The Enemy at the Gate!

Isaiah 37

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, February 1.

There was an enemy at the gate of Jerusalem. The emissary of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had left his ultimatum – surrender or be sacked! The leaders brought the message to King Hezekiah, and he responded in Isaiah 37:1-2, “he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.” He led his nation in seeking God for rescue and deliverance from the enemy at the gate. What a godly leader!

The prophet Isaiah gave Hezekiah God’s answer in Isaiah 37:6-7, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’” When you read through the words of the emissary in Isaiah 36, you see what the Lord was referring to, as Sennacherib went too far in his mandate to execute God’s righteous judgments and had taken on grandiose notions of his person and empire (23-29). God kept His word and sent forth the angel of the Lord to destroy the Assyrian army camped outside the gate of Jerusalem, and Sennacherib died at the hands of his own sons, in the temple of his false God in Nineveh (36-38). God’s justice was poetic, and it all came about because Hezekiah asked for God’s assistance in his crisis, as recorded in verses 21-35, “Because you have prayed to Me … I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”

Seize the moment and pray about the enemy at the gate, trusting God for His victory!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

The Book of Hezekiah!

Isaiah 36

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 31.

Just like Isaiah 6-8 described the historical situation of Isaiah’s prophetic ministry at the time of King Uzziah’s death, so Isaiah 36-39 narrate the crisis of King Hezekiah’s kingship when Assyria invaded Judah. That is why these four chapters are nicknamed, “The Book of Hezekiah;” they are different than the rest of Isaiah. Isaiah 36:1 places you immediately into the drama, “Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.” The parallel accounts of this historical event are found in 2 Kings 18:13-20:19 and 2 Chronicles 32, as you will find connections between these devotions in Isaiah and the ones done on those chapters in the history books.

In Isaiah 36:10, Rabshakeh, the emissary of Sennacherib, delivered a message to Hezekiah, speaking to the men on the wall of Jerusalem in their own language, “Have I now come up without the Lord’s approval against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’” He wasn’t lying! As we have already learned, God did send Assyria against Israel to be “the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hands is My indignation” (Isaiah 10:5), but in his greed and pride, Sennacherib reached too far – God did not intend for Assyria to take Jerusalem from His people; it was not yet the appointed time for the destruction of Jerusalem, which wouldn’t come for another 125 years at the hands of Babylon. God had placed a godly king, Hezekiah, on the seat of David. The defenders of Jerusalem did not allow themselves to be intimated; rather, they went to Hezekiah to report to him the words of the emissary (21-22). Together, the leaders sought God’s guidance (see Isaiah 37).

Seize the moment and seek God for the courage you need to stand up against evil (James 4:7).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

The Highway of Holiness!

Isaiah 35

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 30.

Traveling in the United States is reliable because of our safe and secure highways. You can drive from coast to coast with very little hassle; I know because I’ve done it twice. Because of this, we take this ease of travel for granted, but this would not have been the situation in antiquity; hence, the glorious imagery of the Highway of Holiness, as described in Isaiah 35:8-10:

A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The Highway of Holiness symbolically describes God’s redemptive work amongst a fractured people in a hostile land; it’s the prescribed way of returning to the place of God’s presence (Zion). In Isaiah 40:3, we learn that it would be established by the Messiah, “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God’” (cf. Matthew 3:1-3). In Hebrews 10:19-20, the Bible makes it clear that it was accomplished at the cross, “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

Seize the moment and draw near to God on the Highway of Holiness – Jesus testifies in John 14:6 that He is the only way to get to the right destination!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

The Sword of the Lord!

Isaiah 34

Do you know who the Edomites are? Edom was the nation of the descendants of Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal to his brother Jacob (Genesis 25:21-34). Isaiah 34 records the oracle of their utter destruction as “a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (8-10). Isaiah named the Edomites as the object of God’s wrath in verses 5-6:

For My sword is satiated in heaven, behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

The Edomites became the representatives of all the enemies of Yahweh, as it was Esau’s refusal to repent which led to his rejection (Hebrews 12:15-17). The judgment of Edom was recorded in Isaiah 63:1-2, “Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? ‘It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’ Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?” This imagery of the Divine Warrior covered in blood is captured again in Revelation 19:13-15, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. … From His mouth comes a sharp sword, … and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” This is the final victory of Jesus Christ!

Seize the moment and spend time daily in God’s Word – wield the sword of the Lord to live the victorious life (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Today’s worship song focus will be

Revelation Song

Revelation 4:8 (NASB95)

We need to wake up with a new hunger and desire for more of God in our lives. Immerse yourself in worship today. Empty yourself of your own selfishness and allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up afresh and anew with the love and joy that can only come when we join with the angels in declaring “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty!”

