An earnest prayer while facing the imminent death.

October 31, 2013 - Isaiah 38

    ¹ In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

   ² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

   ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶ And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

   ⁷ “‘This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: ⁸ I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

   ⁹ A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

   ¹⁰ I said, “In the prime of my life
   must I go through the gates of death
   and be robbed of the rest of my years?”
¹¹ I said, “I will not again see the LORD himself
   in the land of the living;
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
   or be with those who now dwell in this world.
¹² Like a shepherd’s tent my house
   has been pulled down and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,
   and he has cut me off from the loom;
   day and night you made an end of me.
¹³ I waited patiently till dawn,
   but like a lion he broke all my bones;
   day and night you made an end of me.
¹⁴ I cried like a swift or thrush,
   I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.
   I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”

   ¹⁵ But what can I say?
   He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.
I will walk humbly all my years
   because of this anguish of my soul.
¹⁶ Lord, by such things people live;
   and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
   and let me live.
¹⁷ Surely it was for my benefit
   that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
   from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
   behind your back.
¹⁸ For the grave cannot praise you,
   death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
   cannot hope for your faithfulness.
¹⁹ The living, the living—they praise you,
   as I am doing today;
parents tell their children
   about your faithfulness.

   ²⁰ The LORD will save me,
   and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
   in the temple of the LORD.

   ²¹ Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

   ²² Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD?”

Hezekiah prayed and wept bitterly before the Lord while he was sick to the point of death. He prayed from the bottom of his heart while he was facing the end of his life. He recalled how he had been faithfully and wholeheartedly walked before the Lord. He earnestly asked for God's healing in the most desperate situation of his life. Hezekiah prayed; and he prayed without any pretense of words or rituals; he prayed to the Lord who had been His Lord of his life. God saved; and He saved out of His mercy; and He saved Hezekiah miraculously. The Lord gave Hezekiah a longer life span of fifteen years. He even gave a sign that the sun went back ten steps as His affirmation to the king. Hezekiah was delivered by the Lord again and he started praising the Lord again and promised to tell his children about God's faithfulness. 

Dear Lord, I know that one day I will face death like Hezekiah did before. Preserve my faithfulness and wholeheartedness like that of Hezekiah. I may be very sad and weeping bitterly but draw me to pray to You from the bottom of my heart. I know that You are the living God. I may not experience God's miraculous healing as that of Hezekiah. But You are my God no matter I am living or I am entering into eternity after my physical life. Pray to You. You are my Lord. Praise You. You are the shepherd of my life. 

The zeal of the Lord will defeat our greatest enemy for His glory.

October 30, 2013 - Isaiah 37:21-38

    ²¹ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:

   “Virgin Daughter Zion
   despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
   tosses her head as you flee.
²³ Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
   Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
   Against the Holy One of Israel!
²⁴ By your messengers
   you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
   ‘With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
   the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
   the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest heights,
   the finest of its forests.
²⁵ I have dug wells in foreign lands
   and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
   I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’

   ²⁶ “Have you not heard?
   Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
   now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
   into piles of stone.
²⁷ Their people, drained of power,
   are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
   like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
   scorched before it grows up.

   ²⁸ “But I know where you are
   and when you come and go
   and how you rage against me.
²⁹ Because you rage against me
   and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
   and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
   by the way you came.

   ³⁰ “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:

   “This year you will eat what grows by itself,
   and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
   plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
³¹ Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
   will take root below and bear fruit above.
³² For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
   and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

   ³³ “Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:

   “He will not enter this city
   or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
   or build a siege ramp against it.
³⁴ By the way that he came he will return;
   he will not enter this city,” declares the LORD.
³⁵ “I will defend this city and save it,
   for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

   ³⁶ Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

   ³⁸ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Isaiah prophesied the final defeat of the most powerful enemy of God's people, king Sennacherib. He was not merely the enemy of God's people but the enemy of God. The zeal of the Lord accomplished the defeat of the enemy by sending His angel to kill 185,000 soldiers of king Sennacherib within a night. People opposed the Lord in vain as they are merely human. But the Lord loved His people and protected His remnant. He preserved His remnant and promised that they will take root below and bear fruit above. 

