Isaiah 39
Envoys From Babylon
1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
By receiving Babylon, Hezekiah showed his interest in an alliance. Something that God forbids as He wanted reliance on Him, rather than a political alliance with a country that idolizes false gods.
Princple: Again, we are reminded that we have to rely on God rather than on worldly means especially if when these means get disfavour with God.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did those men say, and where did they come from?" "From a distant land," Hezekiah replied. "They came to me from Babylon."
4 The prophet asked, "What did they see in your palace?" "They saw everything in my palace," Hezekiah said. "There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them."
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
8 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."
Friday, August 29, 2008
Isaiah 38
Isaiah 38
Hezekiah's Illness
1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.
7 " 'This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.' " So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.
In times of most need, Hezekiah turns to God answers his plea and saves him.
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, "In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?"
11 I said, "I will not again see the LORD, the LORD, in the land of the living; no longer will I look on mankind, or be with those who now dwell in this world. [b]
12 Like a shepherd's tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life, and he has cut me off from the loom; day and night you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently till dawn, but like a lion he broke all my bones; day and night you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!"
15 But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul.
Hezekiah knows that it is God's grace that he can continue to live, hence he ought to live in humility knowing that anything he has is not by his own doing but God's grace.
16 Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live.
17 Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.
Hezekiah acknowledges that it was for his benefit that he suffered such anguish.
Application: Let us know God's benefit for us when we go through suffering. The correct response is to turn to him instead of blaming Him.
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.
Again, originally we are not fit to stand before God because of your sins, but He has blocked out our sins. Saved us from the pit of destruction.
18 For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness.
20 The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD.
21 Isaiah had said, "Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover."
22 Hezekiah had asked, "What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD ?"
Monday, August 25, 2008
Isaiah 37
Isaiah 37
Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
Hezekiah's response here was appropriate, when all skies turn dark, he turned to God.
5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
The true and faithful God, responses to Hezekiah.
Principle: When skies turn dark, let's turn to God and learn to wait upon God's answer. It might be that His answer brings about immediate deliverance, like in this instance, or that the correct time has not arrived, in which we learn to wait upon the Lord, like for eg. when Daniel waited for 70 years before he and his people could leave exile in Babylon, or it could be that God's answer is that we go through this refining fire, like how Jesus died on the cross, because that hath to be done for a greater good in God's plan.
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite [a] king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
Now the taunting comes from Sennacherib himself. Again, mocking God and exerting human supremacy, even to the point where man becomes divine, like a god.
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 16 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. [b] "
Hezekiah rightfully turns to God, acknowledging that He is the one true God. All the other gods that Assyria had destroyed were but products of the human hand. Hezekiah asserts his faith that God will deliver them, and by that all on earth will know that He alone is the one true God.
Application:
If we meet with troubles of any kind, let our response be turning to God. Not blaming him, but praising Him that He is the one true God. There are no other gods in the world but idols - products of man.
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: "The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands [c] and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'
26 "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
The fact that Assyria reigned its military might was ordained by God. It was all part of God's plan. Assyria has no right to assert his power as it was given by God.
27 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched [d] before it grows up.
28 "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.
Hook in your nose, bit in my mouth refers to the hook in a horses's nose and bit is the strangle in the horse's mouth that controls the horses direction. Whereever the rider pulls, the horse will experience pain and head towards that direction. God is going to handle Assyria painfully because it has raged against God and was insolent towards God.
30 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
33 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the LORD.
35 "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"
God will preserve Judah for the sake of His promise to David, that a descendant of David will rule in Jerusalem. And indeed, by kingship, and more importantly, the genealogy from David to Joseph, to Jesus, the true King.
36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
God's Word has and always will be fulfilled. His assurance of preservation, His judgement, all will come to pass. Sennacherib, a mighty king who conquered many nations, in a state now that no one would ever expect or want.
Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold
1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."
Hezekiah's response here was appropriate, when all skies turn dark, he turned to God.
5 When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
The true and faithful God, responses to Hezekiah.
Principle: When skies turn dark, let's turn to God and learn to wait upon God's answer. It might be that His answer brings about immediate deliverance, like in this instance, or that the correct time has not arrived, in which we learn to wait upon the Lord, like for eg. when Daniel waited for 70 years before he and his people could leave exile in Babylon, or it could be that God's answer is that we go through this refining fire, like how Jesus died on the cross, because that hath to be done for a greater good in God's plan.
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite [a] king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"
Now the taunting comes from Sennacherib himself. Again, mocking God and exerting human supremacy, even to the point where man becomes divine, like a god.
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : 16 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. [b] "
Hezekiah rightfully turns to God, acknowledging that He is the one true God. All the other gods that Assyria had destroyed were but products of the human hand. Hezekiah asserts his faith that God will deliver them, and by that all on earth will know that He alone is the one true God.
Application:
If we meet with troubles of any kind, let our response be turning to God. Not blaming him, but praising Him that He is the one true God. There are no other gods in the world but idols - products of man.
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: "The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands [c] and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'
26 "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
The fact that Assyria reigned its military might was ordained by God. It was all part of God's plan. Assyria has no right to assert his power as it was given by God.
27 Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched [d] before it grows up.
28 "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.
Hook in your nose, bit in my mouth refers to the hook in a horses's nose and bit is the strangle in the horse's mouth that controls the horses direction. Whereever the rider pulls, the horse will experience pain and head towards that direction. God is going to handle Assyria painfully because it has raged against God and was insolent towards God.
30 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
33 "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the LORD.
35 "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"
God will preserve Judah for the sake of His promise to David, that a descendant of David will rule in Jerusalem. And indeed, by kingship, and more importantly, the genealogy from David to Joseph, to Jesus, the true King.
36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
God's Word has and always will be fulfilled. His assurance of preservation, His judgement, all will come to pass. Sennacherib, a mighty king who conquered many nations, in a state now that no one would ever expect or want.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Isaiah 36
Isaiah 36
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field, 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.
Assryia starts to assert its authority. Sennacherib sends his representative, the field commander to meet Hezekiah's representatives.
4 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah, " 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have strategy and military strength—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar"?
Assryia starts to taunt Hezekiah. Firstly that Hezekiah does not have the strategy and military strength.
Second, the alliance with Egypt will not work, Egypt will just betray Hezekiah. Even an outsider knows that!
Principle:
Sometimes we are just too blinded and can't think clear enough to realize the clear and present
dangers around us.
Thirdly, that Assryia knows that Hezekiah actually doesn't have a good relationship with God. Hence, God will not preserve Hezekiah. Hezekiah did not bear a good testimony.
Principle:
Sometimes, we are just like Hezekiah, portraying to others that God does not actually live in our lives. We carry with our sin, our daily living, and only when in need, we seek God only God to find God's judgement on us.
8 " 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' "
Taunting continues. Assyria can do a better job in terms of military might rather than to rely on Egypt. It would be far more sensible to rely on Assyria than on Egypt.
The shocking taunt, that Assyria realizes that it is an instrument used by God to attack Judah. But God using Assyria does not clear Assyria of its sin. We see that the merciful God preserves Judah and fends off its attacks.
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
12 But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"
Hezekiah did not want the civilians to hear of the taunting, which would demoralize the people and lose their faith.
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
16 "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 "Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"
Hezekiah was faced with a choice between faith in God and political alliances. Now the people was faced with this same choice. Faith in God or the led-belief security in Assyria.
Principle: We are also faced with the same choice. Faith in God or reliance on other matters more that we think would cause us to be secure.
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."
22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field, 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.
Assryia starts to assert its authority. Sennacherib sends his representative, the field commander to meet Hezekiah's representatives.
4 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah, " 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have strategy and military strength—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar"?
Assryia starts to taunt Hezekiah. Firstly that Hezekiah does not have the strategy and military strength.
Second, the alliance with Egypt will not work, Egypt will just betray Hezekiah. Even an outsider knows that!
Principle:
Sometimes we are just too blinded and can't think clear enough to realize the clear and present
dangers around us.
Thirdly, that Assryia knows that Hezekiah actually doesn't have a good relationship with God. Hence, God will not preserve Hezekiah. Hezekiah did not bear a good testimony.
Principle:
Sometimes, we are just like Hezekiah, portraying to others that God does not actually live in our lives. We carry with our sin, our daily living, and only when in need, we seek God only God to find God's judgement on us.
8 " 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD ? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' "
Taunting continues. Assyria can do a better job in terms of military might rather than to rely on Egypt. It would be far more sensible to rely on Assyria than on Egypt.
