Devotions

waking to taunt Babylon

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 14:9-15

⁹ Sheol below is getting excited over you, to welcome your entrance, it wakes dead spirits for you, all of the leaders of the land. It raises all of the kings of the nations from their “thrones.” ¹⁰ All of them will respond and say to you, ‘You yourself were also made weak like us! You have become the same as us!’ ¹¹Your pride is brought down to Sheol, along with the sound of your harps; the maggot is spread out beneath you like a bed, and your covering is the worm. ¹²How you have fallen from the sky, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations! ¹³ And you yourself said in your heart, ‘I will climb the sky; I will raise up my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the assembly mountain on the northern summit. ¹⁴I will ascend to high places where only a cloud goes. I will make myself like the Most High.’¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.

waking to taunt Babylon

Sheol is the Hebrew term most used for the intermediate state – the state between death and resurrection. Isaiah pictures the dead rulers who had been put there by Babylon waking up from their sleep in Sheol and rejoicing that now their destroyer has been destroyed: the one who put them to death has now died. They exult over the fact that the king of Babylon who had such high ambitions for himself has been brought low – down to the dirt depths of Sheol.

Isaiah is not actually saying that people are awake in Sheol. He’s saying the exact opposite. In his vision, he saw those spirits who were asleep being woken up so that they could taunt Babylon. So, the point of this text is not to prove the unbiblical doctrine of innate immortality and a conscious intermediate state. Isaiah is predicting the death of Babylon. He would not be predicting death and denying it at the same time. In fact, he asserts the reality of death to all – even mighty Babylon.

When was the last time you thought about the reality that death comes to all? It is important to think about that, because no matter how great you are, or how successful you become, death awaits. Since we cannot escape it, it behooves us to approach the one who promises a resurrection unto eternal life. We can plan to succeed, but we must be aware that staying alive forever is not something that human beings are capable of doing. Only God has immortality, so if we want to overcome the death problem, we had better seek a relationship with him.

LORD, we confess our inability to survive this life. We trust your grace to raise us to a new, eternal life when you return.

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on the day Yahveh gives you rest

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 14:1-8

¹ But Yahveh will have compassion on Jacob, and he will again choose Israel and position them on their land, and the immigrant will join himself to them, and they will connect themselves to the house of Jacob. ² And Gentiles will rescue them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will take possession of those Gentiles in the land of Yahveh as slaves and female slaves. And this will happen: they will take their captors captive and have dominion over their oppressors. ³And it will happen on the day Yahveh gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and hard work which was you did. ⁴ that you will take this taunt against the king of Babylon, and you will say: “How an oppressor has stopped! Hostility has ceased. ⁵Yahveh has broken a wicked staff, a scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck peoples in wrath, a blow without ceasing, that ruled nations in anger, bringing persecution without restraint. ⁷ All of the land rests peacefully; they break out singing. ⁸ Even cypresses rejoice over you, the cedars of Lebanon sing: ‘Since you were laid down, no lumberjack comes up against us.’

on the day Yahveh gives you rest

Isaiah’s predicts of the downfall of the Babylonian empire. He imagines the land breaking out in song because it is no longer under the oppression and pain of tyrants, seeking its destruction. Perhaps you have been going through a difficult time, and you are seeking that kind of rest. Maybe it has been a long time since you have felt like singing. Please know that you are not alone. The LORD knows the oppression you are feeling. He wants you to know that he plans to give you rest, and you will know a time when you can feel like singing again.

LORD, thank you for encouraging us with your presence during time when we feel overwhelmed. Thank you for the promise of deliverance, and the hope of future praise.

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goat dance

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 13:19-22

¹⁹ And Babylon, glory of kingdoms, the splendor of that the Chaldeans’ pride themselves in, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah’s catastrophic overthrow by God. ²⁰It will not be inhabited forever, and it will not be lived in even after generation and generation, and no Arab will pitch a tent there, and shepherds will not allow their animals to lie down there. ²¹ But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures, and the daughters of an ostrich will live there, and goats will dance there. ²² And hyenas will answer in its widowed palaces, and jackals in the pleasing temples; and its time is close to come and its days will not be prolonged.

goat dance

Isaiah’s prediction about Babylon is clear. It will be totally destroyed, and left uninhabited, except for the occasional wild animal straying into what was once a palace or temple, and dancing there. It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. The destruction of these two evil cities was a direct result of God’s judgment, and was often used as a simile for his judgment upon other cities or nations.[1]

Jesus warned that his second coming will be like that too, only on a global scale. Like Noah’s flood or Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction by fire, the only hope is to escape it, because no one will live through it. The good news on both counts is that God had provided a means of escape, an ark for Noah, and an angel for lot. But most of the world ignored Noah’s ark, and Lot’s wife looked back, and was lost.

