DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 8 May 2025: Looking in the Wrong Direction
Text: Isaiah 25:1-12 (KJV)
O Lord, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2 For You have made a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You;
The city of the terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.
6 And in this mountain
The Lord of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
10 For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest,
And Moab shall be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.
11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their pride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The fortress of the high fort of your walls
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
KEY VERSE: (Isaiah 25:8) “He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
The alchemists flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages, with one of their goals being to discover eternal youth and health. In other words, they sought to eliminate death. They were referred to as engaging in “speculative thought” that bore little link to robust scientific research and deep intellectual exercise. Because of this severe lack of a firm footing in staying reality, the alchemists disappeared into history, unable to achieve their objectives. Their fate could not have been otherwise. They did not look in the right direction for eternal life. They ignored the Bible, God’s word that directs man to Christ, the Author of eternal life and Conqueror of death.
In today’s text, Prophet Isaiah expressed praise to God for wonderful interventions of divine providence on behalf of the Jews including the destruction of their enemies. Beyond the temporal blessings enjoyed by the Jews, Isaiah here points to higher blessings under the gospel era in which God will eventually “swallow up death in victory, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.” This is the omnipotent Lord who alone can make us triumph over the challenges threatening to destroy us.
Humanity’s hope in the face of grave global economic depression and frightening developments does not lie in relying more on the philosophies of man, which have brought us to this point in the first place. It lies in resting on the promises of the Creator. He is our Refuge against all who have set themselves up to thwart His good plans for the Church and the faithful followers of His Son. With the word of God in our possession, we are assured of a brighter future than in the Medieval period, when man wanted to outwit death without the salvation plan of God.
Christians can reach out to people and let them know God can offer that eternal life. Amid turmoil, He can also give joy and victory to those who believe in Him and His word.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Christ remains the answer to man’s ultimate question.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 18-21
Daily Manna 8 May 2025
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