{"id":25404,"date":"2023-03-01T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-02T05:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-25_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T23:53:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T06:53:19","slug":"isaiah-26_1-27_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-26_1-27_1\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Kingdom of God Expands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 26:1-27:1 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 26:1-27:1.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 26:1-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Trust in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0forever, for the\u00a0LORD, the\u00a0LORD, is the Rock eternal.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Feet trample it down– the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yes,\u00a0LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the\u00a0LORD.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0O\u00a0LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0O\u00a0LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You have enlarged the nation, O\u00a0LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-15:\u00a0 Isaiah 26 continues Isaiah\u2019s message about the end times.\u00a0 Isaiah 26 shares the same tone and cadence as some of the most beautiful Psalms.\u00a0 Yet Isaiah 26 is also like many of the chapters in the book of Proverbs in that every line is packed with powerful truth and could be a sermon on its own.\u00a0 Isaiah 26 continues some of the most beautiful phrases in all of Isaiah.\u00a0 My personal favourites include verses 3, 4, 8 and 12.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, virtually every line in the above verses could be a sermon on its own, but if you want to tie them all together with one theme, that theme could be: what happens when God\u2019s kingdom expands.\u00a0 Here Isaiah pictures God having \u201cenlarged his nation\u201d (v15) and expanded his kingdom in the last days.\u00a0 The results are that:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Those who live in God\u2019s kingdom are in the strongest, most secure city (v1);
\n–\u00a0 Perfect peace is the portion of those who trust steadfastly in the Lord (v3);
\n–\u00a0 The prideful city of man (\u201cthe lofty city\u201d \u2013 v5) which we discussed in Isaiah 25 is brought low;
\n–\u00a0 The poor and the oppressed are vindicated (v6);
\n–\u00a0 God makes level paths for His people\u2019s feet (v7);
\n–\u00a0 More and more God\u2019s people walk in God\u2019s ways and desire His fame and renown more than their own (v8);
\n–\u00a0 God\u2019s presence is the chief desire of the people\u2019s hearts (v9a);
\n–\u00a0 Through God\u2019s judgments God\u2019s people learn to appreciate what righteousness is all about (v9b);
\n–\u00a0 God\u2019s people recognize that all of their accomplishments are ultimately God\u2019s grace and God\u2019s hand at work through them (v12);
\n–\u00a0 God\u2019s name is the one His people live to honour (v13);
\n–\u00a0 Meanwhile, God\u2019s prideful enemies are disenfranchised and wiped out (v14).<\/p>\n

While Isaiah is picturing what will happen in the last days when God\u2019s kingdom comes in its fullness, it\u2019s also true that the above results happen even today when God\u2019s kingdom grows and expands in your life.\u00a0\u00a0There is an increase in peace, power, wisdom, righteousness, passion for God, an appreciation for God\u2019s righteousness, humility, victory and worship, when God\u2019s kingdom is happening in your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 26:16-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O\u00a0LORD.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0See, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-21:\u00a0 After acknowledging some ways that God\u2019s people had failed (v16-18), Isaiah still points to how there is resurrection power for God\u2019s people (v19).\u00a0 Because God is just, God will certainly punish all sin (v21).\u00a0 But praise God that when you have the Lord in your life, you are able to hide from God\u2019s wrath as verse 20 describes.\u00a0 That\u2019s because Jesus\u2019 blood is our protection against God\u2019s wrath (v20).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 27:1 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In that day, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 Isaiah pictures God in the last days putting an end to His enemy, Satan, who is represented here by a monstrous sea serpent called Leviathan.\u00a0 It is not a coincidence that in Revelation, Satan\u2019s Anti-Christ is also pictured as a beast from the sea (see Revelation 13).<\/p>\n

In short, Isaiah 26:1-27:1 pictures the day when God\u2019s kingdom takes over.\u00a0 Praise God that that is how our story ends.\u00a0 Praise God also that those of us who have Christ today get to experience tastes of that kingdom on a daily basis until that final day comes.<\/p>\n

Father, in every way \u2013 in quality, in quantity, in peace, in power, in victory, in glory, in diversity, in creativity, in value \u2013 Your kingdom is truly the greatest kingdom, and the only one that will last forever. Thank You that through Jesus Christ we get to be a part of that kingdom not just for eternity, but for now too.\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 26:1-27:1.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nIsaiah 26:1-15 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Trust in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0forever, for the\u00a0LORD, the\u00a0LORD, is the Rock eternal.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-15:\u00a0 Isaiah 26 continues Isaiah\u2019s message about the end times.\u00a0 Isaiah 26 shares the same tone and cadence as some of the most beautiful Psalms.\u00a0 Yet Isaiah 26 is also like many of the chapters in the book of Proverbs in that every line is packed with powerful truth and could be a sermon on its own.\u00a0 Isaiah 26 continues some of the most beautiful phrases in all of Isaiah.\u00a0 My personal favourites include verses 3, 4, 8 and 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25404","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\/25404","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=25404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25407,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25404\/revisions\/25407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}