Author: PGC Administrator

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+014

 
Chapter 14 (ESV)

³ When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, ⁴ you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
the insolent fury ceased!
⁵ The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
⁶ that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
⁷ The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
they break forth into singing.
⁸ The cypresses rejoice at you,
the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
⁹ Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
¹⁰ All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
¹¹ Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.

¹² “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!

 

REFLECTION:

1. This is a taunt song which celebrates the overthrow of the ruler of Babylon who personifies the pride that marked the nation as a whole.
2. The words “suffering”, “turmoil”and “the harsh labour” are used to describe the cruel oppression by the Babylonian king; and “at rest” and “at peace” describe the state of the people after the death of the tyrant.
3. Is there anybody who may think that you are a “tyrant” who always gives people hard time by causing “suffering, turmoil and harsh labor”? If you are taken from your position, will that make others feel “at rest”, “at peace”?  Why?
4. Talk with God of this revelation and ask help for you to change.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Humble Heart – youtu.be/E6P858RiYiA

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+013
 
Chapter 13 (ESV)

¹ The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

² On a bare hill raise a signal;
cry aloud to them;
wave the hand for them to enter
the gates of the nobles.
³ I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones.

⁴ The sound of a tumult is on the mountains
as of a great multitude!
The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
of nations gathering together!
The Lord of hosts is mustering
a host for battle.
⁵ They come from a distant land,
from the end of the heavens,
the Lord and the weapons of his indignation,
to destroy the whole land.

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near;
as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
⁷ Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart will melt.
⁸ They will be dismayed:
pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.

⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
¹⁰ For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
¹² I will make people more rare than fine gold,
and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
at the wrath of the Lord of hosts
in the day of his fierce anger.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read slowly this passage a couple of times and let the language and imagery sink in.
2. What was your emotion as you read this passage? How would “the day of the Lord” in this passage compare with your notion of the day when Jesus comes back?  Are they different?  How so?  And why?
3. How would reading this passage alert you of the immensity of God’s power and his judgment when Jesus comes back?

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Even So Come – youtu.be/4s0Zb189Sco

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+012

 

Chapter 12 (ESV)

¹ You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

² “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵ “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

REFLECTION:

1. This is a short hymn that celebrates the coming goodness “in that day”. They will know the full meaning of salvation, and will together sing praises and give thanks.  The people, inspired by this vision of the future, were filled with hope.
2. Songs of praise were often written to acknowledge God’s goodness and everlasting protection.
3. What are some of the events in your life that show God’s love toward you? How has God strengthened you?  Focus on ways God has made you stronger.
4. Close this time with God by singing: Father I adore you.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Father I Adore You – youtu.be/Ph-ZBiIETB0

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+011

 

Chapter 11 (ESV)

¹ There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 

REFLECTION:

1. Read the passage slowly, noting how natural enemies are coexisting side by side (wolf and lamb, cow and bear, young child and serpent). This passage gives us a vivid picture of the kingdom of God as it will exist in the future.  What a different place it will be!
2. With this image in mind, consider the following:
• What would you like best about such a peaceable world – filled with the knowledge of the Lord? What feelings would be present for these creatures to exist this way?
• Name your own enemies and imagine them standing beside you, with you, for you. What will that be like for you?
• Who might perceive you as an enemy or a threat? How can you become at peace with them?
3. Share with God how you feel about such a peaceable world and what you think such a world would show you about God.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

All Creatures Of Our God And King – youtu.be/wSFK7UiH5Us