Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 71

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah
Day 71

We will conclude Chapter 27 today known as the Deliverance Of Israel.

Yesterday we finished up with the Lord asking Israel if He had been as harsh with her as he had been with her enemies. He pointed out that she had not fallen to the point of being unable to rise again. Many ancient nations fell and are no more but not so with Israel.

"By warfare and exile You contend with her---with His fierce blast He drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows. By this, then, will Jacob's guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: When He makes all the altar stones to be like limestone crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing." (Isaiah 27:8-9) The people strayed from the Lord, their Deliverer who led them out of Egypt and planted them in the promised land. They set up altars to false gods and danced around the poles of the fertility goddess. So the Lord contended with the descendants of Jacob. To contend with someone means to debate with them, to strive with them, to compete with someone or something. In the thesaurus, some synonyms for this word are to argue with, to confront, to go after, to grapple with, to encounter, to struggle with, to appeal, to contend with, to demonstrate or display, and to persuade. The Lord should never have to contend with us to be the uppermost thought in our minds. He should not have to compete for our attention. But when this situation occurs, He first appeals to us in a more gentle way and, if the situation continues or worsens, He must confront us. This is what happened with Israel. They fell further into idolatry as time went on, scorning the warnings of the prophets, forsaking the word of God, until He had to contend with them through warfare and captivity. Sadly, we sometimes ignore the pleading of the One who loves us for so long that discipline is the only way He can get our attention. I've been there and it hurts, but these are the lessons that stick with us. 

God Himself is going to atone for Jacob's sins. And in that day, all the altars will be cast down and crushed underfoot. As the prophet Zechariah foretold, "The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name." (Zechariah 14:9) Never again will the name of a false god cross the lips of His people. Never again will an offering be brought before an idol. Never again will man whisper a prayer to a deity unable to hear his cries for help. 

"Jacob's guilt" mentioned here is not atoned for by the suffering of Israel. The suffering (the warfare and the captivity and the oppression by enemies) is simply the means by which the hearts of the people turn to God for help. It is the acceptance of the sacrifice He has provided for their sins that removes the guilt. Israel comes to the Lord the same way Gentiles come to the Lord: through Christ. There is no other way, for, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) No one, neither Jew nor Gentile, comes to the Father except through Christ. He provided the only sacrifice that atones for sin. 

"The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare." (Isaiah 27:10) Trouble is coming because of the waywardness of the people. The northern kingdom and its capitol of Samaria would fall to Assyria, with the people taken captive. Assyria would make a number of incursions into Judah, not being able to break through to Jerusalem, but still making the countryside desolate and dangerous. Later Babylon will make three separate forays into Judah, doing immense damage each time and taking captives, until on the third occasion breaking down the walls of Jerusalem. 

"When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor." (Isaiah 27:11) The lack of understanding here is not the type that cannot be helped. The people weren't ignorant of God or His laws. They did not have the excuse of not knowing any better. The Apostle Paul asks, "Did they not hear? Of course they did." (Romans 10:18) And he goes on to explain that the prophets gave out the message of God to a people who did not want to listen. He asks, "Did Israel not understand?" (Romans 10:19) Then he goes on to mention Moses, under whose leadership the Lord provided the commandments and the law. Of course they heard and understood, which is why God says He is showing them no favor in their time of testing. We too, in modern times, lack excuse. The word of God is available to us in the United States twenty-four hours a day. If we don't own a Bible, we can read it on the internet or listen to it on TV or we can go to one of the many places that provide free Bibles to those who want one. Nobody is stopping us from going to church or praying. I would think it is the rare person in the United States who does not have at least some understanding of the basics of the gospel, whether they believe in it or not. And so we are without excuse. 

The fortified cities were broken down because God took His protective hand off them. But even as the cattle grazed where houses and government buildings once stood, the people did not take it to heart. When the cattle broke the lower branches off, the women simply came and gathered them for fires, possibly the fires upon which they baked cakes to offer to their fertility goddess. They are going about their lives as usual even though the walls are broken down and the crops ruined. This is why God says they have no understanding. They have not allowed their troubles to minister to them. They have not asked themselves, "Why has this trouble come? Why has our enemy defeated us? Why were the former days so much better?" Had they reasoned like this, they would have come to the conclusion that the former days were better and their nation stood secure as long as they were faithful to God. 

