SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/14/2013
8:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: What Isaiah
Sang PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
5:18-30
Message of the
verse: Just a little review from
yesterday’s SD. Isaiah sang a song to
the Lord about the Lord’s people Israel, and he mentioned the phrase “worthless
grapes” in that song and then he goes on to describe certain sins that the
children of Israel were committing against the Lord in the remaining portion of
the chapter. We looked at two of them yesterday and will continue looking at
them today.
Carelessness (Isa. 5:18-19): “18 ¶
Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, And sin as
if with cart ropes; 19 Who say,
"Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let
the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may
know it!’”
I have heard people like this who will speak as if they
knew the Lord on a personal level and then the next things that comes out of
their mouths is cursing and taking the name of the Lord in vain. The people were good at this in the time when
Jesus walked the earth, and were also good at it in Isaiah’s time.
Deception (Isa. 5:20):
“20 Woe to those who call evil
good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”
Let us look at Amos 5:7 “For those who turn justice into
wormwood And cast righteousness down to the earth.’” Both Isaiah and Amos are stating that the
true moral standards were destroyed because new guidelines or definitions of
sin were brought into the lives of the leaders and given to the people. We see that today and have seen it for a
while in our country as the Supreme Court has said that murder of the unborn is
okay to do and that the homosexual lifestyle is also okay, which are both in
direct violation of the Word of God. Dr.
Wiersbe quotes from the Jerusalem Bible of Psalm 12:2 which says “All they do
is lie to one another, flattering lips, talk from a double heart.”
Pride: (Isa.
5:21): “21 Woe to those who are wise in
their own eyes And clever in their own sight!”
Paul writes more about this in Romans 1:22 “Professing to be wise, they
became fools,” and also in 1 Cor. 1:18-25 where he writes “18 For the word of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE
WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." 20
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of
God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22
For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach
Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but
to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men.” We have many people
today who have such a great degree of pride that it has caused many problems in
our society today. Solomon writes the following
in Proverbs 13:7 “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away
from evil.”
Injustice (Isaiah. 5:22-25): “22
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing
strong drink, 23 Who justify the wicked
for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! 24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into
the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as
dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word
of the Holy One of Israel. 25 On this account the anger of the LORD has burned
against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck
them down. And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the
middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent, But His hand is
still stretched out.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes this statement that was true in Isaiah’s
time and is surely becoming more true in our country: “The judges who were supposed to enforce the
law used their authority to free the guilty and punish the innocent. They were more interested in cocktail parties
than fair trials, and making money (bribes) than promoting justice. Isaiah warned these corrupt politicians that
the fire of God’s wrath was coming and would burn them up. They were like cut flowers and had no roots,
beautiful for a time, but destined to die and turn to dust.”
A call for an attack on the Southern Kingdom: (Isa. 5:26-30): “26 He will also lift up a standard to the
distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold,
it will come with speed swiftly. 27 No one in it is weary or stumbles, None
slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its waist undone, Nor its sandal strap
broken. 28 Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent; The hoofs of its
horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind. 29 Its roaring
is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions; It growls as it seizes the
prey And carries it off with no one to deliver it. 30 And it will growl over it
in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold,
there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.”
If the people did not believe in what Isaiah had said in
1:18 “"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though
they are red like crimson, They will be like wool,” and they would not then God
would call for the Assyrians to give discipline to them and eventually He would
call the Babylonians to destroy them, with
the exception of a remnant.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It is best to
listen to the Word of God and obey it than to have the discipline of God come
upon me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Pr. 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 46:1-6
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in
trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And
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 places of the
Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help
her when morning dawns.
6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms
tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “B. C. 4.”
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who said "Why is He
eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?"
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
7/14/2013 9:28 AM
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