Devotionary

Judging the presence of God based on the condition of our current circumstances doesn’t always produce accurate results. Sometimes, our situation may give the impression that God is nowhere to be found. But, in time, we come to realize that He was there all along. What appeared to be a lack of His presence was simply a deficiency in our faith. There are times when God allows His people to experience the pain of brokenness so that He might pour out His love and bind up their wounds. In Isaiah 30:18-33 God calls out to His people, begging them to return to Him so that He might restore them. He longs to pour out His compassion and shower them with His blessings. But time and time again, the people of Judah had revealed the hardness of their hearts and the stubbornness of their dispositions. Yet, God was and is patient. He has a long-term strategy that entails both their discipline and their blessing. He was going to punish them, but the day was coming when He would restore them. They had brought down His judgmen

Screwing something up always seems to come easy to us. But finding a solution or remedy can be next to impossible. And when it comes to the predicament in which the people of Judah found themselves, they had ended up there with virtually no trouble at all. It had come easy and naturally to them. Like hard-headed children who stubbornly refused to listen to the warnings of their Father, they found themselves in a serious bind. But the remedy was easier than they thought. And in Isaiah 30:8-17, God reveals that all they had to do to get out of their difficult situation was to repent and return to Him. But for some reason, they found this simple solution impossible to carry out. They just couldn’t bring themselves to confess their guilt and admit their need for God’s help. They would rather turn to Egypt than trust God. They would prefer paying an exorbitant fee to have Egypt rescue them than sacrifice their pride and return to God in brokenness and humility. God longed to restore them, but they refused to heed

Where do you turn when the going gets tough? Is God your go-to source for help and hope, or do you find yourself seeking rescue in something or someone other than God? For the people of Judah, faced with the reality of God’s pending judgment in the form of defeat at the hands of their enemies, they decided to turn to Egypt for help. What an ironic development. Here was the nation that had been rescued from captivity in Egypt by the hand of God, turning to their former captors, in a futile effort to escape the coming judgment of God. And in Isaiah 30:1-7, the prophet will reveal just how ridiculous this plan really was. Egypt had not been able to stand up against God before, so what made the people of Judah think they could do it now? Worldly powers were no match for Almighty God. The Pharaoh may have been worshiped as a god, but he would prove anything but divine when he tried to thwart the will of the one true God. Judah would have been much better served by repenting of their rebellion and returning in humb

The Bible is a book of history and prophecy. It is full of stories about the past and predictions about the future. It tells us how the universe was created by God, how sin entered into the scene, and how mankind went from being made in the image of God to being the enemies of God. In its pages, the Bible reveals the on-again-off-again nature of Israel’s relationship with God. It tells us about God’s promise to send a Messiah or Savior to restore fallen mankind to a right relationship with Himself. And then it shows how that promise was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. The Bible, while thousands of years old, is a timeless book that deals with far more than ancient history. It is about the future and its impact upon the present. And in Isaiah 29:17-24, God gives the people of Judah a much-needed reminder that His plans for them extend well beyond their current circumstances. They were facing judgment because of their sin, but He promises them future blessing because of His grace and mercy. They couldn’

Everybody likes to think they are in control of their own lives. We love the idea of being the masters of our fate and the captains of the ship of our life. And the people of Judah were no different. They wanted to live according to their own agendas and thought they could fool God into believing that they were being obedient to Him, when they were living in open rebellion to Him. They were so confident, that they believed they had God fooled. They had pulled the wool over His eyes and convinced Him that they were really good and faithful children. But Isaiah 29:9-16 reveals that nothing was further from the truth. God knew everything and He was well aware of their disobedience. He was not the one who was ignorant and deceived. They were. But in their arrogance and pride, they felt they had every right to tell God what to do. They operated under the misguided idea that He somehow worked for them and existed to serve their needs. But they were in for a rude awakening. The potter rarely takes advice from the cl

