Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Isaiah 20:3

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Isaiah 20:3ues

3 And the LORD [Yahovah] said ['amar], Like as my servant [`ebed] Isaiah [Yasha`yah] hath walked [halak] naked [`arowm] and barefoot [yacheph] three [shalowsh] years [shaneh] for a sign ['owth] and wonder [mowpheth] upon Egypt [Mitsrayim] and upon Ethiopia [Kuwsh];  KJV-Interlinear

3 And the Lord said, "Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush,  NASB

As we saw in yesterday’s study, Isaiah walked around in the clothing of a captive, which is to say, he did not have the finest of clothes on, but was stripped to a level of the poorest condition.  Captives are treated typically as the lowest forms of life, so their situation is not good by any means.  Captives are humiliated and shamed, whipped and abused without a second thought.

This appearance and sign and warning went on for three actual years, not three days portraying three years, but an actual three years.  It would probably take that long for the message to reach the various distant reaches of Judah, Egypt and Ethiopia.  It was intended to demonstrate what was going to occur to Egypt and the lands beyond when Assyria was finished with them.

The warning was to Judah, that this would also happen to them, if they continued in pursuing an alliance with Egypt, which is a rejection of Gods care.

Egypt's future was already decided.  Ethiopia’s future was already decided.

Judah had a choice.

And so it is with you and your life. You have a choice.

You can ignore Gods word, refuse to read and learn, resist in transforming the thought pattern of your mind, and therefore continue in thinking as the rest of the world thinks, placing your trust in your own ideas and beliefs and efforts, and then one day, find yourself in a world of hurt.

Or, you can change, read your daily study, begin the transformation process within your soul, wake up to the real realities of life, and one day realize that trusting in God, through Christ, is the only real and good choice that you have for a better life and future.

When you have no measures, no gauges, no method for figuring out where you are in your spiritual life, then depending on faith can be intimidating and difficult.  You don’t know where to draw the line between what you do, and what God does.

But, with continued growth, you soon realize that you do not have to decipher a line between the efforts of both.  You learn, your obligations, and responsibilities.  You function in life with responsibility and accountability.  You use logic and reason, that, but the way, is guided by your new thinking habits, based on your spiritual growth, and things just seem to fall into place, good or bad.  Both good and bad have their place in this world.  You just have to see them for what they really are.

However, you cannot pursue a course of action unless you first learn it.  Thus, focus on your daily study and the rest of life will take care of itself.