SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/14/2013
4:54 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Unjust
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 59:1-21
Message of the
verses: We will be looking at the
last sub-point of Dr. Wiersbe’s outline in this SD. Remember we are looking at different people
whom Isaiah has indictments against.
The Unjust (Isaiah 59:1-21): “1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it
cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your
God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not
hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. 4 No one sues
righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies;
They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch adders’ eggs and
weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is
crushed a snake breaks forth. 6 Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will
they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And
an act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they hasten
to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation
and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And
there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked,
Whoever treads on them does not know peace.
“9 Therefore justice is far from us, And
righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10 We grope along the wall like blind
men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the
twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. 11 All of us growl
like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us. 12
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify
against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities:
13 Transgressing and denying the LORD,
And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in
and uttering from the heart lying words. 14 Justice is turned back, And
righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And
uprightness cannot enter. 15 Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from
evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His
sight that there was no justice.
“16 And He saw that there was no man, And
was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought
salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. 17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for
clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 18 According to their
deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense. 19 So they will fear the name of the
LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come
like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. 20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," declares the LORD. 21
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit
which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart
from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of
your offspring’s offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever.’”
The first eight verses reminds me of a part of Romans
chapter three: “9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at
all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE
RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS
NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE
BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER
THEIR LIPS"; 14 "WHOSE MOUTH
IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; 15
"THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT
KNOWN." 18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.’” In this section Paul was using OT verses to
bring an indictment against both the Jews and also the Gentiles, so that takes
care of all the people.
During the time that Isaiah is writing this section there
was a lot of injustice in the land, for the rich were exploiting the poor and
also the rulers were using authority only to make themselves rich. This kind of sounds like what is going on in
our country at this time, for Washington is doing similar things at this time.
Just as it is in our country at this time, that there is
conflict between the truth and lies, so it was during this time in Israel’s
history. If you look at a public school
system that teaches evolution as opposed to creation which is taught in the
Bible we see an example of a lie with evolution and truth with creation. Evolution is and impossible thing to happen,
but it is being forced upon our children in the public schools and also in our
colleges today. There are many more
examples which I will not take the time to give at this time.
Isaiah uses different similes to describe the evil
rulers, a pregnant woman giving birth to sin or snakes hatching their eggs and
to spiders weaving their webs. What they
were giving birth too only destroyed them.
James writes “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being
tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does
not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and
enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “when people live on lies, they live
in a twilight zone and do not know where they are going (Isa. 59:9-11). When trust falls, it creates a ‘traffic jam,’
and justice and equity (honesty) cannot make progress (vv. 12-15). God is displeased with injustice, and He
wonders that none of His people will intercede or intervene (Pr.
24:11-12). So the Lord Himself
intervened and brought the Babylonians to destroy Judah and Jerusalem and to
teach His people that they cannot despise His Law and get away with it.”
I have mentioned this in a earlier SD on the book of
Isaiah that the judgment that God gave to the nation of Israel when He sent
them to Babylon was a foreshadowing of that final Day of the Lord when all the nations will be
judged. Dr. Wiersbe writes “When it is
ended, then ‘the Redeemer shall come to Zion’ (Isa. 59:20), and the glorious
kingdom will be established. Israel will
not only be God’s chosen people but God’s cleansed people, and the glory of the
Lord will radiate from Mt. Zion.
“The glory of the Lord in the promised kingdom is the
theme of the closing chapters of Isaiah.
While we are waiting and praying, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ perhaps we should
also be interceding and intervening. We
are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-16), and God
expects us to make a difference.”
The Lord willing we will begin looking at the tenth
chapter of the book of Daniel in our next SD, and then once we get done with
that we will return to finish the book of Isaiah.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: It is my desire
to do a better job in being the salt of the earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to give me many divine
appointments in the days ahead.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Joshua” (Numbers 27:18-23).
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who is the only Gentile
writer of books in the Bible?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/14/2013 5:36 PM
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