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Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 15-16

Theme                  : End Times Judgment on Moab

The Destruction of Moab in End Times (Chps. 15-16).  The judgment on Moab (present day Jordan), about waters turning into blood (v. 9) and vegetation fails (v. 6), agrees with end times prophesies in Revelation 8:7, 11:6 and other references. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. V. 5 says God has compassion on the fugitive of Moab. Just as a parent does not wish to spank his children, but it must be done in order to stop their wickedness, so God must punishment them in order to stop their wickedness but not out of pleasure. Lamentation 3:33 says, “for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” There will be some from Moab who will not follow the antichrist and God calls His people to shelter them (16:4).

Praying the Scripture

1. When we see awful judgment of God on sinners, we must understand and trust God’s good judgment. Their ugly sins deserve an ugly end. The OT consistently testifies to the righteous judgment of God. Even unbelievers would agree with God’s judgment on Adoni Bezek in Judges 1:7. He cut off others’ thumbs and toes, so his thumbs and toes were cut off. Jesus says in Matthew 7:2, “For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” God is a righteous, fair judge and we must trust in His good judgment just as Abraham trusted in God’s judgement after He understood God’s character and actions (Gen. 18:25). Pray that you will trust in God’s fair and righteous judgement. He knows more about a person than you will ever know.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 14

Theme                  : King of Babylon Foreshadows Antichrist

Taunt against King of Babylon (1-11) – In the end times, Israel will be captured as slaves, but then through the Messiah of Isaiah 11:1, they will take captive those who were their captors. Then Israel will taunt the antichrist who is prefigured in the person of King of Babylon, who ruled the Middle East. After the antichrist is defeated there will be peace on earth (v.7), which is referring to the Millennial Kingdom.

Satan Energizes Antichrist (12-23) – Just as Satan was behind the serpent who tempted Eve, so Satan will be behind the antichrist. This agrees with Revelation 13:4. Satan fell because of his pride. He wanted to be like God.

The Assyrian Foreshadows Antichrist (24-27) – Again God uses the historical king of Assyria to foreshadow the antichrist (cf. Micah 5:2-6; Isaiah 9:4).

Oracle Concerning Philistia (28-32) – Philistia (modern day Gaza) will also play a role in the end times.

Praying the Scripture

1. Pride is one of the most deadly sins there is. It caused Satan to fall and it is the enemy of faith and submission to God. We must not have any self-righteous pride or any personal pride that is based on our possession, position, intellect, or strength. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Pray that you will boast in God, not in yourself.

2. It is amazing how many times the OT foreshadows the antichrist. He is a central figure in God’s plan to destroy His enemies and crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15). And then God will reconcile the whole world to Himself in His glorious Messianic Kingdom. This is the hope that we have been living for. Pray that you will be even more consecrated to God as you prepare to meet Jesus, who is coming back soon.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 13

Theme                  : End Times Judgment on Babylon

God now directs attention from end times salvation through the Messiah to end times judgment on surrounding nations from chapters 13-23. The day of the Lord in v. 6 always refers to end times judgment in OT prophetic literature (cf. Joel 2:1). In the end times, Babylon will attack Israel but then the Messiah will deliver Israel and judge Babylon. The historical defeat of Babylon by the Medes, aka Persians (v. 17) is a foreshadow of future end times defeat of Babylon. After God judges Babylon (modern day Iraq), it will never be inhabited, no Arab will live there (v. 20).

Praying the Scripture

1. How should we react to all the terrorism and the beheading of Christians by ISIS, who occupy the ancient land of Babylon? Are we supposed to call down God’s judgment on them and pronounce imprecatory Psalms on them (Ps. 139:19-22)? Or are we supposed to pray for their salvation like Matt. 5:44? The answer is that we ought to do both. They are not contradictory. The cross is both grace and justice. God is just and justifier of the guilty (Rom. 3:26). We can take action to destroy ISIS for justice and we can pray God will save a ISIS Saul and turn him into a ISIS Paul. May we seek both justice and offer grace at the same time.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 12

Theme                  : The End Times Jews Praising Jesus

(1-6). When God delivers Jews through Jesus in the end times, they will praise God for their spiritual and physical salvation. They will thank God for having mercy on them by turning away His righteous anger against their sins. They will be full of joy and thankfulness. As saved people they will proclaim the greatness of the Lord to all the nations on earth. God will be glorified. The saints in the end times will sing a new song to God (Rev. 5:9, 14:3).