Yet, in spite of her many stumblings in time past, God has a glorious future in store for Israel. "In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 27:12-13) On the day Jesus sat on His borrowed donkey and looked down on Jerusalem and wept, He said, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Luke 13:34) But a day is coming when they will be willing and the Lord will gather them from all over the world, enfolding them under His protective wings as a hen covers her chicks.

This good news is not for Israel only, but also for the Gentile nations. We have previously seen in Isaiah's prophecy a kingdom under Christ which includes believers from all over the earth. Israel's Messiah became the Gentile's Savior, and because He is the Gentile's Savior, He will become Israel's accepted Messiah and King. God has worked His awesome plan of salvation in such a way that both Jews and Gentiles must participate together as equal sons and daughters of God. What a great God we serve! What an all-inclusive offer He made to mankind when He said, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17b)

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 70

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah 

Day 70

Today we look at a song about a fruitful vineyard. Up til now the people have been singing praises to God. Now the Lord sings a song about Israel, His vineyard.

"In that day---'Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.'" (Isaiah 27:2-3) This reminds me of Psalm 121, "He will not let your foot slip---He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." (v 3-4) When Isaiah says "in that day" he is referring to the kingdom of Christ. The Lord has always watched over Israel, but in that day Christ Himself will be her King and He will be there in person to watch over her.

"I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting Me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire. Or else let them come to Me for refuge; let them make peace with Me, yes, let them make peace with Me." (Isaiah 27:4-5) The Lord is not angry with His people. Only the redeemed are in His vineyard and He is the husbandman of the vineyard. There are no briers and thorns but if there were, He would deal fiercely with them. Nothing shall despoil this beautiful vineyard He has labored for. Israel will have no enemies in those days, no "briers and thorns", because all peoples will have made peace with the Holy One, thus also making peace with God's people Israel. You cannot make peace with Israel's Redeemer without making peace with Israel. Christ was her Messiah first and we Gentiles, once pagan idolaters, were brought into the family of God by His grace. 

"In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit." (Isaiah 27:6) From the seed of Abraham (Christ) the entire world is blessed. The Lord came to His own but His own received him not. (John 1:11) Therefore, as the Apostle Paul said, "I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!" (Acts 28:28) But Paul also said, "I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means!" (Romans 11:1a) God was not through with Israel. He had promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed by his seed and He had promised David that Israel would never cease to be a nation in His sight. 

During Isaiah's ministry, when Israel and Judah were in deep distress, Isaiah reminds them of God's promises. Yes, they face discipline for their waywardness. But this is because "the Lord disciplines those He loves". (Proverbs 3:12) When a parent disciplines a child it's for the purpose of correction, not for the purpose of destroying them. In the same way, the Lord disciplined Israel as a father disciplines a child: to help that child back onto the right path. God allowed Israel's enemies to oppress her at times, but not for the purpose of destroying her. "Has the Lord struck her as He struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were who killed her?" (Isaiah 27:7) Where was the mighty kingdom of Assyria after God dealt with it? Where was the glory of Babylon? Where was the Persian Empire? Where was the Roman Empire? God used these peoples as an instrument of discipline but when that time was over, God judged these cruel and idolatrous nations. He did not strike Israel in the way He struck her enemies. Israel did not fall so far that she could not rise again.

The words of the Apostle Paul go beautifully with Isaiah's words in today's passage, "Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!" (Romans 11:11-12) Salvation came to the Gentiles when Israel rejected her Messiah, but God did not cast Israel away. He used Israel to bless the Gentiles but He also intends to use the Gentiles to bless Israel. I don't know how He is going to accomplish this, but somehow the Lord is going to bring salvation to Israel through the Gentiles. He is making one family out of all believers from every tribe and nation and we will have one King and one Lord. And like a loving family, we will be a help and a blessing to each other. 

The Apostle Paul explained, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved." (Romans 11:25-26a) Scholars have debated this passage for centuries but still in our day we don't really understand how God is going to do this. Neither did Paul, for he calls it a mystery. The hardening of Israel's heart turned out to be to the Gentile's advantage but somehow the coming of Gentiles to Christ will turn out to be to Israel's advantage. The Gentiles could never have known Christ without Israel and Israel is not going to know Christ without the Gentiles. 

Paul goes on to quote Scripture from the very chapter of Isaiah we are in today. He reminds the nation that a Deliverer will come from Zion who is able to turn godlessness away from Jacob. And that Deliverer will say, "And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:27) Paul is referring to Isaiah 27:9, "By this, then, Jacob's guilt will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin." 

A time is coming when all believers will be one kingdom under one King, one nation under one Lord. We will be one family: the children of the living God.

Our worship song link for today is below.

No Sweeter Name

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 69

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 69

We begin Chapter 27 which is titled "Deliverance Of Israel". It begins with the downfall of the ancient serpent who led man into sin and brought the curse of sin upon the world. 

Since the creation, Satan sought to destroy the Messianic line so Christ would not come. He began his dark work on Cain, who slew his godly brother Abel, leading to Cain's exile. But Messiah was intended to come from another son of Adam and Eve: Seth who was born to them after the death of Abel. Later the patriarch Jacob had twelve sons, of which only Joseph was godly, and Satan thought surely Messiah would spring from this godly man. So he stirred up jealousy in the family so that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. But the Lord intended His Son's lineage to come from Jacob's son Judah. Once Satan learned this, he sought to forever enslave the people of Israel in Egypt, but the Lord blessed them there and their numbers grew. So the devil attempted through Pharaoh to have all the Hebrew baby boys killed, but one woman hid her son til she could hide him no longer, placing Moses in a basket among the reeds where Pharoah's daughter found him and raised him as her own. Thus the Lord preserved the life of the one who would lead His people out of Egypt. 

In the wilderness, Satan incited the people to idolatry and attempted to make them so wicked that God would destroy them, but God gave them the commandments and the law to govern them, along with the sacrificial system which looked ahead in faith to the true Lamb of God. After the people of Israel inhabited the promised land, when the prophet Samuel went to the territory of Judah and anointed David the future king of Israel, Satan made the insecure King Saul mad with envy so he would want David dead, but God protected him from every plot, so that the Promised One would come from the kingly line of Judah. Many nations in ancient times invaded and conquered Israel, killing hundreds of thousands of them, carrying thousands captive to foreign lands, but God has always had a faithful remnant. 

In the days when Israel was under Roman rule, the Lord chose a young woman of the lineage of David to be the mother of His Son, and Satan tried to take His life by appealing to Herod's intense phobia of losing his throne. Herod was a man who killed several of his own family members because of real or imagined conspiracies against him; he did not balk at the idea of killing a few Hebrew baby boys born in Bethlehem. But an angel warned Joseph, Mary's husband, to flee with his little family to Egypt until it was safe to return. 

Right before Jesus began his ministry, that serpent of old came to tempt him away from the cross. He offered him the kingdoms of the world and in essence said, "You can be crowned with many crowns without suffering a humiliating death for these useless people. Look how weak and sinful and willfully blind they are! Are they really worth it? There are other ways to become king than saving this miserable bunch of losers. Worship me and everything in this world can be yours." Jesus didn't deny that Satan is the prince of this world and was capable of giving Him fame and wealth, but He refused to turn aside from His mission of mercy, so the devil made certain He was hated by the leaders of Israel and rejected by those who should have recognized Him as the Messiah. 

The persecution of Israel did not end when Christ went to the cross, died, and rose in victory on the third day. The persecution did not end when the redemptive word of God was fulfilled when Christ gave Himself for us. This is because there is yet prophecy to be fulfilled: that of the day of the Lord and the return of the King to reign forever. The devil has reasoned with himself that, if he could not prevent Christ from dying for man's sins and rising for man's justification, he can prevent there being a throne of David for Christ to claim. Since the Jewish uprising against Rome and the fall of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD, Israel in a worldly sense was not a nation again until 1948. But in God's eyes she was still a nation and He will never go back on His word to preserve her. Israel has been hated more than any nation has ever been hated, but God will not break His promise. When Christ returns, He will return to the nation of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem. The schemes of that old serpent are destined to fail again and again, because the word of God cannot fail.

