Burunche’s Blog

The Glory of Zion (Matthew 9:32-34; Mark 7:31-37)

“The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. It will bloom profusely and even rejoice with joy and singing. 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.

Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees! Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy.

For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.

And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it. No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it, and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.”

Although the Promised Land was to be a land flowing with milk and honey, there were still parts of it that were extremely arid and rocky. There are very few flat places in Israel; even those places that are fertile are relatively hilly. Go to Israel today and you will see that large parts of it are semi – desert with only irrigation to help it produce. Isaiah is predicting that when Messiah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Creator returns, even rocky barren slopes will blossom. The air will be so charged with energy that the land will sing as it is blossoming. Can land sing? There are singing deserts where the sand makes sounds, and some farmers believe they can hear their corn growing on warm summer nights. When Messiah comes, water will gush forth in the desert, making streams and pools. The desert will become lush with greenery.

When Messiah comes, things that are wrong will be put right. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap and dance, those unable to speak will sing the praises of God and shout for joy. There will be a highway to Zion called the Way of Holiness. Nothing that is unclean or vicious or hurtful or foolish will be able to set foot on it. Why are fools included in the list of those who cannot walk this highway? Psalm 14:1 tells us, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” The fools referred to here are those who deny the existence of God and therefore feel they can sin at will. The speed of darkness is the speed of light; when the light comes, darkness must flee.

APPLICATION: There is no suffering comparable to that of a chronic incurable problem such as blindness, deafness, inability to speak or inability to move one’s limbs properly. In some ancient societies, such people were shunned by their neighbors, who assumed that they must have done something terrible for which God was punishing them. Many of these people had no recourse apart from begging for a living.

Health workers who have cared for stroke victims or those with traumatic brain injuries know the unrelenting frustration these victims suffer. Limbs that once worked, eyes that once saw, ears that once heard – all now refuse to respond properly, leaving victims to suffer doubly, once from the infirmity and once from the knowledge of what once was. God is telling us through Isaiah that these problems will not last forever. When Messiah comes, hope and healing will pour forth.  

“But,” you complain, “I want help NOW! I feel as if I am caught in a desert and I can’t get out!” Don’t feel alone; we all need help. There is none of us who does not struggle with something, whether physical or emotional. While the earth continues to wait for the physical return of the Messiah, those of us who know Jesus as Messiah and Lord can have hope right now.

The night before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples many things. Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”(John 14:6)

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:18-21)

Around the world, Christians are dying for their faith. What is so wonderful that men, women, and children are willing to die for it? A Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly by night to ask questions. Jesus assured Nicodemus that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever might believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It is the Eternal Living God who gives these people hope and the courage to remain steadfast, even when they face the threat of death. That same hope is available to anyone who will believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has died for the sins of the world and has risen from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus will never turn away anyone who prays to Him sincerely!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, there are many who would like to believe in You but are afraid of being disappointed. Speak to their hearts and assure them that You are still working in their lives. Let all who read these words confess their sins to You and put their trust in You as Savior, Lord, and Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Judgment on the Nations

Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it. The LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be left unburied, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will flow with their blood. All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree. When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.

For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a time of retribution for Edom’s hostility against Zion. Her streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch. It will not be quenched—day or night.

Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it. The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it.

The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction. No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing. Her towers will be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She will become a haunt for jackals, an abode for ostriches. The desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and one wild goat will call to another. There the night creature will settle and find her place of repose. There the owl will make her nest; she will lay and hatch her eggs and gather her brood under her shadow. Even there the birds of prey will gather, each with its mate.

Search and read the scroll of the LORD: Not one of these will go missing, not one will lack her mate, because He has ordered it by His mouth, and He will gather them by His Spirit. He has allotted their portion; His hand has distributed it by measure. They will possess it forever; they will dwell in it from generation to generation.”

Where was Edom and why would God want to destroy it completely? Edom was one of the neighboring countries to the east of Israel. When Moses was leading the Israelites, the Edomites refused to allow them to pass through their land. Subsequently, Edom waged war on Israel several times, combining with Syria to attack both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. The Edomites were descended from Abraham’s son Ishmael, so they were distantly related to the Israelites. The downfall of Edom was also prophesied in the Book of Obadiah. Eventually, the Nabateans defeated the Edomites, who moved southward. When the Edomites moved into Judah, they were known as Idumeans, and King Herod who tried to kill the baby Jesus was an Idumean. The remaining Idumeans were wiped out when the Romans captured Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

God is not a God of war, but a God of peace. While there are times when truth and righteousness must be defended, God hates wars waged only for the purposes of looting and destruction. God also hates it when relatives stand by and refuse to help their suffering brothers and sisters. This prophecy is another one that operates in two different time lines. The first time – line concerns the country of Edom. Eventually, Edom was destroyed completely and reduced to a desert inhabited by wild animals and creatures of the night. But there is a second part of the prophecy concerning all the nations of the earth.

“The LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be left unburied, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will flow with their blood. All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.”

The earth is not going to last forever. At some point, Messiah will return and earth as we know it will end. Armies will be devastated and their bodies left to rot because there will be nobody to bury them. The stars of heaven will be dissolved and fall. God even has Isaiah include a graphic description of the stench these rotting bodies will give off! In those times, people buried their dead immediately; for anybody’s body to rot without burial was a shameful thing to be feared.

Why would a righteous holy God give such horrible prophecies? God hates bloodshed. Those who shed blood for the purpose of conquest will be punished. Someday, God will bring an end to the earth as it has existed and there will be a new heaven and a new earth full of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION: “This world is not my home. I’m just apassin’ through. If heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” The guitar player skillfully accompanied the singers. But the congregation was not occupying a church building; instead, these men were prisoners at the Central Prison in Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana, and they were sitting under an awning, exposed to heat and rain. Many of these men had never heard the Gospel before they were incarcerated. In that prison were men who were highly educated as well as men who were illiterate; education and position had failed to protect them. Each one of these men was longing for the day he would regain freedom, but now they were looking to a better hope, the hope of eternal life. As the friend who had invited us preached, his words entered hearts, giving them the courage to continue to be faithful under their harsh living conditions.

As Isaiah points out in this chapter, earth will not last forever. God is promising that one day, the earth as we know it will disappear, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. But not everyone who has existed will enter that heaven. God is holy, and He cannot tolerate sin. We are sinful by our very natures, and there is nothing that we can do that is good enough for us to earn our way into heaven. This is why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had to come as a man and die a shameful death, shedding his blood as the ultimate blood sacrifice for our sins. But we must believe that we are sinners and accept what Jesus has done for us; apart from that, we remain in our sins.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that by ourselves, there is nothing we can do to make up for our sins. Thank You for sending Jesus to die in our place so that if we believe on Him, we will be saved. Lord, we believe, but help our unbelief. We give You permission to change our hearts and our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The LORD Is Exalted

“Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.

O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble. The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise. Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.

 The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.

Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded. The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted. You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you. The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze. You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?” He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar. Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?” You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass. For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us. Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder. And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.”

The Assyrian army is advancing toward Jerusalem! One of the most destructive armies of all time is leaving nothing but scorched earth in its wake as it ravages the countryside, counting its victims by the severed heads piled up after each battle. Truly, the Assyrians do resemble a swarm of locusts as they pillage everything they can. The citizens of Jerusalem are naturally terrified, and King Hezekiah is doing everything possible to prepare Jerusalem for the coming siege. The water tunnel King Hezekiah built remains in Jerusalem today, a monument to the skills of ancient builders.

“The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.” Those areas already conquered by the Assyrians bear mute witness to the destruction that threatens Jerusalem. Mount Bashan is a mountain in northeastern Israel in the area of the Golan Heights, while Mount Carmel is a mountain range that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. The Assyrians are making a complete sweep of the countryside.

Isaiah is prophesying over the Assyrian army, that they will NOT enter Jerusalem. In fact, the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem and attempted to terrorize its citizens by sending envoys to scream frightening messages at the gates. “Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.”

