Isaiah 26 | Paul the Poke

Archive for Isaiah 26

Right Attitude in Trouble… Joshua of Ghana

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Joshua Ghana with tags attitude, Ghana, God, heart, Isaiah 26, repent on March 21, 2020 by paulthepoke

ISAIAH 26:12-21

Key verse: “LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.” Isaiah 26:16

Joshua of Ghana @beholy404 on Twitter

Charles Swindoll once said, “The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace from that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have and the string is attitude.”

In this prophetic song in our text about the latter days, Isaiah prophesied what the attitude of Judah will be in reaction to the judgment of God in scattering them among the nations. Judah had lived in sin and God had visited them with judgment, allowing their enemies to take them into captivity. However, in this song, Isaiah was hopeful that Judah would eventually demonstrate the right attitude by turning to the Lord in repentance. For this reason, they will be saved from the onslaught of the antichrist who will torment the world.

It is clear from the submission of Isaiah that what is needed while in trouble and perplexity is the right attitude. Unfortunately, however, many people portray an adamant attitude when faced with God’s chastisement. Rather than return to God, they choose to go farther away from Him. Conversely, the attitudes of some others are even more alarming when God shows undeserved acts of mercy and kindness to them. Rather than being grateful, they choose to be contemptuous.

It is important for everyone to know, as Swindoll has noted, that we all have a choice concerning the attitude and course of action we adopt each day. A positive attitude goes a long way to determining an eventful end. It is futile for anyone to fight his Maker. How we need to humble ourselves and wholly submit to God’s counsel even while passing through divine chastisement!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The heart focused on God will never cease to beat.

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Straight Talk…Perfect Peace, Rodna Epley

Posted in Rodna Epley with tags Isaiah 26, Jesus Christ, perfect peace, Philippians 4 on April 4, 2018 by paulthepoke

The indicator of truly having our hopes in Jesus is this: Do we have “perfect peace” or have we lost it somewhere along the way? I can be so hard on myself at times. While in one way, I really do want to continue maturing in Christ every day. I also want to get from point A to point B in the fastest car on the Autobahn. However, God wants me to learn to be patient in the process of getting to point B. So He puts me in a “Slug Bug” or “economy car” instead, and probably laughs. Because in “the process” of getting there is where we learn to know Him, to know who we really are in Christ, and to know which path He is lighting for us to walk in. The process (if we submit to it) is also where our strength comes from. It’s a training module to teach us to have “peace in a storm”.

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Trend Update: Let’s “Rock” DC! July 2017

Posted in Fake News???, Trend Update with tags Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Isaiah 26, Kid Rock, Michigan, President United States, Senator on July 12, 2017 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 26:4 “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.

Here in the United States, we are turning to other “rocks” as options…The state of our union…

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has filed to run for President of the United States in 2020. “The Rock” is currently a registered Independent.

“Run the Rock 2020”

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dwayne-johnson-for-president-committee-files-with-fec/

Not to be outdone…Kid Rock has announced he will be launching his bid to become a United States Senator in the great state of Michigan. Kid Rock looks to run as a Republican.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/12/politics/kid-rock-us-senate-twitter/index.html

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Rapture of the Bride of Christ, When, Part 2

Posted in Gospel, Isaiah, Prophecy, Rapture with tags Acts 28, Bride of Christ, church, Ephesians 5, Gospel, Heaven, Isaiah 26, Jesus Christ, Jewish wedding, John 14, Prophecy, Psalm 27, Rapture, Revelation, Romans 6, salvation on July 21, 2014 by paulthepoke

When looking at the course of an Ancient Jewish wedding, Jesus is following cultural custom. A Jewish man has to make an offer to purchase or buy his bride to be. Jesus has met this obligation with Acts 28:20b …to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. Gifts are usually offered from the groom to the bride. In the case of the church, we receive the gift of eternal life from the groom. Romans 6:23b …but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The marriage involved the drawing up and the acceptance of a legal contract called a ketubah. During the betrothal or the promise of the coming marriage, it is the groom’s duty to prepare a home for his pending bride. John 14:2-3 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” According to Jewish custom, the Father of the groom decides when the house is ready. The Father sets the wedding date. He tells his son when it is time to go get his bride. A Jewish groom goes and gets his bride, an event of a Jewish wedding ceremony. The rapture of the church is when Jesus comes and takes His bride. Ephesians 5:22-33 Draws parallels between Christ (husband) and the church (bride/wife). Jesus’ relationship to the church is as a husband is to a wife. Specifically, Ephesians 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

There is more to the wedding in regards to bride’s response and the ceremony itself. The context and focus are how the rapture fits into the wedding. Jewish cultural information provided by The New Manners and Customs of Bible Times, God’s Final Jubilee by Dan Goodwin, Our Father Abraham Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin R. Wilson, The Truth Behind Left Behind by Mark Hitchcock and Thomas Ice.

Jesus is speaking in Revelation 3:10 and states “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” It is members of the church who receive crowns. We give them back to Jesus. The crowns are on the heads of the elders. They are wearing white, purified and cleansed robes in Heaven (not on Earth) in Revelation 4 before start of the tribulation. Later in Chapter 4 of Revelation, the crowns are thrown before the throne in Heaven, not on Earth. These events take place in Heaven before the Tribulation. How did the church get into Heaven before the Tribulation? Rapture. All hell breaks loose on Earth with the Tribulation starting in Revelation 6. The church is absent in the Revelation 6-18 text during all of the destruction on Earth.

Jesus is taking His bride out of harm’s way. The church is safe in Heaven’s bridal chamber preparing for a wedding. Isaiah 26:20-21 Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain. The previous context of these verses in Isaiah is the resurrection of the dead…

Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

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Resurrection for All, Part 2

Posted in Gospel, Isaiah, Prophecy with tags Adam, dead, dew, dust, Ezekiel 37, Genesis 3, Isaiah 25, Isaiah 26, Israel, Jesus, Resurrection, valley of dry bones on April 26, 2014 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

The text makes it very clear. These people are dead. The Hebrew word for dead in this case is muwth. It means to die (as a penalty), to be put to death, or to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct). Humanity was originally created to be eternal. We are reminded death is a result of sinful choices. The body is a corpse, a carcass. The executed are buried and taking a dirt nap.

But as the pattern of Scripture, the dead are called and commanded. The Hebrew grammar states these dead bodies are caused to wake up. Something, God, has acted on the dead bodies to cause them to awaken. Their response to being resurrected is an intensive, crying yell for joy according to the original grammar. This seems to be a plausible response if you had been dead for years.

Again, the text confirms the original point. These people were dead. The Hebrew word for departed spirits is rapha’. Per Strong’s Concordance, rapha’ means spirit or ghost of the dead. Body and spirit have been reunited.

There are cultural implications regarding dust to the Jew. God created from Adam from dust. Adam returned to the dust as a result of sin/death. Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Dust is associated with death. Psalm 22:15b…And You lay me in the dust of death. Dust is the fate of humans and animals as noted in Ecclesiastes 3:20 Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.

Whereas dust is associated with death, dew is associated with life. Dew is a symbol of fertility and life (NET Bible). The context of the verses is nation Israel and their dead. This verse says Israel’s dead will be a symbol of life and rebirth to the world. After approximately 2,000 years of being exiled from their land and dead as a nation, this has literally come to pass. In 1948, Israel became a nation again, a resurrected country. See Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry bones, for more detail. In the future of April 2014, there will be multiple resurrections of the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus demonstrates mastery over death and sin. Isaiah 25:18 He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken.