WWUTT 1919 The Oracle Concerning Damascus (Isaiah 17:1-18:7)

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We may be puzzled by the way that things are going on in the world, but nothing is puzzling to God.

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All things are still happening as He means for them to happen. And He will accomplish

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His good will when we understand the text. This is

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When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature

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New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday and our Q &A on Friday.

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Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Isaiah, which we've been doing on Thursday, we're up to chapter 17.

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In fact, I might get through a couple of chapters today since 18 is a little bit shorter. So let me begin reading here.

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Let's just go through about the first six verses and then talk through what we're reading about here.

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This oracle concerning Damascus and then chapter 18 is a message to Ethiopia. So I'll start in verse 1, reading from the

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Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the Word of the Lord. The Oracle Concerning Damascus Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city, and will become a fallen ruin.

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The cities of a rower are forsaken. They are for flocks, and they will lie down in them, and there will be no one to cause them to tremble.

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And the fortified city will cease from Ephraim, and sovereignty from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram.

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They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, declares Yahweh of hosts. Now it will be in that day that the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

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And it will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain, as his arm harvests the ears of grain, or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain in the valley of Rephaim.

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Yet gleanings will remain in it like the shaking of an olive tree. Two or three olives on the topmost branch, four or five on the twigs of a fruitful tree, declares

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Yahweh, the God of Israel. In that day man will have regard for his

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Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands, nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, even the ashram and incense stands.

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In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest, or like branches which they forsook before the sons of Israel, and the land will be a desolation.

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For you have forsaken the God of your salvation, and you have not remembered the rock of your strong defense.

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Therefore you plant delightful plants, and set them with vine branches of a strange God. In the day that you plant it you certainly fence it in, and in the morning you cause your seed to flourish.

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But the harvest will be a heap in a day of sickliness and incurable pain."

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I think I said I would read through verse 6, that was actually through verse 11. But anyway, so this oracle against Damascus, they're going to be removed from being a city.

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Now Damascus was a territory, there was the kingdom of Aram Damascus, which was in the north.

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It was just to the south of the Assyrian Empire, and to the northeast of the kingdom of Israel.

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But Damascus in particular was a sovereign city. So in Damascus we know being the place where Paul went when he was

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Saul the Pharisee, and was going to round up Christians there, was on his way to Damascus, on the road to Damascus, that Christ appeared to him and knocked him down and said,

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Saul, why are you persecuting me? So that's how we know Damascus from the New Testament, that's probably the most notable place anyway.

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But here Damascus has become a place of wickedness. They have been against Israel, God's people, and yet the

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Assyrians are not going to spare even Damascus, they're going to come against Damascus. So they're going to be removed from being a city, and they'll become a fallen ruin.

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The cities of a rower are forsaken, so Damascus is the city and a rower is more like the region.

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They will be for flocks and they will lie down in them and there will be no one to cause them to tremble. The land will pretty much just be for flocks to graze in, and they won't be concerned about predators because those predators will be destroyed.

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Not to say that there won't be lions in the land or something like that, but that the Damascans, who would have been the predators against Israel, they will be destroyed so flocks will have nothing to fear and will just lie down there with no one to cause them to tremble.

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The fortified city will cease from Ephraim and sovereignty from Damascus and the remnant of Aram and they will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, declares

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Yahweh of hosts. Now what does that mean, that their glory will be like that of Israel? Well because remember, we've had the oracles against Israel, that God is going to destroy them and turn them over to the hands of their enemies, driving them off the land.

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So the same is going to come to Damascus, their glory is going to become as nothing. Verse 4, now it will be in that day that the glory of Jacob will wane, and that's really kind of the explanation of the statement that was made in verse 3.

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The fatness of his flesh will become lean. What is that in reference to? Well as we've read with previous oracles, there is the warning of famine that will come upon you.

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The consequence of war in so many different places even today, a war -torn area will often undergo a famine and that's exactly what's going to happen to Damascus.

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And it will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain and his arm harvests the ears of grain or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain in the valley of Rephaim.

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So it will be swift, it will be a quick swipe and Damascus will be done away with.

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Yet gleanings will remain in it like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives on the topmost branch, four or five on the twigs of a fruitful tree, declares

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Yahweh the God of Israel. This has been like what God has said concerning other oracles, there will be a remnant.

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In that day, man will have regard for his maker and his eyes will look on the

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Holy One of Israel, will look to the Holy One of Israel. So before they had no regard for God, but now in this day of destruction that's come upon them, they'll cry out to the

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Lord. It's kind of like the whole thing of there's no atheists in foxholes, you know. Once destruction comes upon you, once your life becomes threatened, you really start to think about your own mortality and who's really in control here.

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Because the gods that they've worshipped are not saving them, they haven't protected them from the enemy that has come against them, so they'll look to and consider the

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Holy One of Israel, knowing that it is this God that has brought this destruction upon us as it was promised, as was prophesied.

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Verse eight, he will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands, nor will he look to that which his fingers have made, even the asherim and the incense stands.

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The asherim was considered to be the mother god, like the wife of God. But in that day, we won't even consider the false gods anymore, because those false gods are powerless.

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We will look to the one true God and see that it is by his hand these things have come. In that day, their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest, or like branches which they forsook before the sons of Israel, and the land will be a desolation, for you have forgotten the

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God of your salvation. So this is why this is coming upon you. And really, all sin, whenever we sin, it is the result of the fact that we have forgotten

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God. We are not looking to the Lord, we're looking to our own flesh, or we're being enticed by the world.

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Everyone who sins forgets God. They push him to the side. They don't think anything of him, because I want to be able to sin and be able to do this with a clear conscience.

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So these people, this city, has done wickedly, they've worshipped false gods. In the day this destruction comes upon them, they'll look to God.

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But the reason why this judgment has come the way that it has is because they have forgotten God. And you have not remembered the rock of your strong defense.

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Therefore, you plant delightful plants and set them with vine branches of a strange god.

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So what they plant and what they harvest, they give credit to a false god, one that really did not help them do anything at all.

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Really, they glory in themselves. As they're giving credit to a god that was made in their own image, they're praising themselves instead of the true

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God. In that day that you plant it, you carefully fence it in. And in the morning, you cause your seed to flourish.

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But the harvest will be a heap in a day of sickliness and incurable pain.

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No matter what you've done to care for this plant, no matter what you've done to protect it and ensure that it's going to grow well, when

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God brings this judgment against you, he will succeed in that judgment. Verse 12,

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Alas, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas and the rumbling of nations who rumble on like the rumbling of mighty waters.

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The nations rumble on like the rumbling of men, but he will rebuke them and they will flee far away and be pursued like chaff in the mountains before the wind or like whirling dust before a whirlwind.

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At evening time, there is terror, before morning they are no more. Such will be the portion of those who pillage us and the lot of those who plunder us.

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So once again, God will use a particular nation to judge another nation. But even that nation that is done wickedly, though it would be a tool and an instrument in God's hand, he will bring judgment against that nation as well.

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And they should not think so high and mighty of themselves. So the next one, we get to chapter 18, and this is a message to Ethiopia, Alas, O land of whirring wings, which lies beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, sends envoys by the sea.

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Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters, go swift messengers to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation whose land the rivers divide, all you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth.

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As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it. And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

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For thus Yahweh has told me, I will look from my dwelling place quietly like dazzling heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

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For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, then he will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches.

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They will be left together for mountain birds of prey and for the beasts of the earth.

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And the birds of prey will spend their summer feeding on them and all the beasts of the earth and harvest time on them.

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At that time, a gift of homage will be brought to Yahweh of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation whose land the rivers divide to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts, even

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Mount Zion. Now this is actually a rather obscure passage and scholars will debate over exactly what it is that's being said here.

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It is assumed that the message is to Ethiopia because Ethiopia is mentioned at the beginning.

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Alas, O land of whirring wings could also be a reference to that emblem that's used in Ethiopia.

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There's the disc with the wings on either side, which lies beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

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So is that a land that was outside of Ethiopia on the other side of Ethiopia, which of course is on the far eastern side of Africa?

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Or is it in reference to Ethiopia itself, which sends envoys by the sea?

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So that would indicate that it's on the coast, just like Ethiopia is even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.

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That's a pretty common type of boat in Egypt, boats made of papyrus or made for papyrus.

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Go swift messengers to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation whose land the rivers divide.

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Now again, we don't know exactly who that is. We don't know who's going. We don't know where they're going to.

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We have this mention of a nation tall and smooth could be a reference to something about their physique, to a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation.

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Some have assumed that could be the Assyrians. So go and make tribute with the Assyrians so that they will not come against you and attack you.

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But then this reference to whose land the rivers divide. So who would have had a land that was full of so many rivers like that?

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Though we may not know exactly who this is in reference to, at the time that this prophecy was given, it surely would have been understood and known.

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So then verse three, all you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth, as soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it.

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And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it. So as soon as this happens, they raise up their standard, which is like the emblem of their nation, and the people see it, then they'll know exactly who this is in reference to.

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In verse four, for thus Yahweh has told me. And the quote here in the remainder of verse four is specifically from God.

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I will look from my dwelling place quietly like dazzling heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

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And that's the end of the quote, the words of Yahweh that Isaiah is quoting. And really the picture here is that God is going to sit by quietly, and he's going to watch and see what happens.

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Now, of course, he knows what is going to happen, but all of this is kind of painting the picture of the fact that while these things are taking place, the sovereign is still on his throne, the true sovereign,

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God. He is watching over these things. He is seeing these things happen, and he's allowing these things to take place in a certain order.

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And when they have come to the fulfillment that he means for them to accomplish, then he's going to step forth as like the harvester, and he is going to take up what belongs to him.

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Verse five, for before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, then he will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches.

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So he lets these nations go about as they do. Some make peace, some make war.

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But then when God acts, he's going to cut off those that he means to cut off. They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, it says in verse six, and for the beasts of the earth.

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And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

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So when you have these nations that come into conflict with one another, and they come into war and into battle, surely one nation thinks of itself as being mightier than the other.

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Who can touch me? When we have taken this nation, when we have owned and possessed this land, we become all the more powerful, and who can strike us down?

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But what's being pictured here is that God is watching over all of this, and though he may allow a nation for a time to do what pleases them,

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God is going to bring his judgment against them. They are not as strong and as invulnerable as they think they are.

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They'll be left for the mountain birds of prey, as they would leave a land desolate, so God is going to leave them desolate.

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Verse seven, at that time, a gift of homage will be brought to Yahweh of hosts from a people tall and smooth, so it's got to be the same people that were mentioned at the beginning of chapter 18.

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Even from a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation, whose land the rivers divide to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts, even

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Mount Zion. So even the most powerful nation on earth has to acknowledge that he is

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God, and they will come and pay tribute to him, whose land cannot be conquered, and whose throne cannot be usurped.

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And my friends, we should take great comfort in that, in knowing that God is sovereign and he is on his throne, and no one is going to remove him.

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There's not going to be an election to decide who better to fit that place.

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God is just and he is good, and no one is as merciful and as loving as he is. We worship the true

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God, the one who has victory over all, and though we may look at things that are happening in the world right now, and we may be discouraged by those things, know that God is still in control of all of this, and he is allowing certain things to happen in a certain way, but a day is going to come in which he is going to stand up from his throne,

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Christ will return with his angels of flaming fire, and he will destroy those who did not believe him and did not obey the gospel, as said in 2

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Thessalonians chapter one, and he will be marveled at by those who did believe on his name, as he rescues those to himself, and we will be brought into his perfect imperishable kingdom, which cannot be conquered, no one can touch, and all the evils that we struggle with in the world that exist right now will be no more.

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We'll enter into that place, into perfection, where we will dwell with God forever.

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So even a passage such as this, you know, it's kind of interesting that there's curiosities involved with Isaiah 18, what nation is being talked about here, where are they going, what is it that they are doing exactly?

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We may feel that way even about the world around us, though we may know the different players who are at play.

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This nation's in the news, we see a standard raised for that nation, and yet we're still kind of perplexed by why these things are happening and what's the outcome of them going to be, just like we're perplexed by some of the things we read about here in chapter 18.

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But God knows, and he is in control, and we trust in him, and all things will be accomplished as he means to accomplish them in his good timing.

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Whatever is happening in your life, God means for it to happen, for your good and for his glory.

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As we read in Romans 8, 28, God works all things together for good for those who love

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God and are called according to his purpose. And we read in verse 29 exactly what that good is, that we may be conformed to the image of the

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Son, holding fast to Christ until the day that he appears and we join with him in glory.

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Let's finish there. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here, and may we recognize in whatever nation that we live that this nation will eventually fall.

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You are sovereign over all of the nations. As we read about in scriptures, you rule them with a rod of iron.

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You will strike them down. No nation will stand in your kingdom except your nation, that holy nation of priests that we have become through faith in Christ, as talked about in 1

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Peter 2, 9. And so, Lord, may we live as that kingdom of priests even now, holding fast to the gospel and being obedient to it, living lives of holiness, until we join you forever in your glorious kingdom.

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We do pray, Lord Jesus, come quickly. But as long as we are here on this earth, give us the courage to go forth preaching the gospel, exposing those things that are evil, promoting those things that are good, but most of all, sharing the truth of the knowledge of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, who forgives sins and reconciles us to God. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.