Read: Isaiah 28:14-30:11; Galatians 3:23-4:31; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 23:19-21
Isaiah addresses the leaders of Jerusalem who made a covenant with the devil and believed his lies that he would take care of them.
God laid the foundation stone in Zion and it can be trusted. In his government justice and righteousness are the standard. He will sweep away the things their lies brought them and destroy the things they did in secret. Their covenant with Satan will be annulled and will not stand the storm. What they trusted in will not sustain them in the storm.
God will rise up and bring destruction on the whole earth.
Their punishment will be meted out according to their works.
Chapter 29 is directed to Jerusalem and the Temple. They would be punished suddenly by the Assyrian army. The Assyrians would gain nothing permanent by the conquest. She would face inner strife and then be conquered by Babylon who would then be conquered itself.
Judah had been blinded by deception and false teaching, false prophets and false gods. True wisdom from God was like a book they were not able to read. They went through the motions of following God, but their hearts were far from him. They did things in darkness thinking they were hiding from God but he knows everything. Nothing his hid from our Creator.
The day was coming when the people will be able to read the book of the Lord and understand it. Their blind eyes will be open and their deaf ears will hear the truth. Understanding and wisdom will bring joy and they will see the judgment of the wicked. The children of the Lord will turn to him and fear him and learn his ways again.
All the rebellious who made an alliance with the devil will go into bondage. They will trust in Egypt to their shame and humiliation. They will try to bribe Egypt to help them but it will be in vain. They had refused to hear the warnings of the prophets of God and it will come back to destroy them.
In Galatians, Paul explained that the law had been their guardian until Christ came to justify them by their faith. Through him we are all the same - God’s children, offspring of Abraham and heirs to all the promises of scripture.
Through Christ’s death, we received our inheritance as a son of God. We are no longer slaves to the world and its system but are heirs with Christ.
Paul is bewildered that the Galatians still desire to live under the law instead of under the freedom of grace. He explains that Hagar, the slave, had a child according to the flesh, while Sarah, the free woman had a child according to the promise of God. Haran stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia where the law was given and Sarah stands for spiritual Jerusalem which is the promise of our future. He explained that they were not children of Hagar but of Sarah. They were the heirs of the promise.
Lord, thank you that we are heirs of your promise. May we not slip back under the law of sin and death. Thank you for your promises and life, liberty and joy.
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