SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/19/2013
9:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A King will Reign PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 32:1-4
Message of the
verses: We begin a new chapter in
the book of Isaiah and also in the commentary of Warren Wiersbe “Be Comforted,”
which is the book that I am following to help me better understand the truths
in the book of Isaiah.
Dr Wiersbe writes that these four chapters that we are
studying in this section are the last four chapters in the first section of the
book of Isaiah. As I look at the outline
that is in the front of his book I can understand better why he would write
this, for chapters 36-39 are what he has entitled “Historical Interlude,” for
they speak of what went on when Hezekiah was the king of Judah and the Assyrian
attack and destruction on the city of Jerusalem. After that we will go into the next section
of Isaiah which covers chapters 40-66.
Isaiah as been called a mini Bible for it has as many chapters as there
are books in the entire Bible, and the division is in chapter forty which is
the division between the OT and the NT, as there are 39 books in the OT, and 27
in the NT.
Dr. Wiersbe writes:
“In the four chapters that conclude the first section of his prophecy,
Isaiah invites us to look at four future events to see what God has planned for
His people and His world. These chapters
are not human speculation; they are divinely inspired revelation, and they can
be trusted.”
A King Will Reign (Isaiah 223:1-20): “1 Behold, a king will reign righteously And princes will rule justly.
2 Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like
streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched
land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, And the ears of those who
hear will listen. 4
The mind of the hasty will discern the truth, And the tongue of the stammerers
will hasten to speak clearly. 5 No longer will the fool be called noble, Or the
rogue be spoken of as generous. 6 For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart
inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against
the LORD, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the
thirsty. 7 As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes To
destroy the afflicted with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is
right. 8 But the noble man devises noble plans; And by noble plans he stands.
“9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, And
hear my voice; Give ear to my word, You complacent daughters. 10 Within a year
and a few days You will be troubled, O complacent daughters; For the vintage is
ended, And the fruit gathering will not come. 11 Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be
troubled, you complacent daughters; Strip, undress and put sackcloth on your
waist, 12 Beat your breasts for the
pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, 13
For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up; Yea,
for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city. 14 Because the palace has
been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become
caves forever, A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; 15 Until the Spirit is poured out
upon us from on high, And
the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is
considered as a forest. 16 Then
justice will dwell in the wilderness And righteousness will abide in the fertile field.
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of
righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places; 19 And it
will hail when the forest comes down, And the city will be utterly laid low. 20
How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters, Who let out freely the
ox and the donkey.”
At the beginning of Israel becoming a nation after they
left Egypt they were a theocracy, which means that God was their King and
ruler. In the book of Samuel they asked
for a king of their own, like the nations around them which hurt Samuel and
also the Lord, but He granted them a king and gave them one like they wanted in
the person of Saul. Saul was not from
the tribe of Judah and so God did not make a dynasty from him, but chose David a
man after God’s own heart and made a dynasty from his line. On his death bed Jacob stated "The
scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his
feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”
(Genesis 49:10)
We will look at a progression that Isaiah makes about the
King: “1 Behold, a king will reign righteously And princes will rule justly
(Isaiah 32:1).” “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land
(Isaiah 33:17).” “For the LORD is our
judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us (Isaiah 33:22).” The progression is similar to what the blind
man saw after Jesus healed him as recorded in John chapter nine. He began by calling him a man, and then a
prophet, and then he called Him his Messiah.
We can know Jesus as “a King,” or even as “the King,” and that will do
us no good, but if we call Him my King they we will understand that He is not
only my King, but my Savior and Lord who paid the price for my salvation as He
purchased me on the cross and became sin for me and then gave me His righteousness. Nathanael stated this in John 1:49 when he
said to Jesus “"Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.’”
We have seen in our study of Isaiah that Judah had many
evil rulers “21 How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of
justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers. 22 Your silver
has become dross, Your drink diluted with water. 23 Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves a bribe And chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan,
Nor does the widow’s plea come before them (Isaiah 1:21-23).” In contrast to this the Messiah will reign in
righteousness and justice as we have seen in 32:1, 16; 33:5.
When we look at verses 3-4 we can see a wonderful
transformation taking place when King Jesus will reign in the 1000
Kingdom. The spiritually blind eyes will
be opened, and the deaf ears will be opened also and they will understand who
He is. “Zec 12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me
whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only
son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a
firstborn.” After this they will
understand who He is and as Paul writes to the Romans “All Israel will be
saved.”
We will continue to look at this in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful beyond
measure that the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the truth of the Gospel and
saved me on Jan. 26, 1974. I still pray
that He will open my eyes to better understand His Word so that I can grow in
grace as Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:19, which is the last words that Peter wrote
that are recorded in the Bible.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to pray that the Lord will give me
the right works to speak to the person that I will see again after 38
years. May the Lord be glorified with
this reunion.
Memory verses for the
week: Review of 2 Peter 1:1-4.
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the
righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His
precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Nineveh” (Jonah 1:1-2).
Today’s Bible
Question: “To whom did the Lord say, ‘Go
forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you?’”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
9/19/2013 10:20 AM
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