Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / November 6 - Isaiah 41

Transcript

November 6 - Isaiah 41 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, Sean here. Thank you for tapping on play
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  and welcoming me into your day. Happy Monday to you.
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  I hope that the week ahead is looking like a good one because
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  you and I have got a bit of territory to cover friend.
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  We are going to be tackling the chapters of the 40s.
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  Isaiah is middle-aged and we are working through chapters 41 to
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  44. This, friends, you'll remember,
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  is Isaiah speaking to the people of Israel after they have left
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  their promised land and they are destitute and in exile in far
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  away Babylon with the rising threat of Persia heading their
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  way. Well, heading the way of the
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  Babylonians who would eventually free them to go home.
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  But we are not up to that yet. So you will hear of God's power.
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  You will hear of a Saviour coming.
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  You will hear of a seed. There are so many references to
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  Jesus in Isaiah, which is why it's one of the the Old
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  Testament books that is so often quoted in the New Testament
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  because it just speaks forward into the time when Jesus would
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  complete his ministry and be the game changer that God planned
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  all along. Isaiah is a cool book, so we are
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  going to continue reading and today we read Isaiah 41 which
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  speaks about God being in control of the political events,
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  the natural events and the historical events of that time.
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  So this is Isaiah speaking words of comfort about the power of
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  God to these people who feel like they are lost in the big
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  story of the world and history. Which I don't know about you,
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  but I sometimes feel a bit like that too.
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  Lost in a much bigger story. So let us hear these words
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  written to us. Wherever you are in Isaiah
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  chapter 41, listen in silence before me.
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  You lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments.
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  Come now and speak. The court is ready for your
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  case. Who has stirred up this king
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  from the East, rightly calling him to God's service?
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  Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to
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  trample their kings under foot. With his sword he reduces armies
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  to dust with his bow. He scatters them like chaff
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  before the wind. He chases them away and goes on
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  safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground.
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  Who has such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation
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  from the beginning of time. It is I, the Lord, the 1st and
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  the last. I alone am he the lands beyond
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  the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and
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  mobilize for war. The idol makers encourage one
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  another, saying to each other be strong.
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  The Carver encourages the Goldsmith, and the moulder helps
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  at the anvil. Good, they say, it's coming
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  along fine. Carefully they join the parts
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  together, then fasten the thing in place so it won't fall over.
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  But As for you, Israel, my servant Jacob, my chosen 1,
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  descended from Abraham. My friend.
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  I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying you
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  are my servant. For I have chosen you and will
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  not throw you away. Don't be afraid, for I am with
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  you. Don't be discouraged, for I am
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  your God. I will strengthen you and help
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  you. I will hold you up with my
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  victorious right hand. See all your enemies lie there
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  confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die
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  and come to nothing. You will look in vain for those
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  who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come
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  to nothing. For I hold you by your right
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  hand. I, the Lord your God.
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  And I say to you, don't be afraid.
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  I am here to help you, though you are a lowly worm.
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  O Jacob, don't be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you.
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  I am the Lord, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.
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  You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp
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  teeth. You will tear your enemies
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  apart, making chaff of mountains.
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  You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all
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  away. A whirlwind will scatter them.
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  Then you will rejoice in the Lord.
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  You will glory in the Holy One of Israel, when the poor and
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  needy search for water, and there is none, and their tongues
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  are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord will answer them.
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  I, the God of Israel, will never abandoned them.
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  I will open up rivers for them and the high plateaus.
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  I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.
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  I will fill the desert with pools of water.
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  Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.
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  I will plant trees and the barren desert, cedar, Acacia,
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  Myrtle, olives, Cypress, fir and pine.
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  I'm doing this so all who see this miracle will understand
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  what it means, that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy
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  One of Israel who created it. Present the case for your idols,
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  says the Lord. Let them show what they can do,
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  says the king of Israel. Let them try to tell us what
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  happened long ago, so that we may consider the evidence.
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  Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know
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  what's going to happen. Yes, tell us what will occur in
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  the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods.
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  In fact, do anything good or bad, Do something that will
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  amaze and frighten us. But no, you are less than
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  nothing and can do nothing at all.
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  Those who choose you pollute themselves.
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  But I have stirred up a leader who will approach from the
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  north, from the east. He will call on my name.
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  I will give him victory over kings and Princess.
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  He will trample them as a Potter treads on clay.
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  Who told you from the beginning what would happen?
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  Who predicted this? Making you admit that he was
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  right. No one said a word.
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  I was the 1st to tell Zion. Look, help is on the way.
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  I will send Jerusalem a messenger with good news.
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  Not one of your idols told you this.
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  Not one gave any answer when I asked.
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  See, they are all foolish, worthless things, and your idols
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  are as empty as the wind. You make a convincing point,
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  Lord, that you are bigger and greater and fundamentally more
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  alive than any other would be. God help us place you above
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  every other voice in our life and all these other empty,
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  worthless, and dead idols that we find ourselves chasing after.
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  May they submit to you. May we shift our hearts, unplug
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  them from the temptations that seem to scream so loudly, and we
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  just recommit ourselves to you, the Eternal God, the Creator,
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  the only One who holds the future and the past in His
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  hands. We love you, our Father, and we
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  thank you for giving us Jesus and for loving us when you have
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  no reason to except that you choose us.
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  You call us your children, and you welcome us with your open
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  arms. Thank you and we pray.
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  All of this in the name of Jesus.
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  Amen.