Praying the Scripture

1. The nature result of salvation is to praising God for His love and mercy. The natural result is joy. Martin Luther, the great reformer, said the sorrow that leads you to the cross is of God, but the sorrow that you have after you have gone to the cross is of the devil. We ought to confess our sins (1 John 1:9), but not to wallow in our sins and sorrow after confessing our sins and going to the cross to acknowledge our sins have been paid for. Instead we grow in our thankfulness, holiness and faith when we diligently and sacrificially serve Him, read and pray the Scripture, share the gospel, ponder on the great and real pain of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and understand our unworthiness. Sorrow is not our strength, but the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10). Pray that you will cultivate a true joy in the Lord, not a joy from sin. If you have joy from sin you need to turn your joy into mourning (James 4:9), then receive true and everlasting joy.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 11

Theme                  : The Branch, Messiah

Rising from the Ashes (1-2). God prophesied that the promised Messiah in Is. 7:14 and 9:6 will be a shoot rising from the ashes of dynasty of David, referred as the stump of Jesse, who is David’s father. Jesse is used, instead of David, to emphasize the collapse of the Davidic Kingdom. This is exactly what happened in history. When Jesus was born, the Davidic Kingdom had completely disappeared. No Davidic king was on the throne of Israel, not even a puppet one. Being from the line of David, Jesus was not born in a palace, instead in a lowly manger. These two verses prophesize about His first coming. This prophesy was written about 700 years before the first coming of Jesus.

Restored World (2-9). These verses prophesize about the Messiah’s second coming when He will restore the world to the time of Adam and Eve and rule the world. Jesus will judge the world not by what can be seen with the eyes, but by supernatural insight because He is God. He will restore the animal world. They will once again be herbivores and will not be in conflict with humans. The whole earth will know God through Jesus.

Restored Israel (10-16). God will unite the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In the end times, God will gather them from the surrounding nations because they will have been attacked, exiled and enslaved in these countries. But the Messiah will return and lead them to destroy their surrounding nations, including Philistines (modern day Gaza), Edom, Moab, Ammonites (Jordan and Saudi Arabia), Egypt and Assyria (Iraq, Syria, and parts of Turkey). This end times judgment against Israel’s surrounding nations is also a repeated theme in OT prophetic literature (Num. 24:17, Eze. 38:3-6).

Praying the Scripture

1. It is stunning how much prophesies God has fulfilled in the OT. There is absolutely no chance these amazing, detailed prophesies can be made up by man. We can fully trust God’s word even when we don’t fully understand all of it (Prov. 3:5-6). Do not ever use yourself or man’s understanding to measure God’s truth. This is what foolish and arrogant people of the world do. They read about a talking serpent in Genesis 3 and then ridicule the Bible because they use themselves as the referent/standard of truth, instead of the creator of the world. The problem with the world is that it is self-referential. Paradise was a lot different than the world now. People were supposed to live forever too. We must boldly believe in the Bible and reject pseudo-science like Darwinian macro evolution. Pray that God will strengthen your faith through His fulfilled prophesies and look forward to the return of Jesus.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 10:5-34

Theme                  : Assyrians as Pattern of End Time Antichrist

The Rod of God’s Anger (5-19). Because of Israel’s sins, God will use Assyria as the rod of His anger to punish Israel. Assyria is already evil, God directs their evil toward Israel (Prov. 21:1). But God will also punish Assyria for their pride and evil. Assyria was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians.

End Times Anger and Restoration (20-34). The phrase “in that day” in OT prophetic literature almost always refers to the end times. Assyrians serve as a pattern/type of the end time antichrist and his army. In the end times, Israel will again be attacked and be desolated by surrounding nations because of their rejection of Jesus (a repeated theme in OT prophets), just as Assyrians had attacked and desolated Israel. The antichrist and his armies will march through Israel: Aiath, Migron, Michmash and etc (vv. 28-32). But God will deliver them through the promised Messiah in 9:6, who will destroy the end times Assyrians like in the day of Midian (cf. 9:4) and break the yoke of the end times Assyrians from Israel. In the end times, Lebanon is one of the surrounding nations that will attack Israel but will be destroyed by God (v. 34).

Praying the Scripture

1. Reading OT prophets can be depressing because there are so much talk about sin, wars, death and destruction. But we must realize that this is not the end. The end is a restored world where Jesus will reconcile the world to God through Him (Col. 1:20). Death and destruction must come because of human sins, but there is hope in the end. Hope gets us through. Just as we can be depressed by so much death and terrorism in the world, we keep depression at bay because of our real hope and prayer is that Jesus will return soon and put an end to this. God also gives us the grace to live for Him every day and to share the gospel with unbelievers. Maranatha (Our Lord, Come! 1 Cor. 16:22).

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 9:1-10:4

Theme                  : The God-man Jesus

Future Deliverance through Messiah (1-7). Even though Judah will be in anguish because of God’s judgment on account of their sins, in the end times, she will blossom because the Messiah will be born and minister in Galilee (Matt. 4:15-16). This Messiah will deliver them from the end times King of Assyria when He returns, like in the day of Midian (Is. 10:26, Judges 8:25, Micah 5:2-6). This Messiah will be, astonishingly, both human and God. Jesus is the promised Davidic King who will forever rule the world (2 Sam. 7:13).

Humbling of Arrogant Israel (8-21). In the meantime, God promises to punish the gross pride and sins of Israel, the northern kingdom. The whole society is full of injustice, bloodshed, greed, oppression, and lies. Even the lowly are wicked. Then all that they have lived for—money, will be useless to them when they are dead or enslaved. This warning against Israel serves also as a warning to Judah, the southern kingdom, not to follow Israel’s idolatry and destruction.

Praying the Scripture

1. When we see God’s harsh judgment against Israel, we must understand that God has no pleasure in seeing sinners judged (Eze. 18:23), but it does vindicate His justice. Also, God puts an end to these sinners because He is grieved by their gross sins and mistreatment of each other; therefore God removes them from earth so that they cannot cause more grief to others and to God (Gen. 6:6). God is intrinsically love, He is not intrinsically angry. He is only wrathful in response to our sins, which He has kindly offered to remove through Jesus. Praise be His name!

2. Even though the Jews reject Jesus, they have faithfully passed down God’s word about the deity of the Messiah. God has made sure that they do this. The OT is truly not created by the Jews or man, it is from God. We can trust it with 100% certainty. Praise God for His word and for Jesus who humbled himself and died on the cross and resurrected for us. May we look forward to His imminent return.

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 8

Theme                  : King of Assyria as Type of Antichrist 

Assyria Invades Damascus and Samaria (1-4). God gives another sign to Judah that reveals God will soon use Assyria to destroy Damascus and Samaria. This sign is Isaiah’s child. This child is not the child of 7:14 since Isaiah’s wife was not a virgin (7:3). This child is a sign for the immediate future.

End Times Assyria Invades Israel (5-10). Ahaz did not listen to the Lord to trust in Him alone, but he did great evil by making an alliance with Assyria and worshipping idols of Assyria (2 Kgs 16:5-15). He even sacrificed his sons to idols (2 Chron. 28:3). Therefore, God will punish Judah in the end times by bringing the end times antichrist from the land of Assyria to attack Judah, the land of Immanuel (7-8). In the end times, Judah will again trust in human alliance for protection, instead of trusting God alone and worshipping Him alone. Judah will trust in the antichrist for protection instead of God alone, as it had trusted in the king of Assyria (Is. 10:20, 28:18, Dan. 9:27). History will repeat itself. But Jesus will deliver the Jews from the end times king of Assyria (Is. 9:4-6; Micah 5:2-6). In the meantime, God will punish Judah by letting Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attack Judah but it will be miraculously delivered (2 Kgs. 19:35). Ironically, the very source of Judah’s idolatry (Assyria) is the very source of their trouble (Assyria). This will also be true in the end times.

Idolatry of Judah (11-22). Even with all the troubles that is a result of their idolatry, Judah will continue to rebel against God. When God punishes them, instead of being humbled, they will curse God, so God will thrust them from darkness into thick darkness. Sadly, the end result will be even worse.

