean that women are not allowed to speak at all. Unless we are to conclude that Paul did not write these verses at all (and these verses appear in all the manuscripts we have), he must mean something else.
The two most plausible explanations are these. One: Paul is prohibiting women from the weighing of prophecy (v 29–30) because it involves a governmental responsibility that Paul limits to the fathers of the church (the elders, the overseers, or whatever we call them). Two: some women at Corinth were in the habit of interrupting their husbands while they were prophesying, asking questions and bringing shame on themselves in the process, and Paul will not allow this because it is not submissive or honourable, and it leads to disorder rather than peace. In either scenario, the requirement of wives to be submissive “as the law says” is probably a reference to Genesis, whether the creation story (as in 1 Corinthians 11:7–9; see 1 Timothy 2:13–14) or the patriarchal stories (see 1 Peter 3:5–6). Personally I take the second view on the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34, which fits well with the next sentence: “If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church” (v 35). But it is difficult to be sure. (1 Corinthians for You, page 161-162)
Wednesday
Isaiah 53 | This is one of the most breathtaking prophecies in all of Scripture, describing the Suffering Servant who would be despised, rejected, pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities. We often read it from the outside, marveling at how clearly it points to Christ.
Luke tells us that Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Imagine the mystery of that—Jesus, fully God and fully man, learning the Scriptures as a boy. Somewhere along the way, as He read Isaiah 53, He would have realized that these words were about Him. That His mission would not be to overthrow Rome with power, but to be pierced, crushed, and led like a lamb to the slaughter—for us.
What must it have been like for Jesus to carry that knowledge as He grew? To see Himself in the ancient text, to realize that salvation for God’s people would come through His own suffering? We can only imagine the weight of it, but also the clarity and resolve it must have given Him. Isaiah 53 was not just a prophecy of a future Savior, it was Jesus’ roadmap. And He walked it all the way to the cross, willingly, in love for us and for the glory of God. When we read this chapter today, we don’t just see a prediction fulfilled, we see the heart of our Savior who embraced suffering for our redemption.
1 Corinthians 15 | This might be the most important chapter in all of Paul's writings. It stands as the high point of Paul’s teaching because it anchors the entire Christian faith in the reality of the resurrection. Without the resurrection of Jesus, Paul says, our preaching is in vain and our faith is futile—we remain in our sins and have no hope beyond this life. This chapter is critical because it ties the historical fact of Christ’s rising to the theological truth that death itself has been defeated. Paul unfolds the resurrection as not only proof of Christ’s victory but also the guarantee of our own future resurrection. Because Jesus has been raised, we know that we too will be raised, and this fuels our hope in the promised life of the new heavens and the new earth, where death will be swallowed up in victory forever.
Thursday
Isaiah 56:4–5 | This is a stunning promise for those who felt forever cut off from God’s people. Eunuchs, who were excluded from the temple by law, are here promised something far greater than earthly inclusion: “a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.” The upside-down way of the kingdom breaks through—those considered outsiders by human standards are welcomed and honored by God. When we read Acts 8, we meet a eunuch who had traveled to Jerusalem, likely barred from entering fully into worship. Yet it was through reading Isaiah that he met Christ, and in Christ, he found the welcome and belonging that no earthly law could give.
This is the heart of God’s kingdom: the outcasts brought near, the broken given a new identity, the excluded granted everlasting inclusion. It is not lineage, status, or earthly wholeness that secures our place in God’s family, it is faith in Christ. The kingdom of God reverses expectations: the barren become fruitful, the nameless receive a lasting name, and the outsider is brought all the way in. That eunuch’s joy in Acts is the joy of every believer who knows what it is to be brought from far off and made part of God’s eternal household.
