The Lord God Has Spoken

The Lord God Has Spoken

Date: Jun. 11, 2022

Passage

Isaiah 21:1-17 (ESV)

1 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

  As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
2   A stern vision is told to me;
    the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
  Go up, O Elam;
    lay siege, O Media;
  all the sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
3   Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
  I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4   My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
5   They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink.
  Arise, O princes;
    oil the shield!
6   For thus the Lord said to me:
  “Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
7   When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
  let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
8   Then he who saw cried out:
  “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
  and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
9   And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
  And he answered,
    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
  and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
10   O my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

11 The oracle concerning Dumah.

  One is calling to me from Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
12   The watchman says:
  “Morning comes, and also the night.
    If you will inquire, inquire;
    come back again.”

13 The oracle concerning Arabia.

  In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
    O caravans of Dedanites.
14   To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15   For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
  from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 21:10

  O my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

Isaiah had a very troubling vision about Babylon which he calls the Desert by the Sea. God would use Elam and Media to bring judgment against Babylon. These nations would sweep through Babylon like a whirlwind. Babylon would be taken completely by surprise (5; see Daniel 5). She would be betrayed and looted. Isaiah did not rejoice at the downfall of his people’s future captors (6b). The violence and the horror he saw racked his body with pain. his heart faltered. The vision terrified him. Nevertheless, Isaiah saw himself as a watchman who had to speak what he heard from the LORD Almighty even when it frightened him.

Then someone from Seir called on Isaiah to predict when Edom’s suffering would end. Isaiah could only vaguely answer that both morning and night would come and told him to ask again later. Isaiah would not go beyond what God told him to speak.

Isaiah continued by pronouncing judgment against the Dedanites. They would become refugees, fleeing sword and battle. Finally, the LORD said that Kedar would also come to an end with very few survivors within a year. The LORD had spoken, and this would all surely come to pass. We can confidently stand on God’s word.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, your word is true. Help us to believe your word as it is. Help us to courageously speak your word, to not add or take away from it.

One Word: One Word: Stand on God’s word alone.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Acts 5:1-16

Key Verse: 5:3

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Today's Question

Did our first parents remain as they were created?

See answer and references

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT