SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/10/2013 9:31 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Day of
the Lord PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 2:6-22
Message of the
verses: Let us begin with a description
of what the “Day of the Lord” is from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary: “This is that period of time when God will
send judgment to the nations and purify Israel in preparation for the coming of
His King to reign in Jerusalem. The Day
of the Lord is described by John (Rev. 6-19), by the prophets (Isa. 13:6ff;
Ezek. 30; Joel 1:15; 2:1ff; Zeph. 1:7ff), and by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 24; Mark
13; Luke 21). It will be a time of
terrible suffering; the environment will be devastated, and millions of people
will die. (Note the repetition of the
phrase ‘in that day’; Isa. 2:17, 20; 3:7, 18; 4:1-2).”
When we look at some of the OT prophets and what they are
writing about it will picture what the “Day of the Lord” is, for instance when
we look at the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom, and then the
Babylonian conquest of Judah, (The Southern Kingdom), we see a picture of what
will happen during the tribulation period, which is the seven years before the
return of Jesus Christ to the earth in order to reign for 1000 years from
Jerusalem. It must be noted that there
are times when the prophets will be writing about the events that will happen
during the Day of the Lord at the same time they are writing about current
things that were about to happen to Israel, and at times it is hard to discern
between both of them.
I have looked at the “Day of the Lord” in different
studies that I have been a part of, but in typical Wiersbe fashion he describes
it in a way that is very easy to understand.
Here is a question that Isaiah will answer in Isaiah
2:6-22, and that is “Why will God judge His People?” “6 ¶ For You have abandoned Your people, the
house of Jacob, Because they
are filled with influences from the east, And they are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they strike bargains
with the children of foreigners. 7 Their land has also been filled with silver and gold And
there is no end to their treasures; Their land has also been filled with horses
And there is no end to their chariots. 8 Their land has also been filled with idols; They worship the work of their
hands, That which their fingers have made. 9 So the common man has been
humbled And the man of importance has been abased, But do not forgive them.
10 ¶ Enter the rock and hide in the dust
From the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. 11 The proud
look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the
LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12 For the LORD of hosts will have a
day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone
who is lifted up, That he may be abased. 13
And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted
up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, 14
Against all the lofty mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted
up, 15 Against every high tower, Against
every fortified wall, 16 Against all the
ships of Tarshish And against all the beautiful craft. 17 The pride of man will be humbled
And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 18 But the idols will completely vanish. 19 Men
will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror
of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth
tremble. 20 In that day
men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their
idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, 21 In order to go
into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of
the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth
tremble. 22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For
why should he be esteemed?” Let us look
at what John writes about this from the book of Revelations: “Re 6:15
Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the
rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves
and among the rocks of the mountains. Re 6:16 and they *said to the mountains
and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who
sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” 7/10/2013 9:50 AM 7/10/2013 11:36 AM
I have highlighted some of the words in this section of
Scripture that tell us why God is about to judge His people. We see things like idolatry, covetousness,
pride, and also the exploiting of the poor.
God’s people were not listening to His Word and His commandments but
they were adopting superstitions from the East as seen in verse six. We see the same thing happening to Western
society and it is a frightening and dangerous thing to happen.
When a nation becomes rich they become proud and pride is
something that causes problems for people.
I am going to paste some verses that are found in the prophets that have
the word pride in them. “Jer. 13:9 “Thus
says the LORD, ’Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride
of Jerusalem.” “Isa 9:9 And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim
and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart.” “Eze. 7:20
’They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made
the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore
I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.”
“Eze. 24:21 ’Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD,
’Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the
desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your
daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.” Eze 24:25
’As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them
their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their
heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters.” “Da 4:37
"Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven,
for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those
who walk in pride.’” “Ho 7:10 Though the
pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have not returned to the LORD
their God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this.” “Zec 11:3 There is a sound of the shepherds’
wail, For their glory is ruined; There is a sound of the young lions’ roar, For
the pride of the Jordan is ruined.”
We will continue looking at this section in the next SD
as we will try to answer the question “How will God judge His people?”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Whenever I think of pride I think of a song that the later Roger Miller sang about husbands and wives. The chorus goes like this: “It's my belief pride is the chief cause, And the decline in the number of Husbands and Wives.” I also think about the Pharisees as they were a prideful bunch. Pride is something that spits in the face of God, and I have to fight it from time to time.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Not to be prideful.
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 glad the city of God, the Holy dwelling place of the most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved, God will help her when morning dawns.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question: “Leah and Rachel” (Gen. 29:16-28)
Today’s Bible Question: “Which disciple was known for his strong, aggressive traits?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
7/10/2013 12:05 PM
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