Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem(6/19/17)[Prayer]

The Holy Scriptures | 6/19/17 | left that other site

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Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Isaiah

Isaiah 59

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood,
    your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers
    and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
    acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
    no one who walks along them will know peace.

9 So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
    and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
    and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
    so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath of the Lord drives along.[a]

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed, Magnified,
and Sanctified is Your Most Holy Name!
How Blessed and How True is Your Word,
and How Mighty!
How Glorious, to Span the Millennia,
To be Unfettered by Time and Space,
To Know The End from the Beginning
and the beginning from The End!
For it is You, Oh LORD,
Who designed the Galaxies with Your Compass,
And Mapped Out the Vast Reaches of Space With Your Word
and Your Omniscient imagination!
Scientists tell us even the heavens are finite.
But YOU are Infinite!
LORD, remind us ALWAYS to Worship You,
and not Your Creation.
Your creation is there but to proclaim YOUR GLORY.
Hallelujah and Amen.

We Pray For the Leaders of Our own Beloved USA
May They Receive Wisdom from You
to do the Right Thing.

We Pray For The Swift and Sure Coming of Messiah,
Blessed Be He,
To Establish His Kingdom,
and Make All Things Right.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

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Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

The footnote in today's passage reminds me of something that happened nearly 36 years ago when I first started reading and studying the Bible. A radio preacher quoted Isaiah 59:19 as;

19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
King James Version (KJV)

I really LIKED that, so I ran home and tried to find it in my Bible (A New American Standard version) and I could not find it. In the days before computers made Bible Study easy, I checked the (Exhausting!) Concordance with key words "Enemy comes in like a flood" and got nothing. I searched and searched several versions, and finally found it, but in every other version besides the KJV, the "Flood" was not the enemy, but the power and refreshment of God fighting for ME against the enemy. Since there are no punctuation marks in the original scrolls, the placement of a single comma changed the meaning of the phrase. It could read like the King James Version, or it could read like this:

When the enemy shall come in,
Like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

The moving of a single comma gives God the Power of the Flood, rather than the enemy. To make it even more interesting, the phrase indicates not the destructive waters of a raging flood (The Enemy), but rather the refreshing, cleansing waters of a spring that has been held back and finally released upon the land.

All that nitpicking and argument over the placing of one comma, that did not even exist in the original, took my eyes off the entire context of the chapter and the greater context of Isaiah himself. The chapter is in the section of the prophecy that has just told the agonizing story of the Suffering Messiah. It follows the incredible concept of Substitutionary Atonement, that an Innocent carried the sins of the world upon His back. Chapter 59 itself chronicles the sinfulness of Man, and our inability to redeem ourselves. But when the enemy thinks he has us, suddenly the refreshing, unstoppable, glorious Grace of God Almighty comes rushing in like a Flood to refresh, to awaken, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The NIV gives us both interpretations by providing the footnote, but back-in-the-day, this was not provided to me. I am actually glad I had to do all that work because I am able to share it with you today! :-)

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[etabeta]

Joining in prayer. God bless.

[NEWwoman]

Great commentary on verse, left that other site

Joining in prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.

The following verses in this selection:

For your hands are stained with blood,
    your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.

as in the Jews for Jesus song - I am Not Ashamed (of the Gospel)

https://youtu.be/62p_JWGBRlM    

Signs of the Times

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Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Etabeta, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, NEWwoman, For Your Prayers and Music For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[Jeanbl]

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem, for our families and friends, those facing persecution, for our nations.

[left that other site]

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Jeanbl, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[Hiskid]

Amen.

[Kitty Mittens]

Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed, Magnified,
and Sanctified is Your Most Holy Name!
How Blessed and How True is Your Word,
and How Mighty!

Amen to your Anointed, Beautiful Prayer, Dear Servant of our King.
Joining you in Thanksgiving, Prayer, and Praise.

[Maudeen]

Agreeing in prayer.

[left that other site]

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

The Scripture, with the comma in the KJV Position.

Thank You, Hiskid, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

The Scripture, with the comma in the KJV Position.

Thank You, Kitty Mittens, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[left that other site]

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem

The Scripture, with the comma in the KJV Position.

Thank You, Maudeen, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

God Bless America!

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.



This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS