In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. – Isaiah 27:6

Today's Scripture Reading (May 21, 2026): Isaiah 27

Isaiah has already written a song about a Vineyard in Isaiah 5. But this vineyard was not a good one. The owner had done everything the vineyard owner needed to do. The vineyard was planted on a fertile hillside. The rocks were cleared, and the field was planted with only the best vines. (Personal Note: Did you know a field grows rocks? I didn't until I was hired to pick rocks as a teen. And the next year, I was hired to clear the same field of rocks. Who knew that fields grow rocks?) Yet, when it came to getting fruit from the vineyard, the only fruit the vineyard produced was rotten and worthless.

In that "Song of the Vineyard," Isaiah invites the listener to judge between the vineyard and its owner. What would you do if you were the owner of the vineyard? Isaiah concludes that the only option is to destroy the vineyard.

Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
    and it will be trampled.
I will make it a wasteland,
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain on it (Isaiah 5:5-6).

Here, Isaiah is speaking of a different vineyard. This time, the vineyard takes root, and the vines bud and blossom. And rather than being overwhelmed with briers and thorns, the vines fill the world with their fruit. Experts admit that Isaiah here is speaking of the day of the Messiah. It is this day we still wait for.

The Messiah has come, and the fruit of the vineyard has spread throughout the world. We aren't perfect. Sometimes, I think that we are moving in the wrong direction, but Isaiah's words are still in force. Briers and thorns still infest the church, but if we trust the Vineyard Owner, those can be dealt with. And the joy and love of God can infect all the Earth, and in that day, I believe this world will be a much better place.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 28

Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. – Isaiah 26:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 20, 2026): Isaiah 26

One of my favorite Psalms isn't the famous twenty-third, but the next Psalm in the Psalter, the twenty-fourth. Like the Shepherd's Psalm, it was written by David. But tradition tells us that Psalm twenty-four was written in anticipation of the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. The Ark had been in exile since it was lost to the Philistines during the reign of the High Priest Eli. Eli is probably best known as the Priest who raised Samuel, the last of Israel's Judges. One of Eli's main responsibilities, as High Priest, was to care for the Ark of the Covenant in Shiloh, where the Tabernacle had been set up. But for some reason, Eli must have been convinced, likely by his sons, to whom Eli had always struggled saying no, to allow the Ark to be carried into battle. By law, the Ark was never supposed to leave the Tabernacle, except when the Tabernacle itself was being moved.

The sons of Eli carried the Ark of the Covenant into battle, and there, they lost it. The Philistines tried to keep it, but it had caused them significant trouble, so they sent it back to Israel, and for a while the Ark spent time in Kiriath-Jearim, a town located 10 kilometers west of Jerusalem. However, David wanted the Ark brought to Jerusalem, rather than to the Tabernacle, where it should have been returned. The Ark was placed on a cart; by law, it should have been carried by the priests, and it started for Jerusalem.

About three kilometers down the road, disaster struck. The cart hit a rock, and as the Ark began to fall, a Levite named Uzzah reached out to steady it. Uzzah was not allowed to touch the Ark according to Mosaic Law, and Uzzah died on the spot. David decides that the Ark is too dangerous to bring into his city, so he leaves it at the threshing floor of Nacon.

Later, David decides to try to move the Ark to Jerusalem one more time, but this time he follows the instructions given in the Mosaic Law. Two poles were placed into the rings attached to the Ark, and the priests carried the Ark to Jerusalem. As the Ark approached the city, the priests called out to its inhabitants, and the people responded. This call-and-response is revealed to us in Psalm 24.

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory (Psalm 24).

I wonder if Psalm 24 is on Isaiah's mind as he writes these words of praise. Maybe we could rephrase David's words.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the righteous nation may come in.
Who is this righteous nation?
    The nation that keeps its faith,
    The nation who follows Israel's God.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the righteous nation may come in.
Who is this righteous nation?
    The nation that loves the Lord,
    Let that nation be us – the faithful followers of our God.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 27

You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigners' stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. – Isaiah 25:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 19, 2026): Isaiah 25

Mount Vesuvius. Just the name brings images of destruction to our minds. Vesuvius is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, partially because of the frequency with which it erupts, and partially because three million people live close enough to the mountain to be affected by an eruption, which includes the city of Naples, and more than 600,000 people living in the danger zone. Since the volcano's famous eruption in 79 C.E., Vesuvius has had 36 significant eruptions—the most recent major eruption took place in 1944.

Of course, the eruption for which we most remember Vesuvius is the one in 79 C.E., which destroyed the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae. We remember Pompeii, but often forget that it wasn't the only city to die in that blast from Mount Vesuvius. Oplontis seemed to suffer the bluntest force from the 79 C.E. eruption. Herculaneum might have been the best-preserved of the cities destroyed in 79 C.E., and it was smaller and wealthier than the better-known Pompeii.

