{"id":25678,"date":"2023-03-29T22:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T05:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-44_23-45_13-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-03-14T19:11:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T02:11:18","slug":"isaiah-45_14-46_13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-45_14-46_13\/","title":{"rendered":"Even When Lifelessness Surrounds You, Hang Onto The LORD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 45:14-46:13 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 45:14-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans– they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 14:\u00a0 In verses 14-25 we see God speaking reassuring words to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to not give up seeking the LORD and to put their trust in Him regardless of whatever anyone else around them does.<\/p>\n

Here in verse 14 in particular we see a picture of other nations recognizing the Lord as the one true God.\u00a0 The image of the Egyptians, Cushites and Sabeans coming over to the Jews in chains may sound like the Jews are going to imprison and enslave these other nations, but I think a better reading of this is that the Egyptians, Cushites and Sabeans will come to the Jews for help with their pre-existing chains.\u00a0 That is because\u00a0idolatry produces bondage but where the Spirit of the LORD is there is freedom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 15:\u00a0 What does Isaiah mean by \u201ca God who hides himself\u201d?\u00a0 Like a childhood friend, sometimes God will play hide and seek with us.\u00a0 He will intentionally call out to us, though it is not obvious where He is, hoping that we will seek Him out and find Him.\u00a0 Like a parent encouraging his kid to grow, sometimes He hides Himself to see what we will do.\u00a0 But though He may be a God who hides himself sometimes, the truth is that He is never far away.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:16-19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Israel will be saved by the\u00a0LORD\u00a0with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For this is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says– he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited– he says: “I am the\u00a0LORD, and there is no other.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the\u00a0LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 16-19:\u00a0 From these verses we can learn the following truths:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0The salvation that the LORD gives is everlasting and without disgrace (v17).\u00a0 The salvation that idols offer is temporary and ends in disgrace (v16).
\n–\u00a0\u00a0God is the creator (v18).\u00a0 He formed this earth to be inhabited not empty.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0When you have a God who hides Himself, hoping you will find Him, seeking God is never in vain (v19).\u00a0 It\u2019s always a good thing to seek Him.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0Also, God is full of truth and always speaks what is right (v19b).\u00a0 In Him is no deceit.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:20-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Declare what is to be, present it– let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the\u00a0LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-22:\u00a0 God calls out to the nations, telling them not to look to any idol but to look to Him, the one true God, for salvation. \u00a0\u00a0For no other god can save.\u00a0 Only the LORD.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:23-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They will say of me, ‘In the\u00a0LORD\u00a0alone are righteousness and strength.'” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-25:\u00a0 As verse 23 says, one day before the LORD every knee will bow.\u00a0 The question is only when and how.\u00a0 Will we willingly bow before God and humble ourselves before him, or will we rage against Him and in our pride be forced to bow?\u00a0 Those who refuse to bow before the LORD will be put to shame (v24), whereas those who place their hope in the LORD \u00a0will be found righteous in God\u2019s sight and will rejoice triumphantly (\u201cexult\u201d) (v25).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 46:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 Speaking of those who bow (45:23-25), God says that the two main gods of Babylon will bow before Him.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 46:3-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-4:\u00a0 God promises to sustain and carry His people, just as He has since birth.\u00a0 Though their surroundings and circumstances may change, though they face uncertain times, they can count on Him, like a parent who never leaves them, even in old age.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 46:5-11 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Remember the former things,\u00a0those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other;\u00a0I am God, and there is none like me.<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-11:\u00a0\u00a0 Whereas the idols are mute, immobile, and lifeless, the LORD is the living God, the one true God (v5-9).\u00a0 Once again in verses 10-11 God says that He will send a man whom we calls a bird of prey from the Easter, Cyrus of Persia, to fulfill God\u2019s purpose.\u00a0 God is sovereign and He will do whatever He wants to do.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 46:12-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-13:\u00a0 This is a good description of the Gospel.\u00a0 When we were far from righteousness, God brought His righteousness and salvation near to us.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father for being a God who reassures us, comforts us, and gives us hope just when we need it the most.\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 45:14-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 45:14 (NIV)
\n14\u00a0\u00a0This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans– they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.'”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 14:\u00a0 In verses 14-25 we see God speaking reassuring words to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to not give up seeking the LORD and to put their trust in Him regardless of whatever anyone else around them does.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nHere in verse 14 in particular we see a picture of other nations recognizing the Lord as the one true God.\u00a0 The image of the Egyptians, Cushites and Sabeans coming over to the Jews in chains may sound like the Jews are going to imprison and enslave these other nations, but I think a better reading of this is that the Egyptians, Cushites and Sabeans will come to the Jews for help with their pre-existing chains.\u00a0 That is because\u00a0idolatry produces bondage but where the Spirit of the LORD is there is freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25678","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\/25678","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=25678"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25681,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25678\/revisions\/25681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}