One Year Bible, September 16

ISAIAH 22:1 - 24:23                                                                                                         
VALLEY OF VISION: Jerusalem is BLIND, and is so undiscerning about her sin, that she is partying and having a good time, while judgment is at her door (I know PEOPLE like that!).  They will be captured without a shot being fired because of their complacency.  Isaiah weeps bitterly as he sees their destruction coming - - - while they just "party on".  When we trust in our own strength and cleverness instead of on the Lord, we commit the "unpardonable sin" - and won't be forgiven, but judged and destroyed.

SHEBA VS ELIAKIM: Sheba represents an antichristian spirit, a usurper of power and advantage that God will "toss like a ball" out of his privileged position.  He'll be replaced by faithful Eliakim, who represents Jesus.

KEY OF DAVID: Rev 3:7 tells us that Jesus holds those keys now.   "Open doors" are the way IN to the Life of God.   We come through Jesus or not at all.   He, alone, opens and shuts those doors.

"WOE TO TYRE":   Tyre is a type of arrogant human self-sufficiency (wealth & money).  That is a work of the flesh, and marked out for destruction.   Tyre actually didn't fall until Alexander the Great took it in 332 BC.   The impact on the surrounding lands would be like destroying New York City. "Who would do this?"  The answer is that GOD DID IT.  Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, then restored, then "shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth."

"THE DAY OF THE LORD":  Futurists try to steal this section of Scripture from us, but you hold fast.  We don't need or desire to twist Scripture or add to it, or leave it to the "experts" to tell us what it says.   We can read!

First of all, this describes the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem and Judah.   All their complacency and partying will come to an end and the "land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled".   This judgment will affect EVERYONE.  No one will escape.   People have polluted the planet by breaking the laws of nature and so God's wrath caused them to waste away.

"Glorify the Lord in the fires" - "In the fires" is actually the safest place to be because that's where Jesus is!   This is referring to the REMNANT (left behind after the reapers leave).   The pressure and horror is with us after witnessing the destruction of the the "lukewarm ones".   But, while the purging is still happening, while the pressure is still on, while the refining is still taking place, "Glorify the Lord".

"THE MOON AND THE SUN":   These, being ruling lights, are illustrative of rulers, princes, movie stars, leaders of all kinds.   They are people we depend on to tell us what to do.   They will be disgraced and shown to be anti-God in nature.   When God "turns their lights out", He is bringing their influence to a standstill.

RESPONSE:   Once more, like human beings who think man is the center of the universe, we manage to re-interpret Scripture to mean something EXTERNAL, so that we don't have to deal with it.   Scripture must be INTERNALIZED for it to wash us and correct us, train us, and "make us perfect" (Eph 5:26; 2 Tim 3:16).  This passage is no different!  

First of all, Isaiah prophesied Judah's destruction and captivity.  We understand that.  But what does that mean to ME?  It means that I can't put my trust in anything or anyone but Jesus.   That the world-systems (not the planet) and all the world-thought, world-interpretations, world-philosophies, etc. are all corrupt and will be destroyed.   I need to "get off the playing field" or I will be destroyed with it.   As people run in fear from one failure to another, they finally end up in total bondage.

GALATIANS 2:17 - 3:9                                                                                             
THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL:  "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Gal 2:19-21)

This whole passage is printed unapologetically. It is a WONDERFUL masterpiece of Scripture. Sin is lawlessness and the law is "impotent" (powerless) when it comes to dealing with sin. Instead of crushing sin, the law stimulates sin and energizes it.  The law provokes sin; grace provokes faith.  LAW has a "legal hold" on us, and Romans 7:12 describes the Law as "holy, just and good".  Therefore, the only way to get free of the law is if I die. Then I can "live unto God."  Peter and the Jews were actually "setting aside the grace of God" in Antioch, and their example must not be followed.

Our union with Jesus in His Death and Resurrection: Jesus not only died FOR me, but He died AS me.  Fancy words for this are are "substitutionary and representative."   "My earthly life is governed by faith in Jesus, Who loved me and gave Himself for me."   When Christ died, I died with Him.   I am now inhabited by Jesus Christ, Who lives His life in me.  Faith is what links the past crucifixion with our present world.  Without faith, "Christ died in vain."   We share Christ's death, His shame, His rejection, His pain and suffering, and felt the pain of death in us.   AND.... "death lords it over us no more." (Rom 6:9)   My "old man" is dead; and the "new creature" is risen with Christ.   Faith is not an abstract thing any more.   It is a working ENERGY that dominates my life.   "The life I now live in the FLESH, I live by the faith of the Son of God."   My body is now the sanctified vessel of GRACE.  And this is THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

RESPONSE:  Someone once said, "Licentiousness will kill you; but legalism will kill you quicker."  These truths contained in this passage are foundational to what it means to be a Christian.  I don't become holy; I learn to rest in His holiness in me.   My efforts do not go into being good or being better.  My efforts are to stay connected ("abiding") in Jesus Christ so He can live His life in me.  I live by His compassion, His patience, His love.  Let Him express Himself through me.

PSALM 60:1-12                                                                                                              
WHEN GOD CASTS US OFF:  God cast them off because they were foul and offensive to Him.  Breaches were caused by King Saul's house continuing to oppose David, and so God plowed His own land.  Breaches are healed by "a Man" (Ezek 22:30) named Jesus.  When we cry out in Jesus' Name, God hears us and will avenge us and deliver us.  And "though our God we shall do valiantly; for He it is that shall tread down our enemies."

PROVERBS 23:15-16                                                                                                
The wisdom of children is the joy of their parents.   And their foolishness breaks our hearts. 

RESPONSE: We must never lose sight of the fact that God loves us, He has a plan, and His counsels are the ones that stand.  We live in a fallen, twisted, and upside-down world, and need God's wisdom to navigate through it.  We also need God's compassion to know when to be a sacrifice in it.  He may cast off a nation, but He promised NEVER to leave His individual believers.