When life feels overwhelming, where do you see God most clearly? On the mountaintop—or in the valley?

In today's episode of The Dwelling Place, we're reading Isaiah 21–27, where God's judgment and His mercy are displayed side by side. Isaiah calls Jerusalem the "Valley of Vision," reminding us that spiritual clarity often comes during seasons of suffering, repentance, and complete dependence on the Lord.

We'll explore Isaiah's "Little Apocalypse," discover why God's judgment always points toward His ultimate redemption, and find comfort in one of Scripture's most beloved promises:

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You." — Isaiah 26:3

If you're a Christian mom walking through a difficult season, wondering why God allows valleys, this episode offers biblical encouragement to lift your eyes above today's circumstances and anchor your heart in the unchanging character of God.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why Jerusalem is called the Valley of Vision
• How Isaiah's prophecies point forward to the hope found in Jesus Christ
• What "Isaiah's Little Apocalypse" teaches about God's ultimate victory
• The comforting promise of Isaiah 26:3 and God's perfect peace
• Why God's loving discipline is evidence of His faithfulness
• How valleys often produce greater spiritual clarity than mountaintop moments
• Encouragement for Christian moms navigating difficult parenting seasons
• A beautiful Puritan prayer from The Valley of Vision to help you trust God in suffering

Whether you're reading through the Bible in a year, studying Isaiah, or simply longing for hope in hard seasons, this episode will remind you that the God who meets us in the valley is preparing us for eternal joy.

Scripture in this episode:

• Isaiah 21–27
• Isaiah 22
• Isaiah 25:6–9
• Isaiah 26:3
• Revelation 19
• Revelation 21
• Romans 1
• Genesis 9

Resources Mentioned:

• The Valley of Vision (Puritan prayers compiled by Arthur Bennett)
• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast
• Full-Circle Discipline Resources
• Jesus Storybook Bible

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is a Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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In today's reading of Isaiah 21

through 27, we'll ponder whether

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we have more clarity on the

mountaintop or in the valley.

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And although it seems entirely like an

oxymoron, we'll cover little apocalypse

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Chapter twenty one details the

forthcoming judgment against

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Babylon, Edom, and Arabia.

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Isaiah is thoroughly grieved by what

he sees, and it's an eschatological

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ending of Babylon that lines up

with what we read in Revelation.

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In chapter two, we reach

the oracle against Jerusalem

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because this is God's chosen nation

of Judah, I'll read it in its entirety

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The oracle concerning

the valley of vision.

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What do you mean that you have gone

up all of you to the housetops?

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You who are full of shoutings,

tumultuous city, exultant town.

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Your slain are not slain with

the sword, or dead in battle.

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All your leaders have fled together.

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Without the bow they were captured.

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All of you who were found were

captured, though they had fled far away.

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Therefore I said, Look away from me.

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Let me weep bitter tears.

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Do not labor to comfort me concerning the

destruction of the daughter of my people.

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First of all, calling this the Valley

of Vision is a little bit confusing

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because the elevation of Jerusalem

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is higher.

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And when scripture frequently says

they went up to Jerusalem, it's because

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they were climbing the elevation.

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But Young suggests that this was

just recognizing that Jerusalem

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was the place of the revelation.

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Isaiah asks the people,

"Why are you rejoicing?

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Destruction is coming."

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And when he writes, "Your slain

are not slain with the sword," He

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means you may not have been killed

in battle, but you're still dead

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Let's pick back up in verse five.

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" For the Lord God of hosts has a day of

tumult and trampling and confusion in

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the valley of vision, a battering down

of walls and a shouting to the mountains.

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And Elam bore the quiver with chariots and

horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

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Your choicest valleys were full

of chariots, and the horsemen

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took their stand at the gates.

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He has taken away the covering of Judah."

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In that day you looked to the

weapons of the house of the forest,

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and you saw that the breaches

of the city of David were many.

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You collected the waters of the

lower pool, and you counted the

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houses of Jerusalem, and you broke

down the houses to fortify the wall.

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You made a reservoir between the two

walls for the water of the old pool.

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But you did not look to him who did

it, or see him who planned it long

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ago They are surrounded by enemies

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And instead of looking to the Lord,

they look at this fortress Solomon

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built to house their weapons called

the House of the Forest, and these

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tunnels that Hezekiah famously built

to bring them water even in a siege?

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And the walls that they've repaired,

but they do not look to the Lord.

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In that day, the Lord of Hosts

called for weeping and mourning,

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for baldness and wearing sackcloth.

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And behold, joy and gladness,

killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

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eating flesh and drinking wine.

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Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

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The Lord of Hosts has

revealed himself in my ears.

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Surely this iniquity will not

be atoned for until you die,

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says the Lord God of Hosts.

