Burunche’s Blog

The LORD’s Vineyard

 “In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent —Leviathan, the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard. I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it; I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground. Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.”

In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit. Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her? By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.

Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, (Therefore the guilt of Jacob will be taken away, and this is his blessing when I take away his sin; cited in Romans 11:27) and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing. For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”

Make no mistake! Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah EARNED their destruction and exile. Almost as soon as the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they began running after the local deities. Despite periods of revival, most of the time, it looked like a religious side show. Here were Asherah poles, there were high places, down in the valley people were offering their children to Molech. On the rooftops of Jerusalem, men were worshiping the moon and the stars. Women were sewing charms into veils and weeping over fertility gods. And then the same people were trooping to the temple at Jerusalem in hopes that one magnificent sacrifice would get them back in God’s good graces so that they could plunge back into full – bore idolatry as soon as they left the temple grounds. As a result of these sins, fortified cities and altars were turned into chalk dust and the tells that were left became places for grazing cattle and women gathering fire wood.

Who is the author of all this confusion? Satan. Here God refers to Satan as Leviathan, a monster of mythological proportions, a dragon of the sea. When Messiah comes, He will demolish Satan, defeating him for all time. Then Messiah will watch over Israel, making it a fruitful spiritual vineyard. God points out that He did not destroy the nation of Israel as He did so many other ancient nations. No matter how deeply Israel sinned, God always preserved a remnant. In recent times, God preserved a remnant of the Jews from Nazi attempts to annihilate them. Many of those surviving the concentration camps fled to Israel just as she was gaining her independence.

“In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.” This prophecy is literally coming true. Modern Israel has developed many technological marvels, including the drip irrigation method that is blessing arid parts of the world.

“In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” This last ingathering of the Jews is yet to take place. When God sounds that spiritual shofar, Jews will flock to Israel as they never have before. “And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”

APPLICATION: Few images are more powerful than the ones mentioned in this chapter. In ancient times, the shofar, or ram’s horn, was used to call people to worship or to war. Here Isaiah predicts that when Messiah returns, physical and spiritual shofars will sound and Jews around the world will respond.

God has never removed His hand from Israel, despite all her sins. Many of the ancient tribes the Israelites displaced were destroyed so completely that for years scholars refused to believe that they had ever existed. It remained for archaeologists to uncover ancient records documenting the destruction of these tribes. If not for God, Israel could just as easily have suffered complete destruction and could have retreated into anonymity.

God never intended for Israel alone to worship Him; God always intended that Israel would serve as a model so that other people will see what could happen to a nation that worshiped and glorified Him. Jesus assured Nicodemus in John 3:16 that “God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten son…”

God loves each one of us so much that He refuses to leave us alone to die in our sins. Years ago, I heard the testimony of a man who had been part of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. This man had a praying mother, and she continued to beg God for her son’s salvation day and night. Finally, God got this man’s attention, and he called his mother from a phone booth. (This was in the 1970’s – no cell phones.) His mother in South Carolina found the name of an Assemblies of God pastor in the state of Washington where her son was and called that pastor. That pastor turned out to be a huge strong man who was a former U.S. Marine. The pastor arrived to collect the man from the phone booth just as the local Hell’s Angels were about to attack and kill him. Later on, I attended church with the man’s mother when I worked in her area and confirmed the truth of the story.

Today is the only day any of us have to serve God and worship Him. Today is the day you need to turn your life over to God so that He can lead and guide you. Why continue to struggle on your own when the Maker of the universe is offering help?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to put absolute trust in You. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

A Song of Salvation

 “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful. You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust. Feet trample it down—the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright. Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls. My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.

Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them! O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.

O LORD our God, other lords besides You have had dominion, but Your name alone do we confess. The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land. O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD. We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed. For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.”

The Book of Isaiah is so packed with wonderful truths that selecting only a few as favorites is impossible; nevertheless, Chapter 26 contains some of the most hopeful scriptures ever written. ““In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.” What day is Isaiah mentioning? The day of the coming of the Messiah. Originally, Isaiah’s writings were not divided up into chapters, so this description is a continuation of the description of events surrounding the ultimate return of the Messiah to the earth and to Jerusalem. The Messiah is the Bringer of Salvation and deliverance; those who remain faithful will be with Him.

