Wednesday Bible Study: Drive-by Isaiah part 10

 

Okay, you have gotten the point by now:  God has painted for Israel a picture of what is to come, both of the Jews who refuse their God and the godless who attack them, and the New Earth to be shared by the faithful.  He has shown the picture's reliability by showing prophecies that, by our time, have been fulfilled, so that we know this can be trusted.

We have seen that disaster awaits those who deny God and do their own thing; we have seen wonderful help and healing to those who come through this judgment:

Isa 35:8  And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
Isa 35:9  No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
Isa 35:10  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

 

So now I'm jumping ahead of the poetic revelations to the historical portion of our show.  If you recall, one of the last prophecies was that Jerusalem was going to be shaken from their complacency "within a year"- and right on time, the narrative starting in chapter 36 brings in Assyria and the generals of Sennacherib.  The first thing you note the city leaders are told by the invaders is just what Isaiah has been telling them all this time:

Isa 36:4  And the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?
Isa 36:5  Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?
Isa 36:6  Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Note that phrase about 'mere words', referring to Egypt, described last time as "the open mouth that doesn't move".  Once again, here's Satan putting in just enough truth to weaken the faith of the believer.  But Rabshakeh (which is a title that translates to 'chief butler' and probably means he is the "head commissar" of the Army) oversteps in his opinion of the God of Judah:

Isa 36:7  But if you say to me, "We trust in the LORD our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar"?

Isa 36:18  Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isa 36:19  Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isa 36:20  Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'" 

He mistakes the heathen gods as 'equals' to the God of Israel.  So many unbelievers make this same mistake- atheists who, when challenged with God's logic, declare Him equal with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.  God has an answer for both:

Isa 37:33  "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
Isa 37:34  By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.
Isa 37:35  For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."
Isa 37:36  And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Isa 37:37  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. 

 

Not surprisingly, while Sennacherib's historians recorded the siege, they never mentioned what happened next.  There were 20 years or so between the defeat of the invasion and the death of Sennacherib.

Now, you might think- or might not, depending how good an observer of mankind you are- that this would have taught the Israelites several lessons on faithfulness and listening to the local prophet.  But, right after the Assyrians were defeated....

Isa 38:1  In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover."

Hezekiah pleaded with God, and because of his prayer, he miraculously received another fifteen years of life.  Apparently of some note because he stood against Sennacherib, word of his healing came to the Babylonian rebel known in the Bible as Merodach-Baladin (to history as Marduk-apla-iddina II) sent a letter to him congratulating him on his recovery and sending some of his lackeys on a visit.  Again, here is a nation who Isaiah has ALREADY TOLD Israel that they would destroy them; but did Hezekiah pay attention?

Isa 39:2  And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 

So imagine if you will, you have been warned of something- a danger to you and all you love.  And for the price of a little flattery, you allow this danger into your home.   You wouldn't do this if we were talking about a mass murderer or a escaped criminal.  So why would you do it, why do you do it, in matters of faith?

Isa 39:3  Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?" Hezekiah said, "They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon."
Isa 39:4  He said, "What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them."
Isa 39:5  Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6  Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.
Isa 39:7  And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

In fact, his son Manassah, who would have a fifty-year reign of terror as king, even having Isaiah murdered, would be taken in chains to Babylon until he repented; While his son Amon would then try to surpass his father's evil, Manasseh would apparently teach his grandson Josiah to be a better man and ruler.  But that's coming up; What strikes you next is Hezekiah's sudden change of attitude:

Isa 39:8  Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my days."

That's right, as long as I live in peace, who cares what happens to the next generation, they're on their own, right?

The Better Part, week #28

 

This week's FB posts:

The Better Part, Day #152:

 

Rev 17:5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations."

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;

Rev 17:10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.

Rev 17:11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 

 

Last night, I heard a guest on a Christian prophesy show disclaim something I believe- that Revelation 17-18 shows that the United States may well be Revelation's Babylon, "the mother of all the harlots and abominations of the earth". First, let me say, I am in no way claiming I am right- and it is not a salvational matter. But I had heard others like this man claim that "Revelation shows it must be an ACTUAL, not figurative, Babylon. So I wanted to listen to his reasoning.

 

His thought was that the word "mother" meant it had to be THE source, and claimed the actual Babylon- through a connection to the Tower of Babel that I'm still not convinced exists- thus had to be it. 

 

However, first of all, the word used in the New Testament by definition can be literal or figurative. Plus, Babylon was 'drunk with the Martyrs of Jesus' which would also eliminate a city fallen from prominence long before Jesus was born into this world. And it requires an interpretation of 'kings' that old Babylon doesn't afford.

That said, the eighth king might be a stretch to the USA as well. But read Revelation 18 -and Ezekiel 27- and see if you don't see my point.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #153:

 

1Pe 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 

 

Do you get this? Angels, in heaven, before God always, would love to understand the opportunity of salvation WE have been given- and ignore, abuse, or dismiss.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #154:

 

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,

Heb 6:5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,

Heb 6:6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 

 

Jack Hibbs had a great way of explaining this, here paraphrased:

"This is not talking about being able to lose your salvation... this is about people who had belief but never let it become FAITH. Belief is the car, it's the mode of getting there, but FAITH is where everything happens!"

 

 

The Better Part, Day #155:

 

 

The next stage of my growth was reading, not a 'religious' book, but Susan Southard's "Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War". Two lessons that were really intensified for me were politics and forgiveness.

 

Politics: It shocked and saddened me that on the 50th anniversary of the bombing, American groups such as the American Legion fought so hard to keep any sympathy for the Japanese people out of the conversation. They wanted a view where the United States was unquestionably pure and just of motive. At the same time, those Japanese who were just becoming aware of the extent of their Army's atrocities to civilians in Korea, China, and the Philippines were being silenced by those in high office who would rather walk the road of complete victimhood. Neither side wanted the WHOLE truth, though both KNEW it.

 

Forgiveness: While I still believe what was done had to be done, and any other way of doing it would have resulted either in an undefeated foe (a la 1919 Germany) or another Soviet satellite, I have had to realize something about my go-to reasoning for my stand ("Terrible bomb? How about the Rape of Nanking"). Sometimes in the process of 'being forgiving' in such a situation, we allow ourselves to read stories like this book and feel sympathy for the individual, but bear the grudge against the nation forever. We don't see that the attitude towards the nation is still unforgiveness against the individual. In the end, it is useless to bear a grudge against a nation, because a nation is just a blanket statement for a whole lot of individuals, and they're the ones you have to forgive.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #156:

 

Jas 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"--

Jas 4:14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Jas 4:15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 

And more than that, let's thank God for every day that he keeps us alive and safe. Breaking news from last night:

 

 

"PM Breaking News

@PMBreakingNews

·

8h

Breaking: Police discovered 16 long guns, body armor and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition in a hotel room near Coors Field, which hosts the MLB all-star game on Tuesday. Four people were arrested, including one who wrote on Facebook that he will “go out in a big way.”(Via Denver7) "

 

 

Only God leading a maid at the hotel prevented what police called a possible "Las Vegas-type" incident. How many dooms have we escaped by God's grace? Have we thanked Him for them?

Time Machine co-ordinates VII-I68479-565960646577

 

Today, we are on July 9... but the year is a bit of a challenge.  You see, as I let you in on last week, this is the new Volume 7 stage of Time Machine, and we're doing things a little different.  What I...

Elvis:  Hey, I just heard the Panel got laid off!  What's going on?

You basically heard right.  Here's the new deal.  Each week, I'm going to use a handy dandy internet random number generator to pick 6 years out of the Martin Era 2.0- if you look at the co-ordinates this week, you'll see that this week it picked 1956, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, and 1977.  From those years I'm going to do something similar to the past couple of weeks- I'm going to pull out my big favorites from each top ten, which will then be our 'contestants'.  I will then rank them by their finish on that year's Cashbox top 100 of that year.  I'll give you the top four or so to guess who wins, let you in on every one else...

Elvis:  That'll mess up the other features, though, won't it?

Au contraire, mon frere!  The big mover will be the biggest mover of ALL years; the lowest ranker gets the 6D; and the second lowest will be the year that we do Overseas If You Please for!