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The people should be repenting before

the Lord and pleading for mercy.

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But instead

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They're chasing after fleeting pleasures

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Thus says the Lord God of hosts,

Come, go to this steward, to Shebna,

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who is over the household, and say

to him, What have you to do here?

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And whom have you here that you

cut out a tomb for yourself?

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You who cut out a tomb on the height and

carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock.

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Behold, hurl you away

violently, O you strong man.

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He will seize firm hold on you and

whirl you around and around and throw

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you like a ball into a wild land.

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There you shall die and there

shall be your glorious chariots,

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you shame of your master's house.

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I will thrust you from your office And

you will be pulled down from your station.

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After we read about the people's arrogance

To continue celebrating even in the midst

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of impending destruction We learned how

Shebna, a mighty man, is brought low

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He was high up and served the king, but

we read elsewhere that he was brought

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low and became a scribe he had proudly

been building an ornate tomb Which

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many believe was uncovered in 1953

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But the Lord hurls him like a shot

put, and he will be taken captive.

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Not even able to use that fancy

tombstone In that day I will call my

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servant, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah,

and I will clothe him with your robe

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and will bind your sash on him, and

will commit your authority to his hand.

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And he shall be a father to

the inhabitants of Jerusalem

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and to the house of Judah.

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And I will place on his shoulder

the key of the house of David.

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He shall open and none shall shut,

and he shall shut and none shall open.

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And I will fasten him like

a peg in a secure place

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And he will become a throne of honor to

his father's house, and they will hang on

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him the whole honor of his father's house,

the offspring and issue, every small

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vessel from the cups to all the flagons.

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In that day, declares the Lord of

hosts, the peg that was fastened in

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a secure place will give way, and it

will be cut down and fall, and the

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load that was on it will be cut off.

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For the Lord has spoken

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This is complicated because as with many

prophecies, some is fulfilled in the near

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future and some is for the distant future.

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We know this points to the coming Messiah

because in Revelation 3:7, Jesus says

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And to the angel of the church in

Philadelphia write the words of the

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Holy One, the True One, who has the

key of David, who opens and no one

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will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

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So we can confidently ascribe

portions of this to Christ

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Aloha.

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Eliakim was elevated, given

authority and influence, and

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God gives his station security.

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But eventually, even though the text

doesn't point to any sin or weakness,

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even he will fall because ultimately

nothing but the Lord can stand, and

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Judah's hope needs to be in the Lord

himself rather than rulers or leaders.

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And don't miss that in 22:8, Isaiah wrote,

"He has taken away the covering of Judah."

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That is a terrifying place to be

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The Lord does not let His people go.

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But when we know the truth and we're

walking in sin and rebellion, God allows

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us to experience the consequences of

our decisions and like the prodigal

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son, allows us to come to the end

of ourselves so we can realize

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how good we had it with the Father

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In all of these chapters

of judgment can remind us

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that if the goodness of God

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allows his people to be disciplined,

then godly parents also recognize

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The goodness of loving correction.

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Let's go back and meditate on

that phrase, the Valley of Vision.

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There was an English minister by the

name of Arthur Bennett, who lived from

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1915 to He devoted much of his study

to the life of the Puritans, and he

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wrote The Valley of Vision, which is a

collection of Puritan poems and devotions.

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His goal was to inspire us

with the prayers of the Puritan

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saints that came before us.

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And at the conclusion of this episode,

I'll pray one of these prayers by this

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title, The Valley of Vision You see,

the Puritans believed that Christians

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encounter God best not in our moments

of success and on our mountaintop

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moments, but often in the valleys when

we're broken and humble and repentant.

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If I think back on my life, the

moments I've issued the purest of

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prayers and had the greatest clarity

about what matters is often in the

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difficulties and when I'm most aware of

my sinful status before a holy Savior.

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Isaiah has a much greater understanding

of who God is than the nation of

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Judah, and his spirit is grieved

at the destruction that is coming.

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Yet he knows God's ways are just.

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And we'll keep reading through

this book because he's also

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going to write Life-giving

promises of the hope of the Lord

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Chapter 23 is an oracle against

the Phoenician city of Tyre.

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They were traders and seafarers,

and they were thriving.

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And you might remember the city

of Tyre because it's where Solomon

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accumulated the lumber for the temple

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And just like all of the nations, they're

also going to meet their destruction.

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They worshiped the sea god of Yam, but he

would not be able to save or protect them.

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And why?

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Verse nine tells us, "The Lord of

hosts has purposed it, to defile

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the pompous pride of all glory, to

dishonor all the honor of the earth."

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Our last four chapters of

Isaiah 24 through 27 are known

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as Isaiah's Little Apocalypse.

