The Word

Be thankful.  It sounds easy. Those two words seem to roll off the lips of most people without any effort at all. For some of us, we choke on them. They seem empty and cold. They have no true meaning. The meanings they are intended to have are lost on us. The reason they are lost on us? We do not see the big picture that God intends us to see: this world is not our home. This home we are struggling so much on and in - doesn't matter. These gossipers and slanderers that we seem so consumed by - do not matter. What matters is the glory of God. What matters is our glory that we will see when we stay "...faithful unto death". We receive a crown when we are faithful. For that reason, when we are high or when we are low, we give thanks. This season, let's try to focus our attention on God and not ourselves. 1 Chronicles 16:34  - O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 100:4  - Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts ...

 Isaiah 24 – 25 “The Little Apocalypse” (Chapters 24 – 27) Apocalyptic (to reveal, to make known: it is a style of writing that is “fantastic” and full of imagery) Up to this point, Isaiah has warned God’s people of the coming judgement. He has also warned of the coming judgment of the nations surrounding the Israelites. There is hope if they repent. In the future, the greatest of hope is found in Jesus Christ. “This Immanuel is going to be God in the flesh, and He will establish the kingdom of David in righteousness and truth (chapters 9-12). In contrast with that kingdom, man’s kingdoms are going to come to an end - chapters 13-23. They will not impede the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom, and, in fact, they will become members of the Messiah’s kingdom. In the words of Daniel 2:44, that kingdom will break and crush all other kingdoms and it will carry the glory of the Lord to the ends of the earth. Having spent eleven chapters, then, systematically calling God’s judgment on ...

 Isaiah 18-23 Nations Continued… “Up to this point, Isaiah has preached against primarily Jerusalem (Judah) - the southern tribes of God’s people. In chapter 13, God directs His judgment in these eleven chapters against the nations surrounding Judah. This is done for a few reasons: 1. These nations are guilty of sin and sin has to be punished. This shows us that God has expectations of everyone.Everyone is obligated to learn what God wants them to do. 2. God had warned Israel not to trust in men (2:22);therefore, they should not trust in nations of men for their security. God, alone, is to be trusted. 3. God has promised that He will establish a new body of people (pictured as a temple - 2:1-4 and a Kingdom, with the Son of David as the King - 7:14; 9:6-7). How will these foreign nations react to this new kingdom? Well, on one hand, they will flow to this new kingdom (2:1-4); on the other hand, God will destroy the kingdoms so they cannot inhibit the establishment of this new kingd...

 Isaiah 13 – 17 We enter the section of Isaiah that is most applicable, in concentration, to nations other than Israel, a theocracy. There is much debate in our time about application of prophecy to the United States; most of that is applicable to the church not the United States. What we can say, with confidence, is that through the next 11 chapters God, using Isaiah, makes it clear that He is “Judge of all the earth” – Gen. 18:25. The Lord is sovereign over all, no matter the nation or its people. “The nations section reveals the folly of all political scheming when it takes place independently of trust in the one God of all nations.” (Seitz, 170) Chapter 13 Babylon V1 I. Babylon, that empire that made Jerusalem a desolation in 587 BC. “burden” or “oracle” or “prophecy” massa. This was informing the Israelites of the doom of the nations surrounding them and it was in Him they should trust. V2-5 I. V2 – “banner” or “standard” – a call to march. Notice the three imperatives: lift u...