“You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.” If you don’t remember another verse from Isaiah, write Isaiah 26:3 on your heart! When computers first came into vogue, the phrase GIGO also came into use. GIGO stands for “garbage in, garbage out.” Computers are wonderful, but they will only give back whatever you put into them. Our minds will only give back whatever we put into them. If we focus on God and trust in God, then God will give us perfect peace; however, if we insist on trusting on anything else or anything less, we will find ourselves consumed by worry. One night, the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat while Jesus remained on shore to pray. In the middle of the night, Jesus joined the disciples by walking on the water.  At the invitation of Jesus, Peter got out of the boat and began walking toward Jesus; however, Peter made a mistake – he took his eyes off Jesus and began to look at the waves. As soon as Peter stopped focusing on Jesus, he began to sink; Jesus reached out and took Peter’s hand, and Peter and Jesus both walked to the boat and got into it.

Here God through Isaiah is contrasting people of faith with the wicked and proud. “Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!” The Bible repeatedly tells us that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.” God is the only Creator; the rest of us merely imitate Him. There’s a story about a scientist who boasted to God that he was now able to bring life out of dirt. “Fine,” said God. “Now create your own dirt!”

Finally, we are assured of the resurrection of the dead. “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.” But this does not mean that all the dead will join the Messiah in His celebrations. Only those who have trusted God will be with the Messiah in the heavenly Jerusalem.   

APPLICATION: On January 2, 2023, the Buffalo Bills football team were playing the Cincinnati Bengals when Damar Hamilton was tackled, causing his heart to stop. A quick – thinking athletic trainer immediately began CPR, saving Damar’s life. As emergency crews rushed Damar to a trauma center, fans and football players alike knelt in prayer. Over the next several days, millions of people around the world prayed for Damar’s recovery and for the well – being of the Cincinnati player who had tackled him. Announcers on ESPN prayed on – air for Damar’s recovery. People who might never have prayed before found themselves interceding for Damar, placing their trust in the God who alone could heal him. Testimonies are coming forth of people who have experienced a new peace in their lives after their sincere prayers for this young man.

God is amazingly undiscriminating. Sincere prayer that comes from an honest heart will always receive answers. Why is this? No matter how faithful we are, we are all still sinners in need of a Savior. Sincere prayers going up from a sports bar are just as valid as those coming from any place of worship. Should we worship God in churches? Of course. But God listens to prayers and answers 24/7. We are the ones who refuse to pray frequently or regularly.

As we enter a new year, many of us are plagued by problems left over from 2022 or ever years earlier. Where can we get release and peace of mind? We need to steadfastly focus on God and not on our problems, trusting that God who is our eternal all – powerful Father is fully able to solve those problems. “Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.”

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are troubled and upset. Help us to roll those burdens over onto You and to trust in You as our strong and immoveable Rock. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.  

JANUARY 10, 2023 A GREAT LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS #26 ISAIAH 25:1 – 12 GIMME SHELTER!

Praise to the Victorious God (Jeremiah 51:15-19)

O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders—plans formed long ago—in perfect faithfulness. Indeed, You have turned the city into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You. For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall, like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine. On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. (He will swallow up death in victory; cited in 1 Corinthians 15:54)

The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face (Revelation 7:17 and Revelation 21:4) and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken. And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile. He will spread out his hands within it, as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, despite the skill of his hands. The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.”

If the 24^th chapter of Isaiah appears to offer little apart from gloom and doom, relief comes in Chapter 25. Isaiah praises God who alone can lift up nations or send them to destruction. God’s power is so great that even ruthless nations like the Assyrians will praise and honor Him. God is “a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat.”

The description of the ruthless is timeless: For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall, like heat in a dry land.” In countries where traditional architecture involves mud bricks, rainstorms can destroy un-plastered walls, either directly or indirectly. Rain can beat directly on the walls, or it can hit the ground, bouncing back up and eroding the lowermost part of the walls. Unless measures are taken to repair the walls and plaster them, these walls can collapse, injuring or killing anyone in the rooms the walls enclose. Further protection is available when the walls are sprayed with a rough cement coating that will help break up the surface tension of the raindrops as they strike the wall. The reference to heat in a dry land is also obvious. Heat in a dry area is unrelenting; no creatures can live without shade and water.

The rest of the chapter concerns the banquet that the Lord will spread for those who love Him from every nation. God is promising to swallow up death and to wipe away every tear from the eyes of those who love Him. These verses are later echoed in the New Testament by St. Paul and St. John; however, Isaiah said it first. What makes Isaiah’s prophecies so wonderful is that Isaiah never knew Jesus the Messiah. John was the disciple closest to Jesus and a first – hand witness to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Paul knew people who had known Jesus, and Paul had a divine encounter with Jesus. But Isaiah only saw the Messiah in visions. As Isaiah was dying at the hands of wicked King Manasseh, did Isaiah see the Messiah inviting him to join the heavenly banquet?