Dear Master Lord, You are the Mighty and Sovereign King of the earth. All enemies ahead of us are merely humans and mortal. The Lord's zeal will accomplish His glory through us as we faithfully follow and trust His will. We are God's remnant and He is our God. Let's praise Him, taking root below in His love and power, and bearing fruit above for witnessing His Name. 

Our God, manifest Yourself to be the only God over all the kingdoms of the earth.

October 29, 2013 - Isaiah 37:1-20

    ¹ When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. ² He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ³ They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

   ⁵ When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. ⁷ Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”

   ⁸ When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

   ⁹ Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

    ¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: ¹⁶ “LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

   ¹⁸ “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. ¹⁹They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. ²⁰ Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.”

King Hezekiah faced the most critical crisis of his life. His country was attacked by Sennacherib who was the most powerful nation on the earth at this time and had indeed destroyed numerous nations as he was proud of. Nevertheless, Hezekiah could still resort to the Prophet Isaiah and His Lord. He received affirmation from the Lord through the prophecy of Isaiah. And Hezekiah also brought the crisis to the temple, praying to the Lord from the bottom of his heart. He prayed for the deliverance from the Lord; he prayed for the manifestation of the Lord's glory among the kingdoms of the earth as he believed that the Lord God was the only God on earth; he prayed in trusting the Lord alone. 

Dear Lord, the enemy wants to bring us down in crisis, but the Lord strengthens our faith instead. He reveals to us that He is Lord, He shatters our self-reliance, and He alone receives glory from us. My Lord, You are the Living God and I want to see Your face, to hear Your words, and to witness the works of Your hands as You manifest Yourself and Your glory as I pray to You. 

On whom are you depending in the crisis of your life?

October 28, 2013 - Isaiah 36

    ¹ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. ² Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, ³ Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.

   ⁴ The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

   “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? ⁵ You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? ⁶ Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. ⁷ But if you say to me, “We are depending on the LORD our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?

   ⁸ “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! ⁹ How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ¹⁰Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

   ¹¹ Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

   ¹² But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

   ¹³ Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! ¹⁴ This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

   ¹⁶ “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, ¹⁷ until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

   ¹⁸ “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? ²⁰Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

   ²¹ But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

   ²² Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.

Prophet Isaiah not only saw the vision of the future works of the Lord, he also witnessed how the Lord humbled the proud of the nations and delivered His people from the danger. The king of Assyria Sennacherib confronted Hezekiah about his dependence on the Lord for His delivery. He listed out various kings or nations who depended on their gods and had been ultimately defeated by him. God's people faced a serious crisis in their lives and had to make decision regarding on if they should still trust their Lord or give in to their enemy's threatening. 

On whom are we depending? My Lord, this is always the question we are asked to respond when we face crisis of our life. I know my own lack of faith but I have no hesitation to shout to You for Your help and strengthening. Because You are the only God on earth and also the One I trust. On the Lord, my Jesus Christ who delivers me from the power of sin and death, I depended in the past, I am depending now, and I will depend in the future. 

Let all the redeemed of the Lord walk on the Highway of Holiness with everlasting joy.

October 26, 2013 - Isaiah 35:1-10

Joy of the Redeemed

    ¹ The desert and the parched land will be glad;
   the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
   it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
   the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
   the splendor of our God.

   ³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
   steady the knees that give way;
⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
   “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
   he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
   he will come to save you.”

   ⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
   and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
   and streams in the desert.
⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
   the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
   grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

   ⁸ And a highway will be there;
   it will be called the Way of Holiness;
   it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
   wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹ No lion will be there,
   nor any ravenous beast;
   they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
   ¹⁰ and those the LORD has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
   everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
   and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the joy of the redeemed. That is a tremendous joy for those who have experienced God's redemption. Their fear have gone and their hearts been strengthened by the Lord; the eyes of the blind are opened; the ears of the deaf are healed; the lame leap like a deer; the mute shout for joy; the streams gush forth in the desert; and the waste land becomes like an oasis. Isaiah saw the Highway of Holiness where all the redeemed walk on there and sing for the salvation of the Lord with everlasting joy. 

Dear Lord, we are all invited to walk on this Highway of Holiness. This is a Highway for all the redeemed. God will cleanse us with His Son's blood, take away our fear, heal our diseases, and fill our hearts with everlasting joy. Let's join with all the saints to sing with joy for the Lord's salvation. He is King and He is also Saviour of the earth. No more fear; no more wickedness; no more diseases; and God's glory alone and the joy of all the redeemed will fill up the earth soon. 

The Kingdom of Righteousness will come as the Spirit pours out on God's people.

October 25, 2013 - Isaiah 32:1-4; 15-20

    ¹ See, a king will reign in righteousness
   and rulers will rule with justice.
² Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
   and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
   and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

   ³ Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
   and the ears of those who hear will listen.
⁴ The fearful heart will know and understand,
   and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. 

¹⁵ till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, 
   and the desert becomes a fertile field, 
   and the fertile field seems like a forest. 
¹⁶ The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert, 
   his righteousness live in the fertile field. 
¹⁷ The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; 
   its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. 
¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, 
   in secure homes, 
   in undisturbed places of rest. 
¹⁹ Though hail flattens the forest 
   and the city is leveled completely, 
²⁰ how blessed you will be, 
   sowing your seed by every stream, 
   and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the Kingdom of Righteousness, and the reign of the Righteous King. This Kingdom would come as the Spirit of God is poured on His people, turning the desert into fertile field, and fertile field into forest. The Lord's righteousness and justice would dwell in His people and they would live in security and eternal rest. Isaiah's vision of the Righteous Kingdom gave the prophet's hope in the midst of God's punishment of the rebellious nations. God's punishment would bring the ultimate coming of the Kingdom of Righteousness as the Spirit pours out on His people. The Spirit converts people's hearts from rebellion, and transforms people's state from desert into fertile field, and fertile field into forest. Dear Holy Spirit, keep me in listening to Your voice as I minister and await for Your works and guidance in my life. 

God's vineyard will fill the earth with its fruit.

October 24, 2013 - Isaiah 27

    ¹ In that day,

   the LORD will punish with his sword—
   his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
   Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.

   ² In that day—

   “Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
   ³ I, the LORD, watch over it;
   I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
   so that no one may harm it.
   ⁴ I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
   I would march against them in battle;
   I would set them all on fire.
⁵ Or else let them come to me for refuge;
   let them make peace with me,
   yes, let them make peace with me.”

   ⁶ In days to come Jacob will take root,
   Israel will bud and blossom
   and fill all the world with fruit.

   ⁷ Has the LORD struck her
   as he struck down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
   as those were killed who killed her?
⁸ By warfare and exile you contend with her—
   with his fierce blast he drives her out,
   as on a day the east wind blows.
⁹ By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for,
   and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones
   to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles or incense altars
   will be left standing.
¹⁰ The fortified city stands desolate,
   an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,
   there they lie down;
   they strip its branches bare.
¹¹ When its twigs are dry, they are broken off
   and women come and make fires with them.
For this is a people without understanding;
   so their Maker has no compassion on them,
   and their Creator shows them no favor.

   ¹² In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. ¹³ And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of God that the Lord would triumph over the enemy - the Lord would slay the monster of the sea, Leviathan. The Lord would also at the same time discipline His people. They would be punished for the sake of atonement. God's people would be purged of idolatry and they would be gathered on the holy mountain in Jerusalem from the exile in Egypt and Assyria. God disciplines His people but never without compassion on restoring them back to His love. Isaiah saw the vision that in that Day God's vineyard would would become a fruitful vineyard and fill the earth with all its fruit. God's works and witnesses will fill the whole earth through His people in that Day. Isaiah saw the vision of hope in the midst of the attacks of enemy and the discipline of God. God's people feel painful but yet without hope as God is still watering and guarding His vineyard, growing it to fill the whole earth with His love and glory. 

My dear Lord, let me see what Isaiah has seen in that Day. God is the victorious One. He is also the One who guards His church to fill the earth with His fruits. He is also the One who shepherds my life to be His witness. 

The vision of praising the Lord.

October 23, 2013 - Isaiah 26

    ¹ In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

   We have a strong city;
   God makes salvation
   its walls and ramparts.
² Open the gates
   that the righteous nation may enter,
   the nation that keeps faith.
³ You will keep in perfect peace
   those whose minds are steadfast,
   because they trust in you.
⁴ Trust in the LORD forever,
   for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
⁵ He humbles those who dwell on high,
   he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
   and casts it down to the dust.
⁶ Feet trample it down—
   the feet of the oppressed,
   the footsteps of the poor.

