SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/24/2013
11:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Oracles of
Judah & Jerusalem
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
22:1-25
Message of the
verses: When the Lord began the
people of Israel with the miracle birth of Isaac it was His desire that they
would become a people who would make a great deal of difference in the
world. They have made a great deal of
difference to the world, especially by bringing the Lord Jesus Christ into the
world, but there were times when they were living in the Promised Land that
they became as much like their heathen neighbors that they could not be seen as
any difference as them and so Isaiah includes them in the nations that God
would judge because of their sinfulness.
Dr. Wiersbe points out “Isaiah pointed out two particular sins that
would cause Judah to decline and ultimately go into captivity in Babylon.”
The unbelief of the people (Isa. 22:1-14): “1 The oracle concerning the valley of
vision. What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the
housetops? 2 You who were full of noise, You boisterous town, you exultant
city; Your slain were not slain with the sword, Nor did they die in battle. 3
All your rulers have fled together, And have been captured without the bow; All
of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far
away. 4 Therefore I say, "Turn your eyes away from me, Let me weep
bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter
of my people." 5 For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation
and confusion In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to
the mountain. 6 Elam took up the quiver With the chariots, infantry and
horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Then your choicest valleys were full
of chariots, And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
“8 And He removed the defense of Judah. In that day you depended
on the weapons of the house of the forest, 9 And you saw that the breaches In
the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected the waters of the
lower pool. 10 Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And tore down houses to
fortify the wall. 11 And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the
waters of the old pool. But
you did not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into
consideration Him who planned it long ago. 12
Therefore in that
day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving
the head and to wearing sackcloth. 13 Instead, there is gaiety and gladness,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die." 14 But the LORD of
hosts revealed Himself to me, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you Until you die,"
says the Lord GOD of hosts.”
Although some of the things that we read about hear may
seem to have happened when the Assyrians began to attack Jerusalem during
Isaiah and Hezekiah’s day, most of what is talked about here will happen in 586
B.C. when the Babylonians attacked and destroyed Jerusalem and sent many people
captive to Babylon, and killed many more in the battle. During the time when Isaiah lived there was
much partying going on in Jerusalem as we see some of that in this section as
people went up to the housetops to party, however Isaiah would go to the
valleys and receive visions from the Lord about what He was going to do with
this people of His, and they were not at all comforting visions. Isaiah saw people dying from the upcoming
battles along with people dying from the wounds they received in the battle,
and also from starvation and disease they would receive due to bad living conditions. During the siege the people would prepare for
it, but the one thing they did not do and that was trust the Lord as seen in
this section. They would get a lot of
water and supplies to keep the walls of Jerusalem intact, but in the end they
would still be defeated due to their unbelief in their God.
The unfaithfulness of the leaders (Isa. 22:15-25): “15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts,
"Come, go to this steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal
household, 16 ’What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you
have hewn a tomb for yourself here, You who hew a tomb on the height, You who
carve a resting place for yourself in the rock? 17 ’Behold, the LORD is about
to hurl you headlong, O man. And He is about to grasp you firmly 18 And roll you tightly like a ball, To be cast
into a vast country; There you will die And there your splendid chariots will
be, You shame of your master’s house.’ 19 “I will depose you from your office,
And I will pull you down from your station. 20
"Then it will come about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of
Hilkiah, 21 And I will clothe him with
your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your
authority, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to
the house of Judah. 22 "Then I will
set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will
shut, When he shuts no one will open. 23 “I will drive him like a peg in a firm
place, And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house. 24 “So they
will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and issue, all
the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. 25 “In that day," declares the LORD of
hosts, "the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break
off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has
spoken.’”
The man that Isaiah is speak of, Shebna, was second to
King Hezekiah in authority as seen in Isaiah 36-37, and he was not a spiritual
man, but a man who probably sided with those who wanted to side with Egypt to
receive help to defend Judah from the Assyrians. This passages speaks of him being taken
captive into Assyria and this would be where he would die, not having some kind
of a great funeral as he would have had if he stayed in Jerusalem, but God was
judging him for his many sins.
God chose another man, Eliakim (“God will raise up”), and
the Lord called him “My Servant. This
passage speaks of him being a peg, a godly leader for the cause of God. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Eliakim is a picture of
Jesus Christ (Rev. 3:7), the greatest Servant of all.” “"And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who
opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this.” (Rev. 3:7)
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: There are certain
people whose names are written in the Scriptures that many people do not know
and Eliakim is probably one of them, and yet he is a man whom it would be good
to pattern one’s life after, for he was a true servant of the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to be a true servant of the Lord as
Eliakim was.
Memory verses for the
week: All of Psalm 46.
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 glade
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.
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. Selah.
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 spear 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 yesterday’s Bible
Question: “That they kill all male
children at birth” (Exodus 1:15-16).
Today’s Bible
Question: “For what two good reasons
should one be subject to the laws of his government?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
8/24/2013 12:23 PM
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