Praying the Scripture

1. When we forsake God by trusting in men, we sin against God. The result will be shameful and tragic. Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” In this anti-God world, there will be many oppositions against God, we need to ask God to strengthen our trust in Him. Do not seek men’s approval above God’s, even when sinful people ridicule us. God will vindicate. Do not compromise your faith in God as revealed in the Bible. Pray that you will fear God more than men, that leads you to seek His approval more than men, to be more in awe of God than men, and to love God more than men (Deut. 10:12). This is the type of fear that God wants from us. Pray that God will give you this kind of fear, not the kind of fear that drives you away from Him.

2. History will repeat itself because human sinful nature does not change. Israel will continue to sin against God until the end times. We see this happening now. The end of all things in this world is near. Christ will return soon. God has miraculously resurrected the nation of Israel after 2,000 years. Israel is now surrounded by hostile nations that occupy the ancient land of Assyria. It will not be long when Jesus raptures the church and nations surrounding Israel will attack Israel. Israel is strong militarily now and relies on their own strength for protection, just as the Jews of Isaiah’s day did. But again, they will soon find out ultimate peace and protection is from the Prince of Peace. Pray that we will love Jews and their neighbours, and also seek to evangelize them because God loves them and seeks to restore the lost. He afflicts them so that He may heal them (Is. 19:22), just as a father spanks his children in order to correct them.

经文：以赛亚书 8

主题：亚述王位敌基督类

亚述侵入大马士革与撒玛利亚（1-4）。神又给犹大一个迹象，启示神不久后就会使用亚述毁灭大马士革和撒玛利亚。这个迹象便是以赛亚的孩子。这孩子并非7:14所言的，因为以赛亚之妻不是童女（7:3）。这孩子预兆的是不久后将发生的事。

末日的亚述将占领以色列（5-10）。亚哈斯不听劝诫，不愿单一信靠神，乃与亚述联盟，拜亚述偶像，从而行大恶（王下16:5-15）。他甚至为偶像牺牲了自己的儿子（代下28:3）。因此，神在末日必要惩罚犹大，从亚述兴起敌基督的攻击以马内利之地（7-8节）。末日时，犹大将再次与人结盟作庇护，而不是像信靠亚述王一样仅仅投奔神的保护（10:20, 28:18；但9:27）。历史必将重演。然而，耶稣会在末日搭救犹太人脱离亚述王之手（9:4-6；弥5:2-6）。与此同时，神会惩罚犹大，让亚述王西拿基立攻击她，但将奇迹般地施行拯救（王下19:35）。讽刺的是，犹大的偶像亚述就是他们祸害的来源。这在末日时也是如此。

犹大的偶像（11-22）。即便面临拜偶像所带来的一切祸害，犹大仍会继续悖逆神。当神惩罚他们时，他们不但不谦卑，反倒咒骂神，所以神会把他们赶入乌黑的黑暗中去。可悲的是，后果会更糟。

用经文祷告

1. 当我们相信人离弃神时，我们便得罪了神；后果将是可悲、可耻的。耶利米书17:5说：“耶和华如此说：‘倚靠人血肉的膀臂，心中离弃耶和华的，那人有祸了！’”在这敌神的世界里，许多人会与神对抗，所有我们要求神坚固我们对祂的信心。即便面对罪人的耻笑，我们也万不能看人的赏识过于神的。如圣经启示的一样，我们不能在信心里妥协。祈求神使你对祂的敬畏高过你对人的惧怕，而这能叫你看神的赏识过于人的，叫你更敬畏神，爱神过于人（申10:12）。神要我们怀这种心态。祈求神能赐予你这颗敬畏祂的心，不叫你因惧怕远离祂。

2. 历史会重演，因为败坏的人性永不改变。以色列会继续向神犯罪，直到末了；我们至今就能看见。万事的末了已近。基督即将归来。神在多达两千年后已奇迹般地复兴以色列国，而她如今被处在古亚述地之上的敌国包围。再过不久，耶稣就要提起教会，而包围以色列的国家将攻击以色列。以色列如今军事强大，依靠自己的力量展开自卫，就如以赛亚当代的犹太人一样。然后，他们会再次发现最终的平安和保障是由那位和平之君所赐。祈求我们会爱犹太人与他们的邻舍，并试着向他们传福音，因为神也爱他们，想寻回失丧者。神管教以色列，叫祂能医治他们（19:22），犹如父亲鞭打孩子一样，为的是纠正他们。

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 7

Theme                  : Virgin Birth of Jesus

Exhortation to Faith (1-9)

Sign for Lack of Faith (10-17).

