Today's Reading:

Isaiah 27
Isaiah 28
Isaiah 29
Isaiah 30

HAPPY DAY 200!

Atonement is not earned by your works. It is a gift of God’s mercy and is shown by turning from sin. God used hardships, like exile, to clear out the pagan idols so that His people could have a pure relationship with Him. It is in His kindness that He uses hardships so that our hearts can be cleared and we can have a pure relationship with Him. In Babylon, there was no Temple, no high places, and no familiar shrines. They could not continue the old patterns of mixing God with pagan rituals. This forced the Israelites in exile to look at their faith. Exile became the means by which God removed the idols physically by destroying them and leaving them behind, as well as spiritually, the people’s hearts changed. After the return from exile under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, Israel as a nation never again turned to idols or pagan gods. After centuries of the prophets’ warnings had failed, the painful discipline of exile succeeded.

God promised to gather Israel one by one from exile. This was not an assembly line of people; it was personal attention. He came to look for each one of His lost sheep. The same God still gathers His children today with that same personal care.

Have you seen God clear “idols” out of your life so He could gather you back to a deeper and more pure walk with Him?

These chapters cover the end-times judgment of the nations, when Israel would be delivered. God will punish Leviathan (the mythical sea monster from the Book of Job) that represents evil and chaos. God will care for His people like a vineyard (remember they were the failed vineyard from Isaiah 5). He will defend Israel against attacks but prefers peace. The Lord judged Israel, but they were not struck down as hard as the other nations; they were exiled for correction and discipline, but they were not annihilated. Jacob’s/Israels guilt was atoned for by the destruction of their idols (Isaiah 27:9).

Chapter 28 shifted to Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom of Israel), and Jerusalem (Judah, S). In Isaiah 5, there were six woes of judgment against the people of Judah (and Israel). These woes are more focused on national pride and the corrupt leadership, yet had a promise of hope in the coming Messiah.

• Victory of evil (Leviathan) and restoration of the vineyard. God will defeat the enemy Leviathan (represents Assyria and evil). Then His scattered people will be brought back one by one so they can worship Him on His holy mountain.
• Who to the drunk leaders of Ephraim. The spiritual leaders were useless because they were drunk and staggering. Their spiritual drunkenness blinds their judgment. Israel said that Isaiah’s words were too childish, so God sent “foreign lips” (the Assyrian invasion) as judgment. The rest that He offered was ignored.
• The Cornerstone. God promised a cornerstone in Zion as the sure foundation which points to Jesus. The cornerstone (Jesus) was quoted in Romans 9:33 and 1 Peter 2:6. God’s plumb line standards are justice and righteousness. Israel would be in discomfort, “the bed is too short and the blanket too narrow,” because they are unprepared both spiritually and with their military. Israel would be punished like a well-timed farmer who knows exactly when and how to thresh.
• Woe to Ariel (Jerusalem). Ariel means “Lion of God” or “Altar Hearth”. Jerusalem will face a siege and spiritual blindness. The prophets and seers will be like someone trying to read a sealed book. They honor God with their lips, but their hearts are not there. God will step in and open the eyes of the blind. Then the other nations would suddenly fade like a dream because of His deliverance. There would be a restoration of true worship.
• Woe to the rebellious children seeking Egypt. Those who seek Egypt’s help in an alliance against Assyria will have false refuge. The rebellious people wanted the false prophets' lies, not the truth. Even Isaiah mocks their whole trip while pitying the poor animals. The prophecy is against the animals, not the people. Judah’s elite had loaded donkeys and camels for the hard journey south. The path was full of hardships like lions and snakes, all in an effort to bribe people who would be of no help. They should have asked God for help. God nicknamed Egypt “Rahab,” the Do-nothing. They had trust in their military horses, which were fast, and God said, fine, you want speed; you will run fast in retreat from your enemies. This was like training for a marathon, only to run in the wrong direction. Rahab was a mythical sea creature like a powerful but unreliable dragon. Note this is not the same as the Rahab woman who helped Joshua’s soldiers in Jericho.
• God offered the promise of restoration. Salvation came in the path of repentance, rest, quietness, and trust (Isaiah 30:15), but Judah refused it. After punishment, God would bless His people. Israel had suffered because of their sins. They went from a warning and invitation to trust God, to a promise of blessings for repentance. Even the working animals would eat well. God Himself (theophany) would come like a warrior in fiery judgment, taking down other nations. Every hit from the Lord to Assyria would be heard like a song of worship. Topheth (the area of Molek worship and child sacrifices) would be the fiery burial place for Assyria’s king. God’s breath would fuel the blaze. This was fulfilled when Sennacherib’s army was destroyed (185,000 dead overnight), and he was later assassinated. The place of evil, would get to judge the evil, which points to final judgment.
  
  

Today's Discussion question:

Have you seen God clear “idols” out of your life so He could gather you back to a deeper and more pure walk with Him?

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