The prophet remembered other lords who had oppressed Israel, but they died, and God was erasing their memory. "Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, ...thou art glorified." He admitted that Israel's oppressors had driven them to prayer. "LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them." Nothing makes you pray more than hardship and pain.
Isaiah 26:17 - "Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD."
PRINCIPALS - "The Port City Of Tyre"
Isaiah prophesied the fall of the ancient merchant port city of Tyre. "Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste. ...The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth." When Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem, he destroyed Tyre. "Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years." Then it would revive. Following Armageddon, Messiah will rule over Tyre.
Isaiah 23:18 - "And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: ...for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD."
PRINCIPLES - "God Will Judge You For Being Flippant"
Isaiah was probably standing below the Temple Mount when his "burden of the valley of vision" came. Many of Jerusalem's men and rulers had been killed or captured, but the inhabitants were careless, tumultuous, even joyous. Isaiah mourned that "ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it." God called them to mourning and sackcloth, but they flippantly said, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."
Isaiah 22:14 - "It was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die."
PROPHECIES - "I Will Break The Assyrian In My Land"
God says, "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth." We should pay attention to this divinely-identified purpose. "The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, ...I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders." This is an Armageddon prophecy. The Antichrist will come from the region of Assyria, and Jesus will destroy him in the mountains of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 14:27 - "For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?"
Step Out of the Boat |
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water.... – Matthew 14:28-29 |
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It’s easy to be so afraid of making a mistake that you never get around to stepping out on faith. You can spend all your time wondering, Is this faith? Or is it presumption? What if I exercise my faith for something and find out later I’ve missed God’s will? Don’t worry. God can handle any mistake you can make. I know because I’ve made plenty of them. When I did, I’d just go to the Lord and He’d tell me, Stay on the Word, son. Together we’ll overcome this thing. And we always did. If you act on the Word out of the sincerity of your heart and you steadfastly stay with the Word, Jesus will never let you down...no matter how many dumb mistakes you make. He proved that the night Peter jumped out of the boat in the middle of the lake. Have you ever stopped to think about that incident? Peter hadn’t been praying or seeking God’s will before he did that. On impulse he just blurted out, “Lord, if it’s You, bid me come.” What was Jesus supposed to say? He couldn’t very well say, “It’s not Me.” I suppose He could have said, “Wait a minute now. You don’t have the faith to get out here. You’d better stay in that boat or you’re going to drown for sure.” But He didn’t say that to Peter—and He won’t say it to you. If you want to get out and walk by faith, He’ll get out there with you and pick you up when you start sinking. He’ll walk you back to the boat if He has to. It’s better to risk being presumptuous than to waste your life in the boat of unbelief! If you have to, just dive into the water and say, “God, help me!” Don’t let fear keep you from taking that step of faith. Come on, get out of the boat today! |
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ReplyDelete"Amen!" That is so true, if we never try, we will never know, what could of taken place, if we had ONLY stepped out in faith. Lord help us, 2 overcome our fear and the obstacles, that keep us from doing your well, in Jesus name, Amen!
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