Missions Paul

Isaiah 23
v15-16 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:“Take up a harp, walk through the city, you forgotten prostitute; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.”

After 70 years a forgotten prostitute will sing to be remembered. She will sing the old songs of how pretty she used to be.
Do we sing out at times to be remembered?
Sing about our past achievements?
Harp on about the old times?
Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past. Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe.
The past can be great or not, but it’s not to be lived in.
A new day!

Isaiah 22
V15 “Go say to this steward, to Shebna …”

The nation was in rebellion and selfishly living their life away from God and Shebna who held high office was responsible.
When Queen Victoria was a child, she didn’t know she was in line for the throne of England. Her instructors, trying to prepare her for the future, were frustrated because they couldn’t motivate her. She just didn’t take her studies seriously. Finally, her teachers decided to tell her that one day she would become the queen of England. Upon hearing this, Victoria quietly said, “Then I will be good.” The realization that she had inherited this high calling gave her a sense of responsibility that profoundly affected her conduct from then on.
Who do we have under us? Who are we responsible for? Are we good shepherds?
Are we responsible for work colleagues, our children, our pupils, or Sunday school children, the elderly, the youth in our church etc ?
God wants us to treat them fairly, righteously and as God would treat them.

Isaiah 21
Day after day … I stand on the watchtower; every night I stay at my post, v8

President John F. Kennedy in a speech that he was never able to deliver due to his assassination, wrote these words:
“We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny rather than choice the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”

Today, listen, watch, be alert. An opportunity is coming your way to prevent hurt coming to someone, to show the light of God and brighten someone’s day, to hear from Him who is watching you.
Be vigilant.

Isaiah 20

It would be quite difficult to forget that 3 year period if you were a friend of Isaiah!
In the most dramatic and disturbing of prophetic signs God speaks to those who boast in the strength of man to show the foolishness of their way.
He gives and takes away.
He builds and tears down.
He clothes and strips bare.
God is.
They were not even putting their trust in what God had given man.
Augustine said, “Even the good merits and qualities which people may display toward one another are gifts from God. Every good quality comes from His grace. God’s mercy is the ground of salvation. Therefore, let no man boast. Out of faith spring hope and love. We hope only in God — not in men and not in ourselves.” (“The History of Doctrines”, Reinhold Seeberg, p. 366)
What do we boast in? What do we hope in?
Only God is the sure thing to boast in
With Him you will never be ashamed.

Isaiah 19

With language of the Exodus story, this oracle calls for God’s people not to look at what man looks at. They must not glorify Egypt by trusting in its power, but to trust in God. God says He will judge Egypt and bring it low.
We will not forget the scenes displayed in our media recently of the protests, riots and the deaths within Egypt regarding the Muslim Brotherhood, “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian brother will fight against brother, neighbour against neighbour,” v2. Are these scenes the fulfilment of end-time prophecy?
It states that Israel would fight back against Egypt capturing 5 cities, there will be an altar of worship to the Lord, Jesus would make Himself known to the Egyptians and this will be their saving grace. There will then be a holy alliance between Egypt, Assyria and Israel.
There are many who can interpret end-time prophecies. They specialise in such chapters as these.
One thing I know is that if God can judge, rescue and then defend a nation He can do it for individuals.
No one has gone too far or wasted their life away from God that they cannot be reached. Everyone can be known as a people of God, His handiwork or His inheritance, v25. It is not for a select few. It is for you and that person you know who at the moment is walking away from God. So hold on to that dream of seeing your Egypt find God again. Don’t give up on them.

Isaiah 18
This is what the Lord says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” v4.

The silence of God.
The loudness of man.
The still small voice of God.
The shouting of man.
Heroic figures displaying their celebrity statuses.
This is the world we have come to know so well.
But the world of God is at times so much different.
Ask the Persecuted what God is like and they will say ‘He is quiet’.
There are many unknowns today, in prison, tortured, deprived of their human rights,. Many unknowns facing shame and lifelong battles with their families for becoming Christian. The unknown knows all too well unanswered prayers, the fear of worsening danger and the absence of courage.
What is God like?
He is quiet.
But he is still there!
Like a shimmering heat or a morning cloud of dew God can be seen even in the most strangest of ways.
Just because God is quiet today is no indicator He is not there.
He is watching you.

