Bible reading & studying in Oct.31, 2021 read Isaiah 46-49
Isaiah 46:1-47:15 reveals the judgment
of Babylon
The Lord detested idol
worshipping. In Isaiah 46:1 mentions about bel. The Babylonian form of Baal.
Nebo. the god of learning. The images of these gods would be loaded on animals
when the Babylonians would flee from the conquering Persians.
The Lord comforted and encouraged Israel, even
though they were stubborn hearted.
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who
remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth. Even
to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have
made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” “Remember
the former things; those of long ago; I am God, and there is none like me. I
make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to
come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please, From the
east I summon a bird of prey; from a far off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.
Listen to me, you stubborn hearted, you who are far from righteousness. I am
bringing my righteousness near; it is not my salvation will not be delayed. I
will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.” (Isaiah46:9-13)
“Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin
Daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the
Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate. Take millstones and
grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade
through the streams. Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I
will take vengeance; I will spare on one. Our Redeemer –the Lord Almighty is
his name –is the Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, go into darkness, daughter
of the Babylonians; no more will you be will queen of kingdoms. I was angry with my people and desecrated
my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even
on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. You said, ‘I will continue forever-the
eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what
might happen.(Isaiah47:1--7).
You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, “No one sees me.” Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself, I am, and there is none besides me. Disaster will come upon you, and you will
not know how to conjure it away. A
calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a
catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you. Keep on, then, with your magic spells and
with your much sorcery, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps
you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror. All the counsel you have
received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those
stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is
coming upon you. Surely they are like
stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the
power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to
sit by. That is all they can do for you- these you have labored with and
trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is
not one that can save you. (Isaiah47:10-15)
Chapter 48 in releasing Judah from Babylon
The people talk of the Lord but practice
idolatry (v.5). The predictions of the Babylonian captivity (v.3) and the
prophecies of the return from Babylon ( v.6).
“Therefore
I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you
so that you could not say, “My idols did
them; my wooden image and metal god
ordained them.” You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not
admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things
unknown to you.” (Isaiah48:5-6)
“For
my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back
from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as
silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my
own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory
to another. Listen to me, O Jacob. Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am
the First and I am the Last.” (Isaiah48:9-12)
“Come
near me and listen to this: From the first announcement I have not spoken in
secret; at the time it happens, I am there. And now the Sovereign Lord has sent
me with his Sprit.” (Isaiah48:16)
“This is what the Lord says- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “ I am the
Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way
you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would
have been life a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”
(Isaiah48:17-18)
“Leave
Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shout of joy and
proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed
his servant Jacob.” They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed
out. “There is no peace,“ says the Lord, “ for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:20-22)
Bibliography
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible
(NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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