Sometimes God allows circumstances that should get our attention—events that expose our weakness, shake our sense of security, and remind us how much we need Him.

Judah had received just such a “warning shot.” But instead of turning to God and trusting His Word, many looked elsewhere for answers—to mediums and wizards.

Could America have received warning shots of our own? And rather than turning back to God, have we simply found our own modern-day sources of wisdom and security?

Where do we look when our nation is troubled, when the future seems uncertain, or when we’re afraid? To politicians, experts, commentators, and human solutions—or “to the law and to the testimony”?

Ultimately, the question is not merely what they will do. It’s what we will do. Will we trust God and His Word, or continue looking everywhere else for answers?

Welcome to “God’s Word Day by Day,” where I blog through the Bible in a Year. I hope you’ll join me every day. If you’re not already signed up, you can do it here or subscribe and watch on YouTube.

Today’s Readings:

Isaiah 7 & 8
Psalm 105.37-45
Proverbs 24.30-34
1 Corinthians 16.1-24

Has America Ignored God’s Warning Shots?

Isaiah 7 & 8:

Warning & Encouragement

Here in chapter 7, Judah’s King Ahaz had become discouraged because of attacks from Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Prophet Isaiah both comforted Ahaz and gave him and the nation a strong warning. He told him that the armies of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Syria would not prevail against him at that time, but because God knew they would not repent and instead continue in their wicked ways, he warned him that God would eventually allow their destruction.

Yet, even in the midst of that warning, He didn’t leave them without hope. He told them of the coming Messiah who would be born of a virgin, that the Messiah would be called “God with us” (Is. 7.14; Matt. 1.23), and gave other prophecies which would not be fully realized until the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Perhaps the planned attack by Israel and Syria was God’s “warning shot” meant to wake them up, to help them see His hand at work, and to see their need for His ongoing protection.

America, Too?

Could it be that America, too, has had a series of “warning shots”? Things like 9-11, other terrorist attacks, mass shootings, natural disasters, and the rise in lawlessness.

Instead of repenting and turning back to God, many in the nation of Israel turned to mediums and wizards for answers to their problems.

What will we do as a nation? Will we seek His wisdom or will we continue to look to our own mediums and wizards, all the so-called experts and prognosticators, politicians and commentators? Chapter 8.19-20:

And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

If our “experts” don’t give godly advice (“according to this word”), they too are blind to the truth (“there is no light in them”). As a result, chapter 8.21-22:

They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.

If we fail to seek God’s truth in our circumstances (whether it’s our economy, the state of our nation, the rise in violence, etc.), it will only lead to further godlessness, darkness, and despair.

For more on this, you might want to read yesterday’s post, “Are We Pulling God’s Judgment Down on Ourselves?”

Today’s Other Readings:

Psalm 105.37-45:

Even in the Midst of Darkness

The psalmist continues to recount the wonderful works of God. Even in the midst of hardship and judgment, God works in mighty ways in the lives of true believers, as our reading in Isaiah 3 confirmed.

Proverbs 24.30-34:

Spiritually Lazy

A frequent theme in Proverbs is a warning against laziness. Here Solomon warns that laziness eventually leads to poverty.

We can be lazy in many ways. One way is to be lazy spiritually by failing to pray and grow in our understanding of God and His truth. Let’s pray that we will all have a hunger and thirst to study and know Him more and to spend more time with Him in prayer.

1 Corinthians 16.1-24:

Are You Salty Enough?

Besides general salutations and comments about specific leaders, Paul closes out this book with the admonition:

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all you do be done with love (vv. 13-14).

That admonition is for us, too.

We need to be watchful lest the blessings and religious freedoms we have are stolen right out from under us, but we also need to be watchful of our own hearts, that we love and pray even for those in opposition to us, and that we not harden our hearts and become cynical.

“Stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” We are the salt, the preservative that keeps the hand of judgment from destroying our nation and the world. But Jesus said:

Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Lk. 14.34-35).

If we fail to be faithful, brave in the face of evil, and strong in Christ by relying on Him when we are weak or afraid, we will be useless and no longer the preservative. Without that preservative, what will hold back the hand of judgment on our nation?

But whether or not our nation as a whole repents, God’s encouragement to His people in Isaiah’s time is true for us, too. They were to find hope in the coming of their Messiah, and we are to find hope by looking forward to the second coming of our Messiah and His faithfulness in the meantime.

Come, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22.20).

Coming Up:

In the coming days, we will talk about reasons the world hates us, how we justify not obeying God’s Word, the importance of good doctrine, presumptuous sins, how our whining keeps us from shining God’s light into a dark world, and how delayed obedience = disobedience.

I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out the latest videos on our YouTube channel.

And if this post spoke to you, consider sharing it on your favorite social media platform.

Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years.

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)