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

If you would like to listen to this song, click on this link:

Revelation Song

The Destroyer!

Isaiah 33

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 26.

Have you ever wondered who the destroyer is? The destroyer is found throughout the Bible, including Isaiah 33:1-2a, “Woe to you, O destroyer, while you were not destroyed; and he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; as soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.” Here, the destroyer appears to be Assyria, “the rod of My anger” (Isaiah 10:5), but it could also refer to Babylon, “My war-club” (Jeremiah 51:20).

Ultimately, the destroyer is a tool in God’s hands to execute His righteous judgments. This is evident at the Passover in Exodus 12:23, “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you” (cf. Hebrews 11:28). We also find the “destroying angel” in 1 Chronicles 21:15, “And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, ‘It is enough; now relax your hand’” (cf. Revelation 9:11).

Paul referenced the destroyer in 1 Corinthians 10:10, “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” An example of Israel’s grumbling was found in Number 21:6-9 when “the Lord sent fiery serpents” to kill the grumblers. Jesus referenced this story in John 3:14-15, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” Jesus emphasized that there is only one way to be saved from the destroyer (John 3:16)!

Seize the moment and look to Jesus, high and lifted up, the only way (John 14:6)!

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

The Glorious Transformation!

Isaiah 32

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, January 25.

Isaiah 32 describes a Glorious Transformation that would be completed by the work of the Holy Spirit when the people returned to the Lord. God promised to give the people a righteous king, whose rule would bring blessing to the people and prosperity to the land (1-8). While this will be fulfilled perfectly in the coming Messiah, it was fulfilled in part by the righteous rule of two just kings, Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20 and Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23. Illustratively, Isaiah 32:13-18 demonstrates the impact of this Glorious Transformation upon Israel by giving the people a before and after picture of Jerusalem:

For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up; yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city. Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places. [emphasis added]

The key ingredient to the Glorious Transformation is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the very presence of God. The same is true today; apart from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you cannot be born again – regenerated and empowered as God’s witness of His Glorious Transformation.

Seize the moment and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:15-20; cf. John 14:16-17). The Spirit empowers you, as a member of His church, to participate in the ongoing work of transforming stories through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Remain Loyal to God!

Isaiah 31

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, January 24.

God’s rebuke of Israel for seeking help from Egypt and putting their hope in horses and chariots continued. Isaiah explained why the horsemen of Egypt could never save Israel, “they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1). Yahweh is the only hope for Israel. This is further emphasized by the promise of God to His people in Isaiah 31:5-8:

Like flying birds so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; He will pass over and rescue it. Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel. For in that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your sinful hands have made for you as a sin. And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, and his young men will become forced laborers.

This is a promise with a praxis. It is a call to repentance – “Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel” (6). When I hear the word “defected,” I am reminded of times when athletes from communist nations defected during the Olympics, seeking freedom through political asylum. There is a lot of emotion built into this concept because to defect is to renounce one’s national identity. In Isaiah’s context, the act of defecting was an even deeper betrayal, whereas the “sons of Israel” abandoned their faith in God to put their trust in things that could never save them (e.g., idols and unholy alliances). God calls you to repentance – to denounce sin, which is defection from His sovereign rule of your life, and to return to your real homeland, which is covenant faithfulness to God by walking in the way of Jesus.

Seize the moment and remain loyal to God – “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Return and Rest!

Isaiah 30

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, January 23.

The woes continued as God rebuked His children for trying to find rescue and security apart from Him. Have you ever found yourself in a similar predicament? In Isaiah 30:1-4, God confronted the Israelites with how they are seeking protection from the Assyrians outside of His provision:

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, in order to add sin to sin; who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me, to take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.”

Not only would Israel suffer because of their misguided trust in Egypt, but all of Egypt was put to shame, as were all who put their trust in Pharoah (4-5). While this had a literal historical fulfillment, it also has an ongoing spiritual one. Don’t make alliances with the powers and principalities of this world in hopes of finding “refuge in the safety of Pharoah.” In Isaiah 30:15, God called His people to return home, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” Heartbreakingly, Isaiah recorded the people’s response, “But you were not willing, and you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses,’ therefore you shall flee! ‘And we will ride on swift horses,’ therefore those who pursue you shall be swift” (16). This world has no alliances that can save you – bigger bombs, smarter technologies, and large bank accounts will deceive you with false promises of security every time.

Seize the moment and return to the only One who can give you rest – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

God bless you!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.