By now, we should have a firm grasp on the reality that God never treats sin lightly. In spite of Judah’s status as God’s chosen people, He was not going to put up with their rebellion against Him indefinitely. He warned them repeatedly that their judgment was coming, unless they repented and returned to Him. And in Isaiah 29:1-8, God makes it clear that their refusal to repent would bring not only His judgment but their own deaths. Their disobedience was punishable by death. And while He had provided them with the sacrificial system as a means of receiving atonement for their sins, they had even treated it with disdain. They had even defiled the temple of God itself by setting up idols to false gods within its walls. This blatant disrespect for God, His house, and the sacrificial system He had provided, was not something He could overlook. So, Isaiah is forced to warn the people of Judah that their rebellion was going to turn the sacrificer into the sacrifice. Rather than seeking atonement through a lamb, bu

When a farmer plants, he does so with the expectation that one day he will be able to reap. Otherwise, there would be no reason to go through all the effort of preparing the soil and sowing the seeds. Planting is done because reaping is the expected outcome. And the same is true of God and His chosen people. In the 28th chapter of Isaiah, verses 20-29, God reveals through His prophet that a day is coming when He will reap the fruit of righteousness from the people of Israel. While their current spiritual condition was more like an unfruitful field full of weeds and incapable of producing any kind of harvest, God was not done with them. In fact, He was going to have to prune and cultivate them in order that, one day, they might yield the fruit for which they were made: The fruit of righteousness. God is always about the outcome. He focuses on the long-term and, because He is all-knowing, He has an unobstructed view of how things are going to turn out. And while He was forced to thresh His disobedient children

You don’t have to know a lot about construction to understand the necessity of having a firm foundation. It’s the primary source of stability for whatever is being built, whether it be a single-story house or a high-rise office building. A solid foundation is what provides a stable and reliable footing on which the entire structure stands. And a good foundation begins with a well-laid cornerstone. It is around this single stone that the rest of the foundation is oriented. It serves as the primary point of reference for the rest of the structure, so if the cornerstone is off, the rest of the building will be as well. In Isaiah 28:14-19, God has some strong words to say to the leaders of Judah, referring to them as scoffers, arrogant, pride-filled individuals who were guilty of building the nation of Judah on the wrong foundation. Through the misguided leadership of these men, Judah had started relying on other nations as sources of support and stability. But God was letting them know that their world was about

Everybody loves success. And there’s nothing we love more than self-made success. It’s part of the American work ethic. Stories of self-achievement have been around as long as we’ve been a republic. The image of the self-made man is a popular icon in American culture, but it certainly isn’t unique to our nation or this century. It has been around since the beginning of time. In fact, this love affair with self-elevation and self-preservation is as old as time itself. And in Isaiah 28:1-13, we are going to see God address the runaway attitude self-importance that marked the Northern kingdom of Israel. Repeatedly referred to as Ephraim, the ten northern tribes had a long track record of pride and arrogance that was based on their unique status as God’s chosen people. It didn’t seem to matter to them that the way they lived their lives in no way reflected their position as the children of God. They were rebellious and disobedient, but they were also drunk on their own success and self-importance. Believing that

Isaiah is living in the midst of a time period when the people of Judah are facing the eminent judgment of God. They have spent years living in open rebellion against God, proving to be unfaithful to Him and living lives marked by ungodliness. Now, Isaiah has warned them that God is going to punish them for their years of stubborn disobedience to His will and persistent resistance to His calls that they repent. But at the same time, God has given Isaiah a message of hope to deliver to His rebellious people. And in Isaiah 27:1-13, the prophet will repeatedly speak of “that day” – a future period of time during which God will show unmerited favor toward His people. He will shower on them unprecedented acts of kindness and mercy, restoring them to a right relationship with Himself and fulfilling every promise He has ever made to them. And while they would eventually experience days marked by the judgment of God, they could rest assured that their future will feature the unmerited favor of God. That day, while st