The story of Sennacherib and his attempts to conquer Jerusalem are told in 2 Kings 18:13 – 19:37. Just when things looked bleak, God struck the Assyrian army and 185,000 men died overnight. (If cholera broke out in the Assyrian camp, this is entirely possible. Later in India in the time of British occupation, thousands of people died within hours in cholera epidemics.)

When God shows up, who can stand? “The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?” He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.”

The chapter ends with a description of Jerusalem when Messiah will reign – a place of rivers and broad canals, of peace and prosperity. “For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.”

APPLCIATION: In recent months, nations ruled by unstable dictators have been playing with nuclear weapons in defiance of international agreements. We don’t need to be besieged by armies to feel threatened when nuclear warheads can be launched thousands of miles away and yet strike us. While weaponry may have changed, the human heart does not.

What protection do we have in this situation? Our only protection is the Lord God Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, the same One who wiped out one of the mightiest armies in the world in a single night. Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken. But there the Majestic One, our LORD, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass. For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King.”

Our part of the bargain is to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and to follow Him closely. God’s part is to protect us and save us from the Evil One. We may endure suffering. “Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” And we must remember God’s promises in Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to put all our trust in You, realizing that there is no army and no leader on earth who can deliver the way you can. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

A Righteous King

“Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently. No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel said to be important. For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.

The Women of Jerusalem

Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive. Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry. For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high.

Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest. But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths. Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.”

One of the confusing things about the Book of Isaiah is the perpetual question: are these predictions supposed to take place in Isaiah’s time, or are they for the future? Part of Isaiah’s ministry took place during the reign of righteous King Hezekiah, who really was an excellent king. Some commentators feel that these predictions refer to King Hezekiah. At the same time, there are parts of these predictions that can only refer to the eventual return of the Messiah. While Hezekiah was far more righteous than the kings that preceded or followed him, he also was plagued with shortcomings.

While it is important to have a righteous king, no king can rule without princes who support him. “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.” Amazing! Who wouldn’t want leaders of that caliber?

“Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.” If these ideas sound familiar, it’s because George Handel quoted this in his oratorio The Messiah. They serve as the opening recitative immediately preceding the solo “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion.”

“No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel said to be important. For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes. “” Hmm! Sounds like a number of political parties in various countries around the world, doesn’t it? Then as now, righteous leadership was a rare commodity. But when Messiah comes, all unrighteousness will be swept away.

“ Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones.” Isaiah is warning the society ladies of Jerusalem and Judah that all their pleasures are about to be swept away. Why? The Assyrians led by Sennacherib are at the gates of Jerusalem, threatening to destroy the city. Assyrian armies have never left anything in their wake; they destroy everything. These verses refer to the loss of farms and vineyards due to the depredations of the Assyrian army. Some commentators think that Isaiah gave this prophecy at a public gathering where society ladies might have been standing in a group, waiting to have fun at his expense. This particular prophecy did come true in 701 when Sennacherib’s army nearly captured Jerusalem.

The final verses of this prophecy refer to the time of Messiah, when peace will reign and those who herd animals will be safe to lead their animals out to pasture. By that time, forests that once covered the land will have disappeared, while orchards may abound.

APPLICATION: Around the world, people are longing for righteous peaceful governments, governments that will give them shelter from hardships. While we can argue about the timing of these prophecies, the fact remains that many of them can only be fulfilled if Messiah comes.

Regarding the promise of righteous world leadership, we realize that promise has yet to be fulfilled. We once worked for an organization that sent us into a very difficult situation despite warnings from several knowledgeable people. When we reported the irregularities, we were encountering, our parent group blamed us, rather than admitting that they had made major mistakes. At one point, we returned to the group where we had received missionary orientation and spoke with the man who had been our counselor during our training. At that point, this group was training missionaries from more than 180 different sending agencies each year, and our counselor was a man of extensive missionary experience himself. We were shocked when our counselor told us that in all his experience, he had never witnessed a church or para-church organization that ran on Christian principles but that every group he had seen functioned just like a secular business. Our friend concluded by saying that only if upper echelon leadership was committed to such principles and enforced their application would any group work along Christian lines. Since then, we have seen these truths proved repeatedly.

What encouragement can we take away from this chapter? “The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.” We all need peace, rest, and quiet confidence. If we trust in God, He can give us those things, even when the world around us is falling apart.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You, the Source of all light and life and peace and goodness. Thank You that those who trust in You will never be put to shame. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD. Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights. Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.” Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel. For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made. “Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”

When Isaiah wrote his prophecies, he didn’t divide them up into chapters; that was done later. Today’s verses are a continuation of yesterday’s. God is still warning the Israelites that they should trust in Him and not in their own military might or in that of Egypt. Sometimes people have very short memories, and the Israelites have conveniently forgotten how God wiped out the entire Egyptian army at the Red Sea crossing.

“But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.” Not only has God wiped out powerful armies before, but later, God wipes out an army of 185,000 enemy soldiers camped at the walls of Jerusalem, possibly with a cholera epidemic. (2 Kings 19:35 – 37) God is perfectly capable of sending plagues that can eliminate herds of war horses. When necessary, God can send events such as earthquakes and storms that will disrupt any military plans.

“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”

Why don’t the people of Judah trust in the God who has saved them so many times before? The Israelites have two problems: a sin problem and a belief problem, and the two are intimately connected. Refusing to believe in the power of the One True Living God results in people struggling to find other sources of power in which to trust. These struggles will lead to idolatry. The longer people persist in idolatry, the less likely they are to believe in the power of God.

Despite the persistence of unbelief by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, God promises that He will protect Jerusalem. “Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.” Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel. For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.”

APPLICATION: Recent archaeological studies have revealed that many modern forms of warfare had their beginnings in ancient times – huge Egyptian battleships capable of destroying harbor barriers and launching huge missiles, steam – launched missile launchers, etc. Reliance on military might is as old as Cane and Abel. But God is the One who spoke the universe into existence, and He is far more powerful than any military weapon ever conceived.

In Isaiah’s time, the Assyrians were one of the most powerful empires in the ancient world, but here God is promising that the Assyrians would be wiped out completely. “At the end of the seventh century, the Assyrian empire collapsed under the assault of Babylonians from southern Mesopotamia and Medes, newcomers who were to establish a kingdom in Iran.” (https://metmuseum.org/toah/hd/assy/hd)

Where are we placing our trust? Are we trusting in God or are we being as foolish as the ancient citizens of Judah and Jerusalem? If the recent COVID pandemic has taught us nothing else, it should have taught us that there is no business, no government, no investments that cannot crumble overnight. Only God is eternal.

When I was little, one of my favorite stories was the story of the Three Little Pigs. The first pig built his house of straw, and the Big Bad Wolf simply “huffed and puffed and blew the house down.” The second little pig built his house of sticks with the same result. Only the third little pig was smart enough to build a brick house that could withstand the onslaught of the Big Bad Wolf. Are we as foolish as the first two little pigs?

Psalm 125:1 tells us “They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.” Why not trust in the God who has defeated empires and who continues to rule the universe?

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, let everyone who reads these words put their trust in You, the One eternal God. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Worthless Treaty with Egypt

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan, but not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in the shade of Egypt. But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shadow your disgrace. For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”

This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.

Egypt’s help is vain and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still. Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever. These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction. They say to the seers,

“No more visions,” and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us the truth. Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions. Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit, this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant! It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.” “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster. A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

God Will Be Gracious

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him. O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you. The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.

And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures. The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with the shovel and pitchfork.

And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.

Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire. His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter. And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished. For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it ablaze.

Ah, Egypt! Ally! Protector! Refuge! Say what??? For centuries, the Israelites have had a love/hate relationship with Egypt, going there in times of famine and sometimes making alliances. But when God delivered the Israelites from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, he warned the people not to return to Egypt again, even getting Moses to record those warnings. (Exodus 13:14 “By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”)

Repeatedly, God has warned His people not to rely on Egypt or to return there, but God’s people frequently refuse to listen to Him. Now the Assyrians are moving westward, devastating everything in their wake. Rather than relying on the God who has saved and delivered them so many times, the citizens of Judah want to make an alliance with Egypt and even flee there if necessary. These people are conveniently forgetting that God wiped out Pharaoh’s army, the greatest standing army in the world.

