SEPTEMBER 16
Isaiah 22-24
So much of
Isaiah has been about the coming invasion by Assyria. In chapter 36 we have the
actual story of how God saved Jerusalem in one night. Until then, God uses the
coming invasion as a test of the hearts of the people and He uses the present
events to tell about the future Tribulation of the entire world. Ultimately God
will work for the salvation of Zion and His people and bring the plan of redemption
for mankind to fulfillment.
Keep in mind as
you read this that the plan of God in the harvest is always being reflected.
Sin brings judgment, but woven into everything is the offer of forgiveness. As
chaotic as it may get on earth, Christ will reign, tears will be wiped away,
and we will live forever with God.
Isaiah 22
Vs. 1-4 This is
a vision against Jerusalem itself. The valley
of vision is referring to Jerusalem. Apparently from Jerusalem's location,
it commands a view of the valley through which the Assyrians would advance.
V. 4 Isaiah was
moved to tears by the vision of the areas around Jerusalem (Bethlehem, etc…)
being ransacked and people being killed and led away.
Vs. 5-8 The
Assyrians brought all of their relatives to fight, including Elam and Kir, the Medes and Persians. These people would fill the valley and
be at the gate of the city. The covering
was removed because of the sins of the people.
Vs. 8-14 These
were the actions of the leaders as the threat of war came. The idea here is that
the leaders and people didn't put their hearts into seeking God. Notice that
Paul quoted v. 13 in 1 Corinthians 15:32. You can make a list of what they did
in preparation. Verses 12-13 have a contrast. God wanted one thing; they
decided to do something else. God wasn't happy. It was only Hezekiah who led
them to seek God, and then, only at the end. Ironically, one of the things they
did in preparation was to hide the springs outside of Jerusalem and divert the
water under the city. Hezekiah's tunnel was a feat of ancient engineering. This
is only ironic in the sense that it really didn't amount to anything. God
destroyed the Assyrians. The tunnel had no effect in keeping the people safe or
secure. They could have saved all this preparation and trusted the Lord. A
century later the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem and that tunnel would be
no help. As we see in The Psalms, if the Lord is not our help and our hope, we
are just keeping ourselves busy. Only He can save.
Vs. 15-24 Now
we have two leaders of the people who represented Jerusalem and the Lord in
talks with the Assyrians. Both of these men are found at the great
confrontation in 2 Kings 18:18 and Isaiah 36:3.
Vs. 15-19
Shebna represented the king in talks with the Assyrians. It is thought that his
influence led to the loss of hope and the presence of a godless attitude in the
city. Apparently he had a t-shirt that said, "Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die."
Vs. 20-24
Eliakim, on the other hand, was a godly man with a godly influence on the people.
God would use him as a solid testimony in the city.
V. 25 This is a
very interesting picture of leadership. God placed Eliakim as a nail in a wall,
and apparently they placed a lot of weight on him. He was a godly influence.
God allowed him to break as a punishment on the people. During the 54 years of
Manasseh, there was hardly a man of godly influence who wasn't killed by
Manasseh, who, God says, filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. Eliakim was
probably one of those men who donated his blood to the judgment of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 23
Vs. 1-12 This
vision is against Tyre and Sidon. What is interesting is the description of
their pride and their influence in the world. Assyria's attacks against T&S
hampered trade for 70 years, but it was Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed these
cities. Their pride and destruction is foretold in Ezekiel; and in that
description, there is the second passage in the OT that suddenly turns into a
description of the pride and actions of Satan. This kind of pride and influence
of the world was seen in Tyre.
V. 13 If even
early Babylon was wasted by Assyria, what hope would Tyre have?
V. 14 The ships of Tarshish were trade ships from
Spain. Tyre was their haven at the end of their journey.
Vs. 15-18 This
description of the recovery of Tyre sounds very much like the description in
Revelation 18 of the nation or city which is called "Babylon the
whore." These are very interesting parallels.
Isaiah 24
And then from
the apocalyptic note of the destruction of this nation that influenced the
world, we have a very clear prophecy of the Tribulation.
Vs. 1-13 There
are lots of things to observe here. Notice that this is a judgment of the
entire earth. Note that in v. 6, few people are left on the earth. Also, in v.
13, this action of God on earth is likened to a harvest.
Vs. 14-16a The
followers of Christ on earth will understand that this is the judgment of the
Lamb on the earth. They will know that the kingdom is coming and that the days
of tragedy for mankind are coming to an end. The Righteous One is coming.
Vs. 16b-20
Not everyone will be happy. In Revelation it says that when all this breaks
loose and the earth and heavens are shaken, people will know it is God and
still shake their fists at Him. In Matthew 24:10 Jesus said, And then many will fall away and betray one
another and hate one another.
Vs. 21-22 You
have the judgment of Satan and the kings of the earth and Satan being locked up
for a thousand years during the Millennium, followed by the Great White Throne
judgment of God and the lake of fire.
V. 23 During
the Tribulation, as the Lord comes, the power of the sun will be altered. Now
you have the beginning of the new heavens and earth without sun or moon with
Christ reigning in Zion. Notice again the importance of Jerusalem. This has
been a major theme thus far in Isaiah.
With all we
have read this year regarding suffering and waiting on the Lord, thanking God
and learning through the small deliverances He gives us, I was touched by the
thought of the people in vs. 14-16 above. They will be in the Tribulation with everyone
else. They not only have to duck flying boulders and meteors like everyone
else, but the hatred of mankind will be turned against them because they know
Christ. Yet they still rejoice; they still follow, and people will still
respond to their message in the harvest. Even in this Tribulation they still
shout the praise of God to all directions and to all people. They must be filled
with the joy and the love of Christ.
Galatians 2:17-3:9
Galatians
2:17-21
I found it hard
to follow this reasoning, but here's what I came up with. So these are my
thoughts.
In v. 16 I
think Paul stopped talking to Peter, and now this is real time.
V. 17 The
tension of following Christ against all they had been taught in Judaism caused
this turmoil and sin on Peter's part. But, that didn't make following Christ
wrong or the way of sin. There would definitely be some stumbling around here,
sometimes being too restrictive, sometimes being too free, but it wasn't Jesus'
fault.
V. 18 Back to
Peter. If Peter built up again what he knew to be false, it showed he was
sinning. If you boarded up a doorway that led to nowhere, so that in a fire
people would have to choose the right door for escape, that would be good. But
then, if in a fire, you reopened that other doorway causing confusion escaping
the fire, that would be bad. In Peter walking over to the other side of the
room, he was rebuilding what he had torn down, justification by works.
V. 19 The law
said that everyone was dead. With this understanding given by the law, Paul and
the others went to Christ, thus dying to the law through Christ, so that they
could be alive to God.
V. 20 This is
the declaration of every disciple. Tell me you already have this memorized. If
not, sin no more and work on it. J
V. 21 This
verse is easy to understand except in one thing. Paul and the Spirit understood
Peter walking across the room as nullifying the
grace of God. That is really powerful. After grasping this, it is no wonder
that Martin Luther reacted so strongly to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
If Peter's confused action meant nullifying the grace of God and making the
death of Christ of no purpose, the works orientation of that church, or of any
church, amounted to the same.
Galatians 3:1-9
Vs. 1-5 Take
note of Paul's questions here and the given or implied answers.
Vs. 6-9 While
the Jewish Christians of the circumcision party were focusing on the Law of
Moses, Paul took the issue back further to Abraham and the redemptive purpose
of God.
V. 6 This is
Romans 4. Abraham was saved by faith before
he was circumcised. The members of the circumcision party missed this.
V. 8 So, who or
what preached to Abraham? This is a great verse. No wonder Luther loved this
letter. Going back to the promise to Abraham, Paul not only showed that the law
was inferior to faith, but he showed
that God was always planning to include the Gentiles by faith alone.
V. 9 This shows
that at the beginning of God's plan for Israel, as it began in Abraham, the
focus was faith and the plan of
redemption was for all the nations.
Those who were trying to install pieces of the Law of Moses into Christianity
showed they really didn't understand the OT or the heart of God.
As disciples in
the harvest there is a kind of tension. We are saved by grace through faith in
Jesus. That is it. In this salvation we are totally accepted and we do not have
one more thing that we need to do, to be accepted or loved. We could just sit
and do nothing and that would be fine; but we don't, we follow. We know that
obeying Jesus, following Him, knowing Him as Lord, has a commission attached to
it. How do you put all of this together and still have grace? The answer is in
Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified
with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the
life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me. The love of Christ does not beget compulsive
slavery, but rather, a grateful response of love by those who have been made
alive by His sacrifice and death. And to think, we'll be raised as He was
raised and live forever and ever and ever and ever and ever, with Him. I think
that's pretty cool, and worth sharing with others.
Psalm 60
When we read
this psalm we need to remember that from Joshua to David the nation fell into
disunity and was preyed upon by its enemies. Even though there were judges,
they were very regional. The neighbors could rob any city they pleased, almost
at will. As king of Israel, David, as a shepherd king, couldn't tolerate the
flock being preyed upon. The neighbors either had to agree to peace with
Israel, or David had to subdue them. Israel had had such weak leadership under
Saul and a long 400-year history of being inept, why should anyone make peace
with David? David was that rag-tag guy running around the country for 10 years
living in caves. David had been trained by God to kill what preyed on the
flock. David was anointed by God to do something no one had done before and God
was with him.
The occasion
for this psalm is that as David fought against the Syrians in the north, the
Edomites in the south decided to go after Israel knowing that David was busy in
the north. When they returned from fighting the Syrians, they had to serve
justice on the Edomites.
Vs. 1-3 This is
how Israel was as David began to reign. Israel had been easy prey and had seen
tragedy after tragedy.
Vs. 4-5 This
banner may be the promise to Abraham expressed in the Word. God's truth was
their rallying point and salvation.
Vs. 6-8 God had
already pronounced His ownership of the land and His judgment on all who would
oppose Him.
Vs. 9-12 David
felt that by God letting the Edomites do this, it was like rejecting Israel.
David was humbled and still pursued the Lord. That was the last problem David
had with the Edomites.
Proverbs 23:15-16
When I was
reading this, I thought, "This is really true of how a parent responds to
their kids following the Lord and saying what is honoring to God." Then I
thought, "Hey, I'm somebody's kid too." And then, we have a heavenly
Father, too, whom we need to honor.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/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
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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 comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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