Psalm 70:1 | If I ever told my dad to hurry—which I never even conceived of doing as a kid—I’m not sure if I could’ve sat down for a week after the spanking I would’ve gotten. This is why God is such an amazing Dad: it doesn’t bother Him one bit! But the point stands even more beautifully than that. The God who runs the engines of all creation, who sustains the galaxies by His power, isn’t offended by us asking Him to hurry up. Maybe it’s because He knows how short our lives and attention spans are. Maybe it’s simply an amazing grace. But don’t forget this, we get to address God’s timing. We get to ask about it. We get to look at our watch, look at Him, and say “Can we get this moving?” Sometimes that won’t make the slightest difference. Our God is good and wise and His timing always is on time. He knows that, and He wants to be sure you know it too. But He also doesn’t mind us wanting things on a different schedule. So we get to ask. And if He hurries, we get to praise Him! And if He doesn’t, we get to praise Him for that too. It’s a win-win with our amazing Heavenly Father.
Friday
Isaiah 60:19-22 | These last chapters of Isaiah begin to describe God’s kingdom in ways that will only be fulfilled in heaven. Verse 19 is how the new Jerusalem is described in Revelation! When we read chapters like this it can be a little disorienting. Is the prophet describing heaven or is this something for this world? Much like the night sky, where you can’t tell which stars are closer and which are further, these prophecies have parts that we can see happening right now and parts that are for later. It can make reading and interpretation a bit difficult at times. One of the things it reveals to us, however, is something we easily miss. The prophets are partly describing the way that God looks at the universe. He is eternal, without beginning or end. Time is something below Him, apart from Him. When God speaks through the prophets, describing future events, we often see a mixture of near future, future, and far future all combined. There’s a unity to God’s perspective, where His mercy at the cross, His mercy for your lies to your parents when you were a kid, and His mercy at the final judgment seat are all one piece to Him and united in Him. We’re getting to see God’s view of time and history, and it’s so much greater than ours that it confuses us. But this is meant to encourage us because it allows us to claim heaven’s joys and truth even before we get there. We are stuck in time, but He isn’t. He gives us His transcendent perspective in the prophets so we can look outside ourselves and our “moment” in His story. We’re always living and walking in the shadows of His everlasting light, which shines even now in His word and through us.
2 Corinthians 1:3–7 | The prosperity gospel whispers a lie: that if you only have enough faith, your life will be marked by health, wealth, and ease. But this text gives us the opposite picture. Paul exalts “the God of all comfort” not because He keeps His people from suffering, but because He meets them in it. At the very center of Christianity is the suffering of Christ: His anguish, His cross, His wounds taken out of love for us and for the glory of God. If the Son of God was perfected through suffering, then how could we expect the Christian life to be free of pain? The prosperity gospel is man-centered, promising earthly gain; the gospel of Jesus is God-centered, promising eternal comfort even when our path is hard.
When we suffer, we are not abandoned. God has not lost control, nor has He ceased to be good. In fact, Paul tells us that our afflictions are the very place where God’s comfort flows most richly, so that we can extend that same comfort to others. Suffering becomes not meaningless but missional: as we endure, we show the sufficiency of Christ, we bring glory to God, and we spread the gospel of grace. This is the paradox the prosperity gospel can’t explain—weakness that becomes strength, sorrow that bears witness to hope, and suffering that multiplies joy as we share in Christ’s own afflictions and in his overflowing comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:20 | People often misuse this verse as if it were a blank check from God, that every desire of our hearts is guaranteed a “yes” in Jesus. But Paul is not talking about the whimsical and fleeting desires of man; he is talking about the promises of God, which are infinitely better and far more secure. These promises include not only salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life, but also the reality that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). In other words, God’s promises are not always about ease and comfort now, but about His faithfulness to us in suffering, His sovereign purposes in our trials, and His unfailing comfort in Christ. This ties directly to Paul’s earlier words in 2 Corinthians 1:3–7, the God of all comfort meets us in affliction so that His glory is revealed and His grace is spread.
Think of how many Old Testament promises find their fulfillment in Jesus. God said through Isaiah, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:10). That promise is not simply a vague encouragement—it finds its deepest “Yes” in Christ, who promises to never leave us nor forsake us, even in the valley of affliction. In Him, every promise of God becomes rock solid, whether it’s the promise of comfort in sorrow, the promise of strength in weakness, or the promise of final victory over death. Every promise of God, including the promise of hardship, is fulfilled in Christ, and therefore every promise comes with His sustaining “yes” for our good and His glory. Our “Amen” in response is not entitlement, but worship, as we rest in the unshakable faithfulness of God revealed in Jesus.