Daily Bible Devotionals

“We have heard of Moab’s pride – how very proud he is – his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his empty boasting.” Isaiah 16:6 (HCSB)

Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Moabites covers two chapters: 15-16.  Chapter 15 gives a picture of total destruction.  16 gives some of the causes of Moab’s downfall.  The devastation is complete, and the story receives even fuller treatment in Jeremiah 48.  Within a short period, Isaiah’s words were fulfilled.  Assyria came onto Moab, marching southward and driving those that escaped the sword into the territory of Edom.  City after city had fallen, and most of the places mentioned can still be located.  The picture of Moab that the Lord wants us to remember is of their arrogance.

Living in Israel 100 years after Isaiah, Jeremiah repeats Isaiah’s charge, adding for further clarity that God’s patience had run out:

“Make him drunk, because he has exalted himself against the Lord.  Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.” Jeremiah 48:26 (HCSB)

Moab had wealth in terms of sheep.  We find this in 2 Kings 3:4. In Isaiah 16:1, Moab is asked to send tribute to Jerusalem.  The picture of the Moabites crossing the border into Edom with their family treasures is a graphic portrayal of the insecurity of riches.

Hysterical women are running southward, away from the aggressor; they are like young birds shaken out of their nests and fluttering about on the floor below.  (16:2)

Those who defy God turn to religion for justification.  Man’s religions are his greatest crimes.  Moab is no different, but even as she presents herself at high places, it is only to wear herself out.  Her praying is to no avail.  Jesus said the same thing about pagan religion:

“And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.”  Matthew 6:7 (BSB)

Nothing but grief comes to those who defy God.  And this is only a PICTURE of what awaits all who ultimately defy Him.

But all is not dark.  In a display of Divine pity, God cries out for Moab. (15:5; 16:7, 9, 11) Isaiah is an evangelist as much as he is a prophet of judgment.  He, unlike Jonah, longs that his enemies turn to God and find salvation.  He takes no delight in the death of the wicked.  Isaiah speaks more than the facts of the gospel; he speaks God’s heart for sinners, as well.

“‘Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’  This is the declaration of the Lord God.  ‘Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives?’” Ezekiel 18:23 (HCSB)

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Isaiah 15. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again.  He will settle them on their own land.  The foreigner (aliens) will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.  The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland.  Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land.  They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.” Isaiah 14:1-2 (HCSB)

Years ago, I was on a trans-continental flight sitting next to a teenage girl who was really, really into the rock band Van Halen.  She was playing her Walkman sooooo loud that it was annoying passengers three rows away.  I decided to do what I always do: tune out the world and read my Bible.  Believe it or not, she turned off the Walkman and asked me about what I was reading.  We chatted a bit, and then she blurted, “I’ve always wondered about the UFOs in the Bible.”  “UFOs?” I asked.  “Yeah, the Bible talks about the aliens living among the Israelites…”  True story.

Sorry to disappoint all you Star Trek (or Van Halen) fans, but that’s not the kind of “aliens” the Bible is referring to.  Tucked away in this section of prophecy is a striking allusion to the future of God’s Church.  In the midst of this battle scene, where we can almost hear the command to attack in 13:4-5, leading to the overthrow of Babylon (13:17-22), is today’s passage, a word of promise to God’s people.

What amounts to a wholesale judgment on God’s enemies (represented by Babylon) turns out to be a blessing of deliverance for God’s people (Jacob).  God used Babylon to purge His people of sin and purify to Himself a people who will serve Him.

Once Babylon has served its purpose of purging, it will be destroyed, making a way for the Savior to come.  God’s treatment of these pagan nations, once used as tools in His hand, now rejected, may seem cruel.  But the reality is that they experienced God’s power, provision, and enabling, yet rejected the God Who provided their positions of prominence.

This little section is a cameo sketch of a theme that will occupy twenty-seven chapters (40-66) of Isaiah’s prophecy.  Even now, in the midst of words of terrible doom, God wants His own children to take refuge in Him.  He has not forgotten His promise, no matter how difficult times are or may become.  He has planned compassion for that remnant of Jacob (Israel who turn to Him through Messiah Jesus) and those “aliens,” Gentiles who will come to faith through Jesus as well.

What a glorious future lies in store for God’s children, both Jew and Gentile, who have received His covenant promise of salvation through faith in His Son, the Messiah Jesus!

