Reading

• Isa. 45:14-48:15

Devotional

In today’s reading GOD discusses future events and His plans to destroy Babylon and cause idolators to know that He is the One God.

¹⁴ Thus says the LORD: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours…And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.’”
(Isa. 45:14 NKJV)

“I am the LORD, and there is no other. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. ²⁰ “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save. ²¹ Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.
(Isa. 45:18b-21 NKJV)

Even during days of captivity and dark times of their life, GOD wants Israel (and us) to know that He is with us.

³ “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb: ⁴ Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
(Isa. 46:3-4 NKJV)

Babylon will fall because of their pride, arrogance, and mistreatment of GOD’s people during their punishment.

¹ “Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate. ² Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. ³ Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.” ⁴ Our Redeemer—the LORD Almighty is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ “Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms. ⁶ I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. ⁷ You said, ‘I am forever—the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. ⁸ “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’

⁹ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. ¹⁰ You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ ¹¹ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
(Isa. 47:1-11 NIV)

¹² “Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. ¹³ My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. ¹⁴ “Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians. ¹⁵ I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission.
(Isa. 48:12-15 NIV)