Saturday, September 24, 2011

Saturday, September 24th

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Isaiah 34-36, Romans 4

Sorry for the late post today. Yesterday was just crazy and this morning I ran my first 10k! But anyway, on to today's passage....

The first chapter in our Isaiah passage is a chapter of judgment and the next is a chapter of the joy and redemption believers can look forward to (with some really beautiful imagery) and then the last chapter describes for us, once again, the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem.

One part of this chapter I noticed in a way I haven't before....
The field commander is threatening....
And if you say to me, "We are depending on the Lord our God" - isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar?" Isaiah 36:7
From my Life Application Bible...
The field commander from Assyria claimed that Hezekiah had insulted God by tearing down his altars and making the people worship only in Jerusalem. But Hezekiah's reform sought to eliminate idol worship (which occurred mainly on high hills) so that the people worshiped only the true God. Either the Assyrians didn't know about the religion of the true God, or they wanted to deceive the people into thinking they had angered a powerful god.

In the same way, Satan tries to confuse or deceive us. People don't necessarily need to be sinful to be ineffective for God; they need only be confused about what God wants. To avoid Satan's deceit, study God's Word carefully and regularly. When you know what God says, you will not fall for Satan's lies. (emphasis mine)
I don't want to be confused about what God wants. I am thankful for this blog because it is a constant encouragement to me to continue to study God's Word in order to be able to be discerning and recognize Satan's lies and deceit for what they are.

Tomorrow's passage: Isaiah 37-38, Romans 5

3 comments:

tammi said...

To me that line from the Assyrian sounds exactly like the line the serpent used on Eve!!!! Sneaky, doubt-causing snake.

Dana said...

That same passage jumped out at me! Great post!

Pamela said...

Great post. I think it is easy to be confused because of the blurred line of society's influence on God's law.