“These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction. They say to the seers, “No more visions,” and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us the truth. Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions. Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!” Rather than asking God for His perfect will and His protection, the Judeans are making their own plans. The results will be disastrous; after all, a huge army that can cross the Euphrates River can-and will – make it to Egypt. Eventually, the Assyrians do invade Egypt, destroying everything there just as they have in other nations.

God is amazing! God knows human hearts better than the humans themselves, and God knows how meager our shriveled up little souls really are. Despite this knowledge, God is promising to be gracious to all those who will serve Him while He will also punish Assyria. Eventually, the Assyrian Empire also disintegrates, with their armies presumably going to Topheth, or Hell. When the day of the Lord comes, streams of water will flow abundantly, with lush pastures for livestock and peace and joy and celebration for those who are faithful to Him.

APPLICATION:  How many times do we begin to plan by asking God to guide us? Years ago, one group with which we worked took a decision with which we violently disagreed. One leader defended the group by claiming that they had prayed before taking that decision. My question to him was this: Did you actually ask God for His will or did you pray, “God here’s our decision. Please rubber stamp it!” There was no reply.

One Christian evangelist described his early ministry. This man was copying every successful evangelist he knew, and nothing was happening. Finally this man asked God what was the problem. God’s answer was simple: “You’re doing your will in My Name. I didn’t ask you to imitate anybody else.”

We would like to think that we are smarter than the citizens of Jerusalem in Isaiah’s time, but human nature hasn’t changed. Anytime we choose to do our will rather than God’s, we are bound for trouble. As we plan for the months ahead, let us be quiet before the Lord and allow Him to inform us of what He wants us to do. That way, we’ll get His results.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives and help us to follow Your plans and not ours. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Woe to the David’s City (Luke 19:41-44)

Woe to you, O Ariel, (Altar Hearth or Lion of God) the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and sorrow; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.

You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust. But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.

All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night, as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”  

Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?

Sanctification for the Godly

In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

Therefore, the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale. For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

Destruction is coming to Jerusalem and to Judah! For centuries, God has remained patient; however, those who should have honored Him have failed to do so. When destruction comes, it will be so complete that most of Jerusalem will be reduced to dust particles. All the citizens of Judah who have been scheming, assuming that God is blind, will be cut off. “For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.”

What of those who pillage Jerusalem? God promises that He will deal with them so completely that they will be blown away as if they were nothing but dust. While God is disappointed with His people, He is not about to overlook those who destroy others. Even as assailing armies are moving westward toward Jerusalem, many leaders are still convinced that they will somehow survive.

“Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”  

Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”? If memes had been popular in the days of Isaiah, there might have been one entitled, “You must be a special kind of stupid if…..”

What could be more magnificent than a towering cedar of Lebanon, unless it was an entire forest of such cedars? These famed trees were the Middle Eastern equivalent of the redwoods of California – huge, awe-inspiring, bearing a wonderful scent, and producing wood fit to panel kings’ palaces and temples. Even today, the cedars of Lebanon are so highly prized and respected that there is a figure of a cedar on the Lebanese national flag. In Isaiah’s time, those forests were impenetrable; yet, God is promising to transform all of Lebanon into an orchard as a symbol of His punishment for all who are proud and ungodly.

APPLICATION: Have you ever found yourself in a situation where those in authority are abusing their positions for self – gain, a situation in which the very people who should be setting examples of godliness are bringing shame to God’s holy name? What can you do when leaders or friends whom you have trusted prove to be corrupt? This chapter makes it clear that the prophet Isaiah was facing just such problems. The priests and scribes with whom Isaiah grew up were making a big show of their religion while secretly pursuing all kinds of evil. Poor Isaiah! The prophecies we have received do not mention specific names; however, when Isaiah received these prophecies, God may have given him the names of leaders whom he should warn. Perhaps some of those offenders might even have been Isaiah’s close relatives. What was it that kept Isaiah from watering down the messages God was sending?

