Isaiah 19-21
Isaiah 19
This is the coming war against Egypt. Everyone went to Egypt for help, but the truth is, Egypt never attained the power they had before they mistreated Israel and God broke them through Moses. They couldn't help.
Vs. 1-4 God is giving them over to a fierce king. I don’t know what Assyria did to Egypt, but after Nebuchadnezzar was done with them they were pretty much like we see Egypt today.
Vs. 5-10 Their confidence was in their water and fertility, and the gods thereof.
Vs. 11-15 Their pride in their wisdom and leadership would also fail.
Vs. 16-25 Now tell me you’re not amazed at this.
First, immediately after these pronouncements of judgment, God shows how His grace will overflow for them.
Second, who is this written for? Did Egypt actually read this? Maybe, but primarily it was for Israel to know not to depend on Egypt in this war with Assyria, and then to know that God would still show faithfulness and blessing for the “cup of water” they gave to Israel long ago. When Jesus says, "will by no means lose his reward," He really means it.
Notice the “in that day.” These are very obviously predictions for the time of Jesus’ 1000-year reign on earth. Often we get hung on the Israel-church comparison regarding the end times, some people thinking that there will be no 1000-year reign because Israel failed and the church was given their blessings. Not only is that a poor understanding of the church and Israel, it fails to consider prophesies like these that are linked to Israel being blessed for those 1000 years and having its neighbors receive God's blessing.
Notice too that Assyria will be blessed. I have no clue why this is. The only thing that comes to mind is that the garden, the first home of mankind, if you will, was where the Euphrates and Tigris were close together. That would be the region of Assyria. That entire section of country from the head waters of these rivers, down to Babylon, has been important in most of the Bible. At the birth of Jesus, this region is where the wise men came from. Anyway, who knows, but God says Assyria (Iraq?) will be blessed by God. (Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and is in northern Iraq near the city of Mosul. The ruins of Babylon are also in Iraq.)
Isaiah 20
Not too many people know about this chapter. It is an object lesson to teach Israel not to depend on Egypt for saving help.
When Assyria took Ashdod, a city directly west of Jerusalem on the coast, the people were probably thinking that Egypt would rise up and run up the coast and help.
Isaiah was ordered by God to walk around bottomless for 3 years as a shocking sign to the people that as Isaiah was walking naked, they would see Egyptian captives being led up the coastal highway naked, humiliated by the Assyrians as a sign to others not to stand against Assyria.
So much for the glamour of being an important prophet in God's work. I'm sure this passage was well known to Paul as he yielded his life to Christ to follow Him in the harvest. And God did "humiliate" Paul often, but for His glory and to bear much fruit. As disciples in the harvest we have to be willing to yield up our lives too.
Isaiah 21
V. 1These visions have to do with the nations west of Jerusalem.
Vs. 2-10 Now Assyria did capture Babylon, but there is something strange in this vision. The Medes were the ones who captured Babylon in Daniel 5. But the words "fallen, fallen is Babylon," are repeated twice in Revelations. I think this vision sounds a little apocalyptic.
Vs. 11-12 Dumah is apparently Edom, the descendants of Esau.
Vs. 13-17 This is a warning to the clans of nomads living in Arabia.
No one would be safe from Assyria except those who were living in Zion. That's the point of all of this.
Galatians 2:1-16
Vs. 1-2 This visit wasn’t the Jerusalem counsel of Acts 15, but the famine mentioned in Acts 11:27-30. Imagine, fourteen years happened in there somewhere.
You will notice in Paul’s writing that there is a tension regarding the authority in Jerusalem. I don’t think Paul had a problem with Peter and the boys, as much as the false teaching that was coming from the circumcision party of the church and their claims that the “authorities” encouraged circumcision and other practices. It could be that Paul is also resisting an attempt by some Christians to create a church hierarchy of authority with heroes, bosses, costumes and action figures.
V. 2 Paul did submit his teaching for review by the disciples/apostles.
V. 5 The “we” means the other apostles were also against these legalistic Christians.
Vs. 6-10 Paul and Barnabas got the seal of approval, even though Paul didn’t feel like he needed it, having gotten everything from Jesus. Humbling himself like this was a good way for Paul to build unity and peace.
Vs. 11-16 We definitely don’t have this in Acts. It probably happened sometime just after Paul and Barnabas were in Jerusalem.
Notice that above all of this action, God supervised the situation into existence to teach Peter and Barnabas, to expose the pressures (men came from James) and to give us an amazing passage of Scripture that probably knocked Martin Luther right out of his sandals. The record of this event, even of Paul’s courage, was a world changer if you consider the reformation a world changing event.
I feel bad for Peter in this, but Peter was now an even humbler guy and probably smiled knowing that Jesus had put him in this position. As disciples, we need to have a quick response to our failures that tells us that God was in it, allowing us to learn, to realize how much we need Him, and to do all sorts of stuff we might not even know about. And then we chuckle at the fun Jesus just had with us and get back into the harvest.
Psalm 59
This could have been subtitled, “prowling like the dogs.”
The event was when Saul sent to get David at his house and kill him. The soldiers must have been prowling in the shadows.
What is interesting to me, knowing the story, is that David was very scared and did some really desperate stuff, from lying to the priests and getting them killed, to going to Gath for refuge where he did the crazy man act to get away.
This is written some time later; and David can see, in retrospect, that God had saved him, not he himself.
I’ll hold on to verses 9-10 and verses 16-17.
David was running blind. When David came to his senses his heart settled on the one thing that would guide him all of his life: The steadfast, unfailing love, of the Lord.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHUhIdQfo34
Proverbs 23:13-14
V. 14 reads slightly different in my German Bible and has a kind ironic contrast to it. It’s like, “you hit him with that piece of wood, but you’ll save his soul from hell.” It's interesting that the Father struck the Son "with" a piece of wood to save our souls from hell.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send any feedback or comments to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
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