Old Testament reading: Isaiah 12-14
While we don’t normally think of the prophets as songwriters, Isaiah 12 is a beautiful hymn of praise to Yah, the Lord. In verse 2 is a three point sermon outline: The Lord is My Strength, My Song, and My Salvation. Isaiah 13 contains the burden of Babylon. As Assyria was God’s instrument to execute wrath on His people, but would also be destroyed for his pride (Isa 10:8-16), so also says the Lord of Babylon. Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar in particular, was used as God’s instrument of wrath against both Assyria and Judah (cf Jer 25:9). Yet we are also told that Babylon will fall prey to the same old, well worn tool of the Devil – pride (v 11, 19). Within this prophecy is foretold the nation that would rise up and destroy Babylon – the Medes (Persians). This overthrow took place in the days of Daniel, just as he told Belshazzar in Daniel 5:28. Finally, within this prophecy is God’s promise to restore Israel (the people, not the nation) to their homeland. This also took place during the days of the Persian empire (cf Ezra 1). And now to one of the most misunderstood texts in all of Isaiah – Isaiah 14:12-17. Ask any person on the street as to the identification of Lucifer, and almost to the person you can expect to hear “Satan” or “the Devil.” Untold multitudes of volumes and popular songs have been written, and movies and television shows have been propagating this error. Isaiah 14:3-23 is a prophecy about Babylon and her greatest king, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar built the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven great wonders of the world. Nebuchadnezzar ruled over most of the known world, and Daniel identified his kingdom as unsurpassed by any other on earth (Dan 2:37-38). But this great man was brought low as if he had fallen from heaven. Read Daniel’s account of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and his subsequent punishment for the same (Dan 4:19-33) for a proper understanding of who Lucifer is and how he fell.
New Testament reading: Hebrews 1-7
Hebrews 1:1-4 reminds us that we are now living in the last days, and have been for nearly two millennia: “God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (1:1-2).
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