As we keep seeing in these Prophets, the LORD is the author of both the judgment and the rescue. Isaiah’s message to the Israelites is that God sees the oppression they are experiencing under Babylonian rule, and his judgment upon Babylon will be severe. The implication is that his power that can destroy mighty Babylon is available to deliver repentant Israel.

Jesus taught the same thing about his second coming. It will bring death and destruction to all – except those who are ready for it. Are you ready for the Lord Jesus to return?

Come, Lord Jesus.

[1] Genesis 19:24; Deuteronomy 29:23; Jeremiah 49:18; 50:40; Zephaniah 2:9.

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no mercy, no pity

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 13:14-18

¹⁴ And this will happen: like a hunted gazelle or sheep and without one who gathers them, they will each turn to his people, and they will each flee to his land.¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be pierced through, and everyone who is carried away will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ And their children will be dashed into pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be raped. ¹⁷Watch me stirring the Medes up against them, who do not value silver and do not delight in gold. ¹⁸ And bows will shatter young men. And they will not show mercy on fruit of the womb; their eyes will not look with pity on children.

no mercy, no pity

Isaiah continues to describe the future downfall of the Babylonian empire. He describes their soldiers as fleeing in panic back to their own country and their own kin. But that does not help them, because many will be caught and killed on the way, and those who arrive back home will be invaded and suffer the same atrocities that they had inflicted. Their children would be slaughtered before their eyes, and their wives raped. The God of armies sends armies that do not share his attributes of mercy and compassion. They will not be bribed by money to end their violence. They live for it.

Why is such a horrible depiction of violence in the holy scripture? First, it is the true depiction of the fate that Babylon suffered under the Medo Persian armies, as a punishment from God for its own violent overthrow of other nations, including Judah. Secondly, it hints of the terrible recompense that the planet will suffer on the day of Yahveh, when he brings punishment to cleanse the earth of its rebellion.

LORD, we shutter to think of the terrible retribution in store for those who have sinned against you by being cruel and violent toward others. We throw ourselves at your mercy, because you are a God of mercy and you have taken pity on us. By your grace you have atoned for our sins through Christ’s death on the cross. We cling to that cross, and seek deliverance from your terrible judgment. Our hearts also cry out for those still trapped in lives of sin and rebellion. Help us to reach them before they suffer such terrible punishment and destruction. Help us to reach them with the message of the victory you won for them at the cross.

Posted in atonement, destruction in hell, evangelism, judgment, violence | Tagged Isaiah 13 | Leave a comment

taking down an evil planet

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 13:9-13

⁹ Watch! The day of Yahveh — coming, cruelty and wrath and burning anger, making the land a desolation, and he will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ Because the stars of the sky and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will hold back when it comes out, and the moon will not allow its light to shine. ¹¹ And I will punish this evil planet and wicked ones for their iniquity. And I will put an end to the pride of arrogant ones, and I will bring down the self-importance of tyrants. ¹² I will make homo sapiens more rare than gold and humanity more than the gold of Ophir. ¹³ For this reason I will make the sky shake, and the land will break loose from its place because of the wrath of Yahveh of armies, and in the day his anger burns.

taking down an evil planet

Isaiah uses cosmic language, even though he is still describing the overthrow of the Babylonian empire. He is inviting the Israelites to watch this event take place, because as they do, perhaps they will get a glimpse of that distant time in which these words will have their ultimate fulfillment. The downfall of the tyrants who ruled this evil planet as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s empire was like a dress rehearsal for that future day which will be known in eternity as the day of Yahveh. On that day, the LORD will destroy all his enemies, and make the planet desolate. He will make homo sapiens more rare than gold on that day.

Are you a friend of Yahveh, or his enemy? I ask you this not out of criticism, but out of concern. Just as surely as God took down his Babylonian enemies, he will most certainly take down the rest of his enemies. Not one of his enemies on this evil planet will escape his wrath.

But there is a way for escape. Jesus Christ took upon himself all the wrath of Yahveh when he died as our substitute on the cross. He endured the death that purchased freedom from that fate. To appropriate his payment for our own sins, all we have to do is believe in him, and trust him.

LORD, we confess being a part of this sinful planet you plan to take down. We also confess Christ, our Savior and substitute. Rescue us through him!

