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August 15 - Isaiah 22 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It is Sean.
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  Here it is Tuesday, it is the 15th of August and it's great to
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  have your company. I hope you're going well.
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  I hope your toes are warm and winter is treating you well, or
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  summer if you're on the other side of the world, but it is a
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  chilly, chilly time down here in Tassie.
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  I'm rubbing my toes together to get some warmth back into them,
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  but that's just me and my extremities not liking the cold.
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  But today, cold or warm, we continue reading through the
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  book of Isaiah together, and today is a fascinating chapter.
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  This is a chapter that Isaiah writes or prophesized during the
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  time when the Assyrians are closing in and laying siege to
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  the city of Jerusalem. And well, God's people are
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  pretty proud of themselves. They have made some excellent
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  preparations and instead of coming to God to save them, they
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  are feeling pretty happy with all the work that they've done
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  preparing for the siege. And Isaiah says, don't you know
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  you are rejoicing, being so proud of yourselves?
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  But disaster is just around the corner.
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  So a good reminder for us that when we think that we are way
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  too clever for our own good, come back to depending on God.
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  So let us read together this chapter, Isaiah, chapter 22.
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  This message came to me concerning Jerusalem, the valley
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  of vision. What is happening?
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  Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
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  The whole city is in a terrible uproar.
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  What do I see in this reveling city?
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  Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by
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  famine and disease. All your leaders have fled.
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  They surrendered without resistance.
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  The people tried to slip away, but they were captured too.
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  That's why I said leave me alone to weep.
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  Do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I
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  watch them being destroyed. Oh, what a day of crushing
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  defeat. What a day of confusion and
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  terror brought by the Lord and the Lord of Heaven's armies.
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  Upon the valley of vision. The walls of Jerusalem have been
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  broken, and cries of death echo from the mountain sides.
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  Elimites are The Archers with their Chariots and charioteers.
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  The men of Kerr hold up the Shields.
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  Chariots filled your beautiful valleys and charioteers storm
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  your gates. Judah's defenses have been
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  stripped away. You run to the Armory for your
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  weapons. You inspect the breaks in the
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  walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower
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  pool. You survey the houses and tear
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  some down for stone to strengthen the walls.
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  Between the city walls you build a reservoir for water from the
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  old pool. But you never ask for help from
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  the one who did all this. You never considered the one who
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  planned this long ago. At that time the Lord, the Lord
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  of Heaven's armies, called you to weep and mourn.
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  He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins, and to
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  wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
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  But instead you dance and play. You slaughter cattle and kill
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  sheep. You feast on meat and drink
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  wine. You say, let's feast and drink,
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  for tomorrow we die. The Lord of Heaven's armies has
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  revealed this to me. Till the day you die, you will
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  never be forgiven for this sin that is the judgment of the
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  Lord, the Lord of Heaven's armies.
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  This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's army, said to me.
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  Confront Shebner, the palace administrator, and give him this
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  message. Who do you think you are, and
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  what are you doing here? Building a beautiful tomb for
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  yourself, a monument high up in the rock.
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  For the Lord is about to hurl you away.
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  Mighty man, He is going to grab you, crumple you into a ball,
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  and tossed you away into a distant, barren land.
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  There you will die, and your glorious Chariots will be broken
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  and useless. You are a disgrace to your
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  master. Yes, I will drive you out of
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  office, says the Lord. I will pull you down from your
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  high position, and then I will call my servant to Liar Kim, son
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  of Hilkia, to replace you. I will dress him in your royal
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  robes and will give him your title and your authority.
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  And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.
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  I will give him the key to the House of David, the highest
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  position in the Royal Court. When he opens doors, no one will
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  be able to close them. When he closes doors, no one
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  will be able to open them. He will bring honor to his
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  family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail
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  in the wall. That will give him great
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  responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest
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  members of his family. But the Lord of Heaven's Armies
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  also says the time will come when I will pull out the nail
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  that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the
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  ground. Everything it supports will fall
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  with it. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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  You are a wonderful, glorious and all-encompassing God.
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  Your plans stretch out in every direction and are so steadfast
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  and sure Help us not to rely on our own plans, but to rest in
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  you and your plans for us. Thank you that our lives are not
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  just decided on a whim and the changing directions of the wind,
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  but that you love us and you have crafted this life for us.
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  There will be times of great joy and celebration in you, and yes,
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  there will be times of painful pruning, but we rest in you and
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  your sovereignty over us. Thank you for the blessings you
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  will give us and help us. Always attribute them to you and
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  not our own cleverness, because as clever as you may have made
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  us, the blessings are yours and you give them to us.
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  And for the greatest blessing of all, we thank you for Jesus, for
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  everything that I revealed about your love for us and your
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  goodness. We love you and we worship you
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  in His name. Amen.