   ⁷ The path of the righteous is level;
   you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
⁸ Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
   we wait for you;
your name and renown
   are the desire of our hearts.
⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night;
   in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
   the people of the world learn righteousness.
¹⁰ But when grace is shown to the wicked,
   they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil
   and do not regard the majesty of the LORD.
¹¹ LORD, your hand is lifted high,
   but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame;
   let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.

   ¹² LORD, you establish peace for us;
   all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
¹³ LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
   but your name alone do we honor.
¹⁴ They are now dead, they live no more;
   their spirits do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;
   you wiped out all memory of them.
¹⁵ You have enlarged the nation, LORD;
   you have enlarged the nation.
You have gained glory for yourself;
   you have extended all the borders of the land.

   ¹⁶ LORD, they came to you in their distress;
   when you disciplined them,
   they could barely whisper a prayer.
¹⁷ As a pregnant woman about to give birth
   writhes and cries out in her pain,
   so were we in your presence, LORD.
¹⁸ We were with child, we writhed in labor,
   but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth,
   and the people of the world have not come to life.

   ¹⁹ But your dead will live, LORD;
   their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
   wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
   the earth will give birth to her dead.

   ²⁰ Go, my people, enter your rooms
   and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
   until his wrath has passed by.
²¹ See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling
   to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed on it;
   the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

Prophet Isaiah repeatedly saw the vision of salvation of the Lord in his ministry life. He lifted up his heart to praise the Lord in the midst of darkness of his nation and the earth. He saw the Lord as the Rock Eternal; he saw the lifting of God's hand; he saw the righteous punishment of God on the wicked; he saw how the Lord humbled the lofty and the proud. He reminded his heart to trust in the Lord forever; he kept his soul and spirit to long for the Lord in the night and in the morning as the Lord alone was his salvation. He saw that all the glory belonged to the Lord; and He alone would bring the dead to live again. He is Lord. 

My Almighty Lord, may my spirit resonate with Isaiah's spirit, longing for Your Salvation and trusting You alone as our Lord. You alone receive my attention and reliance. Praise the Lord in the morning and in the night. May praising You become my vision and my strength. 

The Lord is our Salvation.

October 22, 2013 - Isaiah 25

  ¹ LORD, you are my God;
   I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
   you have done wonderful things,
   things planned long ago.
² You have made the city a heap of rubble,
   the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
   it will never be rebuilt.
³ Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
   cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
⁴ You have been a refuge for the poor,
   a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
   and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
   is like a storm driving against a wall
   ⁵ and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
   as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
   so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

   ⁶ On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
   a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
   the best of meats and the finest of wines.
⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
   the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
   ⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
   from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
   from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

   ⁹ In that day they will say,

   “Surely this is our God;
   we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
   let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

   ¹⁰ The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain;
   but Moab will be trampled in their land
   as straw is trampled down in the manure.
¹¹ They will stretch out their hands in it,
   as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.
God will bring down their pride
   despite the cleverness of their hands.
¹² He will bring down your high fortified walls
   and lay them low;
he will bring them down to the ground,
   to the very dust.

Prophet Isaiah in the midst of God's punishment saw the vision of God's salvation on that Day on the Mountain of the Lord. Isaiah saw how God would humble the pride and bring people to honor and revere Him. Isaiah saw how God would become a refuge for the poor and needy, a shelter for the storm, and a shade for the heat. Isaiah saw how God would prepare a great banquet for all the peoples with the best wine and the finest meats. Isaiah even saw how God would destroy death from His people forever. All God's people would gather and worship God, proclaiming that He is God, "This is the Lord, we trust in Him, and He is our salvation." 

Isaiah saw the ultimate triumph of God in His salvation for all peoples on earth. The pride are to be defeated; the wars and nations will be destroyed; the death will be conquered; the justice and peace will be achieved; and the great feast will be ready for all peoples; and all the nations are to gather and worship God's salvation. God is our God; He is our salvation, and let's trust in Him and worship Him with joy. 

