Isaiah 66

Three main observations today:
1 - v. 19 - when God talks of all the nations hearing of God's glory and bringing thanksgiving. Great tie-in to the Pentecost scripture from Acts today

2 - v. 22 - a new heaven and a new earth. didn't realize this phrase was in the OT. recognize it from Revelation, but surprised to see it in Isaiah.

3 - motherhood imagery, culminating in v. 13. One of the few places in the Bible where God is refered to as "Mother." I grew into awareness in the church at a time and a place where gender language was a HUGE issue. I knew one pastor who started (still does?) the Lord's Prayer with "Our Mother, who art in heaven..."
I've never been that extreme, but I notice gender language in church. I try to be gender-neutral in my public language, without drawing attention to it. I know some people with troubled father relationships who find the Father language for God troublesome and distancing. And I know some with troubled father relationships who cling to the Father language precisely because of the flaws in their human relationships.
I recently read "The Shack" - which presents the first person of the Trinity as a large black woman referred to as "Mama".
We are stuck with the language we inherit, with all of its shortcomings. But sometimes I wish we experimented more with our symbolic language for God. "Father" is inadequate. "Mother" is inadequate. "Counselor" "Immanuel" "Spirit" -- all inadequate. But the combination of all leads us towards truth.