The shocking taunt, that Assyria realizes that it is an instrument used by God to attack Judah. But God using Assyria does not clear Assyria of its sin. We see that the merciful God preserves Judah and fends off its attacks.
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
12 But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"
Hezekiah did not want the civilians to hear of the taunting, which would demoralize the people and lose their faith.
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
16 "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 "Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"
Hezekiah was faced with a choice between faith in God and political alliances. Now the people was faced with this same choice. Faith in God or the led-belief security in Assyria.
Principle: We are also faced with the same choice. Faith in God or reliance on other matters more that we think would cause us to be secure.
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."
22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Isaiah 35
Joy of the Redeemed
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
Nature will recover and rejoice! The glory of God will be seen.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
From a picture of judgement, it transits to God saying to the guilty, the weak, "Be strong. Because I have come. It is time when I exact my judgement on the ones whom have hurt you."
Principle: God will deal with the wicked in His time. Because we rely on God, though we are weak, in Him we are strong.
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
People will see acknowledge God and His Word.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. [a]
Again a picture of recovery, rejuvenation. And there will be a highway where only those who walk in God's way can enter.
Have we ensured that we have an entrance ticket to walk on this highway? Or are we thinking we have access but actually not? Acknowledge God, acknowledge His Word.
9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,
Only the redeemed, the people who have been redeemed by the redeemer, Jesus Christ, will walk on this highway.
10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Ransomed. We are ransomed by God. The price paid? Jesus Christ. A picture of heaven, singing, everlasting joy will envelope us, and no more sorrow and sighing. Every tear will be wiped away.
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
Nature will recover and rejoice! The glory of God will be seen.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
From a picture of judgement, it transits to God saying to the guilty, the weak, "Be strong. Because I have come. It is time when I exact my judgement on the ones whom have hurt you."
Principle: God will deal with the wicked in His time. Because we rely on God, though we are weak, in Him we are strong.
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
People will see acknowledge God and His Word.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. [a]
Again a picture of recovery, rejuvenation. And there will be a highway where only those who walk in God's way can enter.
Have we ensured that we have an entrance ticket to walk on this highway? Or are we thinking we have access but actually not? Acknowledge God, acknowledge His Word.
9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,
Only the redeemed, the people who have been redeemed by the redeemer, Jesus Christ, will walk on this highway.
10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Ransomed. We are ransomed by God. The price paid? Jesus Christ. A picture of heaven, singing, everlasting joy will envelope us, and no more sorrow and sighing. Every tear will be wiped away.
Nehemiah 8:1-12
Ezra Reads the Law
When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns,1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
People coming before the Lord, listening attentively to His Word. Focusing on God, not on the antics of man.
4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear [a] and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
There is a time to weep, there is a time to rejoice. Now is the time to rejoice before the Lord. When its time to rejoice before the Lord, let's put down our worldly burdens and just rejoice in Him.
10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
What a joy it is to understand, apply the Word of God. The bible is not some mysterious old text but full of Life and application for us! And it is indeed a joy for His word to water us.
Nehemiah 6-7
Nehemiah 6
Further Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates- 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
The devil is not happy when God's children acknowledges Him, serves Him and works for Him. The man who opposes God too is not happy.
Application:
Let us remind ourselves not to be like these man, when jealousy invokes our hearts, we may forget that we are God's children and even detest it when other bros/sis in Christs serves God fervently and we just sit there, full of jealously, bitterness, envy.
Nehemiah 7
1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do. 3 I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses."
We see how Nehemiah selected people to positions, might be that the factor is ability, but we see that on top of all that, the most important factor singled out was that
1. Man of Integrity
2. Feared God more than others. As mentioned in Proverbs, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Principle:
We might be used by God due to our ability, but above all, we can only be truly used when we are of integrity and God fearing, to the extent that this fear surpasses others' fear of God.
The List of the Exiles Who Returned
4 Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. 5 So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
Nehemiah shows that order and sequence is important in governance. Hence, let this help us in our administration in our various ministries.