What about the guest?  Same as always, or messed up like it has been?

"Well, I don't think anyone has called me messed up before..."

EP:  EEK!  Ya coulda told be she snuck in behind me!

This, my friend, is Gwen Owens, leader of Hot, who won the last POTM award as such. Welcome to the show!

GO:  Thanks!

Unlike a lot of acts out there, especially at the time period, you had a very interesting request of your producers.

GO;  Yes, I didn't want to be a solo! "I did the backing vocals on the Wolfman Jack tour with Cathy Carson and Irene Cathaway.  Shortly thereafter, Terry Woodford  and Clayton Ivery, who'd been with me during the Motown South experiment, called me for a new recording session and I told them right away that there would not be any solo recordings, but that I would bring along two singers. They only said you will never be part of a group. I wanted to prove the opposite, and I did. Therefore they wanted us three in the studio. Just then, Irene decided to go on tour with another singer. That meant Cathy and I were alone in the studio. That proved no challenge for either Ivery or Terry, as they initially only wanted to record with me. So we recorded 4 songs and with these 4 songs we got a contract with Big Tree, which was a sub label of Atlantic. ” 

But then you ended up as a trio...

“After the song was released, the label wanted to have a finished album as soon as possible. At the same time, we were hoping to find a third member for the group. We had no idea what cultural background the singer should have. Irene was Mexican, but we did not necessarily look for a Mexican again. We were sitting at our manager’s office when we all accidentally looked out the window and watched a woman- ended up being Juanita Curriel- walking across the street. I also do not remember what she was wearing, but her look was just amazing. Ed our manager just said if she is coming for the audition and sing can sing,  she gets the job, she just looked amazing. You know how the story ends, after we were complete as a trio, we went back to Muscle Shoals to finish the album. "

***NOTE: to all of you that expect pure bull from me, the stuff in quotes is 99.44% Gwen from an interview with someone from Souldisco (dot) de from November 2018.***

GO:  What was that?

Oh, a disclaimer, so I can chat with you without being sued, hopefully.

GO:  So are you saying we're in 2018?

Actually, 2021.

Elvis:  Careful, hoss.  Ya don't want another Dorothy Moore on our hands...

True dat.  Here, while we get Gwen acclimated, listen to the debut at #10 on this week's M10- the return 

of courtship...

                       

****************************************************

I have no idea why pasting that up was so frustrating, but the preview says we're good, so lets move on!  Here is the list of songs I pulled from the various top tens for your perusal.  Gwen, read the list, if you would...

GO:  Sure, why not?  From 1956, you took the #1, Gogi Grant's Wayward Wind...

From 1959 this week, you took the #1 Battle Of New Orleans by Johnny Horton and the #7 Lipstick On Your Collar by Connie Francis...

From 1960 you took Connie again with Everybody's Somebody's Fool at #1, The Everly Brothers with Cathy's Clown at #6, and Roy Orbison with Only The Lonely...

Elvis:  Please, Lord, not the Everlys again!

GO:  From 1964, you took The Beach Boys and I Get Around at #1, The Four Seasons and Rag Doll at #3, and Astrud Gilberto singing The Girl From Ipanema at #10...

From 1965, you took the #1 Mr Tambourine Man by the Byrds, the #3 I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) by the Four Tops, and the #7 Yes I'm Ready by Barbara Mason...

And finally in 1977, you took #6 Peter Frampton's I'm In You, #7 Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, #8 Andy Gibbs and I Just Want To Be Your Everything, and #10 Barbra Streisand's My Heart Belongs To Me...

Elvis: YOU took Streisand?

Yeah, I always liked that one.  So right now, we're gonna break for lunch, while Horace Bellbottom gives you an actual, prepared ahead of time, 6 Degrees...

You might well have added, 'illegible', to your list, as usual.  All right, let us see...Once upon a time, Stevie Wonder issued the hit single, My Cherie Amour.  Its flip side was called I Don't Know Why.  This tune was covered by the Rolling Stones, and released in one of those, "we hold the rights to these, let's see if we can make some money" compilations so commonly released by former record labels. It was itself the b-side of a song called Try A Little Harder, on which they should have taken their own advice, as it just missed the top 40.