The chapter ends with a description of the destruction of the nation of Moab. This destruction did take place, leaving very little in its wake. Once more, we are reminded that God is the One who brings nations to prominence and God is the One who reduces nations to nothing.

APPLICATION: There is an old hymn written by Vernon J. Charlesworth and later amended by Ira D. Sankey, song leader for D. L. Moody’s crusades. It’s called “A Shelter in the Time of Storm.” Here are the words. For an excellent recording, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oLkKQp94Qo .

1. The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,
   A Shelter in the time of storm;
   Secure whatever ill betide,
   A Shelter in the time of storm.
   1. Refrain:
      Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
      A weary land, a weary land;
      Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
      A Shelter in the time of storm.

2. A shade by day, defense by night,
   A Shelter in the time of storm;
   No fears alarm, no foes afright,
   A Shelter in the time of storm.
3. The raging storms may round us beat,
   A Shelter in the time of storm;
   We’ll never leave our safe Retreat,
   A Shelter in the time of storm.
4. O Rock divine, O Refuge dear,
   A Shelter in the time of storm;
   Be Thou our Helper ever near,
   A Shelter in the time of storm.

Face it, all of us have storms in our lives. Aging, financial reverses, family squabbles, changes at work such as lay – offs, illnesses – the storms may hit without warning at any time. Where can we turn for help? Many of our friends and loved ones may be caught in similar situations, unable to help themselves. We need a Savior, not just to save us from our sins but also to save us from the results of cataclysmic events.

Isaiah 43:1 – 2 assures us: “But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

The important word in these verses is the word “through.” God does not promise to deliver us FROM our problems, but He does promise that we will go THROUGH them successfully. As we proceed into 2023, let us all remember that Jesus can be our shelter in the time of storm and that with Jesus helping us, we can go THROUGH any problem.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help everyone who reads these words to seek Your face and to make You their Rock, their Shelter, and their Savior. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

God’s Judgment on the Earth

“Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor. The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered.

The LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away. The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it. The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry. In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land. The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble. So will it be on the earth and among the nations, like a harvested olive tree, like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD. Therefore glorify the LORD in the east. Extol the name of the LORD, the God of Israel in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.”

But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal in treachery. Terror and pit and snare await you, O dwellers of the earth. Whoever flees the sound of terror will fall into a pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in a trap. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently. The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below. They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days. The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.”

Just in case you still thought being a prophet was fun, consider the words of Isaiah 24! Here Isaiah is foretelling the final destruction of the whole earth, and the visions are so horrible that Isaiah responds, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.”

Isaiah is foretelling a time when God will judge the earth and bring an end to it. In that day, social position, religious affiliation, and profession will mean absolutely nothing. God who knows all human hearts will judge the earth and its people. What will happen to bring this cataclysm about? Sin! “The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away. The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.”

Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” The sin burden of the world will become so great that the whole earth will be defiled and cursed. God warned the Israelites in Leviticus 18:28 that He was giving them the Promised Land because of the sins of the people who were already there. But the Israelites could equally find themselves rejected as well. “And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” Frankly, mankind is fouling its own nest, bringing curses on the innocent earth and defiling it.

But is everything gloom and doom? No! George Otis Jr. and his group Sentinel Organization have faithfully recorded amazing restoration of the earth and its fish and wildlife when people repent, repudiate ancestral sins, and follow the One True Living God.

APPLICATION: We live and work in Ghana. When we came more than 34 years ago, Ghana had vast forests with huge trees. Now those trees are gone. Resources are disappearing. Farmers are being forced to employ chemical fertilizers and herbicides to grow decent crops. These chemicals carry their own side effects, some of which may last for generations. Due to extensive mining, water quality in many areas has severely deteriorated. Rivers that once ran clear are now murky with few fish.

Can God turn these situations around if we repent? YES! YES! YES! Just as sin defiles the earth, repentance and righteousness can heal it. For documentation of such miracles, go to https://www.sentinelgroup.org/documentaries or look up videos by George Otis Jr. on YouTube. In places as far apart as Fiji, Guatemala, Alaska, Canada, Hemet, California, and the Scottish Hebrides Islands, revival has been followed by restoration of the land. In one location in Guatemala, local farmers who scarcely had any produce began sending several truckloads of vegetables a week to market. These vegetables were enormous – carrots as big as a man’s forearm. The 4 local jails that formerly were overflowing closed for lack of drunken prisoners.

God has been, is, and always will be a Redeemer. When we turn to Him, confess our sins, beg Him for forgiveness, and worship Him, he will heal us and our families and will heal our land. God promised King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13 – 14, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We all have choices. We can choose to sin and defile our environment, or we can choose to worship God and allow Him to heal it. The whole universe tilts on the axis of free will; God does not create puppets. Will we choose to serve God, to fear Him and to follow His leading, or will we choose to sin, defiling ourselves and everything around us?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read this devotional to choose to follow You and to serve You all the days of their lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Fall of Tyre

“This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. Be silent, O dwellers of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whose traders have crossed the sea. On the great waters came the grain of Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre; she was the merchant of the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.” When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre. Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coastland! Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away? Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are renowned on the earth?

The LORD of Hosts planned it, to defile all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the renowned of the earth. Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor. The LORD has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has made kingdoms tremble. He has given a command that the strongholds of Canaan be destroyed. He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus—even there you will find no rest.” Look at the land of the Chaldeans —a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.

Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your harbor has been destroyed! At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years—the span of a king’s life. But at the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: “Take up your harp, stroll through the city, O forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody, sing many a song, so you will be remembered.”

And at the end of seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre. Then she will return to hire as a prostitute and sell herself to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothing.”

Roman arch way built on the causeway the Greeks built to Tyre.

Ancient Tyre was the New York City of its day, and when Isaiah uttered this prophecy, people undoubtedly laughed him to scorn. If any city state had it all and was impregnable, Tyre was that city.

What was Tyre and why would God bother to issue prophecies against it? David Guzik gives us the answers in his Enduring World commentary: “To the north of Israel, Tyre was the leading city of Phoenicia, the great maritime power of the ancient world. Because it was such an important harbor and center for shipping, Tyre was synonymous with commerce and materialism.

i. Tyre was the “Babylon of the Sea.” Because of their excellent harbor and seamanship, they established a commercial empire far greater than one would expect given their size and military power.

ii. Tyre was a city in two parts – an inland city, and an island city. The inland city was conquered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, just as Isaiah prophesied. The island city was conquered later by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.

iii. The influence of Tyre was both good and bad for Israel. King Hiram of Tyre supplied David and Solomon great timbers for the building of the temple and other projects (2 Samuel 5:11, 1 Kings 5:1-11). Hiram also gave Solomon sailors, so Israel could build their commerce by sea (2 Chronicles 8:17-18). But later, Tyre gave Israel one of the worst rulers Israel ever had: Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 16:31).” (https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/isaiah-23/)

As a city, ancient Tyre had it all – wealth flowing from all the nations around the Mediterranean Sea, luxury, and security. The island part of Tyre had a rampart 170 feet high – surely strong enough to repel the most determined assailants. When traders from Tyre went to Tarshish (modern Spain) or other countries, they got respect! Cultivating favor with Tyre might gain one a crown; after all, these men were merchant princes in their own right. Even if Tyre on the mainland was conquered, the part of Tyre on the island could still hold out almost indefinitely. At least, that’s what the rulers of Tyre thought.

Tyre withstood a siege by Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed part of the mainland city. The city was later rebuilt. Alexander the Great destroyed the mainland part of Tyre and used the rubble from that city to build a causeway to the island also chartering 250 ships to blockade the harbors of Tyre. Despite this signal defeat, Tyre recovered and became Christian early on. Tyre remained Christian until it was taken by the Saracens in 639, recovered by the Christians in 1124, re – taken by the Mamelukes in 1280, and finally taken by the Turks in 1517. Since then, Tyre has never been rebuilt, and there is only the small village of Sur on the island. (Information from Encyclopedia Britannica)

Why would God destroy Tyre? Ezekiel 26 – 28 describes the destruction of Tyre and Sidon. Ezekiel 28:12 – 19 informs us that the spiritual king of Tyre was Satan. Ezekiel 28:14 – 19 says, “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you. By the vastness of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I banished you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.

By the multitude of your iniquities and the dishonesty of your trading you have profaned your sanctuaries. So I made fire come from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the eyes of all who saw you. All the nations who know you are appalled over you. You have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’ ”

APPLICATION: The citizens of Tyre are perfect examples of people who had it all and who lost it all. Trusting in wealth, location, and trading partners, the people of Tyre and Sidon worshiped Satan rather than the One True Living God. The same fate awaits all who trust in anything other than God.

As we enter this New Year, we need to search our hearts. Where are we placing our trust? Where is our security? Many retirees in the U.S. are seeing their investment funds shrinking while prices are increasing. Social Security in the U.S. will barely maintain a retiree at the poverty level.

Psalm 125:1 – 2 says, “1Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.”