6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, 7 in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah): The list of the men of Israel:
8 the descendants of Parosh 2,172
9 of Shephatiah 372
10 of Arah 652
11 of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,818
12 of Elam 1,254
13 of Zattu 845
14 of Zaccai 760
15 of Binnui 648
16 of Bebai 628
17 of Azgad 2,322
18 of Adonikam 667
19 of Bigvai 2,067
20 of Adin 655
21 of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98
22 of Hashum 328
23 of Bezai 324
24 of Hariph 112
25 of Gibeon 95
26 the men of Bethlehem and Netophah 188
27 of Anathoth 128
28 of Beth Azmaveth 42
29 of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth 743
30 of Ramah and Geba 621
31 of Micmash 122
32 of Bethel and Ai 123
33 of the other Nebo 52
34 of the other Elam 1,254
35 of Harim 320
36 of Jericho 345
37 of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721
38 of Senaah 3,930
39 The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973
40 of Immer 1,052
41 of Pashhur 1,247
42 of Harim 1,017
43 The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah) 74
44 The singers: the descendants of Asaph 148
45 The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai 138
46 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
47 Keros, Sia, Padon,
48 Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,
49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,
50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,
51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,
52 Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,
53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
54 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
56 Neziah and Hatipha
57 The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,
58 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
59 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon
60 The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon 392
61 The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
62 the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
63 And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
64 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
66 The whole company numbered 42,360, 67 besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 245 men and women singers. 68 There were 736 horses, 245 mules, [b] 69 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 drachmas [c] of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests.
Nehemiah not only governs at a wide level, but also he goes down to specifics and makes sure that things are all accounted for. He is not slack in his work.
This governor, is it referring to Nehemiah himself? Might be that in his humility, he didn't want to mention his own name in this good act.
71 Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 drachmas [d] of gold and 2,200 minas [e] of silver. 72 The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 drachmas of gold, 2,000 minas [f] of silver and 67 garments for priests.
73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns.
Further Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates- 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: "Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono." But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
The devil is not happy when God's children acknowledges Him, serves Him and works for Him. The man who opposes God too is not happy.
Application:
Let us remind ourselves not to be like these man, when jealousy invokes our hearts, we may forget that we are God's children and even detest it when other bros/sis in Christs serves God fervently and we just sit there, full of jealously, bitterness, envy.
Nehemiah 7
1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do. 3 I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses."
We see how Nehemiah selected people to positions, might be that the factor is ability, but we see that on top of all that, the most important factor singled out was that
1. Man of Integrity
2. Feared God more than others. As mentioned in Proverbs, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Principle:
We might be used by God due to our ability, but above all, we can only be truly used when we are of integrity and God fearing, to the extent that this fear surpasses others' fear of God.
The List of the Exiles Who Returned
4 Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. 5 So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. I found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return. This is what I found written there:
Nehemiah shows that order and sequence is important in governance. Hence, let this help us in our administration in our various ministries.
6 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, 7 in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah): The list of the men of Israel:
8 the descendants of Parosh 2,172
9 of Shephatiah 372
10 of Arah 652
11 of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,818
12 of Elam 1,254
13 of Zattu 845
14 of Zaccai 760
15 of Binnui 648
16 of Bebai 628
17 of Azgad 2,322
18 of Adonikam 667
19 of Bigvai 2,067
20 of Adin 655
21 of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98
22 of Hashum 328
23 of Bezai 324
24 of Hariph 112
25 of Gibeon 95
26 the men of Bethlehem and Netophah 188
27 of Anathoth 128
28 of Beth Azmaveth 42
29 of Kiriath Jearim, Kephirah and Beeroth 743
30 of Ramah and Geba 621
31 of Micmash 122
32 of Bethel and Ai 123
33 of the other Nebo 52
34 of the other Elam 1,254
35 of Harim 320
36 of Jericho 345
37 of Lod, Hadid and Ono 721
38 of Senaah 3,930
39 The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973
40 of Immer 1,052
41 of Pashhur 1,247
42 of Harim 1,017
43 The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua (through Kadmiel through the line of Hodaviah) 74
44 The singers: the descendants of Asaph 148
45 The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita and Shobai 138
46 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
47 Keros, Sia, Padon,
48 Lebana, Hagaba, Shalmai,
49 Hanan, Giddel, Gahar,
50 Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda,
51 Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah,
52 Besai, Meunim, Nephussim,
53 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
54 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
55 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
56 Neziah and Hatipha
57 The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, Perida,
58 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel,
59 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Amon
60 The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon 392
61 The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
62 the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 642
63 And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
64 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 65 The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
66 The whole company numbered 42,360, 67 besides their 7,337 menservants and maidservants; and they also had 245 men and women singers. 68 There were 736 horses, 245 mules, [b] 69 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
70 Some of the heads of the families contributed to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 drachmas [c] of gold, 50 bowls and 530 garments for priests.
