August 4 - Evening
"Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
'It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.'
'Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?'
'I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.' "
- Isaiah 63:1-6
'It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.'
'Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?'
'I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.' "
- Isaiah 63:1-6
The Deliverer Returns for Vengeance
63:1 The watchman asks who is coming. Someone is approaching Israel from Bozrah in Edom. Bozrah was the capital of Edom. Edom was Israel’s southern enemy.
“It is I” or simply “I” and is the word used by God to identify himself. See (43:25) “Speaking” is the character of the LORD. Throughout scripture God speaks:
- Genesis 1:3, “God said, ‘Let there be. . .’ ”
- Revelation 22:20, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
- In Isaiah the Messiah speaks in 11:4; 49:9; 50:4; 50:10; 61:1-2
“Mighty” – He is strong “Save” – He can deliver
It is clear that he will be able to deliver his people from their enemies because:
- He is present
- He is active and speaking. He is not an inactive, mute idol.
- What he says is right, true or based in reality. This is not the case of his enemies.
- He is the strong one
- He has the power to save and deliver.
When he appears he brings salvation to his people. The antithesis of salvation for his people is destruction of the enemies.
63:2 The watchman can see the returning warriors garments are stained red.
63:3-6 The Servant/Warrior answers the watchmen from verses 63:1-2. Four things are made clear:
- He has been treading a winepress (63:3) and the nations are being trampled (63:6)
- He trampled them in anger and in wrath for it was the day of vengeance. (63:3-4)
- He did the work alone (63:3, 5)
- He did it for redemption (63:4) and salvation (63:5)
God has emotions. His love for his people is balanced by his anger for his (and their) enemies.
We can see in Isaiah 53 (the defeat of our inner enemy sin) and 63 (the defeat of the outer enemies the nations) that without a Messiah we would never be able to overcome.
“To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God.” - Isaiah 61:2
Who could help? No one.
Notice the anger of God and the vengeance of God are not to get even but to work his plan of salvation.
Verse 4 indicates that this act involved planning and waiting through the years:
- “. . .was in my heart” indicates his plan and purpose that he has been working on
- “the year of my redemption has come” shows many years and seasons have gone before but not it is time for redemption.
- Redemption and Vengeance are opposites in this case. Redemption for his people, Vengeance for his enemies.
63:6 The winepress image of “made them drunk” and “poured their blood on the ground” is a picture of the enemies being so deep in blood that they drown.
In 49:26 the oppressors of God’s people “will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.”
Isaiah 53:12 describes the Servant shedding his own blood (“pouring out his soul”) to save these enemies from themselves and their world by making them righteous. They refuse to be changed by the gift and so now die in their own blood.
“For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him. . .” - Romans 5:10
Israel now reflects on what Isaiah has just promised (63:7-14) Israel’s obvious question is “If 63:1-6 are true, why are we still in this mess?
- God is Good
- We have sinned
Stulos (Gr) – pillar (Eng) – the Greek word stulos refers to the column that supports the weight of a building. Stulos is used to refer to the leaders of the church in Galatians 2:9.
I will rejoice today because I have a deliverer who has saved me and will continue to deliver me now and in eternity.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Ask God to show you habits and practices and values that need to change
Church
Time of refreshing
Nation
Families
World
North Korea
Someone to Quote
"When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying,
'You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.'
To that, Calvert replied,
'We died before we came here.'
'You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.'
To that, Calvert replied,
'We died before we came here.'
Something to Ponder
Nations
Only four generations after the flood, people were divided into different cultures with various languages in separate lands; each of these nations had developed its own government. Genesis 10 lists the original seventy nations that came about as a result of God developing this new institution. Nationalism remains a safeguard for the world today. It stops us from having a corrupt one-world government. Now, when one nation goes astray, God can deal with that nation directly through a cycle of discipline over a period of generations. If that nation remains unwilling to repent, God can eliminate them from human history without wiping out everything as he was forced to do in the worldwide flood.
Here’s a Fact
Proverb
"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."
- Proverbs 4:18
- Proverbs 4:18
Coach’s Corner
Personal growth increases your personal potential. The failure to learn and the refusal to change is the rejection of increasing your opportunity for success.
2 Kings 25:27-30New International Version (NIV)
Jehoiachin Released
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
_____
Psalm 137 New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 137
1
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2
There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3
for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4
How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
5
If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.
9
Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Jehoiachin Released
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
_____
Psalm 137 New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 137
1
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2
There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3
for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4
How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
5
If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.
9
Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Nahum 3 New International Version (NIV)
Woe to Nineveh
3
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!
2
The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots!
3
Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—
4
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.
5
“I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
6
I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.
7
All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”
8
Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall.
9
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies.
10
Yet she was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains.
11
You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
12
All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
13
Look at your troops— they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed the bars of your gates.
14
Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork!
15
There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down— they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!
16
You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away.
17
Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day— but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
18
King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
19
Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Woe to Nineveh
3
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!
2
The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots!
3
Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—
4
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.
5
“I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
6
I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.
7
All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”
8
Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall.
9
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies.
10
Yet she was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains.
11
You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
12
All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
13
Look at your troops— they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed the bars of your gates.
14
Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork!
15
There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you down— they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!
16
You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away.
17
Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day— but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
18
King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
19
Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.