365 Reflections

Isaiah 29:1–2 (ESV) Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel. Ariel is a word that could mean Lion of God and refer to the city of Jerusalem OR it could mean "altar heart" and refer to the brazen altar of sacrifice. Yet what is most amazing about this passage is the fact that God will bring distress to this place He chose for His people. The feasts of the past and the yearly celebrations will not stop it. In sarcastic tones, Isaiah invites them to continue their religious program when their hearts are shallow and empty toward God.  Isaiah then speaks as if God is going to besiege the city. But it will be the nations the Lord has raised up for their judgment. Isaiah 29:3 (ESV) And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. You would be tempted...

Without Godly leaders, a nation is doomed. That is how Isaiah describes the spiritual state of Israel in chapter 28. Isaiah 28:7–8 (ESV) These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. 8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left. Notice the priest and prophet were drunk with wine and staggering through the nation. There is no hope without strong spiritual leadership. Notice the effect of the lack of spiritual maturity among them. They will end up with a nation full of children.  Isaiah 28:9 (ESV) “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? Isaiah asks who will be the pupils to bankrupt spiritual leaders? The answer is simple - babes. The nation will not mature. The populace will become immature in...

I believe the rapture of the church happens at the singular return of Christ and that we do in fact go through the tribulation. I don't mind if you disagree but I see Scripture bearing witness to this reality and Isaiah helps me get there. In the 25-26 chapters, Isaiah describes God's protective care for His people through the end times. As the world will be judged, God's people will be shielded from the wrath of God. Not at all because we have deserved it or earned it but because we believed in the Son He has sent to save us. Now in Isaiah 27, the prophet enunciates God's activity in the spiritual realm as we see the world descend into chaos.  Isaiah 27:1 (ESV) In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. The word for serpent is the same as in Genesis 3:1. Leviathan is a sea creature and beastly. It is clearly an image of the drago...

Isaiah 26:1 (ESV) In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. There are some who suggest the phrase "in that day" refers to the millennial reign of Christ on this Earth. They may be right but I disagree. And Christians can disagree on such matters. Isaiah 24 described global devastation. Isaiah 25 described God's protection over His people through global judgment. Isaiah 26 now turns to the protective place called the Lord's Church that will exist most clearly in the last days. The reason I believe this chapter refers to that time is that people will still be coming into the city.  Isaiah 26:2 (ESV) Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Yes, people could still be coming to Christ in the Millenium, but would it be faith to believe in a Christ who is visibly present? I don't quite know. But lets move on.  We see that God will protect with strong wall...

As I watch things get very dark in my country (America) and the world as a whole I always live between two poles of thought. Judgment must come to the land and what about God's people when it comes?  Isaiah 25 is the answer.  In this chapter, Isaiah is able to praise God after the judgment he has declared will come from God in Isaiah 24.  Isaiah 25:1–2 (ESV) O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 2 For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Notice the language of the prophet. He speaks of the LORD as "MY God". And when He is YOUR God, you don't have to stress over His judgments, you can rejoice over His righteousness. Because the Lord is strong in judgment, ruthless nations fear Him and His people can take cover in Him.  Isaiah writes: Isaiah 25:3–5 (ESV) Therefore strong peopl...

There is within our hearts an overarching sense that judgement will eventually come upon the Earth. Whether you're a climate alarmist or a self-righteous religious person whose had enough of the sin of the world, we all carry a sense of foreboding that these things cannot continue.  Isaiah 24 introduces us to the reality that what we sense will some day be reality. The judgment will come. Isaiah 24:1–3 (ESV)  Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word. I think of that first word, "Behold." We are being asked to see this clearly. God will enact vengean...

Isaiah 13-23 is a series of 10 oracles against the nation in the geographical order of East to West, beginning with Babylon and ending with Tyre of the Phoenician empire. Interesting to note that Babylon was the political power of the day and Tyre was the engine of commerce. We have a picture of how God judges a nation or generation. First, starting with removing their political power and then leads to the destruction of their economic means. Isaiah begins: Isaiah 23:1–2 (ESV) The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. Tyre and Sidon were key port cities in the Phoenician empire. This empire was a major influence of ancient idolatry in Israel. Later in the chapter, Isaiah notes Tyre's influence on kings in the region. They sought goods of Tyre across the world. Sidon, also an...

Isaiah 22:15–16 (ESV) Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? God is going to judge the king's "chief of staff" here. Why? Because he put himself and his own interests before the welfare of the people. Such self-serving leaders are a stench to God. For leadership pertains to one's responsibilities, not just some measure of glory. For self-serving leadership, there is only judgment to come.  For as large as Shebna saw himself in the land, God said He would toss him away like a rock.  Isaiah 22:17–18 (ESV) Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall...

There is such a thing as false joy in the people of God. Isaiah describes such a time in Chapter 22 when the defeat of their enemies seems to be a signal that God is proud of who they are and defending them as such. The reality is God is showing mercy that they do not deserve and preserving them according to His Covenant and not their good works.  Isaiah 22:1–2 (ESV) The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops, 2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle. The next verse seems contradictory: Isaiah 22:3 (ESV) All your leaders have fled together; without the bow they were captured. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. The reality is Isaiah sees what will be of this proud city. Though they had been spared destruction, their lack of repentance will lead to inevitable demise. He describes this later in vers...