Praying the Scripture

1. Faith in God means faithfulness and commitment to God. Faith is not a magical phrase one says in order to avoid God’s punishment. Faith is trusting God for salvation and committing yourself to His lordship (Col. 2:6). The problem with seeker-sensitive and charismatic churches is that they have deceived people into thinking God is a cosmic therapist whose job is to cure all your problems: from bad marriages to bad jobs. All you need to do is show some respect to Him and do some nice things for Him so He will do some nice things for you. This is not faith, but bargaining with God and salvation by works. Faith is trusting God for your salvation, forsaking your self-worship, and committing yourselves to Him no matter how tough life is because you know He loves you and will give you grace to fight your daily battles against sin.

2. It is very unnatural to think that God would take on human flesh. This is stunning and hard to believe. This is why we need faith because we cannot rely on our own wisdom to understand ultimate reality, we need God’s revelation. We can trust in His revelation because of amazing fulfilled prophecies and He also created the world. Praise God for His amazing mercy in sending Jesus to die for our sins and giving us a glorious new world. In Him, we are complete, full, and satisfied (Col. 2:10).

3. It is also unnatural to think that one day Jesus will suddenly burst forth from the sky and forever change this world. It takes faith to accept it, not by our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). This faith is not blind, but is grounded in the proven fulfillment of God’s prophecies in the Bible (Zech. 12:10). Because this faith is unnatural, it needs to be cultivated by praying to God for help, by immersing yourself in the Bible, and by growing in your love for God through Jesus.

经文：以赛亚书7

主题：由童女而生的耶稣

信靠神的劝诫（1-9）。

缺乏信心的兆头（10-17）。

用经文祷告

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 6

Theme                  : Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord

Sin in Light of Holiness (1-7). Isaiah thought he was a good person, especially in light of all the wicked people around him. But when he saw the perfection of God, he realized his sinfulness and knew that he deserved not God’s commendation, but God’s judgment. Just as blemishes on your skin is hard to see in the dark but easy to detect in the light, so sin is also hard to see when comparing to other sinners in this dark world, but easy to detect in light of God’s perfect character as reflected in His law. The Law of God humbled Isaiah and he humbly asked for forgiveness and God graciously washed away his guilt. The burning coal symbolizes Jesus who will take away the guilt of repentant and humble people.

Obedience in Light of Forgiveness (8-13). After Isaiah’s guilt was washed away, he desired to serve God by being His messenger. The message to the Jews is not a pleasant one, it is a message of judgment on their sins. Because they persistently rejected God’s clear messenger to correct them, and even taunted God, God will judge them by giving them over to their sins and by hardening their hearts. This hardening does not mean the Jews had wanted to seek God but God hardened their heart so that they won’t seek Him. They were hard-hearted already, this hardening is God’s judicious punishment on their hard hearts. God hides from them (8:17). Jesus uses this same type of judicious punishment on the Pharisees who persistently rejected Jesus’ clear message and even tried to kill Him (Mark 4:12). Because of their great sins, God’s eternal punishment has been decreed on these people, even before they die (kind of like the unforgiveable sin in Matt. 12:31). God prophesizes that He will hide from the Jews until the end times when their cities will be wasted by invading armies (Zech 14:2). When that time comes, God will pour out His Spirit and graciously save the Jewish nation (Zech. 12:10).

Praying the Scripture

1. If a person still believes she is a good person, then she must be humbled by the law of God. Without such humility she cannot embrace Jesus with thankfulness. When we share the gospel we need to humble proud people with the law first before giving them the message of forgiveness of sin in Jesus. Pray that God will humble unbelievers through the law and open their hearts to embrace Jesus on account of His love.

2. To have faith in God is to be committed to Him as your Lord, Master, King. One cannot receive Jesus as a savior but not as Lord. Faith in God means commitment to God. This commitment will naturally result in obedience and service to God. Of course, our obedience does not save us because we can never be perfect or pay our fine with good work, just as a murderer cannot pay his death sentence with some good work. Our obedience can never save us, it is our faith in Jesus’ perfect righteousness for us that saves us. Faith leads us to walk on the path of God, and away the path of sin. Even though we are imperfect, often trip, fall or veer to the left or right, but our faith in God will always correct our waywardness by leading us back to the cross for forgiveness and for strength to love Him, hate sin, and serve God on account of Jesus.