Those who express belief in God must constantly strive to maintain their awareness of His omnipotence and His timelessness. God is all-powerful and operates outside the confines of time and space. He is not relegated to any particular time period and His knowledge is not limited to what has happened in the past. He exists outside of any time constraints, so to Him, the past, present and the future are all equally accessible and knowable. So, when God spoke to and through His prophets, He was delivering information that revealed future events as if they were present reality. In Isaiah 26:10-21, the prophet speaks as if the prophecies of God, dealing with as-yet-to-happen events, have already happened. He writes of future promises concerning the people of Judah with a confident assurance that they can and will happen. In fact, he almost gives the impression they have already taken place. He speaks of them as if they are in the past tense. It wasn’t that Isaiah didn’t know what God had in store. He knew that the

As Christians, we know we should praise God. The Bible makes that perfectly clear. But we don’t always do it. In fact, far too often we find ourselves whining and moaning to God, rather than singing His praises. Our circumstances can leave us complaining about our lot in life, and failing to recognize the grace, mercy, and kindness of God happening all around us. In Isaiah 26:1-9, we are going to hear a song being sung by the people of Judah, but it’s a song that has yet to be sung, because it is prophetic in nature. What we will see in these verses is a glimpse into the Millennial Kingdom, that 1,000-year period of time that comes at the end of the seven years of Tribulation that will come on the earth. The Millennium will feature Jesus Christ ruling in Jerusalem from the throne of David. He will be the King of kings and Lord of lords, and all those who live within His kingdom will sing His praises. The people of Israel and Judah, the Old Testament Saints, the Tribulation martyrs, and all those who come to f

Current conditions have a way of clouding our understanding of God’s sovereignty and power. What we are going through any given moment of the day can easily lead us to believe that God does not have a plan. We can begin to think that He has lost control. But Isaiah would have us remember that God has plans that were formed of old – in other words, they have been around from before the world was made. God is not up in heaven reacting to conditions in the world with surprise. He is not knee-jerk reacting to unforeseen situations and circumstances. He is all-knowing and fully in control of all things, all the time. And in Isaiah 25:1-12, the prophet is going to provide us with a glimpse into the distant future, where we will see God’s redemptive plan played out in all its glory. At no point in time, has God’s plan been in jeopardy. And there has never been a time when He has been forced to alter His plans in response to some unexpected event that caught Him off guard. No, His divine strategy for the future resto

There is a sense in which the people of God should always be singing the praises of God. If we truly believe that He is all-powerful and sovereign over all things, then we can rejoice in the fact that our God reigns over all – all the time. There has never been a time in history where God was out of control. And there never will be a time when the will of God fails to take place just as He has preordained it. When reading a passage like Isaiah 24:14-23, we are reminded that our God deserves our praise. Even in the midst of looming destruction, brought on by the blatant disobedience of His people, God reveals that He has a plan in store that will involve the restoration of a remnant. The judgment of God was coming, but so was the grace and mercy of God. The people of Judah would be disciplined severely for their sins, but they would one day experience the undeserved favor of God. And this incredible reality would leave the people of Judah rejoicing and praising God for His majesty. Like so many other passages

There’s a lot of talk these days about the condition of the environment. Politicians and pundits of all stripes use the earth’s ecological condition as a means to push various policies and political agendas. And there is little doubt that our world is suffering because of man’s abuse and misuse of this incredible resource provided for us by God. But Isaiah 24:1-13 is going to reveal that there is a greater problem behind the sorry state of the earth’s environment. It is sin. Ever since the fall, the sins of mankind have had a dramatic impact on this planet on which we live. Rather than acting as God faithful stewards, caring for the earth and all that it contains, we have tended to treat it with disdain and disrespect, taking advantage of its many resources and using them for our own selfish pleasures. And this passage is going to support the fact that a day is coming when God will renew His creation and return it to its original, pristine, pre-fall state. While we should care about the environment and do all

