Daily Bible Study

Tweet

Day 19 Isaiah 21-22 21:1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer deals treacherously, and the spoiler spoils. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travails: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees. 7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: 8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9 And, behold, here comes a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. 10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. 11 The burden of Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come. 13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. 14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. 15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: 17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it. 22:1 The burden of the valley of vision. What ails thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? 2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. 3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. 4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. 5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. 6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. 8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest. 9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. 11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. 12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, says the Lord GOD of hosts. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, 16 What hast thou here? And whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, as he that hews him out a sepulcher on high, and that graves an habitation for himself in a rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. 18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house. 19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. 25 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it. A burden is a calamity or disastrous event that has or is about to take place. With the devastation seen from Hurricane Harvey, and the devastation taking place and about to take place with Hurricane Irma, it is easy to understand what burden implies and alludes to. However, there are other burdens you carry that have impacted your lives and changed them. God told Isaiah about the impending disaster that would come upon the nations of Babylon and the nations surrounding Babylon, Arabia, even to his own people, Israel when he prophesied about what would become of them and to Jerusalem in particular. These burdens prophesied by Isaiah are still pending. There will come a day when everything Isaiah spoke about would happen. Revelation 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (KJV) In the Tribulation God will bring final judgment to Babylon and all those who worshiped the beast, and took the mark of the beast on his hand or forehead. Revelation 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. You might ask why God would prophesy something so far in advance of it taking place. It is because God always gives man the opportunity to repent and acknowledge that he alone is God, and there is no other. He alone keeps his promises and will see every one fulfilled in due time. Just as he kept his promise to provide a Savior, his Son, Jesus, so you can accept him and receive eternal life. God doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell, but wants everyone to go to Heaven. So, the burden continues to this day, waiting for fulfillment. As Christians, you can see the signs of the times Jesus spoke about, taking place before your eyes. You can see the devastation, not just in the Atlantic with the powerful hurricanes, but in the mudslides in Sierra Leon that claimed hundreds of lives just last month, typhoons in the pacific, wild fires in California. Devastation is everywhere. These are real burdens and you need to pray for all those caught in the path of those calamities. What burden is in your life right now? God wants to take that burden from you, he wants to hold you in his arms and lead you to safety. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (KJV) Will you turn your eyes to God and not to the problem in your life? Will you turn it over to him to take care of you and lead you to safety? Let’s pray: Father, you have always shown yourself faithful through the many trials and hardships in my life. Be with all those caught in the devastations left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Keep your people safe, Lord, and lead them to safety. Keep your people safe in all the trouble around the world, and let them give you praise as you see them safely through the storms of their lives. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 8 September 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay