Read Isaiah 15-16
 
Isaiah 16:3-6 “Help us,” they cry. “Defend us against our enemies. Protect us from their relentless attack. Do not betray us now that we have escaped. 4 Let our refugees stay among you. Hide them from our enemies until the terror is past.” When oppression and destruction have ended and enemy raiders have disappeared, 5 then God will establish one of David’s descendants as king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right. 6 We have heard about proud Moab – about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared.
 
ISAIAH 15-16 describes Assyria’s assault on Moab, Judah’s pagan neighbor to the north. The Moabites were fleeing the country. They were fugitives as so many are today when foreign oppression devastates a land. Most of them fled to the south past Judah to the desert regions of Edom. That means they were in need of food, water and shelter. They faced the dilemma of many fugitives.
   They could have gone to Jerusalem, where it was safe. God had promised Isaiah that Jerusalem was under the LORD’s protection for a time. But the Moabites would need to submit to Judah’s king. Fugitives submit to the country where they live. But that meant Moab also needed to submit to Judah’s God. They refused, so they suffered. As Moabite women pleaded for help and all of Moab wept, they still refused to worship God. Their pride became their destruction.
   This is the familiar story of the human choice, isn’t it? Obey God or obey self, which do you prefer? Which will release you from oppression?
   Then God spoke a plan for all throughout time who are fugitives from pride’s oppression. The LORD promised he would establish a king. He will rule with mercy and truth. He will always do what is just and be eager to do what is right. Only one king has always done and will always do what is right. He is the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
   In some sense, we are all fugitive from some oppression, seeking shelter from some form of life’s storm. And yet, in God’s mercy, we can find our refuge in him – submission required for admission to God’s care.
   Where, then, is your hope? Are you submitting to the LORD, who has prepared his eternal shelter for you? Look inside to see where your pride is. Put it aside to seek the fullness of God’s protection. Psalms 121:3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. What joy awaits you to know the eternal God watches over you.
 

 

Read Isaiah 10-11
 
Isaiah 10:34-11:5 He will cut down the forest trees with an ax. Lebanon will fall to the Mighty One. 11 1 Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot –  yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.
 
IN the late 1980’s Yellowstone National Park suffered a devastating series of fires. Ancient trees and acres of grass and brush burned to a charred landscape. It seemed nothing would ever grow again in those severely burned acres.
   Then in the 1990’s, I often traveled to Yellowstone. Through the decade, I saw that, incredibly, the fire’s intense heat had given new trees the opportunity to grow. Seeds from  long ago had lay dormant in the ground until the fire. They needed the heat of a fire to cleanse the less vibrant old growth and stir the seeds to life. The hot fire was a tool of God’s marvelous creation to bring “salvation” to this land. By 2000 new life had resurrected Yellowstone’s “dead” forest into a new dwelling place for many more plants and animals than before.
   Isaiah’s imagery is similar. Judah was pictured as a forest. God cut it down to cleanse the old, unfaithful growth. Still, God was merciful. Out of his cutting God activated his salvation promise illustrated in Isaiah 11. Out of God’s purifying judgment would come God’s own Son to be the new seed that would die. The cross and the grave were necessary justice for our sins to ignite the resurrection power of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The power of the Spirit’s wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, justice, fairness and fear would form the church and establish the kingdom of God.  
   Jesus says in John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives. We thank God for his resurrection plan to grow us to be sheltered in his righteousness and give shelter to others.  
     
 

Read Isaiah 7-9
 
Isaiah 7:14-16 All right then, the LORD himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us.’). 15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. 16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
 
IF God said to you, “I have a sign for you to assure you I will do as I say.” How would you respond? Surely an eager “Yes, LORD.” would come from your heart. Don’t we all want God’s clear sign we can trust his word? But Ahaz didn’t. When Ahaz said, “No, I will not test the LORD like that.” (verse 12) God said, “All right then, the LORD himself will give you a sign.” Whether you receive or reject God’s Word, he will do his will regardless. Isn’t it better to live in union with the Living Word?
Isaiah then spoke the sign that both Ahaz and all mankind can use to test God’s assurance.
   Perhaps you’ve heard Isaiah 7:14 often. Each Christmas season brings this to the forefront because it points to Jesus’ virgin birth. He is Immanuel, God come down, taught in Matthew 1:23 and Luke 1-2. 
   And there is more to the sign. Remember, this sign is spoken for Ahaz and his generation of Israel. God’s sign would be of little value if Ahaz would never see it. This prophecy points to both a few years and seven centuries future. 
   There are two ways the prophecy is fulfilled within a few years. The reference to yogurt and honey points to a boy living in a time when agriculture is not producing much food. During the wars against Judah, people had to survive with milk from goats and cattle. They would forage for wild food such as honey, made plentiful as flowers bloomed where crops would have grown.
   Second, God promised the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. Within 12 years from  this prophecy, the king of Aram would be deposed, and Israel would be scattered. The two countries threatening Judah would be gone. Even as he rejected God’s help, Ahaz would see the sign of God’s care for Judah.
   The virgin referred to in the immediate fulfillment is most likely any newly married woman of that time who had no sexual relations prior to marriage. A sign would come within a few years as they had children.
          God continually wants you to believe the signs of his grace. God gave many signs to Israel throughout the centuries to assure them of his benevolent presence. As we come to know God better, we can be more alert to his signs for our lives. Some of those include encouragement from friends, circumstances around us or a quiet thought during prayer. Scripture is I AM’s constant sign to teach, warn, save and protect you. Let the LORD’s guideposts faithfully direct you to be united with him.   

1 Chronicles 5:23-26 The half-tribe of Manasseh was very large and spread through the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. 24 These were the leaders of their clans: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. These men had a great reputation as mighty warriors and leaders of their clans. 25 But these tribes were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors. They worshiped the gods of the nations that God had destroyed. 26 So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria (also known as Tiglath-pileser) to invade the land and take away the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as captives. The Assyrians exiled them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day.
 
WHEN we go back to Joshua 1, we are reminded the tribes of Gad, Reuben and half-tribe of Manasseh claimed a land east of the Jordan River. God permitted them to remain in an area outsider of the Promised Land. They were, though, required to send soldiers into Canaan to help their fellow Israelites conquer the land. These tribes were loyal and worthy fighters to help claim the land. When the soldiers went home, they began a good legacy of leading their people in God’s righteousness. Their land was fertile and productive. Life was good.
   But as the generations passed, these tribes, as the others, did not worship God as their ancestors had done. Instead, they worshiped the gods of the nations that God had destroyed.
   Stop and think about that. Does that make any sense? Why would they worship the gods of nations they had defeated? Where is there any logic in turning our minds from the God of Victory to the gods of death? There are many voices in our culture today urging us to live in the ways of past governments and ideologies that have caused great death and terrible suffering. How can people be so blatantly ignorant of what’s wrong and what’s right?
   We need right leaders, and Israel needed right leaders then. True, the leaders named had a great reputation as mighty warriors and leaders of their clans. But surely they were missing the right leadership, weren’t they? It does little good if leaders with great reputations as warriors lead people into earthly prosperity but away from God. Prosperity does not lead to eternity.
   God was beginning his work to scatter Israel. And then he would also exile Judah. This happened because the nations’ leaders and citizens rejected God’s prosperous hand of his law, grace, mercy and patience. As each account of the kings begins with a statement on their obedience or disobedience to God, we know the LORD places high responsibility on his leaders and followers. And he wants all people to be alert. Know God’s true pathway. If you believe someone is leading you into exile, stop and know which way you need to go.
 