God
Grant me to be silent before you that I may hear you;
at rest in you that you may work in me;
open to you that you may enter;
empty before you that you may fill me.
Let me be still And know you are my God.
Amen.

Isaiah 17
Damascus was a key city, highly influential and very powerful. This city in Syria along with Israel will experience a fading glory. God will show the world that all that these 2 places have accomplished are simply not real. They are fraudulent. Man may look and be impressed but God will reduce their achievements to rubble.
Why?

You have forgotten God your Saviour; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress, v10.

How is it possible to forget anything of great significance?
No doubt these people still believed in God and they still declared they were Yahweh followers. Had they really forgotten?
Well we all know what it is like to have some kind of memory loss! Two elderly women were discussing the problems of growing older. One commented, “The worst thing is when your memory starts to go. I’ve known you all my life, and I can’t think of your name. What is it?” The second lady thought for a moment and said, “Do you need an answer right now?”
But to forget God? How is that possible?
Unknown author, Chuck Ross, took a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, titled Steps, which had won the National Book Award six years before. Ross retyped the first 21 pages of Steps and sent them out to four publishers, using the name Erik Demos as a fictitious by-line. All 4 publishers rejected the manuscript. Two years later, he retyped the novel Steps in its entirety and submitted it, again credited to Erik Demos, to several more publishers, including the original publisher, Random House. It was rejected by all with unhelpful comments, including Random House! All told, 14 publishers and 13 literary agents failed to recognize a book that had already been published and had won an important award. And so …
We forget God when we forget what He has done in our past that was absolutely wonderful and life-saving and our present shows no sign of that amazing provision. This is dangerous memory loss.

Isaiah 16
v5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Isaiah believed for a leader who will lead in love. Power is not everything.
Isaiah believed for a leader who will stand firm. So many start but do not finish.
Isaiah believed for a leader who will be faithful. The call must always remain.
Isaiah believed for a leader who will live for others. Many die living for themselves.
Jesus fulfilled all that Isaiah believed. He is that dream leader.
There is still a call for such leadership.
Let us all lead our lives in such a way today.

Isaiah 15

Moab is mentioned often in the Old Testament as a wicked people whom God would judge for their sins against Israel.
Moab is ruined …
My heart cries out over Moab …
Who are the wicked, the sinful? Is it the same proud person of the previous chapter?
When you see them fall will you respond like Isaiah?
Will you cry?
Peace-loving Francis of Assisi joined the Fifth Crusade in Egypt, though he did not fight. He risked his life crossing enemy lines to preach to Muslim sultan Malik-al-Kamil. The sultan did not convert, but he offered Francis riches (which he declined) and had him escorted back to the Christian camp. “The Crusades,” Christian History, Issue 40.
Let us all cross enemy lines with our prayers for those who need God’s help right now, no matter who they are or what they have done.

Isaiah 14

In 2006, a New York city judge allowed José Luis Espinal to legally change his name to Jesus Christ. Following the decision, Espinal said he was “happy” and “grateful” that the judge approved the change. He also said that he was moved to seek the name change about a year prior to the decision, when it dawned on him that, “I am the person that is that name.”
Who is Isaiah speaking of?
I will ascend. I will get to the very top. I will be above everyone. No one can stop me. I am above and beyond. I would rather destroy what I have than give it someone else. (v13-17)
Who is this person?
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon? Satan? Your enemy? The friend you once knew?
No matter who they are they will never make it.
There is only one God.
Nik Wallenda has become the most-watched high wire artist and daredevil in the world. His two most recent feats were seen by a billion people across the world. In 2012 Wallenda walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls. In 2013 Wallenda became the first person to high-wire walk across the Grand Canyon.
Wallenda knows that he will be tempted by pride, so after the accolades and applauds have died down and people have gone home he goes around the site and picks up rubbish. Wallenda recently wrote,
“My purpose is simply to help clean up after myself. Three hours of cleaning up debris is good for my soul. Humility does not come naturally to me. So if I have to force myself into situations that are humbling, so be it …. I know that I need to get down on my hands and knees like everyone else. I do it because it’s a way to keep from tripping. As a follower of Jesus, I see him washing the feet of others. I do it because if I don’t serve others I’ll be serving nothing but my ego.”
May we all serve in the rubbish.