Isaiah 18
A Gift of Homage!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, January 5.
Do you know the history of Cush? While it has historical connections with the Egyptian Empire, it’s located in Ethiopia. The Cushites came from Cush, the son of Ham, who was one of the three sons of Noah (Genesis 10:6-8). This is an ancient people; in fact, it is one of the first places mentioned in the Bible. In Genesis 2:13, God described the Garden of Eden, which includes a reference to Cush, “The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.” From this pre-historic geographical reference, it is not surprising that the oracle to Cush references “the rivers” three times in the seven verses of Isaiah 18, including verse 7, “At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation, whose land the rivers divide – to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.”
When your people dwell in the land of the Garden of Eden you are going to highlight that sacred geography whenever possible. It’s like putting a brown sign at your exit on the Interstate, explaining that there is something of interest to pull off and see here! More than that, though, verse 7 prophesied that “a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts” by the people of Ethiopia. Is it possible that a fulfillment of this was the conversion of “an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship” (Acts 8:27-40)?
Seize the moment and present yourself as a gift of homage to God – “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship”(Romans 12:1).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.