SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/1/2014
10:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Birth of
the New Nation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah
66:1-24
Message of the
verses: In today’s SD, the first one
of the year 2014 we will look at the very last chapter in the book of Isaiah, a
book we began to study on the 2nd of July of 2013. Dr. Wiersbe entitles this section “The Birth
of the New Nation” and of course he is speaking of the nation of Israel. He writes “Political Israel was born on May
14, 1948, but ‘the new Israel’ will be ‘born in a day’ when they believe on
Jesus Christ. Jerusalem will experience
joy, peace, and satisfaction (Isa. 66:10-14).
Like a nursing baby, she will find health and peace in the arms of the
Lord. ‘Peace like a river’ reminds us of
Isaiah’s words to Ahaz (85:5-8) and God’s promises in 41:18 and 48:18).” The nation of Israel will be born in a day
when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, but it was also born in a day on the 14th
of May, 1948.
“1 Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne and the
earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where
is a place that I may rest? 2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all
these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I
will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My
word. 3 "But he who kills an ox is
like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a
dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s
blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have
chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So I
will choose their punishments And will bring on them what they dread. Because I
called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did
evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.’”
We see in 66: and also in Ezekiel chapters 40-48 that there
will be a new temple built for use in the Millennial Kingdom, and yes, there
will be animal sacrifices given on the altar at the temple in order to look
back at what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.
Verses 1-2 was used by Stephen when he defended the faith
before he was stoned by the rulers of Israel as recorded in Acts 7:48-50, and
Paul used them when he spoke at Athens in Acts 17:24. Both are telling their audience that God does
not live in manmade temples. This
section also speaks of the need for humility in order to properly worship God.
“5
Hear the word of the LORD, you who
tremble at His word: "Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My
name’s sake, Have said, ’Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.’
But they will be put to shame. 6 “A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from
the temple, The voice of the LORD who is rendering recompense to His enemies. 7
“Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth
to a boy. 8 “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day?
Can a nation be brought
forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her
sons. 9 “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?" says
the LORD. "Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?" says your
God. 10 "Be joyful with Jerusalem
and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all
you who mourn over her, 11 That you may
nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be
delighted with her bountiful bosom." 12 For thus says the LORD,
"Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations
like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the
hip and fondled on the knees. 13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will
comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem." 14 Then you will see
this, and your heart will be glad, And your bones will flourish like the new
grass; And the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants, But He will
be indignant toward His enemies.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “God’s
hand will bring blessing to His servants but ‘indignation toward His enemies’ (66:14)
and Isaiah describes that ‘indignation’ in verses 15-18. The Day of the Lord will be a storm of
judgment with fire and whirlwinds, and with the sword of God, ‘And those slain
by the Lord shall be many.’” In verses 17-18 we see who will be slain by the
Lord.
The question arises “were God’s people trembling at His
word in the day of Isaiah? Of course the
answer is no, but as believers we should have great fear of the Word of God,
for in it we find how we should walk before or God.
“15 For behold,
the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His
anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For the LORD will
execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the
LORD will be many. 17 "Those who
sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, Following one in the
center, Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, Will come to an end
altogether," declares the LORD. 18 “For I know their works and their
thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall
come and see My glory. 19 "I will
set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish,
Put, Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have
neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among
the nations. 20 "Then they shall
bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD,
on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain
Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the sons of Israel bring their
grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21 “I will also take
some of them for priests and for Levites," says the LORD. 22 “For just as
the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,"
declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 "And it shall be from new moon to new
moon And from Sabbath to Sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before
Me," says the LORD. 24 “Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of
the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their
fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
It is because that we are at the end of this book that I
chose to quote several paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe: “The book closes with a description of messengers
going to the ends of the earth to announce what God has done for Israel
(66:19). The result will be a flow of
people to Jerusalem (see 50:3-14 and 66:12) to bring offerings to the Lord. In the past, Gentile nations came to
Jerusalem to attack and destroy, but in the Kingdom Age, they will come to
worship and glorify God.
“The book ends on a seemingly negative note describing
worshipers looking at the desecrated and decayed corpses of the rebels
(v-24). The Valley of Hinnom (Hebrew, gehinnon = Gehenna in the Greek) is a
picture of hell (Mark 9:43-48). The
people who come to Jerusalem to worship will also go outside the city to this ‘garbage
dump’ and be reminded that God is a consuming fire (Jer. 7:32).
“Throughout his book, Isaiah has presented us with
alternatives: Trust the Lord and live,
or rebel against the Lord and die. He
has explained the grace and mercy of God and offered His forgiveness. He has also explained the holiness and wrath
of God and warned of His judgment. He
has promised glory for those who will believe and judgment for those who
scoff. He has explained the foolishness
of trusting man’s wisdom and the world’s resources.
“The prophet calls the professing people of God back to
spiritual reality. He warns against hypocrisy
and empty worship. He pleads for faith,
obedience, a heart that delights in God, and a life that glorifies God.
‘”There is no peace,’ saith the Lord, ‘unto the wicked’ ‘(Isaiah.
48:22; 57:21); for in order to have peace, you must have righteousness
(32:17). The only way to have
righteousness is through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 2:19-31).
“Isaiah’s message has been, ‘Be comforted by the Lord.’ But God cannot comfort rebels! If we are sinning against God and comfortable
about it, something is radically wrong.
That false comfort will lead to false confidence, and that will lead to
the chastening hand of God.
‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found’ (Isaiah 55:6).
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white
as snow (1:18).
“O Lord, I will praise you; though you were angry with
me, your anger is turned away, and you comfort me” (Isaiah 12:1 NIV).
“BE COMFORTED!”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am very
thankful to have taken this time to better understand the book of Isaiah. I know that there is much more to learn from
this book, but I must now move on to the book of Jeremiah. I am thankful for the comfort that God has
given me as a believer and also thankful that He causes me to become very
uncomfortable when I sin against Him.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convict me of my sins and to do
something about them so that I cannot continue on until I confess them to the
Lord and be cleansed.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to care for the difficult
circumstances that my wife and I are going through with some family
matters. Trust the God will give us His
perfect peace in order to walk through these testing’s.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “In Rephidim” (Exodus 17:8)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who ordered the temple
repaired?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/1/2014 11:31 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment