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August 17 - Isaiah 24 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's shown here. It is the 17th of August, it is
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  Thursday, and it's great that you have joined me so that we
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  can begin a new section of Isaiah over the next.
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  Well, today and most of next week, we begin the next section
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  where instead of Isaiah talking very specifically about
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  different nations that God will deal with, we now enter a much
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  broader kind of prophecy where God begins to talk about the
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  final times where God will judge the world and restore God's
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  Kingdom. I'm afraid there may not be a
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  whole lot of restoration today. Today is going to be a lot about
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  the judgment and the destruction.
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  So you're just going to have to have to bear with it and know
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  that God has got actually more to say and that this chapter is
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  just part of this next message. So wherever you are today, let
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  us put down everything that we are holding so tightly and rest
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  into the presence of our incredible God and the huge
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  story of God's engagement with humanity.
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  Here we are, Lord, part of that story.
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  Share your truth with us today. All right, folks, let's do it.
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  Let us read together Isaiah chapter 24.
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  Look, the Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a
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  vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the
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  earth and scatters the people. Priests and lay people, servants
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  and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers,
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  lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors.
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  None will be spared. The earth will be completely
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  emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken.
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  The earth mourns and dries up, and the land wastes away and
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  Withers. Even the greatest people on
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  earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins
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  of its people, for they have twisted God's instructions,
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  violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.
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  Therefore a curse consumes the earth.
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  Its people must pay the price for their sin.
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  They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.
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  The grapevines waste of way and there is no new wine.
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  All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
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  The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled.
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  The happy cries of celebration are heard no more.
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  The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
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  Gone are the joys of wine and song.
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  Alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
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  The city rides in chaos. Every home is locked to keep out
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  intruders. Mobs gather in the streets,
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  crying out for wine. Joy has turned into gloom.
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  Gladness has been banished from the land.
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  The city is left in ruins, its gates battered down throughout
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  the earth. The story is the same.
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  Only a remnant is left, like the stray olives left on the tree or
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  the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.
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  But all who are left shout and sing for joy.
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  Those in the West praise the Lord's majesty, in Eastern lands
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  give glory to the Lord, and the lands beyond the sea praise the
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  name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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  We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth, songs that
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  give glory to the Righteous One. But my heart is heavy with
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  grief. Weep from me, for I wither away.
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  Deceit still prevails, and treachery is everywhere.
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  Terror and traps and snares will be your lot, you people of the
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  earth. Those who flee and terror will
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  fall into a trap, and those who escape the trap will be caught
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  in a snare. Destruction falls like rain from
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  the heavens. The foundations of the earth
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  shake. The earth has broken up.
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  It is utterly collapsed. It is violently shaken.
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  The earth staggers like a drunk. It trembles like a tent in a
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  storm. It falls and will not rise
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  again, for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy.
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  In that day the Lord will punish the gods in the heavens and the
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  proud rulers of the nations on earth.
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  They will be rounded up and put in prison.
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  They will be shut up in prison and will finally be punished.
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  Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the
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  sun will fade. For the Lord of Heaven's armies
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  will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in
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  Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people.
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  Yeah, just in case we forget sometimes.
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  You certainly are in charge. We just defer to you and to your
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  sovereignty, Lord. And when it's all about us and
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  all about what we think ought to happen, we just give that over
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  to you and acknowledge that it's your will that is supreme, and
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  it's your mighty hand that drags the sun from its covers each
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  morning and lights our days and holds us each and everyone of
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  them. You are the greatest, You are
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  sovereign above everything else, and we worship you, almighty,
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  everlasting God. And it's in Jesus name that we
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  pray. Amen.