SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/11/2013
8:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Day of the Lord PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 3:1-26
Message of the
verses: We stated at the end of
yesterday’s SD that we would try to answer the question “How will God judge His
people? Let us look at the first fifteen verses of chapter three to help us
answer this question: “1 ¶ For behold,
the Lord GOD of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole
supply of bread And the whole supply of water; 2 The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the
prophet, The diviner and the elder, 3 The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor
and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter. 4 And I will make mere lads their princes, And
capricious children will rule over them, 5
And the people will
be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The
youth will storm against the elder And the inferior against the honorable. 6
When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying, "You
have a cloak, you shall be our ruler, And these ruins will be under your
charge," 7 He will protest on that day, saying, "I will not be your
healer, For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; You should not
appoint me ruler of the people." 8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their
actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence.
9 ¶ The expression of their faces bears
witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal
it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. 10 Say to the
righteous that it will go well with them, For they will eat the fruit of their
actions. 11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to
him. 12 O My people! Their oppressors are children, And women rule over
them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the
direction of your paths. 13 The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the
people. 14 The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His
people, "It is you
who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
15 “What do you mean by crushing My people And grinding the face of the
poor?" Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.”
I have highlighted some of the different sections in this
portion of Scripture to help us understand what God would do to His people, and
as we read in this section they are deserving of His punishment. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The entire support system
of the nation would disintegrate, and there would be no remedy. Nobody would want to hold office except women
and children. (In Judah’s male-dominated society, this would be a humiliating
calamity.) The national leaders in
Isaiah’s day were charting a course that was out of the will of God and would
ultimately bring disaster, but the righteous remnant would be protected by God
(vv. 10-12).”
In verses 3:16-4:1 Isaiah will look at the proud women
who were making a great prophet from the crimes of their husbands. “16 Moreover, the LORD said, "Because the
daughters of Zion are
proud And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, And go along with
mincing steps And tinkle the bangles on their feet, 17 Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of
the daughters of Zion with scabs, And the LORD will make their foreheads
bare." 18 In that day the Lord will
take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume
boxes, amulets, 21 finger rings, nose
rings, 22 festal robes, outer tunics,
cloaks, money purses, 23 hand mirrors,
undergarments, turbans and veils. 24 Now
it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction;
Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of
beauty. 25 Your men will
fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle. 26 And her gates will
lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground.
1 For seven women will take hold of one man
in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes,
only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!’”
This is a pretty sad set of circumstances that these
women find themselves in, for they were very proud of getting the things that
they wanted, but the Word of God sates that pride comes before a fall, and
their fall is vividly described in this section of Scripture. These were not the only women that a prophet
wrote about for in Amos 4:1-3 we read the following about the women of the
Northern Kingdom: “1 ¶ Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on
the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, Who say to
your husbands, "Bring now, that we may drink!" 2 The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness,
"Behold, the days are coming upon you When they will take you away with
meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks. 3 “You will go out through
breaches in the walls, Each one straight before her, And you will be cast to
Harmon," declares the LORD.”
Ancient history records that when the Assyrians captured the Northern
Kingdom they did use hooks to keep the people in line as they took them out of
their country to Assyria.
Dr. Wiersbe finishes his commentary on this section of
the “Day of the Lord” with the following statement: “God is long-suffering as He watches people viciously
exploit one another and selfishly ravage His creation. But there is coming a day when unbelieving sinners
will be punished and God’s people will share in the glories of His
kingdom. Are you ready?”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Are you ready is
a good question we all must ask ourselves.
By the grace of God I became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ on the
26th of January, 1974, and I will be eternally thankful for the
salvation that God has bestowed upon me through the Lord Jesus Christ and His
finished work on the cross.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 46:1-5
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though
the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and
foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
4 There is a river whose streams make glade the city of God, the
dwelling place of the most high. 5 God is
in the midst of her, she will not be moved, God will help when morning dawns.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Peter.”
Today’s Bible
Question: “After he had interpreted the
butler’s dream, how long did Joseph stay in Prison?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
7/11/2013 8:44 AM
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