Today Isaiah sees the downfall of the serpent of old, the deceiver, the lawless one. "In that day, the Lord will punish with His sword---His fierce, great and powerful sword---Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea." (Isaiah 27:1) There is much ancient mythology regarding great and powerful serpents or dragons. Pagan peoples considered the snake as a symbol of rebirth because the snake periodically shed its skin, revealing a new skin underneath. This is why in so many cultures the snake became associated with creation myths. There are too many snake gods for me to list and describe here, but if you have the time you might want to do a Google search on the subject. It's amazing how prevalent these snake gods were among the pagan peoples of every continent. The power behind this deception, Satan, has been quite busy over the course of time in leading people into idolatry and we shouldn't be surprised that the image he chose is one which honors him: the serpent. 

Isaiah does not believe any of these pagan serpent gods are real, but he knows that there is a destructive power behind the myths which is very real. And so he uses the word "Leviathan" (a word in the Hebrew which was symbolic for any large and monstrous serpent or sea dragon) as a symbol of Satan and of all destructive and lawless and sinful enticements. The spirit realm is as real as anything we can see or touch in this world. Over the millenia, many have bowed down to false gods that were unable to act on their behalf, but behind idolatry lies a very real force of evil. The gods themselves do not exist but evil exists. And in the great day of the Lord, He will put an end to evil. The serpent of old, the one who is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning, will meet his fate at the hands of the Holy One. 

It's not a coincidence that the Antichrist in the Apostle John's vision was "a beast coming out of the sea". (Revelation 13:1b) In addition, wee are told that it is the dragon (Satan) who "gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority". (Revelation 13:2b) The dragon, the serpent of old or Leviathan, is the power behind the throne of the Antichrist. He is the power behind all wickedness since the dawn of time. In the garden of Eden, after he enticed Eve to sin, the Lord said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel." (Genesis 3:15) The offspring of the woman was Christ who descended from her lineage, and Satan would indeed bruise His heel on the cross, but Christ will have the last word and will crush Satan underfoot. (Romans 16:20)

Isaiah foresees the downfall of all that opposes God and he sees the eternal destruction of the one who has deceived the nations. How can a created angel stand against the God who created him? He cannot! His time is short and judgment is imminent. The Lord showed the Apostle John a future day when, "The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:10) Imagine the hallelujahs that break loose when this happens! The Lamb of God who takes away our sins will do away with the one who tormented His people. Woe to the one who has led man into sin! Great will be his judgment. 

Immediately after casting the serpent down forever, in Revelation we find the Lord making all things new and beautiful. The curse of sin is gone. Creation is restored. Man will live in peace with each other and with the animals. Sin has been rendered powerless. Death has been defeated. And the One who made all this possible will be our eternal King and throughout the unending ages we will behold His face. Whether we were worth it or not, God loved us. He was not willing to leave us in our sins. Since before He spoke the universe into existence, He intended that His holy and perfect Son would stand in our place, taking the stripes that heal us, taking the punishment we deserved. The word of God says that he who hangs on a cross is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:23). In going to the cross, Christ took the curse from us and transferred it to Himself, tasting death for every man. But when He rose, He brought the promise of new life for every man, so those who look to Him can be set free of the curse of sin and can walk in "newness of life". (Romans 6:4) Blessed be the name of the Lord, who loved us this much!

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 68

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 68

Today we conclude our look at Chapter 26. The redeemed are still singing a song of praise to the Lord and they tell Him that He is their only Lord and God.

"Lord our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we honor. They are now dead, they live no more; their spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; You wiped out all memory of them." (Isaiah 26:13-14) In the day when Christ rules the world, there will be no other gods and no other kings. Idolatry will be no more and never again will any nation oppress God's people.

"You have enlarged the nation, Lord; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the nation." (Isaiah 26:15) It was the Lord who established Israel as a nation in the beginning and it is He who keeps them as a nation. In addition, the Lord has enlarged the nation by bringing the Gentiles to salvation and making them one family with Israel under the Messiah and King. 

Only God can fix what's wrong with any nation and the people now confess they were never able to bring about peace and prosperity by their own efforts. "Lord, they came to You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in Your presence, Lord. We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life." (Isaiah 26:16-18) The people have not achieved peace on earth and they certainly have not been able to make man at peace with God. They have labored at making peace treaties with other nations, but most nations have hated them. They have also attempted to be at peace with God through works and not faith, but this is impossible. Good works will naturally flow out of faith, but the works of man can never make him perfect before a holy God. Imperfect man can bring forth nothing perfect. It takes a perfect Man, the spotless Lamb of God, to bring mankind and God back together. It is faith in Christ and His completed work on the cross that saves us. 

The nation of Israel had the commandments, the law, the prophets, and the temple, but they had not been able to save souls. They had the tools necessary to tell mankind everything he needed to know about God, but it was up to each individual whether or not to accept the Lord on faith. As much as we would like to, we can't force our lost friends and family members into salvation. We couldn't save ourselves; how can we save anyone else? We have been commissioned to share the gospel, but the rest is the work of the Lord. There is an awesome promise here for all who, throughout the ages, have put their faith in Him. "But Your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise---let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy---Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." (Isaiah 26:19) Those who die in Christ won't remain in the grave anymore than Christ remained in the grave. We will share in His resurrection and we will have immortal bodies like His. An eternal morning will break and we will live with Him forever.

The people of Israel and Judah were living in perilous times when Isaiah was ministering to them as a prophet. Israel fell to Assyria during Isaiah's ministry. Assyria made several forays into Judah and the people of Jerusalem were constantly in fear of being overcome by them. If the much larger northern kingdom had not been able to withstand the onslaught, how could Judah survive? And though God miraculously delivered Jerusalem from King Sennacherib's troops, another enemy was rising: the ancient people of Babylon. Babylon would be the instrument of discipline the Lord would eventually bring against Judah. It is during these times that Isaiah looks far into the future and sees another age of distress, the one known to us as the Great Tribulation and the one referred to by the prophet Jeremiah as the time of Jacob's trouble. (Jeremiah 30:7) The Lord says to the people through Isaiah, "Go, My people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until His wrath has passed by. See, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer." (Isaiah 26:20-21) The day of the Lord will be like no other, a time when all wicked secrets will be revealed. It will be a day of reckoning, when crimes that were not discovered and punished by earthly judges will be brought into the open and judged by a righteous God. There are thousands of open missing persons cases in every nation of the world, cases where no body has ever been found and no one has ever been prosecuted for murder, but the blood of the slain cries out to the Lord just as Abel's blood cried out to Him. "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17)

This can be brought down to a personal level, for the Lord doesn't bless hidden sin. The best thing we can do is confess to Him our faults, to willingly reveal them and ask for His help in overcoming them. It's such a relief to get before God and bring these things into the open so the Great Physician can treat our brokenness. As the KJV puts it, "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after." (1 Timothy 5:24) When we come to Christ and confess we are sinners who need a Savior, we are opening our sins beforehand. After we become part of the family of God, we should continually examine our hearts and confess our sins to the One who can help us live lives that better honor Him. If our sins are open beforehand, when we stand in the presence of God someday we will have been washed clean of these sins by the blood of the Lamb. But for those who do not open their sins beforehand to the saving grace of a mighty Redeemer, their sins trail after them, clinging to them as they stand before the judgment seat. 

It may seem like a lot of people have gotten away with a lot of things over the ages, but God has seen every hidden act of wickedness and every concealed crime. Those who have never been brought to a court of justice in this life will be brought before the court of justice of Almighty God. This is why He says to us, "Vengeance is Mine." We can safely leave it all up to Him, in faith believing He will judge every wrong, every cruelty, every drop of blood that has been shed. Our God is faithful and just. 

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 67

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 67

The redeemed are still singing a song of praise to the King of kings. Their words remind me very much of the psalms of David when they sing, "My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you." (Isaiah 26:9a) These are hearts centered on the Lord, with Him on their minds at all time. This isn't the type of yearning or longing that is unsatisfied. It's simply that they know the Lord well enough that they want to know Him better, more and more, every single day. When we taste and see that the Lord is good, we can't help but want more of His presence and fellowship. This is what we were created for and our souls thirst for Him as naturally as our mortal bodies thirst for water. We don't drink a glass of water one time in our lives and say, "There, that's all I need. That will hold me for the rest of my life." The need for water is a daily occurrence because our bodies can't live without it. In the same way, once we come to know Christ, we don't say, "That's all I need of Him. The experience I had in His presence today will hold me for the rest of my life. I don't need any more." The need for fellowship with Him is a daily occurrence because our redeemed souls live on it. This is how we grow and thrive as Christians.

The people again praise the Lord for His judgment. "When Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9b) There are those who respond correctly to the discipline of the Lord. They "learn righteousness". In times of peace and comfort, man is more likely to fall into the habit of relying upon himself. When trouble comes, this is often when man looks up for help. 

