The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
I’m moving on from Isaiah 18. I’ve read and listened to nearly half a dozen commentaries and none of them agree on what is going on in this chapter.
I haven’t seen this much variety of interpretation before and it is fascinating. However unsatisfying it is, I will have to become more comfortable in my ignorance.
Isaiah 18:7 KJV — In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
In a dense book, this is a particularly challenging chapter.
Commentaries disagree on most every verse in this short prophecy, even to which Ethiopia might be referenced (their was an African empire and an Arabian nation of that name).
I’m at a personal impasse and it seems I’m running into a similar problem with Scripture.
I’m going to take another day to research this chapter and pray to post more insights tomorrow.
Isaiah 17:7 KJV — At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.
Damascus is one of the world’s oldest cities and has never been destroyed. In Chapter 17, Isaiah foretells its obliteration.
When that day comes, the people there will have nothing idol left to worship. They will have only God.
Jeremiah 48 serves as a companion reading.
Jeremiah 48:11-12 KJV — Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
Isaiah 16:6 KJV — We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
The dregs that settle in wine will ruin it. This passage describes a necessary process of pouring oneself out and leaving behind what is impure.
It takes humility to recognize one’s flaws and to be spritually reborn.
This process can only occur in truth. Our lies are our dregs and we need to extract ourselves from them.
Revelation 17:13-14 KJV — These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Chuck Missler gave me a lot of homework for this reading (see the Blue Letter Bible app): Isaiah 13-14, Jeremiah 59-51, and Revelation 17-18.
Revelation 18:7 KJV — How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Revelation is a challenging book to understand, but this character of Babylon speaks deeply to me.
She denies the inherent suffering of the world, lives in pride, and portends to be a monarch free of God’s command.
These temptations are ever present in widowhood. In our suffering we find great strength in ourselves. The key is to remember that all strength comes from God.
Isaiah 12:2 KJV — Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
I’ve been feeling just strong enough. That’s a precarious place to occupy. I don’t ask God for strength as often as I should, but I regularly thank Him for the power He has graced me with.
Isaiah 11:9 KJV — They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
“For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD.”
It’s a wonderful inversion, or reverse revolution. Knowledge is what got us into trouble and kicked out of Eden. Knowledge of God will restore that state of peace.
Isaiah 10:1 KJV — Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
I’m especially bias towards seeing libertarian concepts in Scripture. Woe will befall men who write laws that are not in accordance with God’s will.
Isaiah 9:2 KJV — The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
This is how I feel as someone who came to discover Jesus in his heart in his late thirties.
I was saved less than a year before my wife took ill and passed away. We didn’t know it, but we were baptized in the shadow of death.
When my Mary returned to her home in Heaven, the full spectrum of Light shone down. My conversion had been calm, but this revelation filled me with a powerful Love that endures to this day.
Isaiah 9:6 KJV — For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
My story is a mystery. Why Jesus found me that summer, I do not know. But He knew that I would need all of His counsel, might, and peace in the coming years.
I spent a lot of time in chapter 9 today, but don’t feel like I penetrated much into its meaning. I’m sure I will return here and be shown more.
Isaiah 7:9 NRSV If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.
Ahaz, king of Judah, chooses military alliances over the Word of God.
It doesn’t go well for him.