Day 50: Isaiah 14:1-Isaiah 28:29 - 90 Day Challenge

The End of the World

A Pinpoint Between Life and Death


Today, I'll mostly be focusing on Isaiah 24-26, but first, I'd like to point out a little extra Jesus prophecy, carried over from yesterday's reading. 

Isaiah 16:5 says, "In love, a throne will be established; in faithfulness, a man will sit on it--one from the house of David--one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness." This verse is referring to Jesus. I love that it's pointed out that God sent Jesus out of love, not condemnation. And Jesus took over that role because of his faithfulness, which we are to emulate. 

Moving on to Isaiah 24: The Lord's Devastation of the Earth a.k.a. the end of the world. 

Reading Isaiah 24 is gruesome. It seems nice at first, it sounds like a leveled playing field where master and servant, debtor and creditor, priest and people are all the same! Sounds lovely! But the chapter continues to point out that people have absolutely defiled the earth, we've ruined it and corrupted it. Isaiah 24:17 pretty much sums up what's going to happen in just a few words, "Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of the earth." 

But then you switch to Isaiah 25 and 26, which are both songs of praise. Isaiah, do you know what you were just talking about?! But in Isaiah 25, we get an explanation. 

Isaiah 25:7-8, "On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." 

He will swallow up death forever. He will wipe away the tears from every face. Through Jesus, we have eternal life. But some pretty radical things had to happen first. Jesus came and changed the world. Forever! Seriously, we keep time based on Jesus, and that's just the smallest example! We are all equal in God's eyes, we're all on the same level. We're all just waiting to spend our eternity with Him. 

Isaiah 26 continues the praise, and I think it provides a good explanation and reasoning as to why we should continue to praise the Lord, even when it seems like we're surrounded by evil, and I recommend reading it in it's entirety. But for now, I'll leave you with this: 


Tomorrow's reading: Isaiah 29:1-Isaiah 41:18
Have a wonderful week! 
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministries 
New Leaf UMC

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