The album of misfit hits was called Metamorphosis, and it also contained a tune called Out of Time.  In fact, while this single also peaked beneath the top 40, it was in fact Mick Jagger's vocals on top of an instrumental track first used by the man who had a big hit with it in the 60's in England, a chap by the name of Chris Farlowe.  Farlowe evidently found his forte in covering others' songs- such as Out Of Time- but his judgment on originals offered to him was suspect.  One such offering that he refused as too soft for him became the most covered pop song in history- the Beatles' Yesterday.  Which brings us to this week's victim, the second most recorded song in history, as the lowest charting of the hot 100 of its year- The Girl From Ipanema, which ended the year at #77 in the year 1964.

Next, let us move on to the second M10 debut this week.  Gerry Rafferty passed tragically too soon, but his daughter has helped engineer a second posthumous release of songs previously unreleased, an lp called Rest In Blue.  The first single from it comes onto our countdown at #7...

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Elvis:  Hey, Boss, ain't we fergittin' about the top songs of M10 summer?  We're supposed ta be doin' the top 10 this week!

You are so right!  Before I start, let me mention that this week, the invaders from this year's summer include:

Challenge the Gods by Matthew Sweet is at #39...

Lalena by Trini Lopez is at #37...

Counting Crows with Bobby And The Rat Kings moves into #29...

...and Maneskin's Zitti e Buoni is at #25!

And with that, here are the very top of all-time M10 summer!

10- The Explorer's Club with their first M10 #1, California's Callin' Ya! It was topside in the last 2 weeks of August 2016.

9- One of two in the top ten for King Leg- his cover of Roy Orbison's Running Scared. It topped the chart in late July 2019.

8- Foster The People, Sit Next To Me. It spent 4 weeks on top in August 2017.

7- Why, here's King Leg again, with his first #1, Seeing You Tonight. Stuck in the midst of some of the biggest #1's in M10 history- #s 1 and 3 on our list sat between this and his first mentioned song hitting the top- he got one week in June 2019.

6- One of two appearances in the top ten here for the Jayhawks, with their cover of Grand Funk's Bad Time. A monster of last year's Cover Summer, it hit #1 third week of June- and returned to the top the third week of July.

5- The biggest hit of the Cover Summer of 2020, The Shacks and Smile Now, Cry Later. It held down the last two of the 4 weeks between Bad Time's two #1 weeks.

4- Back for more Jayhawks and Backwards Women. It was tops for 2 weeks in mid-August 2018.

3- ELO from their second lp and Mama.  Now the second longest #1 in M10 history, it held forth for 4 weeks in July 2019.

2- The first big summer hit, Tangerine with  You'll Always Be Lonely.  It spent all of June 2016 at the top.

And let's save the #1 for the big reveals at the end, shall we?  Right now, it's time for Gwen...

GO:  Me?  What's up?

...to give us the Overseas If You Please!  Since My Heart Belongs To Me was second lowest, finishing the year #66 in 1977, it's the #1 songs of 1977 we sought out from our English-speaking friends...

GO:  So, this week in 1977, these songs were #1...

In South Africa, it was John Paul Young and Yesterday's Hero...

Canada, Alan O'Day's Undercover Angel...

The UK, Hot Chocolate's So You Win Again...

Australia, Dr Hook covering the Rooftop Singers' Walk Right In...

And New Zealand, Dutch country trio Pussycat with My Broken Souvenirs.

And, the biggest mover of all our years this week, came in 1960, when Fats Domino went from 72 to 32 with Walkin' To New Orleans!

Elvis:  So, Boss, which of the songs you pulled out was yer favorite?

Well, I would say that was a tough one.. but it ain't.  For me, Rag Doll is an easy winner.  But now, we've got to give you the choices for the winner!  There were ties, and all ties were broken by where Billboard had the songs on THEIR year-end chart!  With that in mind, here are your finalists by chronology:

Wayward Wind

Battle Of New Orleans

I Get Around

I Can't Help Myself 

and I Just Want To Be Your Everything!  While you dope out the winner, here's the King and the rest of the M10!

9- The Joy Formidable- now there's a mouthful- with 3 straight weeks at 9 for Back To Nothing.

8- Journey up 2 with The Way We Used To Be.

6- Up one for Griffith James an' Tennis and Market And Black.

5- Oh, the #1 falls to 5- Maneskin an' whatever that says.

Zitti e Buoni...

Yeah, whatever...

4- Brooke Annibale up 2 with Feels Like Home.

3- Beach Boys up one with Big Sur.

2- Countin' Crows got leapfrogged and stick at 2 with Bobby an' the Rat Kings.

And her what did the leapfroggin' was...

...Sass Jordan an' The Key!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the biggest M10 summer hit of all time?

...Agnes Obel, Riverside, with one week at the top- and FIVE weeks at #2- in June 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gwen, who won the new Panel?

GO:  So it went like this:

I Get Around finished #5 in 1964...

The Wayward Wind was 4th on Cashbox and 5 on Billboard in 1956...

I Can't Help Myself was 4 Cashbox and 2 Billboard in 1965...

I Just Want To Be Your Everything was 2 Cashbox and Billboard, 1977...

And the winner, with 2 on Cashbox and 1 on Billboard in 1959....

...Johnny Horton's The Battle Of New Orleans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And there you have the first episode of the Final Seventeen!  Tune in next time for Johnny and six new years!

Wednesday Bible Study: Drive-by Isaiah part 9

 

This week we start in chapter 29, with a passage that would seem a bit odd if you don't dig in:

Isa 29:1  Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round.
Isa 29:2  Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.
Isa 29:3  And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you.

A lot of "Ariel"s there.  Obviously, Ariel is another name for Jerusalem, but what does it then mean that "she shall be to me LIKE an Ariel"?  The commentators explain it this way:  Ariel is not only Jerusalem, but as the city of the Temple, it is also the location of the altar of God.  On this altar in the End Days- for as we'll see, this is an end days passage- God is going to sacrifice in His wrath the last of evil Israel.  But, it is not the END of Israel:

Isa 29:5  But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly,
Isa 29:6  you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
Isa 29:7  And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.

We're going to see in a couple chapters where this passage has a near and far meaning.  But right now, we have to think of modern Israel- and ourselves...

Isa 29:9  Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink!
Isa 29:10  For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
Isa 29:11  And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
Isa 29:12  And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."
Isa 29:13  And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Isa 29:14  therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."

Is this not us?  Church attendance in the US alone (never mind Europe) only reaches 50% of professing Christians if you include "once a month or so"; 38% say every week, and even that just equals how many open their Bible "Once a month or more".  Coincidence, you say?  Bring our current "woke culture" to mind when I show you this next passage:

Isa 29:20  For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
Isa 29:21  who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. 

 

In Chapter 30, the prophet again turns to his own time, and the alliance that some in Judah were trying to make with Egypt.  I love the name he gives to Egypt herein:

Isa 30:7  Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her "Rahab who sits still."

"Rahab" meaning, the "open mouth (of the crocodile)".  All bark, no bite.

But then it's back to the day of promise, starting with a command to get it all down:

Isa 30:8  And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.
Isa 30:9  For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;
Isa 30:10  who say to the seers, "Do not see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,
Isa 30:11  leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel." 

But God wants it preserved, so that when they are condemned, they understand the charges.  And for those who listen:

Isa 30:18  Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Isa 30:19  For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 

Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
Isa 30:21  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.


This is the guidance Christ and the Saints of the Church will give to the survivors of Armageddon in the 1,000 year reign of Christ.  Before the chapter ends, though, Isaiah returns to the final battle- and in a way that is most curious:

Isa 30:30  And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones.
Isa 30:31  The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod.
Isa 30:32  And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.
Isa 30:33  For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. 

 

So obviously, this was not about an Assyria of his day, but a "future Assyria"- the same as will later by John be called "Babylon".  The most evil of nations led by their 'king' the antichrist- and you notice that hell is specially prepared for him.   But as I just read this morning in Revelation, not only him;

Rev 14:9  And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Rev 14:10  he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." 

One thing I have tried to point out is we can believe these End Days prophecies because the near-term ones came true.  From chapter 31 I want to show you an example of that to close the week.  Once again, I point out our last clear point of reference date was about 708 BC.  That is when Isaiah prophesied:

Isa 31:8  "And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
Isa 31:9  His rock shall pass away in terror, and his officers desert the standard in panic," declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

You might ask yourself, "A sword not of man?"  Let's move foreward to 681 BC, and see how this was fulfilled:

2Ch 32:20  Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.
2Ch 32:21  And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.
2Ch 32:22  So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side.

2Ki 19:33  By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.
2Ki 19:34  For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."
2Ki 19:35  And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
2Ki 19:36  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.
2Ki 19:37  And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. 

 

185,000 cut down, by a sword not of man.  And we know the when for certain by the following assassination of Sennacherib by his sons.  And Isaiah told them it would happen some two decades before it happened.

3 day weekend last morning walk

 So Sunday we took 2 walks that were relatively uneventful.  And despite the fact that the fireworks might have been the loudest in our neighborhood they've ever been, I slept right on through 'em...

...of course, the two North Coast Pranqsters I pounded down might have helped.  And no, Grayson is NOT drinking one in the background...

"See, Grayson's not drunk, are ya, little brother?"

"Nope, big brother Isaiah!"

So we move on to Monday morning's more eventful walk....

First bunny of the day

Sunrise over the sprinklers

Papa Kildeer dive bombed us to let us know we're close to the homestead...

Finally, I learned what Misty keeps wanting me to go down the canal bank after...

That dark spot in the center was the tippy-tail of a raccoon going into the rushes

Mama Kildeer- either also distracting us or asking Misty for a date.  Misty looked, but said, "I'm not that kind of doggie..."

Mrs Goldfinch after a bath

Duck family just waking up in the Swamp

Nothing doin' at the Pond

Just missed a chipmunk hiding under the log

Now, there's something down the back trail...

Aww... adorable baby bunny

A while back, my sis-in-law shared a post that, "WARNING: Hemlock spotted in New Haven area!"  Yeah, we see plenty of it!

Once again, Misty hears/spots something.  We follow her track and guess what?

Another Raccoon!  I guess that means the other half of her "Heeler-mix" is coon dog- would explain the color scheme...

The Better Part, Week #27

 

This week's FB posts:

The Better Part, Day #149:

 

Php 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Php 3:21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. 

 

Did you know that the word here for "citizenship" is the Greek politeuma, from which politics springs? (Jay Leno's fractured Latin aside) This is why I even started The Better Part- because too many people were forgetting, or ignoring, where their politics SHOULD be!

 

 

The Better Part, Day #150:

 

Charles Stanley on," if God does His will, why should we pray?"

 

"God has things He wants to give us; some of those things He gives us only when we ask, and some of them He gives us whether we ask or not. Do we know the difference? No! So you better pray!"

 

The Better Part, Day #151:

 

Jdg 16:28 Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." 

 

I realized today- Samson was the original Prodigal Son! A wasted life, culminating in a "pig pen" moment chained to a pillar in a pagan temple. His "I don't deserve to be your son" was "just this once..." and a loving Father answered a desperate prayer.

 

 

 

 

3 day weekend first morning walk

 

Good morning, birdie!

Despite last night's mortar barrage, neighborhood looks unharmed...

Mrs Cardinal chirping at us

"My God, what is that smell?"

Why, it's the soccer field sprinklers!  Hope you like playing on that sulphur-saturated grass..

Bird breakfast central

Mrs Goldfinch leaving

So we got to watch a hawk almost have a squirrel breakfast.  However, the stupid camera, whose settings button would have been better placed on the other side, decided, "Oh, you want to switch to panorama!  Let me access that" at the very. Worst. Moment.

"That sucks."

And just as I was trying to line up Mr Goldfinch, I hear, "Coming up on your right!" from an ill-timed bicyclist.

Across the bridge to PFW

Robin was just looking up and over his shoulder at squirrels chattering above.

Then we saw the deer come out to the river, one at a time...

That made the long walk worth it!

Last night, we saw our first three groundhogs of the year!  Today, we saw another one.