Reading for March 28th

 Read Isaiah 23.1-18. In 23.1-18: A prophecy concerning Tyre. In verses 1-12: The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon were famous in antiquity as as the seafaring and mercantile trading centers of  the Mediterranean world. The pride of Tyre was its fine buildings, wealth, and honor. In 701 BCE, the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib laid siege to the Phoenician cities forcing Luuli, king of Sidon, to flee to the island of Cyrus (v. 12). In verses 13-18: A brief editorial note (v. 13) points out that Babylon (from 604 BCE) had replaced the threat from Assyria (compare the book of Nahum, which celebrates the fall of Nineveh in 612 BCE). This succession of Mesopotamian oppressors led the later compilers to supplement earlier prophecies to provide a fuller picture of God's purpose. Tyre, like an aging prostitute (v. 16), will shamelessly pursue wealth (a refence to the rich merchants for which Tyre was known). In contrast, the final note (v. 18) recognizes that wealth, rightly earned, can be used in the service of God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for March 27th

 Read Isaiah 22.12-25. In verses 15-25: Three short, but related, condemnations (vv. 15-19, 20-23,24-25) concern Shebna, the master of the royal household (v. 15), and Eliakim son of Hilkiah (v. 20) who had briefly succeeded him (v. 21). These officials are mentioned in 36.3, 11, 22 and played a prominent role in the negotiations for Hezekiah's surrender to Assyria (see 2 Kings 18.18). Their personal ambitions and folly, which affected their roles informing national policy, are condemned. Isaiah also condemned the king for relying upon Egyptian promises or support (see Isa 30). Comments or Questions..

Reading for March 26th

 Read Isaiah 22.1-11. In 22.1-25: Warnings to Jerusalem and it's leaders. In verses 1-4: The valley of vision is Jerusalem, apparently because Isaiah's call-vision took place there (ch. 6). The prophecies refer to the events described in 2 Kings 18.9-12: The northern Israelite city of Samaria was besieged, captured, and destroyed by the king of Assyria. Jerusalem's escape from a similar fate by the timely, but humiliating surrender of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18.13-16) may also be referred to. In celebrating their own escape, the citizens of Jerusalem ignored the suffering of their own sister nation. Isaiah strongly believed that both Judah and Israel (Ephraim) were two houses of one people before God (see 8.14; 9.21). In verses 5-8a: The fate that had so recently overtaken their compatriots would also befall the citizens of Jerusalem. A century later Babylonian forces captured Jerusalem in 598, destroying it in 587 BCE. In verses 8b-11: Instead of trusting the Lord, the beleaguered citizens trusted their own human defense system. It would fail them, just as surely as the defenses of Samaria had failed. Comments or Questions..

Reading for March 25th

 Read Isaiah 21.11-17. In 691-689 BCE the Assyrian King, Sennacherib, extended his campaigns further to the south and west, penetrating the Dumah (Edom and the northwest tip of Arabia where the famed caravan cities of Kedar and Dedan were located). This brief, inclusive prophecy may be reporting the  ineffectual nature of this particular foray. In verses 13-17: The campaign of Sennacherib to plunder the desert cities of Dedan and Tema is reflected in vv.14-15, with vv.16-17 adding an additional note reflecting later attempts to exploit the region, probably by Babylonian forces. Comments or Questions.

Reading for March 24th

 Read Isaiah 21.1-10. In 21.1-17: Prophecies concerning Babylon, Edom, and southern desert lands. In verses 1-10: This anguished warning concerns the fall of Babylon (v. 9). The heading (v. 1 addresses the southern desert of the Negeb, but the content points to Babylon. The oracle may date from the time of the attack on the city by Elam and Media (538 BCE), when the Medo-Persian overthrow of Babylon marked its end as a world power. This prophecy would provide a framework for the series of prophecies against the nations that began in ch. 13 with the threat to Babylon. It may also date, however, from 73 BCE when the Assyrian king Sennacherib captured the city of Babylon after it had rebelled against Assyrian's rule. At this time, the Babylonian ruler Merodach-baladan sent emissaries to Hezekiah of Judah to coordinate rebellion against Assyria (compare Isa 39.1-8). Comments or Questions..

A reading for March 23rd

 Read Isaiah 20.1-6. In 20.1-6: A lesson from the past. A brief narrative reports an event of 715 BCE; A Philistine rebellion against Assyria led to a campaign against Ashdod, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. The Egyptians promised help for the rebellion and Judah was tempted to join. Isaiah's strange action of appearing naked and barefoot, like a prisoner of war being sold into slavery (v. 2), warned against such complicity. Egypt's help would prove to be unreliable and worthless (v. 6). This warning was reaffirmed when Hezekiah trusted the Egyptians promises in rebelling against Assyria in 703 BCE. Comments or Questions..

Reading for March 22nd

 Read Isaiah 19.16--25. In verses 16-25: In spite of these failures, Judah's relations with Egypt were prolonged and often close. The prophet looks beyond the turmoil of Mesopotamian rule to the time when a community would dwell there who spoke the language of Canaan (v. 18) and swore allegiance to the Lord of host. Even Assyria would one day become with Egypt and Israel a blessing in the midst of the earth (v. 24). The series of remarkable short prophecies builds on the aftermath of the disasters that befell Jerusalem at the hands of Assyrians and Babylonians. Many citizens fled to Egypt, and, from the sixth century BCE onwards, substantial settlements of exiled Judeans took refuge there. In this bold look across the spiritual boundaries of the ancient world, a genuine religious universalism begins to appear (vv. 21-24). The knowledge of God revealed to Israel would be shared among other peoples, replacing the failed learning of the Egyptian sages (v. 11). Comments or Questions..