Nehemiah not only governs at a wide level, but also he goes down to specifics and makes sure that things are all accounted for. He is not slack in his work.
This governor, is it referring to Nehemiah himself? Might be that in his humility, he didn't want to mention his own name in this good act.
71 Some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the work 20,000 drachmas [d] of gold and 2,200 minas [e] of silver. 72 The total given by the rest of the people was 20,000 drachmas of gold, 2,000 minas [f] of silver and 67 garments for priests.
73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers and the temple servants, along with certain of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Isaiah 34
Isaiah 34
Judgment Against the Nations
1 Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
A picture painting the total destruction brought about God's judgement to an unlistening nation. Later, Edom is pointed out specifically. Originally descended from Esau, brother of Jacob. Later fulfilled again as Edom was considered a brother nation to Israel. But yet, Edom allied with a foreign nation and attacked Israel, her sister nation. Such was an even greater sin. God's judgement has befalled Edom.
6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat— the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the bull calves and the great bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and the dust will be soaked with fat.
Covered/soaked with fat, Edom enjoyed excess. But it had forgotten the most important thing, which is to honor God.
Principle: Let us not forget the most important thing, to honor God. Not to rely on our excesses.
8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause.
9 Edom's streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away.
13 Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.
14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also repose and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs, she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate.
Picture of Edom's destruction continues. No man will be left, animals will roam the desolate land.
16 Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.
What the Lord hath said, what will be fulfilled. There is no longer any nation called Edom today. God promised the preserverance of Israel, and this nation is standing defiantly today. God's Word will hold true forever and whatever has been promised will come to pass.
17 He allots their portions; his hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation.
Judgment Against the Nations
1 Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
A picture painting the total destruction brought about God's judgement to an unlistening nation. Later, Edom is pointed out specifically. Originally descended from Esau, brother of Jacob. Later fulfilled again as Edom was considered a brother nation to Israel. But yet, Edom allied with a foreign nation and attacked Israel, her sister nation. Such was an even greater sin. God's judgement has befalled Edom.
6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat— the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the bull calves and the great bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and the dust will be soaked with fat.
Covered/soaked with fat, Edom enjoyed excess. But it had forgotten the most important thing, which is to honor God.
Principle: Let us not forget the most important thing, to honor God. Not to rely on our excesses.
8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's cause.
9 Edom's streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!
10 It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.
11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away.
13 Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.
14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also repose and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs, she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate.
Picture of Edom's destruction continues. No man will be left, animals will roam the desolate land.
16 Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.
What the Lord hath said, what will be fulfilled. There is no longer any nation called Edom today. God promised the preserverance of Israel, and this nation is standing defiantly today. God's Word will hold true forever and whatever has been promised will come to pass.
17 He allots their portions; his hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Isaiah 33
Isaiah 33
Distress and Help
1 Woe to you, O destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, O traitor, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
Probably referring to Assryia, destroyer of Israel. The evil will receive judgement in God's time. No one will escape, though they might seem to be rampant now.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
Let us pray to the Lord every morning. He is our renewed strength to meet the day's challenges ahead.
And of course, our salvation in times of distress, when we have no one to go to, when we will we are disappointed by everyone, with everything, God is our salvation.
3 At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
Principle: The Lord is to be exalted. Fullstop. If man depends on their materials, their materials will one day disappear into nothingness, like a harvest swamped by locusts.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. [a]
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses [b] are despised, no one is respected.
9 The land mourns [c] and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
A picture of devastation.
10 "Now will I arise," says the LORD. "Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned as if to lime; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze."
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
Whatever man has done, has come to meaningless. Chaff is unwanted harvest. Man's own breath consumes him. All resulting because we are far away from God. God commands us to hear, acknowledge His doing, His power.
Principle: God's doing and power has to be acknowledged. His doing and power in our own personal lives, how He helped us in times of need, His graces, we have to acknowledge Him!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"
15 He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil-
16 this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.
The terrifying result of sin is exemplified. Who can withstand unquenching fire?
But the man who
1. acts righteously
2. considers his speech
3. withstands corruption
4. runs away from evil
will enjoy refuge in the Lord, with his needs provided, and dangers not overcoming him.
What a promise from the Lord!
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: "Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?"