God Himself builds a highway of worship among the gentile nations.

October 21, 2013 - Isaiah 19:16-25

¹⁶ In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them. ¹⁷ And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.

   ¹⁸ In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

   ¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. ²⁰ It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. ²¹ So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. ²² The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

   ²³ In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. ²⁵ The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Prophet Isaiah saw the wonderful vision that Egypt would become God's people. Assyria the handiwork of God, and Israel God's inheritance. Isaiah saw that these people once rebelled against God and received God's severe punishment, but as they cried out to God, God would respond and heal them. Isaiah even saw a highway from Egypt to Assyria that these people would worship together - "a worship highway". God will accomplish impossible work for converting the rebellious gentile nations to become His people, His handiwork, and His inheritance. God is on the move. He is the God of missions who brings the gospel through His church to the gentiles. Trust in Him, seek His path, and walk His step to witness Jesus with joy and faith. Jesus is the Savior of all peoples. 

Only our God is to be exalted.

October 20, 2013 - Isaiah 13:1-14:23

    ¹ A prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:

   ² Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
   shout to them;
beckon to them
   to enter the gates of the nobles.
³ I have commanded those I prepared for battle;
   I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
   those who rejoice in my triumph.

   ⁴ Listen, a noise on the mountains,
   like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
   like nations massing together!
The LORD Almighty is mustering
   an army for war.
⁵ They come from faraway lands,
   from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
   to destroy the whole country.

   ⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
   it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
⁷ Because of this, all hands will go limp,
   every heart will melt with fear.
⁸ Terror will seize them,
   pain and anguish will grip them;
   they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
   their faces aflame.

   ⁹ See, the day of the LORD is coming
   —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
   and destroy the sinners within it.
¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations
   will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
   and the moon will not give its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
   the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
   and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
   more rare than the gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
   and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,
   in the day of his burning anger.

   ¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle,
   like sheep without a shepherd,
they will all return to their own people,
   they will flee to their native land.
¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
   all who are caught will fall by the sword.
¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
   their houses will be looted and their wives violated.

   ¹⁷ See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
   who do not care for silver
   and have no delight in gold.
¹⁸ Their bows will strike down the young men;
   they will have no mercy on infants,
   nor will they look with compassion on children.
¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
   the pride and glory of the Babylonians,
will be overthrown by God
   like Sodom and Gomorrah.
²⁰ She will never be inhabited
   or lived in through all generations;
there no nomads will pitch their tents,
   there no shepherds will rest their flocks.
²¹ But desert creatures will lie there,
   jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
   and there the wild goats will leap about.
²² Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds,
   jackals her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
   and her days will not be prolonged.

¹ The LORD will have compassion on Jacob;
   once again he will choose Israel
   and will settle them in their own land.
Foreigners will join them
   and unite with the descendants of Jacob.
² Nations will take them
   and bring them to their own place.
And Israel will take possession of the nations
   and make them male and female servants in the LORD’s land.
They will make captives of their captors
   and rule over their oppressors.

   ³ On the day the LORD gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, ⁴ you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

   How the oppressor has come to an end!
   How his fury has ended!
⁵ The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked,
   the scepter of the rulers,
⁶ which in anger struck down peoples
   with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued nations
   with relentless aggression.
⁷ All the lands are at rest and at peace;
   they break into singing.
⁸ Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon
   gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
   no one comes to cut us down.”

   ⁹ The realm of the dead below is all astir
   to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
   all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
   all those who were kings over the nations.
¹⁰ They will all respond,
   they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
   you have become like us.”
¹¹ All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
   along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
   and worms cover you.

   ¹² How you have fallen from heaven,
   morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
   you who once laid low the nations!
¹³ You said in your heart,
   “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
   above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
   on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
   I will make myself like the Most High.”
¹⁵ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
   to the depths of the pit.

   ¹⁶ Those who see you stare at you,
   they ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
   and made kingdoms tremble,
¹⁷ the man who made the world a wilderness,
   who overthrew its cities
   and would not let his captives go home?”

   ¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in state,
   each in his own tomb.
¹⁹ But you are cast out of your tomb
   like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,
   with those pierced by the sword,
   those who descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
   ²⁰ you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
   and killed your people.

   Let the offspring of the wicked
   never be mentioned again.
²¹ Prepare a place to slaughter his children
   for the sins of their ancestors;
they are not to rise to inherit the land
   and cover the earth with their cities.

   ²² “I will rise up against them,”
   declares the LORD Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name and survivors,
   her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD.
²³ “I will turn her into a place for owls
   and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,”
   declares the LORD Almighty.

   

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the punishment on Babylon, the morning star (Venus), which would be fallen from the heaven. Babylon considered itself as the most powerful nation on the earth but soon would be defeated by the Most High.  Prophet Isaiah prophesied that God is the only One to be exalted and all authorities, no matter how powerful they were in the military sense, would be destroyed by God on the Day of the coming. Satan also wants to raise his throne to be above the stars of God and enthroned on the mount of assembly (Mount Zaphon), and to be like the Most High. But his power had been defeated by the cross of Christ and will be totally destroyed when the Lord returns. Isaiah's vision brings us hope in seeing the final victory of God over all the hostile forces of the earth - no matter they are so powerful politically or spiritually. Only God is to be exalted. 

God is our salvation.

October 19, 2013 - Isaiah 12:1-6

    ¹ In that day you will say:

   “I will praise you, LORD.
   Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
   and you have comforted me.
² Surely God is my salvation;
   I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense;
   he has become my salvation.”
³ With joy you will draw water
   from the wells of salvation.

   ⁴ In that day you will say:

   “Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
   make known among the nations what he has done,
   and proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
   let this be known to all the world.
⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
   for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Prophet Isaiah saw the vision that the Lord has become the salvation of Israel - He has become the strength and defense of His people, and He has turned away from his anger to His people. People of God can all come to draw water with joy from the wells of salvation. They can sing aloud for the Holy One who dwells among them. God is our salvation. What else can we fear? God is our strength. What else we can't conquer? God is our defense. What attacks from our enemies we can't overcome? Nothing due to our illness, physical weakness, fear, worries, uncertainties, confusion, people's misunderstanding can hinder us from drawing strength from the wells of God's salvation. God is our strength and salvation forever. He is our banner of victory!

Jesus, the root of Jesse, will establish His Kingdom on God's Holy Mountain.

October 14, 2013 - Isaiah 11:1-10

    ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of might,
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

   ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
   the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
   and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
   their young will lie down together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
   and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
   as the waters cover the sea.

  Prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the branch and root of Jesse on which the Spirit of the Lord will rest. The Spirit of wisdom, understanding, might, counsel, and of the knowledge and fear of the Lord will rest on the root of Jesse. He will be the righteous and faithful King on earth. He will also set up the ultimate Kingdom of peace on earth, and wars will end and justice and peace be ultimately established on earth. The Kingdom will be a place where even all the creatures will be completely restored back to God's original creation order on God's holy mountain. And the earth will be completely filled with the knowledge of the Lord. 

My dear Lord, I desire to see what Isaiah has seen from his vision. My Master Jesus had incarnated on earth, and Jesus was filled with the full extent of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is full of understanding, wisdom, might, counsel, and knowledge and fear of the Lord. He has inaugurated God's Kingdom on earth and the church is now indwelt by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus' mission on earth, proclaiming and living out God's righteousness and faithfulness until to the day when Jesus returns on earth again and consummates God's kingdom on His holy mountain. Let's not be discouraged and stand firm for advancing His Kingdom. 

We are God's remnant - truly relying on Him.

October 12, 2013 - Isaiah 10:20-27

    ²⁰ In that day the remnant of Israel, 

   the survivors of Jacob,
will no longer rely on him
   who struck them down
but will truly rely on the LORD,
   the Holy One of Israel.
²¹ A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob
   will return to the Mighty God.
²² Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel,
   only a remnant will return.
Destruction has been decreed,
   overwhelming and righteous.
²³ The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out
   the destruction decreed upon the whole land.

   ²⁴ Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says:

   “My people who live in Zion,
   do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod
   and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
²⁵ Very soon my anger against you will end
   and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.”

   ²⁶ The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip,
   as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff over the waters,
   as he did in Egypt.
²⁷ In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders,
   their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be broken
   because you have grown so fat.

