(Isaiah 27:1-13)
1 On that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
2 On that day,
“A vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
4 I have no wrath.
Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
5 Or let him rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
6 In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?
8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be forgiven;
And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is isolated,
A homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12 On that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also on that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
2 On that day,
“A vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
4 I have no wrath.
Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
5 Or let him rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
6 In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?
8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be forgiven;
And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is isolated,
A homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12 On that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also on that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
As Christians, we are not to hate anyone! We are told to hate sin and injustice, but we are to love all people. So, I'm saddened to see the things that are happening in our countries over the last while, and that even some Christians, or people who, in the name of "Christianity", side with the enemies of Israel, to the point of defending and protecting them. But even to condone antisemitisms is to be antisemitic.
While this passage is prophetic, it sheds light on the things that happen now. We know that God is sovereign, and in control, and will allow evil to happen to some extent. He even allows enemies to invade and attack His people to get their attention. Although, this is certainly not to justify anyone to work against Christians or Israel! It's very clear that God allows consequences to happen along the way, but then, one day, He will completely eliminate every enemy!
From prophecy, we know that during the Tribulation, Israel will see the signs of their Messiah's return, and they as a nation will believe! They will turn from all other gods, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Then, at the end of the seven years, Jesus will come again and remove all unbelievers and evil, and gather up all those who became believers during Tribulation, to take them into the Millennial kingdom. Then there will be physical peace on this earth for a thousand years.
Even though this is something that will happen in the future (after the rapture), these principles and truths apply to us now. God is holy, just and fair, and He loves the world, desiring that all come to know Him personally. God never sins or commits evil acts, but people do! So, there are bad things that happen, because God has given everyone a free will. But we can know and be confident that the Lord is sovereign and in control. Can you imagine if He did not restrain evil?! In this age, He only allows some evil to happen... but only things that work within His will.
The biggest example of this, is when Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah and hung Him on the cross. This was a very evil act - a direct attack on God, Himself - but through this, the Lord paid the price for all sin, of all time, for all people. Because of sin, there needs to be death, so Jesus took our place and died on our behalf. He also rose again to conquer death, so that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life with Him.
The bottom line is that - we all need the Lord God in our lives: us, Israel, terrorists! Everyone! God has given us the choice. We can be opposed to the Lord by relying on and living for ourselves, or someone else, or some manmade god, or we can make peace with the Lord by accepting His free gift of forgiveness and salvation. When we do, and as we trust in Him alone, He will protect us and nourish us. And in this wonderful relationship with the Lord, we will learn to hate what He hates, and love as He loves. And as we worship, serve and honor Him, following after Him in His perfect will, we will be fruitful and blessed.
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