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my consecrated ones

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 13:1-8

¹ The oracle of Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: ²Raise a flag on a bare hill, lift up a voice to them; wave a hand and allow them to enter noblemen’s doorways. ³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, I have also summoned my mighty warriors to demonstrate my anger, the ones who will show how great my majesty is. ⁴ A sound, a noise on the mountains, sounding like many people! It sounds like kingdoms roaring, of nations gathering! Yahveh of armies mustering an army for battle. ⁵They are coming from a distant land, from the end of the sky, Yahveh and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy all of the land. ⁶ Wail, because the day of Yahveh is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ This is why all hands will grow slack, and every human heart will melt, ⁸ and they will be dismayed. Pangs and labor pains will irrupt; they will tremble like a woman giving birth. A man will stare at his neighbor, their faces flaming with shame.

MARCH FORTH, my consecrated ones

If you had asked the Medo Persian soldiers about Yahveh, they would have said Yah-who? Nevertheless, they would be consecrated by the LORD to do his will – to demonstrate his anger against the oppressive and violent Babylonians. All around us today there are nations filled with mighty warriors who are consecrated by the LORD to do his will. He is the LORD of armies, and they answer to him as their true commander-in-chief. Our God is sovereign, and he can use anything or anyone in his creation to accomplish his purpose.

Of what value is it for us to know that? Well, if we are being oppressed of violated by an enemy, it is comforting to know that our God has control of the situation. He has armies at his disposal to change our situation. He is not helpless. When we pray to God for help, we know that he is able to overthrow our oppressors. He is not even limited to working in the hearts of only those who believe in or are aware of him. Like those Medo Persian soldiers, he can use armies to do his will who are totally oblivious of the fact.

LORD, we believe in you, and we have consecrated ourselves to do your will. But we are also confident that when we pray, your resources you have consecrated to help us are not limited. You can use armies who do not know your name to exalt your name.

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God, my victory

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 12:1-6

¹And you will say on that day, “I will praise you, Yahveh, because you had been angry with me, your anger turned, and you comforted me. ² See! God, my victory; I will trust, and I will not be afraid, for my strength and might is Yah, Yahveh; and he has become victory for me.” ³And you will draw water from the wells of victory in joy. ⁴ And you will say on that day, “Give praise to Yahveh; call on his name. Make his deeds known among the peoples; make it known that his name is exalted. ⁵ Sing praises to Yahveh, for he has done a glorious thing; it being known in all the land. ⁶ resident of Zion, shout out and sing for joy, because the holy one of Israel is great in your midst.”

God, my victory

Isaiah encourages his people to look beyond the present crisis and trust God to bring them victory in it, and deliverance from it. Yahveh, not some earthly king with some earthly army – is to be the deliverer, and bring victory. The end result will be praise for who God is. So, Isaiah encourages his people do start praising God already. The purpose for this praise is not the victory, because that has not come yet. The purpose for the praise is that the holy one of Israel is great in their midst. The being and nature and works of God are the reasons for praise and worship.

LORD, give us the faith to praise you for who you are, knowing that you are the one who will bring victory to us. You are our victory.

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next exodus

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 11:10-16

¹⁰ And this will happen on that day: Gentiles will seek the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a flag to a people, and his resting place[1] will be glorious. ¹¹ This will also happen on that day: The Lord will again reach out his hand a second time to get the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea, ¹² and he will raise a flag for the Gentiles. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four wings of the land. ¹³ And Ephraim’s jealousy will go away, and the enemies of Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not be an enemy of Ephraim. ¹⁴ But they will fly over the Philistine shoulder, toward the sea. Together they will plunder sons of the east. Edom and Moab will be reached by their hand, and the sons of Ammon their conquered people. ¹⁵ And Yahveh will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt and he will wave his hand over the river with his scorching wind; and he will strike it into seven streams, and he will enable someone to walk through it with the sandal. ¹⁶ So there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that remains, just like there was for Israel in that day he went up from the land of Egypt.

next exodus

In this amazing passage, Isaiah predicts that the Messiah will stand as a flag to a people, and they will be drawn to that flag as they experience a second exodus. Just as God had struck the Red Sea to make a way for the Jews to escape Pharaoh, he will also make a way for this people to escape back to the promised land. They will be coming from both the south and the north, so God will strike both the tongue of the sea of Egypt (the gulf of the Red Sea) and the river (Euphrates). The resulting highway will make it possible for Israelites, no longer at enmity with one another, to return to the holy land. But this people who look to the Messiah as their flag also contains Gentiles, people from other nations.

So this passage not only predicts a physical restoration of Israel, it also speaks of a spiritual restoration which will include Gentiles. Both groups together will seek the root of Jesse as their leader.

LORD, we seek to follow the root of Jesse. Lead us to your promised inheritance, a blessing you have in store for all who seek you.

[1] The word for resting place is very similar to a word for sacrificial gift. There may be a word-play here.

