JULY 16 READINGS...Isaiah 18:1-23:18
As we resume our readings in Isaiah we are reminded that being a prophet of God was not a glamorous position. Though we look back and honor them today, it was not so when they were on the earth. Not only did the people refuse to listen to them…it is also hard to imagine how hard it was for them, having to always bring messages of judgment, filled with destruction. It is my prayer as we are reading this, we see the need to hear and heed the message of the prophet of God. Much of what the Lord says to the nations of that day…sounds like our world today. We had better open our ears, and start believing what the Lord is saying…we better obey.
The Lord spoke through Isaiah to speak to the nations that surrounded Judah in that day. He speaks to Ethiopia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, and Tyre. Interestingly, many of these are again mentioned when we come to the end of time. Part of Isaiah’s prophecy to these nations, also deals with the ends times. One interesting part of Isaiah’s words dealing with Babylon, tells of what would happen approximately 200 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, when God would bring the Medes and the Persians against Babylon, and while they are at a party feasting, they would fall in one night. Amazing the exactness of these prophesies. We see their exact fulfillment in the book of Daniel. It is also very interesting to read that though the Lord would judge both Egypt and the Assyrians…He would restore them, and even bring them to a place where they would worship Him. The same would not be true of a restored Tyre.
Please share any thoughts you have from today’s readings. We need to be reminded that the words of God’s prophesies are true. As we can look back and see their fulfillment in the past, we can have assurance of their fulfillment in the future.
TOMORROW’S READING…Isaiah 24:1-27:13 & 29:1-24