Daily Notes & Observations is a 365-part series that follows a chronological daily Bible reading schedule and contains a short article based on something found in the text for each day. This material is also available in paperback.

July 24, 2012

The Highway of Holiness (7/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 35-36.

“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…” (Isaiah 35:8-9).

This analogy of a highway for the redeemed is in some ways similar to the analogy used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
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July 23, 2012

"His Refuge Will Be the Impregnable Rock" (7/23)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 31-34.

“‘You who are far away, hear what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might.’ Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless. ‘Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?’

“He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, he who rejects unjust gain and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; he who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; he will dwell on the heights, his refuge will be the impregnable rock; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure” (Isaiah 33:13-16).

Knowing that God is willing and able to render punishment to whom it is due, the question that naturally follows is this: Who can be spared from punishment? This passage shows us some of the characteristics one must have in order to avoid God’s wrath.
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July 22, 2012

"You Must Not Prophesy to Us What is Right" (7/22)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 28-30.

God told Isaiah that he must prophesy to the people, even though they would not listen. He also explained why it was important to tell them anyway.

“Now go, write it on a tablet before them and inscribe it on a scroll, that it may serve in the time to come as a witness forever. For this is a rebellious people, false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, ‘You must not see visions’; and to the prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions. Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel’” (Isaiah 30:8-11).

The people of God were a “rebellious people.” This was why they refused to listen to God’s instructions. They desired “pleasant words,” even if such words were not true. What they thought and felt was more important to them than what God desired to teach them.
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July 21, 2012

Where is Your King that He May Save You? (7/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hosea 8-14.

“It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested, ‘Give me a king and princes?’ I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath” (Hosea 13:9-11).

God’s people had a chronic history of rejecting Him and looking for other sources of aid, strength, and protection. This passage mentions one of these sources: a king. We find a few reminders here showing us why they were to put their trust in God and not in a human ruler.
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July 20, 2012

Loyalty Rather Than Sacrifice (7/20)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hosea 1-7.

“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:4-6).

As the wise man said, “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?” (Proverbs 20:6). It is one thing to claim to be loyal to the Lord. It is quite another to actually be loyal.
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July 19, 2012

He Broke in Pieces the Bronze Serpent (7/19)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48.

Hezekiah was one of the righteous kings of Judah. He did something interesting as he attempted to purge the land of sin.

“He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

“He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses” (2 Kings 18:3-6).

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July 18, 2012

He Casts Down the Unassailable City (7/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 23-27.

The following passage speaks of God’s judgment against the mighty Babylon, reminding us of the need to trust in the Lord.

“Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. For He has brought low the unassailable city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust” (Isaiah 26:4-5).

Man tends to place a lot of confidence in his own strength and accomplishments. The city spoken of here was supposedly “unassailable.” The people of the city may have felt very secure. Opposing armies that might have considered attacking the city may have seen it as a daunting task. But even a city that is thought to be “unassailable” is not totally secure.
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