The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 23:6-9,
"Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, you people of the island.
Is this your city of revelry,
the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
to settle in far-off lands?
Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are renowned in the earth?
The Lord Almighty planned it,
to bring down her pride in all her splendor
and to humble all who are renowned on the earth."
The prophecy given Isaiah against Tyre includes references to many places. Tarshish, Cyprus, Sidon, Egypt, all of Phoenicia, the Babylonians and Assyrians, Tyre's trading "with all the kingdoms of the earth", verse 17. We see the Lord providing prophecies to Isaiah that concern many nations, their entanglements, their conflicts, their prospects.
The key feature of all these nations, and the prophecies about them is that found in verse 9, "The Lord Almighty planned it..." The verse goes on to point to the pride the people of Tyre had and the Lord's actions against it.
Some people have this notion that in the Old Testament the Lord has only been interested in one nation, Israel, and preoccupied with her standing before him. While it is clearly true that his pointed focus had been on Israel as his vehicle to bring his plan of redemption of mankind to fruition, Israel is not the only nation God interacts with.
Just as we see the Lord's involvement with all of these nations in the prophecies of Isaiah, I am reminded that the Lord continues to use nations for his purposes yet today. Why anyone would make the assumption that the Lord was only interested in the nations of years gone by and not so much today seems short-sighted to me.
I am reminded of Paul's words at the Areopagus, "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
God is just as operative and active among the nations today as at any time. As we read the headlines of the day, it should always be with the view of "I wonder what the Lord is doing here..."
wail, you people of the island.
Is this your city of revelry,
the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
to settle in far-off lands?
Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are renowned in the earth?
The Lord Almighty planned it,
to bring down her pride in all her splendor
and to humble all who are renowned on the earth."
The prophecy given Isaiah against Tyre includes references to many places. Tarshish, Cyprus, Sidon, Egypt, all of Phoenicia, the Babylonians and Assyrians, Tyre's trading "with all the kingdoms of the earth", verse 17. We see the Lord providing prophecies to Isaiah that concern many nations, their entanglements, their conflicts, their prospects.
The key feature of all these nations, and the prophecies about them is that found in verse 9, "The Lord Almighty planned it..." The verse goes on to point to the pride the people of Tyre had and the Lord's actions against it.
Some people have this notion that in the Old Testament the Lord has only been interested in one nation, Israel, and preoccupied with her standing before him. While it is clearly true that his pointed focus had been on Israel as his vehicle to bring his plan of redemption of mankind to fruition, Israel is not the only nation God interacts with.
Just as we see the Lord's involvement with all of these nations in the prophecies of Isaiah, I am reminded that the Lord continues to use nations for his purposes yet today. Why anyone would make the assumption that the Lord was only interested in the nations of years gone by and not so much today seems short-sighted to me.
I am reminded of Paul's words at the Areopagus, "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
God is just as operative and active among the nations today as at any time. As we read the headlines of the day, it should always be with the view of "I wonder what the Lord is doing here..."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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