SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/27/2013
8:30 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Blessings of Israel
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
44:1-8
Message
of the verses: “1 "But now
listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: 2 Thus says the LORD who made
you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ’Do not fear, O Jacob My
servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3
’For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry
ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your
descendants; 4 And they will spring up
among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’ 5 “This one will say, ’I am
the LORD’S’; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will
write on his hand, ’Belonging to the LORD,’ And will name Israel’s name with
honor. 6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of
hosts: ’I am the first and
I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 7 ’Who is like Me? Let
him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the
time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the
things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 8 ’Do not
tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and
declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock?
I know of none.’"”
In the last three verses of chapter
forty-three Isaiah spoke of more punishment to come upon the nation of Israel,
so now the prophet speaks of abundant blessing that would come to the nation
during the Millennium Kingdom. We see
these blessings in the first five verses of chapter forty-four. In verses one and two we see that God
proclaims the truth that He is the One who made Israel, who chose them, and so
with this truth in mind Israel should know that God will never abandon them. In
verse two we see kind of a strange name, “Jeshurun,” and this is an honorable
name for Israel which means “right” or “straight.” However the phrase “Jacob” or root of Jacob,
this means “over-reacher” or “deceiver.”
“"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked-You are grown fat, thick, and
sleek- Then he forsook God who made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation
(Deuteronomy 32:15).”
We have spoken about some similar
things that are found in verse three in a recent SD. The waters and streams speak of extensive
blessing of physical conditions which will favor the nation in the coming Millennial
Kingdom. It is good to remember that
water is symbolic of refreshment from the Holy Spirit and also from God. “28 "It will come about after this That
I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will
prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 “Even
on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days (Joel
2:28-29).” Isaiah 44:4 continues
speaking of the blessings coming to Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.
Verse five we see that this also
speaks of the Millennial Kingdom John MacArthur writes “In the future golden
age of Israel, belonging to the Lord and belonging to God’s chosen people will
be synonymous, and it will be a badge of honor gladly worn without fear.” This surely is not true in certain parts of
the world today where naming the name of Jesus Christ can get you killed.
In know that the highlighted part of
verse six is found in the book of Revelations as God truly is the first and the
last. In chapter 43:15 the Lord identifies
Himself as Israel’s King, and Redeemer, and also in 41:4 “the Eternal One.” As I said this phrase the first and the last
is about Jesus and is found also in Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13. In the last portion of this verse Isaiah
states that God says that “there is no God besides Me, and in this statement we
see that it is preparing the way for another challenge to false Gods and I
believe we shall speak of this in our next SD as starting in verse nine and
going to verse twenty Isaiah speaks of the folly of idolatry.
In verse seven we see that God is
speaking to the false gods asking them to declare things that will happen in
the future, but they cannot do it, for idols are nothing but rocks and stones
and pieces of wood that people of that day and even some today mistakenly
worship.
In verse eight the Lord reiterates
that He is God and there is none other beside Him. Israel is supposed to be a witness to this,
but sadly they did not do a really good job doing it.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Just as
Israel has not done a good job in telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ,
so the Church has also failed to do this in our generation in our country. I desire to tell people about the Lord Jesus
Christ, to be a witness of the things that I know about Him so that others can
know Him, and have Him save them from their sins so that they can in turn begin
to tell others about Him too.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I am
committed to go to a six day course to better equip me to tell others about the
Lord Jesus Christ and I am looking forward to this and pray that I will be able
to make each and every class.
Memory
verses for the week: 2 Peter 1:1-10
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.
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 are increasing, they render you neither useless
nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who
lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his
purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more
diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you
practice these things, you will never stumble;
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible Question: “A
burning bush,” (Exodus 3:1).
Today’s
Bible Question: “What had a shadow of
things to come?”
Answer
in our next SD.
10/27/2013
9:08 PM
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