 

Read Micah 6-7
 
Micah 6:6-8 What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
 
WHEN our soul is in conflict with God, our nature is to attempt to make peace with God in many ways that come from our desires. Sometimes our “peace” is to ignore him. If we don’t know the right way, then we can go our own way. Often we fill the “God gap” in our lives with some form of idol worship – material goods, food, busyness or casual “friends”. Excess seems to be a formula to fill an empty life.
   Israel’s national soul was separated from God. One way Israel sought God’s approval was to offer extra sacrifices. Yes, God required various sacrifices in worship. But Micah portrays Israel sacrificing much more than required. They were desperate for God’s favor. They knew their sins are many; yet they rejected repentance. They hoped, instead, to satisfy God with increasingly more sacrifices on the altars. How anxious, even frantic they were to ask: “Should we offer calves, thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil,  our firstborn children to pay for our sins?”
   Can you believe this? Their idol-worshiping hearts were making God equal to the idols. Recall in their contest with Elijah how the Baal prophets did more and more to call on the lifeless god. No amount of noise could arouse a dead idol. With one word, though, Elijah called, and God destroyed the evil.
   We need to know God is too big for excess. The LORD God repeatedly reveals he is more than big enough for all our needs.
   One great tragedy in false worship through idols and cults is the emptiness that comes with doing more and more. When one believes God will only be satisfied with more effort, the work becomes our faith. We always wonder, as did Israel, “Am I doing enough?” God teaches you that you are complete in him only when your heart is loving him. From there he will show you what to do as you love mercy, live in his justice and walk humbly to submit to his will.
   God doesn’t ask you for a big display of meaningless works. He guides you to a steady faithfulness. He commands we offer kindness, live with integrity, stand up for the oppressed, and be humble. Years later, the apostle Paul echoed the prophet’s teaching. “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3)
    

Read Micah 3-5
Micah 5:1-3 Mobilize! Marshal your troops! The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem. They will strike Israel’s leader in the face with a rod. 2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. 3 The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land.
 
THE prophets’ words throughout these current Bible  readings often point to the contrast of violence and peace among God’s people. These three verses have that pattern of defeat and separation to become victory and unity.
   Micah foretells of two very different leaders in Judah. Verse 1 points to the reign of Zedekiah about 110 years after Isaiah’s death. The Babylonians captured Zedekiah as he fled the conquering army. They humiliated him in horrible ways, including striking his face with a rod. Micah’s words, “They will strike Israel’s leader in the face with a rod.” are literally fulfilled. Babylon ravaged Jerusalem. God would not be worshiped in his city for the 70 years exile.
   But God had his victory plan to reign over the earth. Out of tiny Bethlehem Ephratha, the city of Bread, will come Israel’s eternal ruler from the distant past. The original language says he will come from “days of immeasurable time”. To this point, Bethlehem’s story has been highlighted in Ruth and in 1 Samuel. Ruth and Boaz are David’s great-grandparents. Samuel anointed David to be king of Israel. God promised David the eternal kingdom would come from his lineage. Micah is another affirmation that Bethlehem is God’s chosen city to bring forth the Messiah into the world.
   The reference in verse 3 to these events happening after the woman in labor gives birth is not Mary’s labor to deliver Jesus. It is an image of God’s people struggling through the coming centuries, enduring exile, occupation and total destruction. This image is repeated in Revelation 12:3 Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads.. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne.
   The earth groans under  sin’s curse. Israel groaned in its unbelief. God brought forth a Savior, who will one day join all believers to their own land – the new creation ruled by the King of Kings.
   Prophecy is good for our faith. These words from 2700 years ago teach us how to prepare for God’s future.
 
 

 

Read Micah 1-2
 
Micah 1:8 Therefore, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.
 
ONE good reason for reading God’s entire story – all of the Bible - is to learn the way the prophets’ ministries are interspersed with the kings’, with Israel’s and with Judah’s history. To know the Bible’s history is to know how God has worked through an enormous span of time to reveal himself to you today. God’s Love Story means very little if we simply view him from our own chapter of life. After all, you are never in a true relationship with someone until you know one’s history. It is only when people share their stories do you begin to understand more about who they are. Sharing stories builds trust and commitment. We learn from others. Our life is more complete then.
   The same is true if you call Jesus, “My personal Lord and Savior”. Knowing God’s glorious story to redeem mankind from evil will build your trust, love and commitment to the One Who Saves.
   Who is Micah? He’s known as one of the Minor Prophets, so named because we have less of his writings than Isaiah, for example. But the two are connected. If you read the introduction to Isaiah again and compare it with Micah 1:1, you’ll find the two prophets’ ministries occurred at a similar time. Knowing this fact of God’s story teaches us God was being very purposeful and thorough to declare his urgent messages to Israel and Judah.
   Micah 1:8 is a lament because Micah knows God’s story. God keeps his promises – both curses and blessings. Micah understood the death and division, the anguish and the suffering his friends, neighbors and countrymen would know as they stay in their sins.
   So, too, should we deeply mourn when loved ones falter and run from God. We grieve for their fruitless search for purpose, love and goodness they will not know if they neglect God’s story. This was Micah, lamenting Israel’s future and the sorrow God would know fulfilling his judgment promises. 
   Micah’s nakedness is an illustration of shame and guilt throughout the Bible. Sin opened Adam’s and Eve’s eyes to their nakedness. Suddenly they were ashamed because they were no longer perfect in each other’s eyes. Nakedness became a sign of our mortality. No longer clothed in God’s glory, the first couple were clothed in their fleshly mortality. God is the only one who can clothe us. God no longer had clothes for Israel.
   God wants you clothed in him. His story is now moving to the final day when all who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. (Revelation 3:5) This is God’s story. We look to the past to see how he has clothed us in salvation. 
 
 

Read Isaiah 1:27-21, 2:1-5, 5:24-30, 3:1-8, 4:2-5
 
Isaiah 2:2-4 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all – the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. 3 People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. 4 The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.
 
TODAY’S Scripture readings summarize the range of Isaiah’s prophecies. They speak of the immediate, near, distant and eternal future. The focus passage points to the eternal future. God’s judgment will precede his glorious salvation at the time’s end.
   One of the reoccurring images in Scripture is going up to God on a mountain. This begins with Noah’s ark landing on Mt. Ararat at the flood’s end. Then Genesis 11 describes humanity desiring to build a tower up to God. Abraham is directed up Mt. Moriah to sacrifice Isaac to test his faith. Moses meets God on the mountain to receive the law. Then the Jerusalem temple is on the same mount Abraham took his son. The Psalms of Ascents are going up step-by-step to worship God on his temple mount in Jerusalem. Jesus dies on the mount of Golgotha. The dead will rise up to meet the Lord in the air. In the last days, the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven. And here Isaiah speaks, “The LORD’s house will be the highest of all.”
   As we read in Joel’s prophecy, Isaiah referred to “the last days” This is God’s rule coming to all his church in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21). Some say this could also point to the current age of the church as we have total access to ascend to God and worship him through the Son and the Spirit.
   Going up to God with our daily worship puts us in God’s presence. What joy to know the world will live this way one day. And this also demonstrates what our lives, communities and nations can be today. When people go up to God together, they will come to know his law, justice, grace and forgiveness. Ascending to the Lord will raise our minds to learn how to love one another. How wonderful that would be.
   The world is full of pain because we look down on our own desires. We do not look up to see God’s good pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2c) for our everyday and eternal lives.
   Listening to the world, it is clear we need rest from life’s distresses. The best place to be distress-free is to know God is on his throne. Believe he has come down in love to raise you up to him. Go ahead. Get up each day and go up the mountain of God to his holy hill, his throne room of grace. Be in a solid, Bible-teaching church. Have a quiet, meditative and prayer time with your Holy Bible. Enjoy a conversation with a godly friend and a Jesus-loving pastor. Even more, as you confess “Jesus is Lord.” take a moment to savor he is with you. The Holy Spirit is within you. Yes, he is. He’s right there to raise you up to enjoy a life-giving, love-building, peace-making relationship with the Lord God Almighty right now.
 
Pause and Consider: a picture of God with his arms wide open waiting for you to come to him: Be strengthened in his love.
 
 

Read Isaiah 1-3, 5 & 32:9-23
 
Isaiah 1:1-3 These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. 2 Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: “The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. 3 Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care - but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them… 18 Come now, let’s settle this," says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
 
WHAT do you need to know to decide if you should go to a conference? You learn who is speaking. What are their qualifications? Will they speak on topics you need or desire to learn? You wonder about their personal experiences. Do they have actual life-based information for your circumstances? After all, you are trusting someone with your time and the cost of traveling to and attending the conference.
   Many books of the Bible begin as Isaiah. God informs us who is writing. Then he speaks through them to tell us why we need to “go” and know, and even desire, his messages. We learn Isaiah is the author. He tells who he is and what qualifies him to write: he speaks God’s message. He wanted all in Judah to know that God had given him a vision – a picture – of what will happen in Judah and in the city of Jerusalem during the reigns of four kings. Their rule covered about 70 years, and Isaiah likely lived through 50 years. It is as if Isaiah received a DVD or link to YouTube, so he could see God’s will for the present and the future vividly revealed to him.
   Isaiah’s faith is secure in God’s vision. He is convicted that if people listen – actually hear and do God’s revelation – Judah will repent from sin. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.”  This is the gospel. The God who knows us will come to us. These scriptures are a preface to and a summary of the reasons why God needs to speak to Judah. They need to be saved!
   This pattern of judgment and salvation is consistently revealed throughout Isaiah, which is often considered a view of the entire Bible.
   If Isaiah were speaking at a conference, would you go? Do you think Isaiah’s words would help you today? From heaven’s throne, the LORD holds a free conference for every one of us each hour of each day. In the Bible, through prayer, true teachings constantly available and within Christian fellowship, I AM tells you his eternal purpose is to teach you what you must know. Listen and learn. The LORD God Almighty has spoken to you.
 

Read 2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21
 
2 Chronicles 26:16b-18 Uzziah sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”
 
DO you notice the scripture describes the 80 priests who went into the sanctuary to stop Uzziah as all brave men? And see the direct language against the king: Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The priests were brave and direct because they knew what the LORD had done to Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. God’s Story has told how God judged Aaron’s two sons with a consuming fire when they incorrectly burned incense in the LORD’s Tabernacle (Leviticus 10:1) Sudden death could have come from heaven on all of those present as Uzziah flagrantly burned incense in the Temple. The law said this was the priests’ work. Uzziah put the priests in jeopardy of judgment in his prideful disobedience. God did not kill the king, but he sentenced Uzziah to leprosy. This was as a living death. The king lost his freedom to move about during his final years as Judah’s king. And his son Jotham became a co-regent to represent his father to Judah.
   2 Kings 15 also records the list of Israel’s prideful kings rejecting God’s influence and law on their lives. How tragic is this legacy one man after another desiring power to the extent he is willing to kill for the throne. And do you often notice this phrase: he refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. Each king of Israel continued the idol worship of two golden calves Jeroboam had begun as the Northern Kingdom’s first king. The ongoing conflicts from one king to another was certainly a dark fruit of this idol worship. Jeroboam kept his people from Jerusalem, and he left a legacy of king after king doing the same.
   Scripture continually illustrates the power of legacy – your mark on the future. What Adam did affects us all. Abraham’s response to God formed his nation. David’s devotion influences us today through his psalms. The prophets’ messages ring true for us because they spoke God’s eternal just Word. The apostles’ obedience to Jesus’ commands is the means we have come to know the Savior. What we do matters for longer than one day. We can act now to be a difference for the lives that follow us.
   If things need to be better in your family, then start today to learn how this will happen. Then be a godly leader to begin the changes in your life, so you can move them into the future.
   There is no one on earth who has not been influenced by someone who has gone before them. For the bad or for the good, your life makes a difference. Let’s be mindful to leave God’s mark on our future generations.