But there are those who do not respond correctly, either to peace or to discipline, "But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord. Lord, Your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them." (Isaiah 26:10-11)

God has been merciful to us all, broken sinners that we are. Jesus said that God "causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous". (Matthew 5:45) Into every life will come both sunshine and rain, but the appropriate response in both circumstances is to ever yearn for a closer relationship with Him. The sun (the good times) ought to bring praises from our mouths. The rain (the hard times) ought to cause us to seek His will and His direction in our lives. Isaiah is telling us there are some people God can't be good to, that He can't bless with the sunshine of peace and comfort, for they continue even further down a wayward path. So He brings the rain into their lives as a form of discipline, to encourage them to come to Him for help, and even then there are those who will not take His hand. This makes them the enemies of God. I wish I could remember who said this, because I read it in some background materials just recently, but this particular Bible scholar said that we who are in Christ can sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus," but those who reject Him have to sing, "What an enemy I have in God." We are either with Him or we are against Him. 

"Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us." (Isaiah 26:12) Amen, the Lord Jesus is our peace and He has made peace between us and God. It was not the works of our own hands that made us right before a holy God, but it was the works of a perfect Redeemer. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." (Romans 5:1-2a) No wonder we will someday lay our victory crowns at His feet! (Revelation 4:10) Christ won those crowns for us. He is the mediator of a covenant of peace between us and God. He is the sacrifice that makes us whole. He is the one who conquered death and the grave for our justification. On the day we bow in His presence and cast our crowns at His feet, we very well may say, "All that we have accomplished You have done for us." As the old song goes, "Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe."

The only way to have peace with God and to sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus," is to accept God the Son. This is the way God the Father has chosen for mankind to be made right with Him. When we surrender our lives to Him, we do not surrender on our own terms but must come to God on His terms, and that is through His Son. "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:15-20) 

Below is our worship song link for today.

At The Cross (Love Ran Red)

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 66

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 66

We begin Chapter 26 today and, like Chapter 25, it is a song of praise. The King has come and is ruling the world in righteousness. All oppression has ceased. Tears have been wiped from all eyes. 

"In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 'We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts." (Isaiah 26:1) Isaiah tells the people this vision during a time when Judah's king is considering an alliance with Egypt against their common enemy of Assyria. Soon in the book of Isaiah, the prophet will pronounce woes upon the foolishness of expecting help from Egypt and not expecting help from God. But in the day when the Messiah and King reigns from Jerusalem, He himself will keep the peace. Man will never again look to heavily fortified walls or to weapons or soldiers for defense. The city will be strong because the King within her is strong. His salvation protects her on every side.

Because God's offer of salvation is extended to every tribe and nation, all who have received Christ are welcome in the strong city, from every corner of the world. "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith." (Isaiah 26:2) When God looks down from heaven on His faithful ones, He doesn't see us as Americans or Europeans or Africans or Middle Easterns or Asians. He doesn't see us as Jews or Gentiles. He sees us as "the righteous nation", for we are "all one in Christ Jesus". (Galatians 3:28b) 

Next we find one of the most profound and most comforting verses of the book of Isaiah, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You." (Isaiah 26:3) The first time I heard this verse in a sermon it was from the ESV, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." What an awesome promise! God never said we would feel peaceful if we look around us at the world or if we watch the news or read the paper. More and more these days, I find the news makes me unsettled and anxious. The Lord also didn't say we would remain peaceful if we concentrate on our circumstances. If we focus on our circumstances enough, they will soon seem bigger to us than our God. But He keeps in perfect peace the one whose mind is focused on Him. This verse always reminds me of the Apostle Peter who had the faith to step out of the boat and walk toward Jesus on the water. He was doing fine until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked around him at the raging sea and blustering winds. That's when he began to sink. That's when his circumstances started to look bigger than his God. We've all done it at one time or another: spent more time thinking about our troubles than thinking about the awesome power of our God. That's why we sometimes sink into discouragement and begin to doubt God is going to intervene or that He is going to bring something good out of our trials. When we realize this is happening, we must do what Peter did. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" We have to cry out, "Lord, save me from my doubts. Help my unbelief. Remind me of who You are and how small my troubles are compared to You."

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord Himself, is the Rock eternal." (Isaiah 26:4) Amen! He is the eternal, immovable Rock! Anything built on Him will stand. Life can be uncertain and insecure but we have a Rock that can never be removed or shaken. He is our security in a scary world. 

