SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/19/2013
7:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Oracle of Ethiopia
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
18:1-7
Message
of the verses: We move along in our
study of the oracles of different nations that Isaiah speaks of, and today we
will look at the sixth of eleven nations.
Ethiopia (Isa. 18:1-7): “1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings Which lies
beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 Which sends
envoys by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go,
swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide. 3 All you
inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth, As soon as a standard is raised
on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you
will hear it. 4 For thus the LORD has
told me, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in
the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." 5 For before
the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening
grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And remove and cut
away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for mountain birds of
prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the
summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time
on them. 7 At that time a gift of homage
will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a
people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the
rivers divide-To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.”
Cush is the land that covers the
area now occupied by Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Somalia, and Isaiah calls it the
land of whirring wings. He is probably
speaking of the many insects that are found in this area, but as we go on in
the text we also see people getting into their boats to form a coalition to
protect themselves from the Assyrians.
However the Lord says that He will care for the Assyrians, and He surely
did as He sent an angel of the Lord to kill 185,000 Assyrians in one night as
we will see later on in the book of Isaiah.
In contrast to the business of these
people we see from verse four the calmness of God as He looks from His dwelling
place quietly like dazzling heat in the sunshine or like a cloud of dew in the
heat of harvest time. God is waiting the
right time to produce the harvest of defeating the Assyrians, and when that
time comes in His timetable He will act.
Verse five speaks of the Assyrians becoming a ripening vine, a vine that
the Lord will soon harvest. Verse six
describes more about how God will destroy the Assyrians as mentioned He will
kill 185,000 of them in one night. The
images seen here are similar to two images found in the book of Revelations,
chapters 14:14-20 and 19:17-21.
The scene changes as we have spoken
of before as Isaiah moves to writing about the messianic kingdom and what these
tall and smoothed skinned people will do during that time as they will bring
gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem. It will
be during this messianic kingdom that the Gentile peoples will bring gifts to
the Lord in Jerusalem as seen in Isaiah 60:1-7.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I see in
this section Isaiah speaking of the timetable of God, and how He does things
perfectly in His time. It reminds me of
the book of Ecclesiastes and chapter three where Solomon writes “1There is an
appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under
heaven- 2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to
uproot what is planted. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear
down and a time to build up. 4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to
mourn and a time to dance. 5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather
stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6 A time to search and
a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to
tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: I must
remember the truth of God holding the timetable, not only in world events, but
also in my life, so I must make the best of the opportunities that He gives to
me.
Memory
verses for the week: Psalm 46 (All)
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; 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 holly
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.
6 The nations make an uproar, the
kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of
Jacob is our stronghold. 8 Come behold
the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the
earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the sword in two, He burns the chariots with
fire. 10 “Cease striving and know that I
am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
Answer
to yesterdays Bible Question: “He
prophesied that not one stone would be left on another” (Mark 13:1-2).
Today’s
Bible Question: “Who said ‘Hear now, ye
rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock’?”
Answer
in tomorrow’s SD.
8/19/2013
8:36 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment