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.