Tues.’s Devo - Judgment of the Nations

Read: Isaiah 15:1-18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 23:12 God gave Isaiah prophecies about many nations. Today we read of three. He started with Moab. The Moabites lived right outside of the promised land. The king of Moab hired Balaam to curse Israel and they remained enemies throughout their history. God was speaking their destruction. Their god was Chemosh, a fish-god who they claimed had given them victory over Israel. Their end was near in fact in the next three years they would be destroyed. I wonder what would have happened if they had repented like Nineveh. The next on God’s list was Damascus which was the capital of Syria. Syria had been Israel’s enemy for the most part although they did join with Israel against Judah in the days of the kings. When the time came for Damascus to be destroyed, Israel would also grow weak and become desolate. A small remnant would remain in Israel and they would turn to the Lord. They would put away their idols and seek the Lord. They would live in a deserted and desolate land and reap grief and unrelieved pain. Their armies that came against them would not go unpunished. They would be silenced and run away and die. Ethiopia was next on the list. Ethiopia was the land of the ‘burnt faces’ or the negro. The Greeks described them as tall, smooth and the handsomest of all. They lived south of Egypt in Africa by the Nile. They were the leaders of commerce since they had the Nile to ship their goods through. They were known for their conquests and destruction. God said that their armies would be quickly left dead in the fields and then be eaten by vultures and wild animals. The remnant would bring gifts to Jerusalem to the host of God’s armies. Paul wrote this letter to the Church at Galatia. This would include the people of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. There were legalists in their church that were called Judaizers that taught against Paul’s message of grace and taught that they had to adhere to the law in order to be saved. Paul defended himself and his teaching by reminding them that he was a devout Jew who followed all of the law but this did not give him life. Following the law was not the way to salvation, believing in Jesus and accepting his atonement for our sins does. Lord, may we not be tempted to believe another gospel than what you teach.