Are you one of the “Lord’s people?” Let’s pray!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we do put our trust in You, knowing that You are the only One who can protect us and guide us. Please provide those things that we need so that we will be able to continue to live and work for You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Valley of Vision

“This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops, O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle. All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.

Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.” For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision—of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains.

Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield. Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates. He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool. You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall. You built a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider Him who planned it long ago.

On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.

A Message for Shebna

This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace: What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?

Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master. I will depose you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.

On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut; what he shuts, no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father. So they will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.”

Destruction is coming to Jerusalem! Ferocious invading armies are gradually moving westward, destroying everything in their paths. The citizens of Jerusalem should be weeping and repenting, begging God for deliverance, but instead, they are dividing their time between building up their defenses, storing water and protecting the water supply, and then throwing fatalistic parties. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!“ In the midst of all this turmoil, Isaiah continues to warn the citizens of Jerusalem that all of these frantic preparations will be useless if they refuse to turn back to God. You can almost see Isaiah standing in the main street of Jerusalem and proclaiming these words while rich people rush by him on the way to the next party, nearly trampling him in the process.

The last part of this prophecy singles out two men: Shebna and Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. As the steward in charge of the palace, Shebna occupies a position of prominence. Now Shebna wants to demonstrate to everyone just how important he is by carving out a fancy tomb in a high location so everyone will see it. Not only is Shebna creating a magnificent tomb for himself, but he evidently has several luxury chariots, the ancient equivalent of Mercedes Benzes.  God is warning Shebna that unless Shebna repents, he will never occupy that tomb and he and his chariots will all wind up in a land of exile. “Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master. I will depose you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.” There is no record that Shebna ever repented; we must assume that he suffered the fate described here by Isaiah. “In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.” God is warning Shebna that he will be completely cut off along with everyone who is relying on him.  

The second steward is Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. Both Shebna and Eliakim are assistants to King Hezekiah. Now God is promising that once Shebna is removed, He will elevate Eliakim to prominence. “On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut; what he shuts, no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.”

Here Isaiah is describing not only Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, but also the coming Messiah. Just as Eliakim will assume authority and will be a father to those in Jerusalem and Judah, so the Messiah will also be a father. Just as Eliakim will assume responsibility for the house of David to preserve it, so the Messiah will take all that authority on himself. Both Eliakim and the Messiah will be pegs in firm places that can bear any load placed on them.

APPLICATION: Two stewards and two responses! Shebna is giving a horrible example of conspicuous consumption – fancy chariots and a big elaborate tomb. It’s likely that Shebna is one of the people throwing parties as he hopes that his tomb will be completed soon enough. Shebna doesn’t seem to realize that only God determines where he dies and when. God is so disgusted with Shebna that He promises to wad Shebna up into a ball and throw him into a wide country where Shebna will die.

Despite all the chaos, Eliakim has remained faithful to God. It is quite possible that Eliakim is one of righteous King Hezekiah’s confidants, and that he has been inspired by Hezekiah’s example. At any rate, God knows Eliakim’s heart and knows that Eliakim can wield authority without becoming proud and overbearing.  

At the same time God is describing Eliakim, He is also giving us information about the Messiah. Earlier, Isaiah has prophesied that the government will be on his (Messiah’s) shoulders, indicating that the Messiah will rule and reign and will be utterly reliable.

Today, times and seasons may have changed, but world events continue to be chaotic. The poor Ukrainians are facing a brutal winter as Russia persists in its attacks. Israel continues to be bombarded with hundreds of  missiles on a daily basis. Nations throughout the world are facing problems. In the midst of this turmoil, what and whom can we trust to save us? Only the One True Living God and His Son Jesus Christ are trustworthy. Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”  Let us copy Eliakim, son of Hilkiah! Let us put our trust in the only One who can save us!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, You are our only hope and our only true Source of salvation. Help all who read these words to put their trust in You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Babylon Is Fallen (Revelation 18:1-8)

“This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear; I am dismayed to see. My heart staggers; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.

They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields! For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout to report what he sees. When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.” Then the lookout shouted, “Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower; night after night I stay at my post. Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.”

And one answered, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.

The Burden against Edom

This is the burden against Dumah: One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.” (“Dumah” is a word play on “Edom” meaning silence. The implication here is that after the Assyrians sweep through, the land of Edom will be totally uninhabited and silent.)  

The Burden against Arabia

This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites. Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food. For they flee from the sword, the sword that is drawn, from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle. For this is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker would count it, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Babylon, Edom, and Arabia – three kingdoms with the same impending fate, a fate so terrible that Isaiah says, “Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. My heart staggers; fear makes me tremble. The twilight of my desire has turned to horror.”  

