SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/19/2013
10:39 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God’s
Servant Israel
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
41:8-20
Message of the
verses: We will look at four
pictures that encouraged the children of Israel in this section.
Pictures one and two are of a servant and a worm and they
are seen in verses 8-16: “8 “But you,
Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, 9
You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest
parts And said to you, ’You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected
you. 10 ’Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. 12 “You will
seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you
will be as nothing and non-existent. 13 “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds
your right hand, Who says to you, ’Do not fear, I will help you.’ 14 “Do not
fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the
LORD, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Behold, I have
made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the
mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff. 16 “You will
winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter
them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of
Israel.”
Verses 8-13 speak of Israel as God’s chosen servant and
we can see from these verses that God is working on their behalf. We will see later that the word “servant” is
used of Cyrus, which we spoke about yesterday, and will see more of this in the
coming chapters, but the term is also used for Messiah as we will later on in
our study of Isaiah. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The
title ‘My servant’ is an honorable one; it was given to great leaders like
Moses (Num. 12:7), David (2 Sam. 3:18), the prophets (Jer. 7:25), and Messiah
(Isa. 42:1).
In
verses 14-16 we have another picture, that of a worm. John MacArthur writes the following about
this term: “This refers to the contempt
of Israel by the ungodly nations, and the same term is used similarly of the
Messiah on the cross (Ps. 22:6).” In my
study on the Psalms I wrote about this term “worm” which actually is translated
as “scarlet” in different passages of the Bible. It is an interesting word that has great
meaning and so I think that I will copy and paste what I found out about it
while studying Psalm 22 at this point: “Henry
Morris Writes this about the “Scarlet Worm:” Bible & Science tape series
Henry Morris
Henry Morris
Look at the 22nd Psalm. This is the great Psalm of
the crucifixion of Christ written 1,000 years before it was fulfilled. It
describes in great detail the sufferings of Christ on the cross. "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" he cries out. Then down in verse
6...he says "But I am a worm (08438), and no man; a reproach of men, and
despised of the people." What did he mean by saying "I am a
worm"?...This particular worm is different from other kinds of worms.
There are different kinds of worms, different varieties, but this is a
particular worm. It means more than just he is not a man. Isaiah 52 says,
"His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the
sons of men." He was literally made corruption personified; he didn't even
look like a man there on the cross*; it is talking about more than that here.
He says "I am a worm and no man." This is a scarlet worm and the reason it was called that
was because it had the ability to secrete a scarlet fluid which was used in
making the scarlet dye that they used in ancient days. As a matter of
fact, when you find the word "scarlet" in the bible, it's the same
word. "Though your sins be as scarlet," it's the same word exactly.
The worm was identified with the crimson color. The life cycle of that worm is
something like this: when the mother worm was ready to give birth to the baby
worms, she would find the trunk of a tree, a post or a stick somewhere and then
she would plant her body in that wood and she would implant her body so firmly
in it that she could never leave it again. And then the young would be brought
forth and the mother's body would provide protection for the babies as long as
they needed before they could get out and take care of themselves. Then the
mother would die, and in the process, the scarlet fluid would stain her body and the body of
the young and the tree and so on. The Lord Jesus said "I am like
that scarlet worm." He's
making peace through the blood of his cross; he's bringing many sons
into glory through the suffering. And this is a graphic testimony of the fact
that eternal life comes out of the suffering and death of the Son of God.”
Our next picture is that of a desert becoming a garden and that is found in verses 17-20: “17 “The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them. 18 “I will open rivers on the bare heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land fountains of water. 19 “I will put the cedar in the wilderness, The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert Together with the box tree and the cypress, 20 That they may see and recognize, And consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
In the Middle East water is a very important commodity to have and so are trees, for they give shade to those who travel there. Shade is an important thing to have when you are living where it is so hot. When Israel was traveling in the wilderness as they left Egypt God provided for their every need while they were in the wilderness for forty years and this section kind of reminds of that time. It also reminds us of Isaiah 35:1 where we see “the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.” I believe that the fulfillment of that will be when the Lord Jesus returns to planet earth and rules for 1000 years, but since May of 1948 when Israel became a nation they have done similar things to the land and export much food to Europe because of the way they have irrigated the land so it will produce many crops.
We will look at the final picture, that of a courtroom in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Whenever I think of the Scarlet Worm it makes me see what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me on the cross, for His blood stained the cross and His blood was shed from my sins and for that I will be ever grateful
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the week:.2 Peter 1:1-8
1Simon 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 diving nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question: “Genesis” (Genesis 6:2).
Today’s Bible Question: “Who said ‘It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; Nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees’?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/19/2013 12:54 PM
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