{"id":25315,"date":"2023-02-22T22:00:46","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T05:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-17_12-18_7-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-02-14T00:40:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T07:40:01","slug":"isaiah-19_1-20_6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-19_1-20_6\/","title":{"rendered":"Baring All For Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 19:1-20:6 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 19:1-20:6.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 19:1-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian– brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither,
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty has planned against Egypt.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There is nothing Egypt can do– head or tail, palm branch or reed.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty raises against them.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty is planning against them.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-17:\u00a0 Isaiah\u2019s oracle about Egypt is not only a warning to Egypt; even more it is a warning to Isaiah\u2019s own people of Judah not to rely on an alliance with Egypt as their hope against a larger power like Assyria.\u00a0 Isaiah speaks of how Egypt will suffer from internal division (v2), fear and hopelessness (v8-10), a lack of wise leadership (v11-13) and confusion (v14).\u00a0 Isaiah\u2019s oracle is reminiscent of images in the book of Exodus many centuries before (v5-7) when the Nile stank and was no longer the water source that the Egyptians could depend on.\u00a0 Rather than Judah being impressed by Egypt, Egypt will be afraid of Judah, Isaiah says in verse 17, all because of what God has in store for Egypt.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 19:18-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Destruction.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day there will be an altar to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0at its border.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It will be a sign and witness to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the\u00a0LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and keep them.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the\u00a0LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-25:\u00a0 Yet out of the devastation that Egypt will experience in verses 1-17, Isaiah says that Egypt will turn to the LORD.\u00a0 A nation that had long consulted idols, spirits of the dead, mediums and spiritists would finally turn to the LORD and experience a healing (v22) and a rescue (v23) that their idols and spiritists could never effect.\u00a0 Verses 23-25 even describe how Egypt, Assyria and Israel, long time enemies, would together worship the LORD.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0Often times God breaks something or someone down because He wants to build them up stronger than they were before, with a newfound trust in Him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s kingdom is a multicultural kingdom consisting of people from different nations, colours and cultures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 20:1-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it–
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0at that time the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush,
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared–to Egypt’s shame.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?'”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-5:\u00a0 In the same year that Assyria conquers the Philistine city of Ashdod (approximately 711 B.C. some scholars estimate), Isaiah does something shocking:\u00a0 as a visual illustration of the prophecies Isaiah had spoken concerning Egypt (in chapter 19) and Cush (in chapter 18), Isaiah walks around stripped naked and barefoot for 3 years.\u00a0 Scholars debate whether Isaiah was completely naked or wearing a loin cloth as well as whether he was walking around naked for parts of three years or for three whole years.\u00a0 In any event, the message to Judah was: do not think that an alliance with Egypt or Cush is going to save you (v6); what Judah needed was to trust in the LORD.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Just as Isaiah went around naked as per God\u2019s command, just as Jesus was stripped bare on the cross, are you and I willing to humiliate ourselves for the sake of the message of the gospel?\u00a0 Will we bear our hearts to people who don\u2019t know Jesus and try to share the Gospel with them, even at the risk of being rejected?<\/p>\n

Like Isaiah, may we not be afraid to make fools of ourselves for God\u2019s sake, knowing that people\u2019s lives and eternity are at stake.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You that Your heart is for people in every kingdom and nation on earth.\u00a0 May we not be afraid to speak up for You and to love justice the way You do.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 19:1-20:6.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nIsaiah 19:1-17 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian– brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0Almighty.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-17:\u00a0 Isaiah\u2019s oracle about Egypt is not only a warning to Egypt; even more it is a warning to Isaiah\u2019s own people of Judah not to rely on an alliance with Egypt as their hope against a larger power like Assyria.\u00a0 Isaiah speaks of how Egypt will suffer from internal division (v2), fear and hopelessness (v8-10), a lack of wise leadership (v11-13) and confusion (v14).\u00a0 Isaiah\u2019s oracle is reminiscent of images in the book of Exodus many centuries before (v5-7) when the Nile stank and was no longer the water source that the Egyptians could depend on.\u00a0 Rather than Judah being impressed by Egypt, Egypt will be afraid of Judah, Isaiah says in verse 17, all because of what God has in store for Egypt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25315"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25318,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25315\/revisions\/25318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}