A picture of destruction again. No one to hold roles.
19 You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
The Lord judges us by the Laws that He has revealed to us. But it doesn't stop there, for He knows we do not meet the benchmark of God. God 's love manifests now. He is our King, He SAVES us by grace.
23 Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill"; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
Blessings overflow from the Lord, and the ultimate blessing to man, the forgiveness of man's sin.
Isaiah 32:14-20
Salvation from the Spirit
14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field.
Everything remains desolate till the Spirit is poured out on us. Reminscent of the fact that before Jesus ascended into Heaven, when He said that the Spirit will be with us when He leaves. The Spirit will remind us of God's Word, will be our helper, our comforter.
When the Spirit is with us, nature becomes edified, more than that, people are edified. There will be justice and righteousness.
17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,
20 how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
Summarized by v 17. To act in rightheousness brings peace, quietness and confidence forever.
These three, many thought they can get it through wealth, fame, power, but the bible tells us that we get it through acting in righteouness.
Principle:
Acting in righteousness might upset people, might bring us in trouble not always gaining us in favour of man, but underlying it, is God's peace, quietness and confidence with us.
14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field.
Everything remains desolate till the Spirit is poured out on us. Reminscent of the fact that before Jesus ascended into Heaven, when He said that the Spirit will be with us when He leaves. The Spirit will remind us of God's Word, will be our helper, our comforter.
When the Spirit is with us, nature becomes edified, more than that, people are edified. There will be justice and righteousness.
17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,
20 how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
Summarized by v 17. To act in rightheousness brings peace, quietness and confidence forever.
These three, many thought they can get it through wealth, fame, power, but the bible tells us that we get it through acting in righteouness.
Principle:
Acting in righteousness might upset people, might bring us in trouble not always gaining us in favour of man, but underlying it, is God's peace, quietness and confidence with us.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Isaiah 32:9-13
The Women of Jerusalem
9 You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your clothes, put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines
13 and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
Warning to those who feel safe, complacent. We feel secure over our material wealths, our bonuses, our salaries, our property, but if our security is based upon just all these, they will fail us. Inflation can wipe out wealth in a second. Property prices can drop overnight.
Principle:
Our security is not based on what we have, but on God. Our good does not lie outside of God.
9 You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your clothes, put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines
13 and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
Warning to those who feel safe, complacent. We feel secure over our material wealths, our bonuses, our salaries, our property, but if our security is based upon just all these, they will fail us. Inflation can wipe out wealth in a second. Property prices can drop overnight.
Principle:
Our security is not based on what we have, but on God. Our good does not lie outside of God.
Isaiah 32:1-8
Hmmm, let me attempt to put my sun sch classes online! =)
Isaiah 32: 1-8
The Kingdom of Righteousness
1 See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.
Fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who reigned in righteouness and justice, instead of the past/current Kings. eg. King Hezekiah, who ruled during Isaiah's time. Isaiah expected him to rule righteously, but he disappointed. Like so many others before him, the King ruled unrighteously, oppressed the weak, did not judge justly.
2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
Jesus Christ would have rule with his helpers. Each helper would offer great help, advice, like a shelter and refuge from attacks. Like precious water that quenches thirst in its most needed time. In contrast, the helper of Kings, would only seek their own good, curry favor with their King, give advice to the King to continue his unrighteous ruling.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
People will seek the Lord and understand His Word. This is in contrast in earlier verses proclaiming the hardening of the Israelites' heart, when though they have eyes, can't see, and ears but can't hear. People will understand His word, and prophets once again will preach His word with strength.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
People will be able to discern. To more of good being seen as bad, or bad being seen or good. No more relativism. People will discern by the wisdom of God!
6 For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.
7 The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
Very proverb like simple to understand commands. But we so often neglect to apply.
May God clear our minds of evil. We constantly, plot, scheme, hate our friends, colleagues, we hope for their down fall, our minds are just busy with evil.
Principle & Application:
1. May God help us to not have a mind busy with evil but a mind who mediates upon God's Word day and night.
2. Do not discriminate against the poor, the weak, the disadvantaged. Do not gang up on our needy friends or those who can't 'fit in' or those who just seem to be isolated. Reach out our hand to them, they are the needy.
8 But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.
Application:
We stand by what we do. Let's bear good testimony to others, manifesting God 's and Jesus's love. By our noble deeds, we stand and that others will believe.
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