“Look, the day of the Lord is coming – cruel, with rage and burning anger – to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.  Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light.  The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.  I will bring disaster on the world, and their own iniquity, on the wicked.  I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.” Isaiah 13:9-11 (HCSB)

Isaiah 13 introduces us to an important Biblical expression: The Day of The Lord.  The first occurrence refers to a not-too-distant horizon, the invasion of Babylon, some 150 years away.  But the second instance is quite different.

It is vital to understand that events actually separated by long periods of time are seen from an “Old Testament” perspective as following close after each other.  It’s like a “condensation” of time, where events are condensed and couched next to each other but actually occur decades or millennia apart.  This perspective is similar to what we experience when looking at two objects from a long distance away: they “appear” close together when in fact, they are not.

The prophecy of Joel regarding Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks, i.e., the Day of Pentecost) is an example of this.  

“After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.  I will pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.”  Joel 2:28-29 (HCSB)

Immediately after the prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit, Joel gives an apocalyptic account of the coming of “the day of the Lord.”

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” Joel 2:30-31(NKJV)

The Day of the Lord can sometimes refer to a day that is in the near future, but usually, it is a phrase used by prophets to describe the final day of consummation when the wicked will be punished.  Question: when the events the prophets predict come to pass EXACTLY as prophesied, why is it that we doubt the probability of those events yet to pass?

Again, two things confound a fool: 1) how slow God is to act, and 2) how quickly He shows up!  Are you prepared for the Day of The Lord?

“Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord; for although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.  Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.’  Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.  And on that day you will say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted.’”  Isaiah 12:1-4 (NASB)

The sight of the mighty Warrior (in Isaiah 11 and 12) is awesome.  The effect of God’s judgment cuts Judah down to a stump.  There are times when the Church has almost been extinguished.  There may have been times when you felt you were personally on the verge of extinction!  But the roots remain, and from them, fresh signs of life grow once more.  Those who know the salvation of which Isaiah speaks know how thankful we should be and how full of joy it makes us, so much so that we burst out in song!

Today’s chapter is actually two songs, back-to-back.  After so many allusions to the coming Messiah, Jesus, the prophet bursts out into song.  The lesson here is that, although God has been offended with his people, He was also satisfied that the chastisement He inflicted on them was sufficient.  We should be encouraged that, although we may feel the rebuke of the Lord, it will be for only a season, and we will be comforted by Him as soon as He has disciplined us.  Now, that’s something to sing about!!  You see, salvation is what we are most in need of, and typically, we only compartmentalize “salvation” as the eternal alternative to “damnation.”  We often forget our day-to-day need for deliverance, not just for the afterlife, but to get through this life.

Throughout his prophetic book, Isaiah makes use of a widely used Biblical symbol: water.  (41:17-18; 55:1; 55:10)

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3 (ESV)

Possibly the most well-known use of this imagery is found in the words of Jesus Himself to the Samaritan woman at the well.  In fact, the whole account is Jesus’ most in-depth address to the divided kingdom era (of which Isaiah was addressing with his prophecy) and His willingness to forgive Israel’s spiritual adultery.

“Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.  But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again – ever!  In fact, the water I give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.’” John 4:13-14 (HCSB)

What the Samaritan woman needed most of all was the water of salvation to relieve the spiritual thirst in her soul.  This has always been what we sinners need in every age.  This was the content of Isaiah’s songs of trust and joyful thanksgiving.

“On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples.  The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious.  On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover – from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and Islands of the west – the remnant of His people who survive.” Isaiah 11:10-11 (HCSB)

Early in the days of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, the Israelites found themselves on the verge of war with the Amalekites.  Joshua was asked to assemble an army while Moses climbed a nearby hill.  With God’s staff in his hands, he lifted up his arms with Aaron and Hur helping him.  So long as his arms were held upward, the Amalekites were defeated.  Afterward, Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord is my banner.”  It marked a place where Moses and the people of God had witnessed God fighting on their behalf.

When God’s banner is planted in the ground, God’s people have no cause to worry.  He fights for His people.  As King Jehoshaphat was told, later in Israel’s history...

“This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’” 2 Chronicles 20:15b (NIV)

The writer of Chronicles tells us that Ahaz ignored Isaiah and asked the king of Assyria for help.  Then, things got worse.

“In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 28:22 (NIV)

What Ahaz refused to see was that Israel’s battle was primarily a spiritual one.  The truth is that ALL battles are primarily spiritual, even though our battles involve human interaction.  So, because Ahaz refused to fear the Lord, victory was not secured through his strategic military alliances.  He should have trusted the Lord because victory is only found in Him.  That oversight cost Ahaz (and Judah) dearly.  

