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Isaiah 23:17 - Tyre and Sidon as near neighbors to Israel and Judah

Happy inauguration day

As the new administration is inaugurated today, remember that God is in control.  He knows what we need to learn about ourselves and what it will take for us to learn these things.  I have been using a "suggested prayer" regarding Covid.  Part of it is that God would make it go away right now.  Well, we have been praying this for 10 months and God has wisely chosen not to comply with my demands.  I have started praying about what God wants me to learn with infection, hospitalization and death rates at new highs.  One thing is that He is in control.  He uses secondary causes (science and government) but his kingdom rules over all.

Blessings,

Jeff

My prayer time this morning started with Psalm 75:1 We give thanks, for your name is near.  As I meditated on this, the nearness of God got my attention.  There is a blessing associated with being near to God.  But there is also a duty to glorify Him.  In Isaiah's day, it was becoming more and more apparent that Israel and Judah did not fulfill duty and were going to  lose the blessing.

Then this passage came up as the topic of daily devotion.  Another oracle against neighboring cultures.  Tyre and Sidon were seaports and center of trading around the Mediterranean.  Northern neighbors of Israel.  While there is nothing inherently evil in trading, even in this ancient culture it appears that they had discovered the "sex sells".  Similar to Judah, a 70 year period of judgment is described.  And like Judah, God uses another nation for this purpose.  At the end of this period of judgment, these cultures return to the same seductive practices.

So I began to see that the "nearness" theme applies to all nations not just Israel and Judah.  While Israel and Judah were not good examples of living for God, they were still examples. The surrounding nations could have learned from them and abandoned their native idolatry.  Conquest of Canaan was all about ridding the land of idolatry.  

So then, I thought about how the church is a witness to the cultures around us.  Are we fulfilling the duty to glorify God so as to secure the blessings of having God near us?  For example, the pandemic has been a disruption to the "normal routine" of secular life.  People feel that they are not in control of their lives.  Does my life show those around me that God is in control? this is a great time to speak to our neighbors (while maintaining social distancing) about how God has come near to us in Jesus and sent the Spirit to dwell in us. 


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