Day 198, July 17: Bible reading & prayer
Isaiah 18-22 (chronological); Psalms 22-24, Acts 20:1-16 (OT/NT)
We are in the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, as recounted in 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Yesterday, we read prophecies in Isaiah regarding the fate of:
Babylon: they will be used to punish Judah but will then be overthrown by the Medes
Assyria: will be broken
Philistia: famine
Moab: devastation, with a very small remnant
Damascus: will become a fallen ruin and have no sovereign
Today we read more prophecies regarding Babylon and Assyria, as well as Cush (Ethiopia), Egypt, Edom, and Arabia. God has judgment against all His enemies, though He may use them for a time in executing judgment on His people. He punishes the sin of forgetting and not depending on Him. He has mercy on those, from all nations, who turn to Him.
Reminder of historical background: as a consequence for Solomon’s disobedience, ten tribes were torn from the Kingdom of Judah, under Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and given to Jeroboam, to form the Kingdom of Israel. Judah’s kings, influenced by the legacy of faithful David, vary between good and evil. Israel’s kings, influenced by the legacy of rebellious Jeroboam, go from bad to worse. The books of the Kings cover both kingdoms, while the Chronicles tend to focus on the kingdom of Judah.
An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here.
July 17 chronological reading: Isaiah 18-22
Isaiah 18
v1-3 “Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,
Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
v4-7 “For thus the LORD has told me,
‘I will look from My dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’
For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
From a people tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.”
Isaiah 19
v1-4 “The oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
‘So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confound their strategy,
So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead
And to mediums and spiritists.
Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master,
And a mighty king will rule over them,’ declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
v5-10 “The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
The canals will emit a stench,
The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
The reeds and rushes will rot away.
The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
And the fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.
Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.
And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.
v11-13 “The princes of Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid.
How can you men say to Pharaoh,
‘I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings’?
Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them understand what the LORD of hosts
Has purposed against Egypt.
The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly,
The princes of Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have led Egypt astray.
v14-15 “The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion;
They have led Egypt astray in all that it does,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
There will be no work for Egypt
Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
v16-17 “In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them.
v18 “In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.
v19-22 “In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
v23 “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
v24 “In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’”
Isaiah 20
v1-6 “In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.’ And he did so, going naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, ‘Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, “Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?”’”
Isaiah 21
v1-5 “The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.
As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, Elam [sons of Shem allies of Assyria, foes of Babylon], lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.
For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
‘Rise up, captains, oil the shields,’
v6-7 “For thus the Lord says to me,
‘Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.’
v8-9 “Then the lookout called,
‘O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.’
And one said, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.’
v10 “O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.
v11-12 “The oracle concerning Edom.
One keeps calling to me from Seir,
‘Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?’
The watchman says,
‘Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.’
v13-15 “The oracle about Arabia.
In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,
O caravans of Dedanites.
Bring water for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Meet the fugitive with bread.
For they have fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow
And from the press of battle.
v16-17 “For thus the Lord said to me, ‘In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.’”
Isaiah 22
v1-4 “The oracle concerning the valley of vision.
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
You who were full of noise,
You boisterous town, you exultant city;
Your slain were not slain with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.
Therefore I say, ‘Turn your eyes away from me,
Let me weep bitterly,
Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.’
v5-11 “For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation and confusion
In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying to the mountain.
Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate.
And He removed the defense of Judah.
In that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,
And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you collected the waters of the lower pool.
Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
And you made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the old pool.
But you did not depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
v12-13 “Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
Instead, there is gaiety and gladness,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.’
v14 “But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me,
‘Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you
Until you die,’ says the Lord GOD of hosts.
v15-18 “Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts,
‘Come, go to this steward,
To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household,
“What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here,
You who hew a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
Behold, the LORD is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
And roll you tightly like a ball,
To be cast into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.”
v19-23 ‘I will depose you from your office,
And I will pull you down from your station.
Then it will come about in that day,
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will entrust him with your authority,
And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.
v24-25 ‘So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cutoff, for the LORD has spoken.’”
July 17 OT/NT readings: Psalms 22-24, Acts 20:1-16
We are reading Psalms in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms:
Psalm 22, appears as 58th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
Psalm 23, appears as 59th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
Psalm 24, appears as 60th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
We are in the book of Acts, written by Luke. In yesterday’s reading, Paul, after two years in Ephesus when “all who lived in Asia [had] heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks,” had “purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’…About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way….Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis…gathered together with the workmen of similar trades,” stirring them up that their business and the reputation of the goddess Artemis were threatened. “The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater.” The town clerk was eventually able to calm the crowd, appeal to the rule of law, and dismiss the assembly.
A summary of the book of Acts, which is really a summary of the rest of the New Testament, including when all the letters of the apostles were written, is here.
Acts 20
v1-6 “After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.
v7-12 “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, ‘Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.’ When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.
v13-16 “But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.”
Dear Lord,
you did not depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
Instead, there is gaiety and gladness
“Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.
Teach us not to rely on ourselves, but to rely solely on You. Teach us to repent.
On the first day of the week…we were gathered together to break bread
Help us not to forsake gathering together, and remembering You as we gather.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
"Teach us not to rely on ourselves, but to rely solely on You. Teach us to repent." & "Help us not to forsake gathering together, and remembering You as we gather." Amen, Amen! Thank you Dr. Milhoan. Peace.