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August 28 - Isaiah 29 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is Sean. Here it is.
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  Monday is the 28th of August and how fantastic that you have
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  clicked on play and you and I are going to begin our weeks
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  together as we continue reading through the book of Isaiah.
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  We are going to read another 11 chapters of Isaiah and then we
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  are going to put that big old book down and we're going to
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  jump into the New Testament and read through ACT, which will be
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  fantastic as it always is. But that is in another 2 1/2
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  weeks time. Today, if you recall at the end
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  of last week, we were reading about Isaiah warning his people
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  about the Assyrians bearing down on them.
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  Well, we are picking up where we left off there, and he will
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  continue to tell them about what's happening and that it's
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  going to be okay because as history tells us, God will
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  destroy all 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who are surrounding
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  them. But they don't quite know this
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  yet. And in this chapter you were
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  going to hear the word Ariel. And no, this is not Isaiah
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  foreshadowing The Little Mermaid in all of its Disney glory and,
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  well, not such great gender politics in 2023 watching it.
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  Not that I've watched it recently, but if I did, that
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  would be okay, because it's a classic.
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  And I Yeah, enough about me and The Little Mermaid.
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  Ariel is actually one of the poetic names for Jerusalem.
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  So when we talk about Ariel, we're actually talking about
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  Jerusalem. So all of that said, let us read
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  together to hear the words of Isaiah speaking to these people
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  in the midst of a giant enemy bearing down on their doorstep
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  as we read together. Isaiah, Chapter 29.
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  What sorrow awaits Ariel, the city of David?
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  Year after year you celebrate your feasts, yet I will bring
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  disaster upon you. And there will be much weeping
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  and sorrow for Jerusalem will become what her name, Ariel,
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  means, an altar covered with blood.
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  I will be your enemy. Surrounding Jerusalem and
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  attacking its walls, I will build siege towers and destroy
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  it. Then, deep from the earth, you
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  will speak from low in the dust. Your words will come.
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  Your voice will whisper from the ground like a ghost conjured up
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  from the grave. But suddenly your ruthless
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  enemies will be crushed like the finest of dust.
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  Your many attackers will be driven away like chaff before
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  the wind. Suddenly, in an instant, I, the
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  Lord of Heaven's armies will act for you with Thunder and
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  earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and
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  consuming fire, all the nations fighting against Jerusalem will
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  vanish like a dream. Those who were attacking her
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  walls will vanish like a vision in the night.
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  A hungry person dreams of eating, but wakes up still
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  hungry. A thirsty person dreams of
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  drinking, but is still faint from thirst.
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  When morning comes, so it will be with your enemies, with those
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  who attack Mount Zion. Are you amazed and incredulous?
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  Don't you believe it? Then go ahead and be blind.
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  You are stupid, but not from wine you stagger, but not from
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  liquor. For the Lord has poured out on
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  you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your
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  prophets and visionaries. All the future events in this
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  vision are like a sealed book to them.
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  When you give it to those who can read, they will say we can't
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  read it because it's sealed. When you give it to those who
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  cannot read, they will say we don't know how to read.
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  And so the Lord says, These people say they are mine.
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  They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
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  me, and their worship of me is nothing but manmade rules
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  learned by rote. Because of this, I will once
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  again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders.
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  The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of
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  the intelligent will disappear. What sorrow awaits those who try
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  to hide their plans from the Lord who do their evil deeds in
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  the dark? The Lord can't see us, They say.
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  He doesn't know what's going on. How foolish can you be?
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  He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you.
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  The clay should the created thing say of the one who made
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  it, He didn't make me. Does a jar ever say?
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  The Potter who made me is stupid.
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  Soon, and it will not be very long, the forests of Lebanon
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  will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield
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  bountiful crops. In that day the deaf will hear
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  words read from a book, and the blind will see through the gloom
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  and darkness. The humble will be filled with
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  fresh joy from the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the
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  holy One of Israel. The scoffer will be gone.
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  The arrogant will disappear and those who plot evil will be
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  killed. Those who convict the innocent
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  by their false testimonies will disappear.
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  A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
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  and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
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  That is why the Lord who redeemed Abraham says to the
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  people of Israel, My people will no longer be ashamed or turned
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  pale with fear. For when they see their many
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  children and all the blessings I have given them, they will
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  recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob.
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  They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
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  Then the wayward will gain understanding and complainers
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  will accept instruction. Nothing gets past you thought.
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  You know us inside and out. You know what awaits us.
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  You know what has befallen us, and you are a part of it all.
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  We just praise you, our glorious father.
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  You are a majestic, all knowing God and we love you.
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  Thank you that even though you know us and all of our faults
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  and foibles, you love us nonetheless and we love you and
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  we worship you, and it's in your name that we pray Jesus.
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  Amen.