V.5 A celebration had been instituted every month, at the time of the new moon (Num 28:11-15).  Trumpets were blown to herald this feast (Num 10:10; Psa 81:3). 

V.6 At the time of this new moon festival David excused himself, through Jonathan, on the pretext that his family was holding an annual feast at Bethlehem.  He, obviously, wanted to avoid contact with an enraged Saul. 

V.24 The annual family feast excuse was a lie as David was in the field at the new moon and not in Bethlehem. 

V.42 And after he said his farewell to Jonathan, David went to Nob, not to Bethlehem (1Sam 21:1).  Is this an example of an acceptable lie - in this case for the preservation of life?

20:30    Saul would have been more accurate if he had described Jonathan as the son of a perverse and rebellious father! Saul, seemingly, did not see his problems.

20:8 Notice the covenant that David and Jonathan made which is recorded in 1Sam 18:3 – was made before God. It was not simply an agreement between two friends.

20:4  Jonathan’s commitment to David is seen in his promise – an open ended commitment to David. Do we ever feel this way outward our brethren and sisters?

20:2 One might imagine that Saul was willing to tell Jonathan his plans about David despite his knowledge of Jonathan’s delight in David because Jonathan, being the next in line for the throne, might have changed his mind about David. Saul clearly did not know his son!

V.10 we are told in Isa 52:1 that Jerusalem is "the holy city"  What does the plural "holy cities" then mean? Is it saying that all Judea was holy to God? or are Zion and Jerusalem (the one city) the answer to "the holy cities"?

V.6 If we ever become puffed up with pride we would do well to reflect on this verse.  This is our true position in the sight of Yahweh.  We must humble ourselves, and only then will Yahweh elevate us from our lowly position (1Pet 5:6). 

64:1  rend the heavens’ - Acts 10:11

:5 Worketh righteousness Acts 10:35

Shows that Isaiah is speaking of the call of the gentiles in this chapter.

64:5 The working of righteousness is seen – Acts 10:35 – in the preaching of the apostles.

64:4 Of course man cannot know what God has in store unless He reveals it. – Ecc 3:11 but so often we try to use our own reasoning to anticipate world events. It is only through the details of Scripture, properly reviewed, that we can have any idea about His purpose in the world.

64:5 Working righteousness is ‘doing the word’ – James 1:22. Not simply reading it but putting its teaching into practice in our daily lives.

V.1 In this verse, there is an allusion to Mt. Sinai (Exo 19:18; Judg 5:5; Psa 144:5).

V.4 See 1Cor 2:9.

V.8 See Jer 18:1-6.

V.10 Jerusalem will one day be the capital of the world.  Then, she shall be adorned with beauty (Isa 52:1).

V.11 In the Kingdom, a new temple will be built to allow the mortal population to worship Yahweh (See Eze 41).

At the time of Isaiah (see 1:1) the temple had not been laid waste or burned with fire (v11). So this prophecy could be entirely future. But if we look closely, it possibly has its basis in the desecrations of Ahaz in 2ki16. There he erected an Assyrian altar (2Kin 16:11-16) and cut up or removed parts of the temple used for the offerings (2Kin 16:17-18). He used this new altar to replace burned offerings (2Kin 16:15). And by the time of Hezekiah, his son, the temple had been closed up, was filled with rubbish, and offerings had ceased completely (2Chron 29:3,5,7). So in effect God had ceased to be worshipped at all, hence in v5-7 their sins weren't being taken away by the daily sin offerings.

But even though the days of Ahaz's antagonism were over, the awful truth revealed in v7 is that the people couldn't be bothered to re-establish the correct offerings and continual burning of the lamp before God. The ESV is "rouses himself" and AV/NKJV "stirs himself up". So how about us? Do we have the energy to rouse ourselves from slumber to approach God in prayer to ask for forgiveness daily?

64:4 This verse is quoted in 1Cor 2:9 to speak of God’s work in Christ. Paul continues by telling us that the things Isaiah speaks of have been revealed to us.

-

9:10 They are in Matthew’s house – Mark 15, Luke 5:29

V.20 The woman knew that she would be committing a sin if she touched Jesus (Lev 15:19-27). However, she did touch Him and she was healed (Matt 18:17; 2Cor 5:21).

V.9 Matthew was called by Jesus.  Connecting some dots, we see that Matthew was also named Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27).  Being the son of Alphaeus probably connects him to the apostle James as a brother or half-brother (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). 

Matthew's job was to collect transport taxes.  He would sit in his place (a toll booth would be the modern equivalent) and exact taxes from locals taking their goods to market and from caravans hauling their wares to distant markets.  Highways were comparatively few at this time and could easily be monitored by tax collectors. 

Matthew would have a keen understanding of the value of goods of all kinds, weight, and monetary exchange rates.  He would be competent in several languages.  He would collect these taxes for his Roman overlords and keep a percentage for himself. 

These publicans (an older term for tax collectors) were hated by the Jews for two reasons: firstly, they worked for the occupying Romans; and secondly, tax collectors had the reputation of becoming wealthy by overestimating the value of goods to boost their commissions.  Another notable tax collector, in the Bible, is Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2).   

9:13   Here Jesus advises the Pharisees to go and read Hos 6:6. Later – Matt 12:7– he observes that they did not understand what it means, indicating that they had not gone and read it with understanding.

9:8 Whilst Jesus’ critics did not see beyond the things that Jesus said and did the multitude did, recognising that Jesus’ actions were ‘of God’.

V.2 Palsy (KJV) is a word which is contracted from paralysis. Paralysis cane be described as: the loss of sensation, or the power of motion, or both, in any part of the body.

V.13 See Hos 6:6.

Vs.16,17 The New Covenant cannot operate with the Old Covenant.  Later, Judaizers would try to force members of the early ecclesia to be circumcised and to obey the Law of Moses.

Vs.29,30 Compare Jesus’ different treatments to the blind.  Some He did not touch.  Others, Jesus touched in different ways (Mark 8:23-25; 10:51,52).

V.34 See Matt 12:24. The Pharisees assigned the power of God to Beelzebub.  Beelzebub literally means Lord of the Flies.  Flies gather where there is garbage and human waste.  No contrast, between Yahweh and effluence, could have been greater.

9:18 It was the ‘rulers’ who were opposed to Jesus but here we see one seeking Jesus’ help. Doubtless all the rulers recognised that Jesus was doing God’s work. Most of them chose to ignore what they knew. This man had a personal need and so that over rode any prejudice against Jesus that he might have had.