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inspiring the fear of Yahveh

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 11:1-9

¹ And a shoot will sprout from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. ² And the spirit of Yahveh will rest on him– a spirit of that is wise and understands, a spirit that encourages and makes strong, a spirit that knows and fears Yahveh. ³And he will inspire the fear of Yahveh. And he will judge not by what his eyes see, and he will correct not by the rumors his ears hear. ⁴But he will judge the poor with righteousness, and he will decide for the needy of the land with integrity. And he will strike the land with the rod of his mouth, and he will kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips. ⁵ And righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. ⁶ And a wolf will live as an alien along with a lamb, and a leopard will lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together and a small boy will be tending them. ⁷And a cow and a bear will graze; their young ones will lie down together. And a lion will eat straw like the cattle. ⁸ And one nursing will play over a serpent’s hole, and one who is weaned will put his hand on a viper’s hole. ⁹ They will not do harm and they will not destroy on all of my mountain of holiness because the land will be full of people who know Yahveh, like water covers the sea.

inspiring the fear of Yahveh

This amazing time that Isaiah describes is brought about by an amazing man, a descendent of Jesse as David was. Isaiah is drawing a comparison between the king of Assyria’s soon-to-be failed attempt to capture Jerusalem, and this coming Messiah’s future rule from Jerusalem. Assyria’s reign was accomplished by violent attacks with his weapons and armies, but the Messiah will destroy his enemies by merely speaking a word of judgment against them. Assyria created lands full of armies that attacked and conquered. The Messiah will create a land full of peace, where the beasts will lie down peacefully beside the small children. Assyria oppressed the poor and needy. The Messiah would champion their cause and bring them justice.

All of this will happen because the spirit in the Messiah will be God’s Spirit. He will inspire others with a knowledge beyond what a person can see and hear normally. He will bring them to a relationship with the LORD that respects his authority and power, and a love for him as their Father from the sky.

All of this will ultimately happen when Jesus Christ returns to this planet as he has promised. But we do not have to wait for the Messiah’s return to live in the fear of Yahveh. The righteousness, peace and joy that he inspires is the fruit of walking in step with his Holy Spirit today.[1]

LORD, inspire us to walk in the fear of Yahveh, and manifest your righteousness, justice and peace.

[1] Romans 14:17.

Posted in Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, peace, righteousness | Tagged Isaiah 11 | Leave a comment

fist shaking at the mountain

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Jefferson Vann

Isaiah 10:28-34

²⁸ He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Micmash he deposited his baggage. ²⁹ They crossed over a pass; Geba, a place of overnight lodging for us. Ramah trembles; Saul’s Gibeah has run away. ³⁰ Daughter of Gallim, project your voice; Laishah, listen! Answer her, Anathoth! ³¹ Madmenah flees! The inhabitants of Gebim take themselves to safety! ³² Yet today standing at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mountain of the house of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. ³³See! The Lord Yahveh of armies is about to lop off a branch with great power, and the self-importance of the height will be felled, and the height will be brought low. ³⁴ And he will cut down the grove of the forest with the ax, and Lebanon will fall with a mighty fall.

fist shaking at the mountain

I can imagine the inhabitants of Judah standing around their laptops (I did say imagine) and watching the news as each day another northern city falls under the onslaught of the Assyrian Reich, attacking from the north. But then something amazing happens. That terrifying king who would stop at nothing to own the world would be stopped in his tracks. He will stand there at Nob, furious that he can go no further toward his goal. He will shake his fist at his prize, which he would not be able to claim, and that prize is Jerusalem. His armies will be stopped by Yahveh of armies.

This story of failed invasion is Isaiah’s way of saying that even God has his limits. God is limited by his compassion, and by his promises. He will not allow his people to be utterly destroyed. He has a plan to bless them with that Immanuel, son of the virgin.

Isaiah’s audience is a nation of sinners, who must face the consequences of their rebellion, so he preaches judgment. But they are also a nation that God has promised to be a portal of blessing through the ministry of the Messiah. That future is sure, regardless of whether Judah responds to Isaiah’s preaching or not.

God may have a plan to bless you and give you a future, and you may experience that. But do not allow that blessing to lure you into thinking that God has overlooked your sin. Remember that Assyria thought they were unstoppable, but God stopped them. And, like Judah, you may be experiencing blessing because of God’s promise to someone else. Eternal life is only promised to those who have repented of their sin and put their faith in Christ.

LORD, as we enjoy your blessings, may we be careful not to presume that these blessings are signs of your eternal favor. Christ is your promise. Teach us to focus our faith on him.

Posted in blessings, discernment, future, Jesus Christ, repentance | Tagged Isaiah 10 | Leave a comment