Wed.’s Devo - The Lord of Heaven’s Army Will Win

Read: Isaiah 3:1-5:30; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; Psalm 53:1-6; Proverbs 22:28-29 Isaiah gives us a perfect description of the complacency of Jerusalem and how far she had fallen into sin. He described her as a flirting woman all dressed in her finery. But, God was coming as the Lord of Heaven’s Armies to strip away everything that made her so beautiful on the outside because inside she was wicked. There was no justice or good rulers. No one wanted to rule because everyone just wanted to play. Isaiah declared that playtime was over and judgment was coming. Isaiah saw Jerusalem so ravaged that all the men were gone and the women had to beg and pay the men left to marry them, just to give them a name. For those who found shelter in the Lord, he would be a canopy of cloud for them during the day and a fire at night just like he was for Israel in the wilderness. In Chapter 5, Isaiah compares Israel to his vineyard that he cared for and planted with good seed only to have it produce bitter grapes. They rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies so God was going to crush them. God would send them into exile far away and the great and honored among them would starve. The common people would die of thirst. God’s justice would exalt him and His holiness would be displayed by his righteousness. The ones who refused to repent were described as those who drug their wickedness behind them like a cart. Some would mock God calling on Him to do something. They are the ones who still call good evil and dark light. Sorrow waits for them. God will signal other nations to come and ounce on them and no one will be there to rescue them. The atmosphere will be dark with distress and destruction. In Corinthians, Paul is dealing with the crisis in the church. Corinth was a very wicked city full of prostitution and sin. He had dealt with the immorality that had slipped into the church in First Corinthians but now there was still a group of rebels led by a powerful leader in the church who refused to repent. Paul was dealing with them in the last chapters of Corinthians. He expresses his love for them and the fact that he never took any money from them. Apparently this rebel leader was just the opposite. Paul tries to unmask this man’s heart saying that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. In the end, the deceivers will get their punishment. Lord, may we not be complacent to what is happening in our world. May we fight with Heaven’s Armies to defeat our invisible enemy. May we repent as a nation for our sin and turn our hearts back to you.