If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
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.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm doing
this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that will
keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are reading. Remember,
the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a supplement, a disciple’s
commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we will keep following our
Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make
disciples. Being in the Word every day,
sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the essential essence of
being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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