Perhaps, you are facing an overwhelming adversary.  The only way you will find enduring victory is by humbling yourself and surrendering to the Lord’s will, revealed in His Word.  Remember that the battle is the Lord’s.   He plants His banner as a symbol of His conquests.  He is interested in winning YOU before He wins the world through you.  Do not resist the Lord!  Let Him plant His banner of love and Lordship deep into your heart, soul, and strength.

When the people of God find themselves in any trouble, the Bible reminds them of His past victories and promises of future victories.  His Word acts as a banner fluttering in the breeze.  The very sight of it reminds us that our strength comes from His mighty power and strengthens our faithful resolve.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

“On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.  The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.  Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return.” Isaiah 10:20-22a (HCSB)

God hates pride.  It was pride in the later years of King Uzziah that caused judgment to fall upon him.  Judah, too, was filled with arrogance, thinking they knew better than God’s prophet.  And disgrace was sure to follow. (Proverbs 11:2)

But once more, Isaiah brings into focus the mercy of God.  A remnant will return.  The clouds of God’s anger against sin are lined with the silver thread of His covenant promise: a Remnant will come forth.

The idea of a “Remnant” is something we believers should strongly consider…especially when sharing the gospel with Jewish non-believers.  Some Church leaders suggest we should not bother sharing the gospel with the Jewish people because God’s Word says that all of Israel will be saved.  But shouldn’t we consider Paul’s words, (directed by the Holy Spirit) when determining exactly what spiritual “Israel” means to the Lord?  

“But it is not as though the word of God has failed.  For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.  Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.  On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac. That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.” Romans 9:6-8 (HCSB)

Those who are “Israel” are not strictly those of physical descent from either Abraham or Jacob…rather, they are those who faithfully BELIEVE the promise of God, that is, in the promise of Messiah Jesus, whom Isaiah called “Immanuel.”  Today’s passage defines the “Remnant” as those who faithfully depend on the Lord, the faithful One of Israel, Immanuel, Jesus.  Consider the apostle John’s words within the context of Isaiah’s prophecy.  The Remnant is expanded to contain both Jew and Gentile: EVERYONE who believes.  Also, those appointed for destruction are people of unbelief: Jew and Gentile.

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.  This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.  But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”  John 3:16-21 (HCSB)

“Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.  But in the future, He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.  You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy.  The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.”  Isaiah 9:1-2 (HCSB)

Light shines through Isaiah’s words in several ways.

1) The People of God.  Isaiah refers to “the people” and “the nation.”  He means the people of God, the remnant from within Judah.  Though the Lord will shame them through Assyrian oppression, He will not forsake Judah entirely.  He will gather them again and, through them, bring to pass His promise.

2) The Light of Jesus.  When Jesus was forced to move from Nazareth to Capernaum (in the region of Naphtali and Zebulon), Matthew says that this was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. (Matthew 4:14-16; Luke 4:14-30) The point of Matthew’s quotation was to indicate that people who had been living in darkness now had the light of God’s Son in their midst. “Galilee of the Gentiles,” so long despised by the Jews, was earmarked for evangelism by Messiah Jesus.

3) The Impossible is Possible with God.  Isaiah knew His Bible!  He remembered that in the time of the judges, God had whittled down Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300 to do battle with the Midianites.  He was anxious to demonstrate the principle: not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.  A surprise attack on the Midianite camp was enough to send them packing.  This is a message Isaiah takes up again and again.  Three pictures are brought together in verse 4 to remind Judah that Assyria’s oppression is nothing new.  They had also been this way in Egypt 700 years earlier.  Here, Judah is compared to an ox.  Poor Judah – to be a beast of burden.  But things can change!  The zeal of the Lord Almighty can change things if Judah would only listen.

4) An End to Warfare.  Assyrian men are seen lying dead from battle with blood-stained clothes.  Everywhere there is a stench of battle.  The enemy has been totally destroyed and disarmed.  The refuse of war is burnt, and there is peace.  It reminds us of the end of the Revelation.  And what was the cause of all this?  The birth of a child to the royal house of David.

The World promises the light of hope but can only deliver darkness.  The World is OUR Assyria.  The child, Jesus, however, brings peace and light.  Peace is the first fruit of our justification.  (Romans 5:1)

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Isaiah 8. Click the links below to watch or listen now!