The world is full of self – styled prophets who love to proclaim wonderful blessings while rapt audiences applaud and shout encouragement. But Isaiah is one of the greatest prophets who has ever lived; yet, some of the visions God has revealed are so terrible that Isaiah is at the point of collapse from the horror.

In a single prophecy God shows Isaiah the destruction of three kingdoms by the Assyrians. While other nations merely kill and take captives, the Assyrians lop off heads with captains competing to see who will have the highest head count. The Assyrians flay their victims alive for maximum suffering. While other nations merely take a land and settle it with new people whom they have already captured, the Assyrians pursue a scorched earth policy, leaving only ashes and rocky barren land in their wake.

Here is what the historian Simon Anglin says regarding Assyria: “The Assyrians created the world’s first great army and the world’s first great empire. This was held together by two factors: their superior abilities in siege warfare and their reliance on sheer, unadulterated terror. It was Assyrian policy always to demand that examples be made of those who resisted them; this included deportations of entire peoples and horrific physical punishments. One inscription from a temple in the city of Nimrod records the fate of the leaders of the city of Suru on the Euphrates River, who rebelled from, and were reconquered by, King Ashurbanipal: I built a pillar at the city gate and I flayed all the chief men who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled up inside the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes.” Such punishments were not uncommon. Furthermore, inscriptions recording these vicious acts of retribution were displayed throughout the empire to serve as a warning. Yet this officially sanctioned cruelty seems to have had the opposite effect: though the Assyrians and their army were respected and feared, they were most of all hated and the subjects of their empire were in an almost constant state of rebellion.” (https://www.worldhistory.org/Assyrian_Warfare/)

The Assyrian attack on Arabia will be so terrible that refugees will be hiding in thickets. The term “Kedar” refers to a loose confederation of nomadic Arab states who trace their lineage back to Abraham’s son Ishmael. At times, the armies of Kedar have allied with the Babylonians and others; however, now Isaiah is predicting that those armies will be shattered, never to rise again.  

APPLICATION: How do we react when the Will of God forces us to face tragic realities? The last three years, many of us have either had COVID or have friends and loved ones who have suffered with it. Some of us have watched helpless as those most dear to us have died with COVID; others are continuing to struggle with “long COVID” symptoms. The COVID pandemic has brought economic devastation to many economies around the world, leaving the very poor suffering even more than they were before.

Now we are being warned of a COVID resurgence with potentially disastrous implications. Isaiah was prophesying during times of relative wealth for the nation of Judah; however, spiritually, Judah was rotting. The spiritual state of Judah was reminiscent of the live oaks in the city of New Orleans. Streets in the older parts of New Orleans used to be lined with huge live oak trees that spread their branches across the streets, giving shade and coolness. But when a naval base began operating in New Orleans during World War II, ships from Taiwan brought an alarming pest to New Orleans – Formosan termites arrived in wood crates from the Far East. When these termites were at home, their activities were controlled by a harsh climate; however, New Orleans has a semi – tropical climate with very mild winters, allowing the termites to live and work year – round. These termites have adapted readily to these more favorable conditions and have been feasting on trees, particularly live oaks. When Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans, many of these live oaks that appeared so strong toppled because they had been hollowed out by Formosan termites.  

The constant message that Isaiah continues to present throughout all of his prophecies is this: No empire, no king, no army – nothing can save us apart from reliance on the One True Living God. Watchmen may scan the horizons for approaching armies. Refugees may flee ahead of the fire storms. But in the end, only God can truly rescue us.

All of us face uncertain futures; however, if we will trust in God, He will never leave us or forsake us. For Isaiah, it is this trust in God that allows him to continue to utter gloomy prophecies without succumbing to despair.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to trust in You, knowing that You will never abandon us and that You are our only true Source of help. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

A Sign against Egypt and Cush

Isaiah 20:1 – 6 “Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it, the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.”

And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot. Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,  so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.

Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”

Isaiah was a prophet and a member of the priestly families. He had probably been raised to dress modestly and appropriately. The very last thing Isaiah would choose would be to walk around barefoot and naked for even one day. But this passage tells us that Isaiah actually walked around barefoot and naked for THREE YEARS!!!

We were in Israel in the end of March 2016. Israel is NOT a tropical country, and although we had some warm clothing with us, we suffered with the cold. The last thing we would have chosen would have been to walk around barefoot, let alone naked; yet, Isaiah did so for three full years. What was Isaiah thinking?