But these four cities were destroyed, and today visitors take tours of them and witness what life was like 2,000 years ago in Italy. They are not alone in history. Many great cities have disappeared in the years since Isaiah prophesied. It seems to be something that happens. Sometimes cities disappear because of a natural disaster; sometimes the prosperity of an area changes, forcing people to leave to find work. Nothing in this world is "set in stone," even if they look permanent to us.

Isaiah says that a city has been, or maybe will be, transformed into a pile of rubble, and what was once a stronghold is no longer even a city. And this city will never be rebuilt again. It is a description that fits many cities in history. The four cities destroyed by Vesuvius were destroyed, but not quite like Isaiah predicted, and they have never been rebuilt. The destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 B.C.E and Rome in 70 C.E. echoed the predicted level of destruction, but the city was rebuilt both times. Babylon was destroyed, and the city has not been rebuilt, although there have been plans over the centuries to resurrect it. The most recent plan to rebuild Babylon was developed by Iraq's autocratic leader, Saddam Hussein, who wanted to bring back Babylon, believing that he was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar.

However, I don't think Isaiah is speaking of a specific city, but of any city, and maybe every city. There is no city, no nation, and no empire that is "safe forever." If that is what you want, a city can't do that for you. Every city is vulnerable to destruction and may never be rebuilt, including Jerusalem. As far as Isaiah is concerned, that kind of security comes only from God, and that is something he hopes his readers will remember.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 26

The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word. – Isaiah 24:3

Today's Scripture Reading (May 18, 2026): Isaiah 24

I have to admit that I have read a lot of dystopian fiction and watched many dystopian movies over the years. The theme of these stories is that something bad has happened, often a nuclear war or some kind of genetic accident, and it has left the earth depopulated. The government is either gone or under autocratic rule, and the fight to survive consumes the energy of a remnant who are left on the earth.

One of my favorite dystopian novels is Frank Herbert's, the author of the Dune series of novels, "The White Plague." Herbert spins a tale about a man whose family is killed by a terrorist while visiting the United Kingdom, and decides to get his revenge by constructing a plague that will claim the lives of most of the people living on the earth. Nations close their borders, reminiscent of the COVID-19 lockdown, but are unsuccessful at keeping the infection out. At the end of the novel, the man gets to walk the green hills of Ireland, examining his handiwork. Only a few still survive after the plague that has spread throughout the earth, and it is a bad place, the literal meaning of "dystopian," to live.

Dystopian tales like to examine how the world will end. We are probably inundated with more possible ways that this planet of ours could die than anyone else has had to deal with in the history of our Earth. For Isaiah, the only way the earth could die was if God did something. The Bible tells dystopian tales of fire raining down from the heavens or a flood that covered the earth. But the underlying agreement in these stories is that God has done this. Today, we realize that God doesn't need to do anything to destroy this world; we can do it all by ourselves. Nuclear war, accidents, genetic mistakes, out-of-control pollution, and the greenhouse effect are just some of the ways this might happen. Venus is an example of the latter. It is a planet that is very similar to the Earth, except that it is the hottest planet in our solar system, not because it is the closest to the sun; Mercury gets that award, but because it has a naturally occurring greenhouse effect that might foreshadow the artificial one we are creating on the Earth.

On the natural side, the eruption of a supervolcano, like the Yellowstone Caldera, would drastically change life on Earth, killing most of its inhabitants. Almost weekly, we are told about another comet that is going to make a close pass of Earth. If one of them actually hit the Earth, again, it would take most life on Earth with it. But we need to be careful. The potential risk to Earth from natural causes is not increasing; we are simply becoming more aware of the many ways Earth might die.

We know that the Earth will die. It will go out with either a bang or a whimper at some point in the next three billion years. Isaiah says that it will go out with a bang, and whether we kill the earth or it comes to a natural end, God will allow the Earth's destruction as a penalty for our sin.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25

Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched. – Isaiah 23:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 17, 2026): Isaiah 23

On April 10, 1815, Indonesia's Mount Tambora reached a violent climax after a three-year eruption. The volcano had been active since 1812, but the 1815 eruption is now considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history. The volcano would continue to erupt until July 15, 1815, but nothing matched the intensity of the April 10 eruption. Tambora's temper tantrum killed 10,000 to 11,000 people from the direct effects of the eruption. But that was just the start.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora had global effects. In Canada, a world away from Indonesia, 1816 was the year without summer. For over a century, we weren't sure why the temperatures plummeted worldwide in 1816, but now we know. Ash in the atmosphere lowered temperatures everywhere, including in Canada, on the other side of the world. Canada can experience harsh temperatures for much of the year, but 1816 saw snow fall in some areas every month of the year, and a hard frost in June destroyed many of the crops that had been planted. The result was a famine in Canada as well as in many other places in the world. All because of Mount Tambora's eruption.

Isaiah is prophesying against the City of Tyre. The city comprises two urban centers: the old city, on an island half a kilometer off the Phoenician coast, and Usha, the mainland component of the city, which provided the island city with fresh water. Together, they made up the trading dynamo that had become famous throughout the known world.

