Archive for month: February, 2023

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 25:1-12.  Let’s go!
 
Isaiah 25:1-5 (NIV)
1  O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
2  You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
3  Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4  You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall
5  and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
 
On verses 1-5:  Isaiah 25 begins with this beautiful exclamation of praise to God.  But then in verse 2 you may be wondering why Isaiah is praising God for turning “a city into a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more” (v2), never to be rebuilt.  What city is Isaiah referring to?  This city, which is also mentioned in Isaiah 24:10, represents those all over the world who pridefully live for themselves and their own glory rather than trusting in and living for the Lord.  You could call this city, as the early church father Augustine did, the “city of man”.  Even to this day, many people around the world still live in the “city of man”, building kingdoms that are for their own glory and fame.  This city is ruled by “foreigners” (v2, 5), that is, people who are foreign to the kingdom of God. 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 23:1-18.  Let’s go!
 
Isaiah 23:1-18 (NIV)
1  An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.
2  Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.
3  On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4  Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”
5  When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.

On verses 1-18:  The final oracle in Isaiah’s book of burdens (Isaiah 13-23) is about the wealthy nation of Tyre.  Isaiah calls Tyre “the marketplace of the nations” (v3), as Tyre was a centre for commercial activity, located on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  In this oracle Isaiah also addresses Sidon (v2, 4, 12), another city along the eastern Mediterranean coast and a neighbour of Tyre.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 22:1-25.  Let’s go!
 
Isaiah 22:1-4 (NIV)
1  An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs,
2  O town full of commotion, O city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle.
3  All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.
4  Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”
 
On verses 1-4:  This next oracle is concerning Jerusalem, which is identified by its nickname the City of David and other landmarks in verses 9-10.  Some scholars believe that Isaiah gave this message when Jerusalem was under siege by Assyria in 701 B.C.  
 
Here in verses 1-4 Isaiah laments how the leaders of his people Judah have fled and been taken prisoner (v3), how (as we will see in verses 12-13) the people of Jerusalem responded to the siege with revelry instead of looking to God for help (v2) and how Jerusalem is on the verge of being destroyed (v4).