'Israel' Tagged Posts
Daily Devotions
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.” vss. 7b-8 Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 As the prophet revisited God’s plans for Israel after the return from exile in Babylon, he realized that the old exclusive vision had to be revamped. Israel’s God had been too small. Now the prophet looked toward a new Israel that…
Daily Devotions
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.’” vs. 12 Ezekiel 37:1-14 The people of Israel, captive in Babylon, had given up hope. In their own minds they had been abandoned by the Lord and were as good as dead. But Ezekiel, one of their prophets, was given…
Daily Devotions
…he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” vs. 6 Isaiah 49:5-7 When the prophet uses the word “servant” in this section of Isaiah, he’s almost always referring to the people of Israel. They are God’s chosen ones, and…
Daily Devotions
He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’” vss. 2-3 Isaiah 49:1-4 In spite of external appearances like the destruction of Jerusalem and the ensuing captivity in Babylon, the prophet continued to believe that Israel would one day bring glory to God.…
Daily Devotions
Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’” vs. 28 Genesis 32:26-32 These days when traveling through Israel, tourists are amazed to discover large fields of prickly pear cactus. The pads are eaten as a vegetable and the pods make delicious jams and jellies–in Israel they are known as “sabra,” which is also the name given to native born Israelis. The name describes…
Daily Devotions
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” vss. 5b-6 Amos 8:5b-8 Amos may have been from the hill country of a poor nation, but he understood how the market operated in Israel during its “golden years.” His investigation didn’t take long and his report was scathing. Everything had been engineered to…
Daily Devotions
If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord … then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.” vs. 16 Deuteronomy 30:15-18 Our faith ancestors cherished the book of Deuteronomy, and rightly so! It was carefully crafted to describe how Israel should behave as a nation–it was like their constitution. In this section…
Daily Devotions
Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.” vss. 8-9 Psalm 66:1-9 From a practical or realistic standpoint, Israel’s survival as a people didn’t make much sense to the psalmist. They weren’t a powerful nation and had somehow managed to survive through the succeeding reigns of a series of superpowers. For him there was only one logical answer: their God had…
Daily Devotions
He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” vss. 2-3 Isaiah 42:1-9 It’s likely that the Servant spoken of in these chapters of Isaiah is a personification of the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God, the ones in whom the Spirit would work to bring light and justice…
Daily Devotions
People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” vs. 26 Luke 21:25-28 For the past few years we watched as the nation of Yemen has been virtually destroyed by constant tribal warfare and unrelenting air attacks from Saudi Arabia. Thousands have been killed, disease is rampant, and, because relief efforts have been blocked, starvation is widespread. No end to the conflict seems imminent! Yemen’s situation…
Daily Devotions: January 13, 2020
January 13, 2020 For full passage click: Isaiah 49:1-7 … “he says, ’It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” vs. 6 The Prophet speaks of Israel as the servant of the Lord, a nation destined for restoration, and to be…
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