Isaiah 21 (HCSB)
A Judgment on Babylon
1 An oracle against the desert by the sea:
Like storms that pass over the Negev, it comes from the desert, from the land of terror. 2 A troubling vision is declared to me: “The treacherous one acts treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
3 Therefore I am filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear, too dismayed to see. 4 My heart staggers; horror terrifies me. He has turned my last glimmer of hope into sheer terror. 5 Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet! Eat and drink! Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6 For the Lord has said to me, “Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees. 7 When he sees riders—pairs of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels—he must pay close attention.” 8 Then the lookout reported, “Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day, and I stay at my post all night. 9 Look, riders come—horsemen in pairs.” And he answered, saying, “Babylon has fallen, has fallen. All the images of her gods have been shattered on the ground.”
10 My people who have been crushed on the threshing floor, I have declared to you what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.
An Oracle against Dumah
11 An oracle against Dumah:
One calls to me from Seir, “Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” 12 The watchman said, “Morning has come, and also night. If you want to ask, ask! Come back again.”
An Oracle against Arabia
13 An oracle against Arabia:
In the desert brush you will camp for the night, you caravans of Dedanites. 14 Bring water for the thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema meet the refugees with food. 15 For they have fled from swords, from the drawn sword, from the bow that is strung, and from the stress of battle.
16 For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. 17 The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Isaiah 22 (HCSB)
An Oracle against Jerusalem
22 An oracle against the Valley of Vision:
What’s the matter with you? Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops? 2 The noisy city, the jubilant town, is filled with revelry. Your dead did not die by the sword; they were not killed in battle. 3 All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together; they had fled far away. 4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly! Do not try to comfort me about the destruction of my dear people.” 5 For the Lord God of Hosts had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion in the Valley of Vision—people shouting and crying to the mountains; 6 Elam took up a quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Your best valleys were full of chariots, and horsemen were positioned at the gates. 8 He removed the defenses of Judah.
On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. 9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. You collected water from the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago.
12 On that day the Lord God of Hosts called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads, and for the wearing of sackcloth. 13 But look: joy and gladness, butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat, and drinking of wine—“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 14 The Lord of Hosts has directly revealed to me: “This sin of yours will never be wiped out.” The Lord God of Hosts has spoken.
An Oracle against Shebna
15 The Lord God of Hosts said: “Go to Shebna, that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16 What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a crypt for yourself out of rock? 17 Look, you strong man! The Lord is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, 18 wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be—a disgrace to the house of your lord. 19 I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position.
20 “On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. 22 I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. 23 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house. 24 They will hang on him the whole burden of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. 25 On that day”—the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the Lord has spoken.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 22:11): Wow, God! I felt like You were yelling at me in this verse. Your people were building great things, but they did not ever look to You or give credit to You for any of those great things as our Master and Creator. Please forgive me, Father, for I do this far too often. Too many times do I bask in my own achievements or my family's achievements and neglect to give glory and praise to You for it all. If it weren't for You and the sacrifice You made for me, then the only thing I would be worthy of is death and eternal damnation. Thank You, Father, for blessing me with so much grace and love even though I am undeserving.
PROMISE (verses 22:23-25): These verses sound eerily similar to a foretelling of Jesus' sacrifice for us. I'm no theologian, but the similarities are amazing. You promise that He will carry on Him the entire load of His Father's house and that once the sacrifice is all said and done, the entire load on it will be destroyed. Thank you so much for this promise, Father.
ATTITUDE (verses 22:12-13): I often do not know when to weep and when to express joy for Your kingdom, Lord. More often than not, my "default" is joy and I struggle to recognize when I should be weeping to honor You. Father, please help me change this "default" of mine so that both my inward and outward expressions and attitudes stay in line with Your will to glorify You through ALL things.
COMMAND (verse 21:10): Although not a direct command from You, Father, I do feel You speaking to me on this one. The oracle in this verse said that they declared to them what they had heard from You. Father, please help me to be brave and wise enough to follow this command of relaying Your messages to others so that I may always do Your will in speaking Your truth when You tell me to.
EXAMPLE (verses 22:12-14): I find this as an example of what not to do, Father. You called for them to weep and wail, yet they chose to get drunk and party joyfully. Father, please speak to me and convict me through the Holy Spirit when my actions and intentions are not in line with Your will. Your punishment to them for these actions was far more than I could ever handle, but also far less than I deserve. Help me to align myself with Your will so that I may always honor and glorify You.
*DAILY NOTE: Yet again, You seem to be screaming Your words at me, Father, so that I actually listen. I struggle so much with my flesh and world driven defaults. I need your help, Father, in learning to change my default behaviors and attitudes to those that align with Your will and Your ways. This has been a struggle of mine for far too long, Father, and I ask for Your help in making me right.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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