The people again rejoice in their Deliverer, just as they did in Chapter 25, because He has conquered every enemy and laid low every nation that oppressed them. He has humbled the proud spirit in man that boasted in himself rather than in the Creator. "He humbles those who dwell on high, He lays the lofty city low; He levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down---the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor." (Isaiah 26:5-6) This is when the meek inherit the earth. The ungodly proud ones who trusted in idols and in the work of their own hands are no more. Those who trusted in their riches, gained by dishonest dealings, are no more. The judges who accepted bribes to rule against the orphan and the widow are no more. The grand cities and monuments that man built to honor himself are inherited by the meek and lowly. 

"The path of the righteous is level; You, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth." (Isaiah 26:7) I like to picture this path as one of dirt or sand, completely straight and level, swept clean of any pebbles that could possibly cause a person to stumble. "My steps have held to Your paths' my feet have not stumbled." (Psalm 17:5) "You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way." (Psalm 18:36) "In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:6) "I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths." (Proverbs 4:11) Isaiah, along with King David and King Solomon, are not promising us an untroubled life, but they are promising us that if we keep our eyes on our Redeemer, He will lead us in the way we should go. We are to walk in His footsteps, guided and directed by Him, in all that we do. When guided by His word and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to make correct decisions for ourselves and our families. 

"Yes, Lord, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." (Isaiah 26:8) There's nothing better we can do with our lives than desire the name and renown of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do this with our words, our actions, and our attitudes. We are His ambassadors in this dark world and it's important we shine a light on Him, living lives of integrity that honor His name, loving our fellow man as Jesus has commanded. If people don't find something honorable and attractive about the Christian life, how will they find something honorable and attractive about Christ? We are to live in this world with Jesus' name and renown being the desire of our hearts so that people will find their way to Him and be made whole. This is a matter of life or death for their souls and it should be the most serious and most important goal of our lives: to lift up Christ so that men and women will be drawn to Him. 

What a mighty Savior we have! What a Rock! What a Redeemer! How can we not feel the urgency of leading others to the salvation and the peace we ourselves have found in Him? How can we not want the whole world to experience this love and mercy? 

Lord, help us to desire Your name and renown above all other things. Help us to live in such a way that people want to know more about You, that they will want the joy and peace we have in You. Give us a heart like Yours for the lost and hurting. Help our fellow man to see You in us. In the beautiful and precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Comfort My People: The Prophecies Of Isaiah, Day 65

Comfort My People:
The Prophecies Of Isaiah

Day 65

I promised you some good news after we concluded the chapters about the fall of ancient nations and the days of the Great Tribulation. We ended yesterday with the arrival of the King and now a beautiful song of praise breaks out.

"Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done wonderful things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1) The believers praise the name of the Lord for keeping His word, for having a plan for the world and carrying it out. Since before God created man, from a time so far back we can't even imagine it, He knew exactly what He would do. Before He ever formed the first cell of man's body, God had a plan of salvation, for we are told that Christ was "chosen before the creation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20), and that He was "the Lamb slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8) 

God also had a plan for those who oppress His faithful ones. With the King on the throne and their enemies vanquished, the citizens of the earth praise Him for setting them free. Since the nation of Israel was founded, she has been overthrown a number of times, taken captive, and persecuted. Christians have likewise been persecuted and even in our own times there are those being imprisoned and even put to death for preaching in the name of Christ. The people now sing of the Lord's deliverance from all enemies, "You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigner's stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt." (Isaiah 25:2) Where now are the nations who took Israel captive in times past? Where is Assyria and Babylon and the Roman Empire? When Christ reigns on the earth, where is the spiritual Babylon of the end times? It is in ruins, never to be rebuilt. The Lord doesn't name a specific city in verse 2 because this is likely a symbol of all the cities of all the ages who scorned the Holy One and oppressed His people. 