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It's hard for me to say

that without giggling a bit.

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I had to look up the word

apocalypse to make sure it's

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really as funny as it seems to me.

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The word apocalypse comes from the

ancient Greek apokalypsis, which

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means to lift the veil or unveiling.

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It generally refers to literature

with a prophetic intent, particularly

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in the Bible and especially

in the Book of Revelation.

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But it's become synonymous with global

disaster, extinction, or end times

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But the purpose is to display the

ultimate triumph of good over evil.

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It's not just about the destruction,

it's about the revealing of the truth

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Chapter 24 begins with God's judgment

of the entire earth verse five tells

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us, "The earth lies defiled under its

inhabitants, for they have transgressed

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the laws, violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant."

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It seems God is saying that

everyone is held accountable for not

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choosing a relationship with Him.

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This makes me think of Romans one when

it says that all men are without excuse

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because God's attributes have been clearly

shown since the creation of the world.

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All we have to do is look around and

see that a creator must have done this.

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I love what Frank Turek says.

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If you were walking along a beach and

came across a message of seashells

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written on the sand that said, " I love

Erica," you wouldn't think, "Wow, isn't

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that amazing what the ocean arranged?"

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You would instinctively and correctly

acknowledge that someone created it

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That image of the seashells is nothing

compared to the complicated structure of

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your DNA or the glory of the galaxies.

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All of it points to a creator.

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And some think that this everlasting

covenant in verse five refers to

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the Noahic covenant in Genesis nine

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Because in 9:12, God says,

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This is the sign of the covenant

that I make between me and you and

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every living creature that is with

you for all future generations

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In chapter twenty-five, Isaiah records

how God's people are going to respond

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after they see the entire world judged.

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There will be a banquet, but it's

not the wedding feast of the Lamb

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discussed in Revelation nineteen.

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Let's begin in twenty-five:six.

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On this mountain, the Lord of Hosts

will make for all peoples a feast of

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rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged

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wine well refined, and he will swallow

up on this mountain the covering

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that is cast over all peoples, the

veil that is spread over all nations.

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He will swallow up death forever, and

the Lord God will wipe away tears from

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all faces, and the reproach of his people

he will take away from all the earth

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For the Lord has spoken.

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It will be said on that day,

"Behold, this is our God.

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We have waited for Him

that He might save us.

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This is the Lord.

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We have waited for Him.

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Let us be glad and

rejoice in His salvation."

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Could you be more grateful for a

God that will make death cease and

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wipe every tear from your eyes?

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And chapter 26 is a song the

people of Judah will sing someday.

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It continues to remind us of the

blessings of walking in righteousness.

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A verse I've clung to for years is

26:3, " You keep him in perfect

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peace, whose mind is stayed on

you, because he trusts in you."

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This song continues, "Trust in

the Lord forever, for the Lord

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God is an everlasting rock.

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For he has humbled the inhabitants

of the height, the lofty city.

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He lays it low."

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To the ground, casts it to the dust.

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The foot tramples it, the feet of

the poor, the steps of the needy.

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The path of the righteous is level.

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You make level the way of the righteous.

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In the path of your judgments,

oh Lord, we wait for you.

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your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul.

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My soul yearns for you in the night.

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My spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

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For when your judgments are in

the earth, the inhabitants of

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the world learn righteousness

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Finally, the people will have that

depth of desire for their maker

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that he so rightfully deserves

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And I loved that acknowledgement

in verse nine that through God's

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judgment, we learn to do what is right

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In chapter 27

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Judgment continues

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And so does God's analogy

of him being the vine keeper

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And we read again that Assyria and

Egypt will worship together Today,

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you may be able to relate to Isaiah.

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You may be finding yourself in

the valley or your family may

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be in a place of suffering.

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But let's acknowledge together

the blessing of the vision and the

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clarity provided in that low place

as we pray this Puritan prayer Lord

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high and holy, meek and lowly.

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thou hast brought me to the valley

of vision, where I live in the

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depths, but see Thee in the heights.

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Hemmed in by mountains of sin, I behold

Thy glory Let me learn by paradox

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that the way down is the way up.

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That to be low is to be high.

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That the broken heart is the healed heart.

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That the contrite spirit

is the rejoicing spirit.

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That the repenting soul

is the victorious soul.

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That to have nothing is to possess all.

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That to bear the cross

is to wear the crown.

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That to give is to receive.

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That the valley is the place of vision.

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Lord, in the daytime, stars can be seen

from deepest wells, and the deeper the

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wells, the brighter thy stars shine.

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let me find thy light in my

darkness, thy joy in my sorrow, thy

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grace in my sin, thy riches in my

poverty, thy glory in my valley.

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In Jesus name we pray.

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Amen