Isaiah 47 (HCSB)
The Fall of Babylon
1 “Go down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter Chaldea! For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
2 Take millstones and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered, and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.
4 The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
5 “Daughter Chaldea, sit in silence and go into darkness. For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people; I profaned My possession, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7 You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or think about their outcome.
8 “So now hear this, lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I exist, and there is no one else. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
9 These two things will happen to you suddenly, in one day: loss of children and widowhood. They will happen to you in their entirety, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
10 You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray. You said to yourself, ‘I exist, and there is no one else.’
11 But disaster will happen to you; you will not know how to avert it. And it will fall on you, but you will be unable to ward it off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
12 So take your stand with your spells and your many sorceries, which you have wearied yourself with from your youth. Perhaps you will be able to succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with your many consultations. So let them stand and save you—the astrologers, who observe the stars, who predict monthly what will happen to you.
14 Look, they are like stubble; fire burns them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. This is not a coal for warming themselves, or a fire to sit beside!
15 This is what they are to you—those who have wearied you and have traded with you from your youth—each wanders on his own way; no one can save you.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 10): Father, for a long time I’ve felt secure in my wickedness and astray due to dependence on my own wisdom and knowledge. Please forgive me, Father, for these sins. Help me to always remember to confess my sins and not live in them, but also to depend on Your truth and not my own.
PROMISE (verse 4): You make a foretelling promise here, Father, of Your Son, Jesus, being our Redeemer and You always keep Your promises. Thank You so much for our redemption through Jesus Christ, Father. Without Him as our Lord and Savior, I would be lost and forsaken.
ATTITUDE (verse 10): Help me to depart from my attitude of self-righteousness, Father. Help me to always have the attitude that Your will be done and Your truth is always the way. Help me to not only know but also embrace and take action on Your will and Your truth.
COMMAND (verses 4, 15): You tell us, Father, that no person on this earth can save us except for our Redeemer, Jesus. This to me is a command saying that if we want to be saved and redeemed, which I do, then we MUST accept and follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
EXAMPLE (verses 6-8): You give us so many examples to live by in this Scripture, but I narrowed it down to these three verses. You tell us to live mercifully. You tell us to take care of our elderly. You tell us to take the gifts and blessings You’ve given us to heart and use them wisely to glorify You. You also tell us not to be a “lover of luxury” as this would be coveting a fake idol. I have failed at all of these multiple times throughout my life, Father. Help me to embrace these examples in my life, Father, so I may walk this life in a way that glorifies You.
*DAILY NOTE: I’ve given into the enemy, my flesh, selfishness, and even the worldly ways quite often in this life, Father. I’ve even given into these since coming to faith almost a decade ago. Please help me to be a better Christ follower in this life, Father. Help me to bring glory to You through my words and actions in this life. Help me to not covet anything in this life and to never put anything above You ever again, Father.
*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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