Remember the 6^th chapter of Isaiah, in which Isaiah describes his vision of the Lord and how the Lord sent a cherub with a coal from the altar to touch Isaiah’s lips, cleansing them? The utterances of the lips begin with the heart, so when Isaiah’s lips were cleansed, so was his heart. Once Isaiah’s heart was cleansed, he never looked back. It was the experience of God’s cleansing power that made the difference and that strengthened Isaiah for his life of service.

An old Gospel song begins, “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” This is a question that each of us must answer for ourselves. Nothing we do can ever cleanse us from our sins; only the blood sacrifice made by Jesus Christ at Calvary is sufficient. We must confess our sins and our helplessness and then ask God to cleanse us as He did Isaiah.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that by ourselves, there is nothing we can do to pay for our sins. Please clean us up. Touch our lips, our minds, our hearts with Your coals of holy fire, so that we will serve You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

The Captivity of Ephraim

“Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine. Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground. The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot. The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people, a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth. Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?

For He says, “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.” Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. Then the word of the LORD will come to them: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and be injured, ensnared, and captured.

A Cornerstone in Zion (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-8)

Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it. As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.”

The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you. For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task. So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.

Listen and Hear

Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say. Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border. For his God instructs and teaches him properly. Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin.

But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it. This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.”

While Ephraim was one of Joseph’s sons, the term Ephraim also came to be used to refer to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. While the southern kingdom of Judah had some righteous kings, the northern kingdom was blighted from its inception. Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, created his own religion as a means of keeping his people from traveling to Jerusalem three times a year to observe the feasts. Ignoring promises of God to establish him, Jeroboam engaged in full – bore idolatry. That set the tone for the entire history of the Northern Kingdom. Possessing much of the most fertile land in Israel, the Northern Kingdom had Samaria as its capital, a city set on hills overlooking fertile valleys, hence that reference.  

“On that day the LORD of Hosts will be a crown of glory, a diadem of splendor to the remnant of His people, a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.” God knows the righteous, but He is grieved because those who should be righteous have become drunkards, drunk on power, drunk on wealth, and confused. The precepts of God that He has laid out so simply are incomprehensible to these people because they have become confused through their idolatry. Satan has even deceived these people, assuring them that they will not die when invasions come. But God is proclaiming that hail and thunderstorms will beat their kingdom into pieces.

“So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.” This cornerstone is the Messiah, and anyone who believes in Messiah will have a firm foundation and will never be shaken. But for those who refuse to trust in the Lord, Isaiah says, “. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.”

Why does this chapter end with a description of the means of threshing various kinds of seed? It is God who gives knowledge to the farmer so that he knows how to handle his crops. God is promising that just as a farmer handles different kinds of grains using different methods, He will sort out those who love and trust Him from those who do not. “This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.”

APPLICATION: Several years ago, we were going through an extremely difficult time. Events at the hospital where we were working had left us feeling crushed and in despair. We had returned to the U.S. to spend time in a safe environment where we could recover spiritually and sort out truth from lies. One day while I was praying, God dropped these verses into my heart: ” Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it.”

By that point, we felt as if we had been endlessly threshed! But when we examined our situation closely, we realized that God was working in our lives, threshing us. Grain is threshed to remove husks so that the grain itself will be available. God was working to remove impurities from our lives so that we would be more useful to Him.

I would be lying if I said that the threshing process was pleasant; actually, it was miserable! But after the threshing process, God restored us and opened new avenues of ministry to us.

Perhaps you are going through a time of threshing and you just wish it would stop right now! Events have overtaken you, and you are in panic mode. Remember what God says, ““See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.” That cornerstone is Jesus Christ. If you will trust in Jesus and make Him the cornerstone of your life, you will never be shaken and you will not panic. How can you trust Jesus? Let’s pray.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to live as a man, to die a cruel death, and to be resurrected so that He defeated death and hell. Lord, we want to believe these things are true and we want to believe that if we confess our sins, You will forgive us and will give us protection and hope. We give You permission to change our hearts so that we can believe in You and in Your Son Jesus. Thank You for doing this. Amen.

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.