But Isaiah goes beyond just warning the people of Tyre and Usha. Isaiah includes the city of Sidon in his warning, a city up the coast from Tyre. In fact, anyone who relied on or benefited from trade with the island city received a warning because anything that hurt Tyre would also impact almost the entire ancient world.

Tyre had enriched many people. But that also meant the island city's economy was entwined with the world economy. Maybe it wasn't an eruption of a major volcano, but it would have had a similar effect on the world the port city served.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 24

The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains. – Isaiah 22:5

Today's Scripture Reading (May 16, 2026): Isaiah 22

On January 3, 2026, the United States invaded, although there is some argument about whether that is the correct word to use, Venezuela, capturing that nation's President, Nicolas Maduro. Whether invaded is the correct word to use has arisen because the attack was so quick, and the United States basically broke into the nation, kidnapped Maduro and his wife, and then left. What is also at issue is that millions of dollars were bet on the event, which very few people saw coming, raising suspicions that someone or a group of people had inside information about the coming attack. It seems to be one of those situations where you're making a bet that you can't win, because either you are wrong or you cheated. It has also brought some focus on the predictive markets and betting present in our contemporary society.

Isaiah is writing his prophecy about Jerusalem (the Valley of Vision) at a vulnerable time for the City of David. The bully on the world stage is Assyria, which is actively attacking and absorbing the smaller kingdoms surrounding it. Thus, in 722 B.C.E., the Kingdom of Israel, the northern neighbor of Judah, fell and was carried into captivity, never to return, by the Assyrians. The obvious question that Isaiah, in his humanness, had to ask might have been, "Can Judah be far behind?"

As Isaiah writes about a day of tumult, trampling, and terror, and as he imagines the walls of the city falling, I wonder if his mind was focused on the Assyrians; that they would be the ones to bring tears to the "Valley of Vision." And in 701 B.C.E., that day of terror arrived as the Assyrians surrounded the city, intending to starve the people and take over the city and the nation.

Isaiah prophesied for a long period in Judah's history. We can date the earliest of his prophecies, Isaiah 1-6, to approximately 739 B.C.E., and the latest of his prophecies to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.E. That means Isaiah was present for the story of Assyria and the tribes of Jacob. The last of his prophecies was directed at King Hezekiah, assuring him that Jerusalem would not fall to the Assyrians. I sometimes wonder whether, as Isaiah spoke to Hezekiah in 701 B.C.E., he remembered his prophecies, like this one, and wondered whether he might have been wrong.

Of course, we know he wasn't. We can date this prophecy to approximately 725 B.C.E., three years before the fall of Israel and over two decades before Assyria threatened Jerusalem. And while I am sure the Prophet was focused on Assyria, we know this prophecy is really about Babylon, an empire that was still over a hundred years away from threatening "The Valley of Vision." But the day would come when the valley would be trampled and terrorized, a day when her walls would be battered until they were gone, and the people would be carried into exile.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 23

A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. – Isaiah 21:1

Today's Scripture Reading (May 15, 2026): Isaiah 21

As a young child, I lived in an area that had several large lakes. These lakes were so large that you couldn't see the shoreline opposite where you were standing. It was like living in an area that had several oceans or seas. The reality was that until I was about eight, I had never seen a lake where you could see all four, or even three, shores. A lake was, in my childlike mind, an extremely large body of water. I would be almost twenty before I saw a real ocean, in this case, the Pacific. I have been close to the Atlantic Ocean, but I have never viewed that august body of water. But to this day, I love spending time on the shore of a lake or the ocean, though more recently, the bodies of water I look at are much smaller than the lakes of childhood.

The Iraqi desert is a significant feature of Western Iraq. The desert is a mix of various topographical features, including rocky plains, sandy stretches, and dry riverbeds (wadis). It is a hot, water-scarce area, so there is very little vegetation. But that doesn't mean that there is no water. The Euphrates River flows along the eastern edge of the Iraqi Desert, and the region is dotted with several lakes.

Iraq is largely landlocked. The only ports for the country are in the south-east corner of the nation, where a tiny sliver of land meets the Persian Gulf. And it is on this relatively small plot of land that the Iraqi government is trying to build its ambitious Grand Faw Port Project, slated for completion in 2045.

My intention in giving this geography lesson is to note that the Iraqi desert is one of the last places we might call the "Desert (or Wilderness) by the Sea," because there just isn't a sea, at least not as we would describe it. Yet this is the name given to Babylon, now Iraq. The reason for this nickname for Babylon is that the area is dotted with lakes and, of course, the great Euphrates River, and the Hebrew understanding of a Sea is not a large, single body of water like the Mediterranean or Baltic Seas, but rather any collection of waters. The lakes and rivers of Babylon constitute a sea, and Babylon has both a desert and a collection of waters; thus, it really is a Desert or Wilderness by the Sea.

One other note on this verse. Some translations of this verse begin with the words "A burden against the Desert by the Sea" instead of prophecy. The word "burden" is simply a reminder of the weight of seriousness the prophet felt in the words he was sharing. It was Isaiah's way of emphasizing that these words were serious, and he hoped someone would listen to what he had to say.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 22