One of the things that even Christians find easy to forget is that God has a plan. And that plan is not only long-term in nature, it is unchanging and unstoppable. What God has purposed will take place. What He has planned will come about. And that includes blessings and curses, the good and the bad. As we continue to look at the oracles delivered to the nations by Isaiah on behalf of God Almighty, we will see the recurring theme that His plans concerning the nations have been fully thought out and will be completely fulfilled. In Isaiah 23:1-18, God brings bad news to the nation of Tyre. Unlike Babylon and Assyria, Tyre was a relatively small player on the global stage. It was not a military powerhouse and posed no real threat to Judah or any other nation. But it enjoyed unprecedented wealth, exercised tremendous influence over that part of the world, and had built a reputation as a financial force to be reckoned with. Yet, God was going to bring their pride to an end. He had plans for them. Including their

Authority, power, influence. Everybody wants these things, but few people can handle them. They can become a powerful temptation in the life of any man or woman, causing them to turn inwardly and to seek profit from their position. It can be quite easy to succumb to the lure of lust that so often accompanies a position of authority. With great power comes great responsibility. But that responsibility is to be outwardly focused. It conveys the idea of using your power and position to better the lives of those under your care. But in Isaiah 22:15-25, we are going to get a real-life lesson from a man who let his power go to his head. He used and abused his authority in such a way that it led to God to remove him. He was replaced and, while his successor proved to be a much better leader who used his newfound power more justly and selflessly, he too would eventually give in to the temptation to use his power for self-advancement. The two men we will see in this passage were representatives of the king who had a r

It was Jesus who spoke of the valley of the shadow of death in the sample prayer He gave to His disciples. The use of the valley as a metaphor for difficulty was common in Jesus' day. It was used to juxtapose the experience of the breathtaking heights of the mountain that loomed over the valley. And in Isaiah 22:1-13, God is going to use the metaphor of the valley to refer Mount Zion, the elevated height upon which the city of David, Jerusalem, sat. This spiritually lofty locale was going to experience dramatic change in its circumstances – all because of disobedience to God. While Jerusalem was home to the temple and the seat of the royal dynasty of David, it was going to go through a major shift in its spiritual fortunes. The presence of the temple was not going to protect them from the wrath of God. The city's reputation as the holy mountain of God was not enough to counter their years of rebellion against Him. Judgment was coming because the people of Judah had continually rejected God's calls to repent.

If you stop and think about it, trying to run from God makes no sense at all. If He is indeed, all-knowing and all-powerful, any attempt to hide from Him will be unsuccessful. And if God intends to do something, any thought of escaping His judgment is wishful thinking. It was King David who wrote, based on his own personal experience, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!” (Psalm 139:7 NLT). David went on to say, “even in darkness I cannot hide from you” (Psalm 139:12 NLT). If this is true, then why is it we spend so much time trying keep things from God or attempting get out from under the will of God? In Isaiah 21:11-17, Isaiah is going to deliver yet another oracle from God. This time to the nation of Arabia and lesser-known nation called Dumah. As we will, this is a somewhat veiled reference to the Edomites, who were close relatives of the people of Israel. One by one, God is eliminating every nation in Judah’s proximity as possible options to be their rescuer. God

Repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, we read the words, “Fear not.” And they are almost always in relationship to some troubling trial or difficulty. When the people of Israel were standing at the shore of the Red Sea with the army of Pharaoh bearing down on them, Moses had told them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Years later, when the Israelites were preparing to enter the land of Canaan, God told them, “Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them” (Deuteronomy 20:3 NLT). Paul would later encourage Timothy by reminding him, “God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT). But the truth is, we fear far more often than we would like to admit. And the people of Judah did as well. In Isaiah 21:1-10, we will see God calling His people to exhibit faith, rather than fear. Even with all that was going on around them, God wante