Messages about Egypt and Babylon

ISAIAH CHAPTERS 20 & 21


CHAPTER 20
In the year when King Sargon of Assyria captured the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah to take off his clothes. Isaiah removed his clothing and walked around naked and barefoot.

Then the Lord said that Isaiah had been walking around naked and barefoot for three years and the Lord considered it a sign of the terrible troubles he would bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia. He said the king of Assyria would take the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners and made them too walk naked and barefoot to the shame of Egypt. And how dismayed the Philistines would be who had counted on the power of the Ethiopians. And they would say that if this could happen to Egypt, then they didn't stand a chance.

CHAPTER 21
Isaiah received a messaged concerning Babylonia which said that disaster would roar down on them from the desert, like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev. He saw an awesome vision. He saw Babylonia plundered and destroyed. Elamites and Medes could take part in a seige, but Babylon would fall and the nations she enslaved would be free.

Isaiah grew hungry and blinded with dismay and when he slept, his mind reeled and heart raced and he trembled. He imagined the people feasting and drinking and he wanted to warn them to prepare for battle. Then the Lord told Isaiah to put a watchman on the city wall to shout what he saw. He was to sound the alert when he saw chariots coming.

Then the watchman called out that day after day, he stood on the watch and remained at his post in the night. At last, he saw the chariots coming and he cried out that Babylon was fallen and all its idols were broken on the ground.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: Saragon II was king of Assyria from 722-705 B.C. Israel was but one nation that would bow before the Lord. Isaiah reminded Judah that they should not count on foreign alliances to protect them.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? God asked Isaiah to go naked. At times, God asks us to do things we don't understand, but we must obey God in complete faith, for he will never ask us to do something wrong. Babylon was warned and did nothing to protect itself from the coming chariots. In our times, we can be the watchmen. We can be the ones who warn of the danger of reaping from sins. Let that be our duty. Let's hope that when people are warned, they will listen to the words of the Lord and turn to him in their troubles.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Pray for Gabe. Pray for Logan during her difficult pregnancy.
Pray for Janice Long’s parents, especially her mother who faces another round of chemotherapy and her father with Alzheimer’s and now her mother in law also with Alzheimer’s. Their family is feeling the strain both emotionally and financially. Pray for them. Update on this family: Her mother-in-law is being taken to Oklahoma to live with an aunt who will care for her.
Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.
Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer and for her sister Wanda’s soul which went to heaven.
Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has her speech back and is home , but continues to have a problem with one arm and hand. Thanks to your prayers, she is able to hobble without a cane and has been granted disability. She still has surgery scheduled on her hand, but I saw her recently and her attitude is fantastic.
Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.
Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.
Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.
Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.
Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.
Pray for another friend named Carolyn whose faith remains strong, but is lost and confused about where and how to spend her elder years.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.