 My Lord Almighty, thanks for choosing me to be one of Your remnant. You convert me to learn truly relying on You, not relying on my own strength. I return to You everyday as I open my eyes to see and open my ears to listen in the morning of everyday. You are the Holy One of Israel and You are my Mighty God. I return to You; I return to You. I prayed that I can listen to Your voice each day and now You allow eye floaters to emerge in my left eye that causes me to slow down my motion and try to focus on my front only. More frequently I have to close my eyes to rest. Please speak to me as I close my eyes every time. I am Your remnant; I return to You; I truly rely on You; please speak to me. I also pray that though eyes floaters will be with me for a lifelong time, I would like to see Your vision - Your Glory, Your Presence, Your holiness, Your mercy with us as I open my eyes. I would like to sacrifice part of my eye sight for seeing Your Face and Your Love to me and Your people. 

Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

October 11, 2013 - Isaiah 8:19-9:7

    ¹⁹ When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. ²¹ Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. ²²Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

   ² The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
   and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
   as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
   when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
   you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
   the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor.
⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
   and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
   will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

Prophet Isaiah, in the midst of spiritual darkness of the nations of Israel and Judah, saw the vision that a great light has dawned on those who live in the land of darkness. People will rejoice because their yokes of burden and oppression will be shattered. The great light comes from a child whose name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. And His government will never end. Jesus is the great light that has dawned on all sinners who are now walking in distress and darkness. Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor who leads us into the truth of God and the Lord of our life; Jesus is the Mighty God who leads us victory over all enemies and conquers death for our behalf; Jesus is the Everlasting Father who shepherds us and cares for us forever; Jesus is the Prince of Peace who brings reconciliation of people with God and ultimate peace and justice on the earth. This is the best news or message for us.

My Master Jesus, continue to counsel me with the Spirit of Truth when I am in the midst of dark shadows; uphold me that I can declare victory over my enemy Satan; shepherd me with Your rod and staff that I can rest besides the living water and walk through the dark valley of danger; and bring me to rest in Your Shalom in the midst of storms ahead of me. 

Our whole being and our families are signs for the Message of the Lord.

October 10, 2013 - Isaiah 7:18-8:18

    ¹⁸ In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. ²⁰ In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also. ²¹ In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.²² And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. ²³ In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. ²⁴ Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. ²⁵ As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.

    ¹ The LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” ² So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. ³ Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ⁴ For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

   ⁵ The LORD spoke to me again:

   ⁶ “Because this people has rejected
   the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoices over Rezin
   and the son of Remaliah,
⁷ therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
   the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—
   the king of Assyria with all his pomp.
It will overflow all its channels,
   run over all its banks
⁸ and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,
   passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land,
   Immanuel!”

   ⁹ Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered!
   Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
   Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
¹⁰ Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
   propose your plan, but it will not stand,
   for God is with us.

   ¹¹ This is what the LORD says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:

   ¹² “Do not call conspiracy
   everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
   and do not dread it.
¹³ The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
   he is the one you are to fear,
   he is the one you are to dread.
¹⁴ He will be a holy place;
   for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
   and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
   a trap and a snare.
¹⁵ Many of them will stumble;
   they will fall and be broken,
   they will be snared and captured.”

   ¹⁶ Bind up this testimony of warning
   and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
¹⁷ I will wait for the LORD,
   who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.

   ¹⁸ Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

The Prophet Isaiah received the vision of the Lord to pronounce judgement to the nations. Isaiah followed and married a prophetess, birthing a son and naming him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz - meaning Damascus and Samaria would be destroyed by Assyria very soon. God used the king of Assyria as an instrument to punish the nations and to reveal His sovereignty. 

My Mighty Lord, You call me to be a prophet as well in order to deliver Your words of encouragement and also the words of punishment to your people. Isaiah received the words and obeyed. He offered himself as well as his family - his wife and his children - to serve the Lord, using the name of his children to convey God's message. The prophet Isaiah, including his whole being, his prophetic words, and his whole family, became the message of the Lord. Strengthen my faith today as I have to follow my Lord with faith and obedience that God's message can be conveyed through my whole being - my words and all my belongings.