Isaiah’s ministry reached far beyond the borders of Israel. Isaiah’s prophecies were known throughout the Middle East, and now God was ordering Isaiah to walk around as if he were a homeless naked refugee as a sign to the Egyptians and the Cushites (Ethiopians.) Not only was Isaiah to be a sign for these people, but also for anyone who thought that an alliance with Egypt or Cush would save them from the Assyrians.

Not only was Isaiah graphically demonstrating what would happen to these nations, but God through Isaiah was also calling all the peoples of that region to Himself. God wanted these people to realize that no political alliance would save them from destruction, only alliance with the One True Living God.

APPLICATION: Did Isaiah’s prophecy have any effect on the surrounding people? The answer lies hidden with God in eternity. It is possible that individuals who saw Isaiah in this state might have sought God’s face. Certainly, God was trying as hard as possible to get attention to Himself as the ultimate Protector.

What about Isaiah? It’s quite amazing that Isaiah didn’t fall sick with pneumonia or heat stroke during those three years. If Isaiah had any lingering pride in being a prophet, three years of shame would have cured him of that!

What about us? What if God calls you to get out of your comfort zone? What if God calls you to do something supremely foolish? Will you go? Will you obey?

At the end of World War II, Francis Schaeffer was a successful pastor with a growing ministry when he felt God ordering him and his family to move to a small village in Switzerland. Selling all their possessions, the Schaeffer family moved to Switzerland in 1948 and began informally ministering to travelers and students who were seeking meaning for their lives after the cataclysmic events of the war. In 1955 the Schaeffers founded L’Abri (French for “the shelter.”) “Serving as both a philosophy seminar and a spiritual community, L’Abri attracted thousands of young people, and was later expanded into Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.” (Wikipedia)

Schaeffer’s influence continues to be felt as the work of L’Abri continues. “ Following Schaeffer’s death in 1984,^[9] L’Abri would continue to grow. In the present day, L’Abri has operations in a number of different countries. As of 2011, L’Abri has residential “Study Centres” in the United States (Minnesota and Massachusetts), Canada, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also has non-residential “Resource Centres”, run by friends of the organization, in Brazil and Germany.” (Wikipedia)

Was Francis Schaeffer a fool for uprooting his family and moving to Switzerland? Ask the thousands who have found L’Abri an enormous blessing. Was Isaiah a fool for walking around naked and barefoot for three years? Absolutely not! No sacrifice for God ever goes unnoticed or unrewarded. When Isaiah walked around with people mocking him, God walked with him. When the Schaeffers moved to Switzerland, God guided them.

Today, God may be asking you to sacrifice something you treasure for His glory. Will you go forward into this new year, trusting that where God guides, He will provide?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, sometimes You frighten us! You want us to be more than we think we can possibly be. Help us to trust where we cannot see and to go forward with You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Burden against Egypt

Isaiah 19:1 – 25 “This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them. “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of harsh masters, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty. The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither. The bulrushes by the Nile,

by the mouth of the river, and all the fields sown along the Nile, will wither, blow away, and be no more.

Then the fishermen will mourn, all who cast a hook into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the waters will pine away. The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.

The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal

what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit. There is nothing Egypt can do—head or tail, palm or reed.

A Blessing upon the Earth

In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them. The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it. In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them.

And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth. The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

There are times when prophecy can leave us scratching our heads. We want to see everything come true right now before our eyes. Who cares about the distant future? Fortunately, Isaiah has been obedient when God has given him these promises, but Isaiah is probably confused!

Egypt thrown into such turmoil that the Egyptians are fighting one another. The Egyptians are going to become so desperate that they resort to the occult, but the occult fails them utterly. Not only will the Egyptians suffer under a harsh ruler, but the mighty Nile River, the source of much of the water and wealth in Egypt, will dry up, leaving the fish and vegetation to die and rot and stink. All the industries depending on the Nile will fail completely. Sounds horrible? But wait!

Somewhere in the midst of this disaster, the Egyptians will turn their hearts to the God of Israel and worship him. An altar will be built in the center of Egypt and there will be a memorial pillar dedicated to the Lord at the Egyptian border. Even though Egypt will be struck with a plague, when God heals the Egyptians, they will worship him and even form a three-way alliance with the Jews and the Assyrians (Iraq/Iran).

While many of Isaiah’s prophecies have already come true, this one is yet to be fulfilled. Before the Nile can dry up, all the sources of the Nile must first fail. The Nile receives much of its water from the mountains of Ethiopia; rainfall here must fail before the Nile can fail. These verses indicate a major drought across the Horn of Africa and Egypt. The Egyptians will be so confounded by this disaster that they will turn to the God of Israel and will form an alliance with Israel and the nations that make up the former kingdom of Assyria. God will bless this alliance.

