For a work to be done in the land, Christ needs to rule and reign in the church. May His presence fall and overwhelm us all.
Isaiah 29: The Siege of Jerusalem
1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.
3 And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly,
6 you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink!
10 For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."
13 And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."
15 Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"
16 You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
17 Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction."
Isaiah 30: Do Not Go Down to Egypt
1 "Ah, stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;
2 who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at Zoan and his envoys reach Hanes,
5 everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace."
6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the adder and the flying fiery serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her "Rahab who sits still."
A Rebellious People
8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.
9 For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;
10 who say to the seers, "Do not see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel."
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them,
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern."
15 For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling,
16 and you said, "No! We will flee upon horses"; therefore you shall flee away; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"; therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.
The LORD Will Be Gracious
18 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, "Be gone!"
23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures,
24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones.
31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod.
32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.
33 For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulphur, kindles it.
Things to think about…
Ariel refers to Jerusalem and it literally means ‘lion of God’. And in Isa 29:1-9 Isaiah speaks of the nation’s coming against Jerusalem. This happened with both Assyria (whom they were delivered from) and also Babylon, who represented the nations. But we also know there is a prophetic significance here. We know the nations will gather against Jerusalem at the end of the age – predicted by many prophets including Jesus, Matt 24 and Luke 13.
Jerusalem would be surrounded by Assyria and be delivered in a night. In Isa 29:5-7 Isaiah speaks about this deliverance, although it hasn’t happened at this point. But for those discerning enough to trust the word of the Lord who were living in Jerusalem at the time these would have been very comforting words. 185, 000 Assyrians would be struck by the angel of the Lord in a night.
It is a sad day of judgement when the Lord shuts the mouths of his prophets and causes his servants not to see Isa 29:9-12. In our day we are called to speak and see on behalf of the Lord. We are to represent His counsel in our day and tell others of the great work He has done. We remember He has sent His Son Jesus, born of a virgin, Immanuel “God with us”.
Jesus quoted Isa 29:13 “this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men”, Mt 15:8 referring to the Scribes and Pharisees when they challenged Him on what was clean and unclean. We either honour God or others by what we say. This either makes us clean or defiles us. Let’s honour God by honouring others in the church and taking this attitude out into the world.
Paul interprets Isa 29:16 “Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding” in Rom 9:20, 21. We have no right to question God and yet we should enquire of Him and seek His counsel. If we struggle with the Lord’s will, this does not show a lack of faith – even Jesus struggled with the will of God. But an acknowledgement that He will do right is where faith and trust bring Him glory.
Asking Egypt for help is pointless Isa 30:1-7. Seeking an earthly answer to a spiritual problem is pointless. The arm of flesh will fail you. What are you doing in your own strength at the moment that just isn’t working out? Realign your focus with Christ and commit yourself to be obedient to Him. Honour Him with everything – your time, gifts, finances, heart, mouth and mind. Watch the Holy Spirit break some chains as you do more of this in your life.
What a grief it is when the people of God ask for the messengers of God to shut their mouths Isa 30:8-17. Churches that reject the word of God will close. Families that turn away from truth will know division and dysfunction. Let’s encourage truth to always be lifted up in our homes and our church.
The Lord wants to deliver us and bless us, Isa 30:18-33. But our eyes need to be upon the Teacher, vs 20. He gives us ears when He says “This is the way, walk in it", vs 21. When this happens we turn away from earthly idols, vs 22. But do you really want the Lord’s presence, Isa 30:26-30. Your life will never be the same. May Christ change us all with the power of His presence.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
For Cell Groups.
Reading was from Isaiah 11:1-13 Title “Christ’s kingdom on Earth”
1. How do you interpret texts like these in the Bible? How do you know if they are literal, allegorical or symbolic? Eg Gen 1-11 and parts of Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah etc.
2. Jesus prayed for the Father’s “Your kingdom come your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven”, Mt 6:10. How does this picture of the earth’s renewal fit these verses.
3. Paul speaks about the earth groaning waiting for “creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God”, so that it can be “set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Rom 8:19-21. How are the sons revealed so the creation can be liberated?
4. Pray for each other, our church and the prayer points.
Prayer Points
1. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
2. Victorian parliament has passed the anti-conversion bill yesterday. Making it illegal for Christians to counsel and pray for gay people even if they seek after a Christ centered identity. There are so many grievous points to this bill. Pray for Victoria.
3. Ministries as they have started back – Kids at Church.
4. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
5. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times.
6. The 2 positions:- Youth and Young Adults Coordinator and Children’s Coordinator we are recruiting for in 2021. Pray Rechare can start back soon.