"Therefore strong peoples will honor You; cities of ruthless nations will revere You. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert." (Isaiah 25:3-4) I can say the same thing: God has been a refuge for me when I have been poor and needy. He has been a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. Like King David, I too can say of my Lord, "You shield my head in the day of battle." (Psalm 140:7b)

"You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled." (Isaiah 25:5) In the original language, the word used here for foreigners can also mean "the proud". God has nothing against foreigners and He commanded Israel to love the foreigners in their midst, "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt." (Leviticus 19:34a) "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18) In Biblical times, foreigners could convert to the God of Israel and become part of the family of God. There was a court of the Gentiles at the temple so they could come and worship the Lord. Since Christ ascended to heaven, people of every nation and tongue have come to Him for salvation as the good news of the gospel spreads around the world. God welcomes every person to come to Him. But in verse 5 the people are rejoicing because God has brought down those who have hurt them. A number of nations have persecuted Israel and a number of nations have persecuted Christians. But at the coming of Christ to rule the world, everyone and everything that boasts itself against the Lord is silenced.

"On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine---the best of meats and the finest of wines." (Isaiah 25:6) "This mountain" would be His headquarters at Jerusalem. Christ our Lord has reserved for us a place at His table. True to His character, He only gives the best, and at His table only the finest is served. He spares no expense in celebrating with His redeemed ones because He spared no expense when He went to the cross for us. He gave it all so we could share in His joy. We didn't earn salvation and we didn't earn the blessings of the kingdom, but because Christ loves us He wants us to share in everything that is His. 

This next verse is so beautiful I feel like breaking into a song of praise myself, "On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25:7) Hallelujah! In ancient times, the body of a dead person was enfolded in a shroud. In our day the nurse might pull a sheet up over the body and face of a deceased person. But a day is coming when death shall be no more. When Christ reigns eternally and we reign with Him in immortal bodies like His, as the poet John Donne said, "Death, thou shalt die!" The shroud-makers, coffin-crafters, funeral directors, and headstone carvers will be busy with some other type of duties in the kingdom of Christ because death will cease to exist. The shroud is lifted forever. The fear of death is extinguished. No sad tears will ever fall. "The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove His people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8) When sin came, death came. We have suffered the disgrace of being a fallen creation and we have suffered the disgrace of persecution. But God has spoken and it is as good as done: He will wipe our tears away and we will never cry again. Christ has conquered death for us. He has also conquered our disgrace by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, setting us free of the penalty of our sins when we trust in Him, making us clean and whole. 

"In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:9) We get a foretaste of the kingdom when we rejoice in our salvation here in our earthly lives. But just imagine what rejoicing there will be when death is destroyed! Imagine the shouts of praise when our enemy the devil is cast down forever! Imagine the gladness of hearts that need never fear pain or grief again!

"The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled in their land as straw is trampled down in the manure. They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; He will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust." (Isaiah 25:10-12) The crude and disgusting fate of Moab is a sharp contrast to the fate of the children of God. Moab was an actual nation in Isaiah's day and as we learned earlier in our study, Moab at first sought help from Jerusalem against her enemies. After all, the Moabites were related to Israel because they descended from Lot, Abraham's nephew. Jerusalem appeared willing to help them, but refugees from Moab would be required to live under God's law. Judah had a godly king at the time and worship was taking place in God's temple. It seems clear that the Moabites realized they would have to serve the God of Israel because when talking about their plan to appeal to Jerusalem, the Moabites discussed the need to bring lambs with them. They would be expected to bring offerings to the Lord. Pagan Moab decided to seek help elsewhere, rather than bow the knee to God, thus they were like the "proud ones", the foreigners who scorned the Lord.

Isaiah probably uses Moab in the passage above both literally and figuratively. The spirit of the people of Moab is similar to the spirit of all who say, "Give me anything but Jesus!" He is using Moab as a symbol for all who have preferred to seek help elsewhere. We see here the acute difference between the children of God and those who have rejected Him. Those who trusted in the Lord have found salvation and He has removed their disgrace. He has cleaned them up and made them into new creatures, pure and holy in His sight. But the disgrace of those who have rejected Him remains unchanged. They are like one who has fallen into a cow patty in the barn, covered in shame and filth. They are still in their sins, still filthy, still turning their backs on the living God. 

There are disgraceful things in my past, but because Christ is my Savior, He has removed my disgrace. I didn't deserve His love but He loved me anyway. I didn't earn my salvation; He earned it for me. And thanks be to His holy name, someday I will stand in His presence and sing the song of the redeemed, saying, "Surely this is my God; I trusted in Him, and He saved me. This is the Lord, I trusted in Him; I will rejoice and be glad in His salvation."