APPLICATION: At first, these prophesies appear ludicrous; however, recent current events indicate that they might yet be fulfilled. That fulfillment will require several miracles, including not only a climate disaster, but also the willingness of the Jews to forgive the Egyptians and other countries who have been attacking Israel.

When the prophet Jeremiah was in prison and God sent his relative to sell Jeremiah land, Jeremiah was distraught, believing that Judah was about to be wiped out for good, rendering such a land deal useless. But God had other ideas. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

One of our close pastor friends who is now with Jesus used to say that we were all in advertising and only God was in management. Why would God even entertain such the ideas that this prophecy portrays? It is God’s will to draw all nations to Himself. Only God knows what it will take for a given nation to repent and to turn away from those things on which it has been relying. And God is willing to go to extremes to draw individuals and nations.

How about us? Has God been engineering crises in our lives so that we would recognize our need for Him? Have we attempted to trust in our professions, our savings, our investments, our political connections, or our families? God loves each one of us to such a degree that He will lovingly strip away everything on which we have relied until the day we turn and rely totally on Him.

At one point, the Egyptian empire was one of the richest in the world; yet, when the Assyrians came, they stripped it of much of its wealth. During World War II, the Germans looted art treasures and hid them; even now, new discoveries are still coming to light. The owners of these items trusted in their wealth, but in the end, they lost everything.

Victor Frankl was a distinguished Austrian Jewish psychiatrist who suffered greatly under the Nazis. In 1942, just nine months after his marriage, Frankl and his family were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His father died there of starvation and pneumonia. In 1944, Frankl and the surviving members of his family were transported to Auschwitz, where his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers. His wife died later of typhus in Bergen-Belsen. Frankl spent three years in four concentration camps.

In the midst of this suffering, Frankl triumphed spiritually. Later, Frankl would say, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

How can we change ourselves? The best thing we can do is to allow God to change us. As we enter this new year, let us beg God for His perfect Will for our lives and then let us follow His leading! 

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to stop and listen for Your voice so that we may know Your perfect will for our lives. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Woe to the land of whirring wings (of many locusts), along the rivers of Cush, which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.

All you people of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when a ram’s horn sounds, you will hear it. For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

For before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife and remove and discard the branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter. At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts—from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.”

2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Once more, God is demonstrating that it is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life. Here Isaiah is prophesying over the Ethiopians. The description fits Ethiopia and its people – “a people tall and smooth – skinned, a people widely feared, a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.”

Isaiah is predicting that the Ethiopians will worship the God of Israel, and this prophecy has come to pass. The Coptic Church in Ethiopia is one of the oldest established churches in the world. Shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection and after the Day of Pentecost, God ordered the disciple Philip to go to the road leading down through the desert to Gaza. There miracles occurred. The story is told in Acts 8:26-40.

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his return was sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”

“Tell me,”said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”

This story explains how the Gospel first came to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian to whom Philip explained the Gospel was a very important person with lots of influence. Once back in Ethiopia, there’s no doubt that this man shared his new – found faith with everyone whose lives he touched. That man’s witness resulted in the establishment of the Coptic Church.

APPLICATION: “Red, brown, black, or white – nothing but reflected light! The Lord is color – blind, color – blind.” I’ve borrowed these lines from “The Smothers Brothers Show,” an American television program that ran in the early 1960’s. The program used humorous songs to comment on many of the serious political issues of the day.

God did not choose Israel to be His people at the exclusion of everyone else; He chose Israel to demonstrate what He could do with any nation that would honor Him and put Him first. Nicodemus was a Jewish religious leader who came to Jesus by night because he didn’t want to get in trouble with his colleagues. But this man truly hungered to learn about God. Jesus told Nicodemus that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever would believe in him would not die, but would have eternal life.” What Jesus was really saying was, “Nicodemus, you are an observant Jew,  and my Heavenly Father loves the Jews, but my Heavenly Father also wants all the people of the world to know His love.”

Revelation 5:9-10 tells us that at the end of time, Jesus will be worshiped using the following words “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them into a kingdom, priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

In that day, skin color, race, nationality, church denominations – none of that will matter. The only test for those people will be this question: Who do you say Jesus is? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He lived as a man and died a cruel death for the sins of the world? Is Jesus Lord of your life? How will you answer?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help everyone who reads these words to confess their sins to You and to make You Lord of their lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.