THE LORD SPOKE (September 23)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Isaiah 11-13

The Day of the Lord. Never a very easy subject and especially in Isaiah where it is sometimes presented as a bright shining hope (e.g. chapters 11 & 43) and other times as a day of doom and judgment (e.g. chapters, 2, 24, & 34). The key to unlocking this difficulty is found in understanding the Hebrew concept of a day. Already in Genesis 1, we find the calculation of a day to begin with the hours of darkness. Six times it says, “there was evening, and there was morning - the _______ day”. The Jewish reckoning of a day began with the night and ended with the daylight.

So too “the Day of the Lord”. It will begin with judgment and then turn to the dawning. That is not to agree with the chorus of the well-known hymn, We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations. There it says that “the darkness shall turn to the dawning and the dawning to noon-day bright, and Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth....” The error of that song is it’s amillennial eschatology. The idea there is that our missionary endeavors - preaching to the nations - will bring in Christ’s kingdom.

But Scripture teaches that Christ’s kingdom will come in with great judgment upon the nations and all who have rejected Him. This is the many-times-repeated message of Isaiah, starting in Is. 2:11 & 17...

The eyes of the arrogant men will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

The book of Revelation confirms this view. Revelation 6-19 speaks of great judgment upon all the earth and her inhabitants before the glorious appearing of Christ (Rev. 9:11-16) and the establishment of His millennial kingdom on earth (Rev. 20:4-6).

Here in Isaiah 11 we read of the mid-point dawning of the Day of the Lord. The messianic introduction (Is. 11:1-5) tells of His judgment in striking the earth but then there follows a description of millennial conditions (Is. 11:6-9) and, in particular, the restoration of the remnant of Israel to the Land (Is. 11:10-16). Twice (Is. 11:10 & 11) it speaks of “that day” which will be glorious.

A most significant phrase is used in Is. 11:11. It says that God would do this “a second time”. Some would say that the first time was from Egypt (prior to Isaiah some 750 years) and the second time was in the days of Ezra (about 230 years after Isaiah). But Is. 11:11 eliminates that possibility when you consider from where the people return! They come from the four corners of the earth.

The better interpretation is that the first return in Isaiah’s prophecy happened in the days of Ezra and the second is that which is happening before our very eyes today. That leads us to the conclusion that the current return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is the not-yet-completed fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Note further, there will only be two such returns according to Isaiah so we should expect this one to lead into the Day of the Lord. We are not to expect or suggest that what’s happening now could all fade away and start over again at some future time - a third, fourth, or more return. No, we are seeing prophecy fulfilled in our time and the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the return of Jesus Christ to take His Bride before the judgment of the Day of the Lord begins. Are you looking up?


Psalms 13-14

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Like a child tired of traveling in the car, David begins Psalm 13 with a whine. How long? How long? How long? How long? Four times! Should you talk to God like that? Do you?

How do you think He feels about that kind of questioning? Just as we get perturbed at our nagging child, it seems He must grow weary of listening to such whining. If the psalm did not progress and then end as it does, there would be just cause for divine disfavor. If the whining did not stop and then turn to joyful praise, there would be reason for the wrath of heaven to fall.

Psalm 13 is composed like a Richard Strauss symphony. Eine Alpensinfonie is written like a climb up a mountain side, beginning during the darkness just before dawn. The ascent takes you through a forest, by a brook, near a waterfall, and through flowery meadows. From the glacier near the summit you see rising mists and then an approaching storm. The thunder strikes and passes before a swift descent to get off the mountain before nightfall. All that with music.

David does the same with words, expressing a shift in spiritual mood:

I. In the Valley (Ps. 13: 1-2)
II. Starting to Climb (Ps. 13: 3-4)
III. At the Peak (Ps. 13: 5-6)

It describes our common experience, does it not? It’s so important that we follow through in the symphony of life and don’t stay down in the valleys. Just as David turned his eyes to the Lord and called out to Him for help, so must we. This will bring us also to say, “I trust in your unfailing love” (Ps. 13: 5).

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by;
Trusting Him whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Singing if my way is clear,
Praying if the path be drear;
If in danger for Him call;
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

Trusting Him while life shall last,
Trusting Him till earth be past;
Till within the jasper wall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.

                              Edgar P. Stites