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

Then the LORD said, "Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt's shame. – Isaiah 20:3-4

Today's Scripture Reading (May 14, 2026): Isaiah 19 & 20

Coming out of World War I, the Western Powers decided that soldiers who were taken prisoner during a conflict should retain their fundamental human rights. Those rights included protection from torture, access to health care, fair treatment, communication with family, eventual release, and not to be discriminated against, despite the inherent limitations of being a prisoner. Some might argue that these are universal rights, not just something dreamed up by Western Powers. But that is not quite true.

For instance, we know that in World War II, Prisoners of War detained by the Japanese were not provided with these rights. Actually, a lot of prisoners were killed outright. The death rate in Japanese prison camps was 27 percent. Or, seeing it from the reverse, if the Japanese took you prisoner, you had a 73 percent chance of surviving the experience. If the Allied forces took you prisoner, you had a 96 percent chance of living through the experience. And that is a significant difference.

We know that prisoners were tortured by the Japanese, both physically and mentally, and sometimes worked to death. But there was a reason for this difference. In Japanese thinking, being taken prisoner was considered dishonorable. And the dishonored had no rights, so they could be treated any way that their captors wanted to treat them. Allied prisoners had no rights, nor were any protections expected for Japanese prisoners taken by Allied forces.

In ancient times, this was true as well. What we miss about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah was that, at that time, homosexual sex was simply one way of dishonoring a captive. Another method of dishonoring an enemy was to make them march without clothes.

God instructs Isaiah to go without clothes, not just for a day or a month, but for three years. It is amazing that we don't remember Isaiah as the naked prophet. He walked on stony ground with no protection for his feet and under the hot sun with no protection for his body. And this nudity, regardless of how much Isaiah had actually taken off, was to send a message that the Assyrians would take the inhabitants of Egypt and Cush prisoner. When they did, they would be marched out of the country in humiliation with no clothes.

There might have been another message. Judah would leave their nation the same way, although it wouldn't be the Assyrians that would take them captive, but the Babylonians. Regardless of who their captives would be, the people would be marched out of their nation in disgrace because they refused to follow their God.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 21

All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. – Isaiah 18:3

Today's Scripture Reading (May 13, 2026): Isaiah 18

Between 1715 and 1789, the population of France increased by about 27%, from 22 million to 28 million. That population increase in France caused a few problems, but the most serious was a food shortage. The population had increased by 6 million, but Frances's ability to feed them hadn't improved, at least not as much as it needed to. France's food shortage set the stage for the French Revolution, but it didn't act alone.

The poorer people began to believe a conspiracy theory that overlooked the population-growth problem. The people began to believe there was enough food because there had always been enough. The people began to believe that the elites were intentionally withholding food to reduce the population. It was a time of great fear in France. And it was at this time, with this fear, that the Queen, Marie Antoinette, supposedly told the hungry people to "let them eat cake." (If this phrase was uttered at all, which seems doubtful, the wording was more likely "let them eat brioche," a rich bread made with eggs and butter.) All of this produced a revolution that might have killed more than 1 million people, and a time when the executioners sometimes quickly became the executed. In the Reign of Terror alone (September 1793 and July 1794), about 17,000 people were officially executed, and another 10,000 died in prison without the benefit of a trial.

Conspiracy theories are like that. If we believe them, they can change our lives, and usually not for the better. Often, conspiracy theories arise from fear. And they still plague us; I still see them circulating on social media, intended to scare us into taking action that benefits someone, but that someone is not us.

God is speaking through Isaiah and is prophesying about the nation of Cush. Cush was a usually landlocked nation west of the Red Sea and south of Egypt, though at times its borders extended to the Red Sea and into the southern portions of present-day Egypt. But in the midst of this prophecy, God says that when He comes, we won't miss that event. It is something the Bible says elsewhere as well. When God acts, all the people will see his movement. His banner will be raised on a high hill, and the sounds of trumpets will roar out so that all will hear it. On that day, there won't be any doubt about whether God really exists; we will all know, because we will see him with our eyes and hear him with our ears. It won't be a conspiracy theory; it will be something that we all know.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 19 & 20

Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. – Isaiah 17:6

Today's Scripture Reading (May 12, 2026): Isaiah 17

There is an apple tree growing in my backyard. Every year, the tree produces more apples than we could possibly use. And so, we share bags of apples with the people around us. There is a bit of ritual. One day, usually in early September, my family gathers to pick apples. Everyone gets involved in the process, with my son and son-in-law often climbing the tree to reach the apples on the highest branches.

Days after the apples have been removed, it is amazing that as I sit by the tree, I inevitably find apples that were missed; apples that, for some reason, we were blind to on the day of the picking. We might take boxes of apples off the tree, but over more than two decades of picking the apples off the tree in my backyard, we have yet to get them all. What is even more amazing, at least to me, is that my neighbor has an apple tree as well. The tree has the same kind of apple, and every year they pick their apples. After they finish picking, I usually spot apples that have been left on their tree as well. We never get them all.

Isaiah speaks of an olive tree and notes that even after the olives have been removed, some remain on the tree. Some of the high ones are left, or olives that are hiding among the leaves. Olives that were still clinging to the tree hard enough that even when the tree is shaken, they do not fall. These olives serve as an important reminder for the prophet. Even when a nation is destroyed, there is always a remnant that is left behind. A remnant that can rebuild and begin the process over again, hopefully in a healthier way.

This idea of the remnant was an encouraging phenomenon for the prophet, and it should be for us as well. I admit that I sometimes worry about the health of the Christian Church. Sometimes I find that hate wins out over love. I worry that we have begun to tolerate our neighbor rather than love them. And maybe even a church that has decided to remake God in our image, rather than the other way around. As a church, it is a transformation that has brought pain in its wings. But Isaiah spoke of a remnant during his time, and I hope that same remnant exists today. I pray for a remnant that will begin to love again as Jesus loved. That we will care for our neighbors and sell out in an attempt to love God with everything that we are. That is the remnant that our church needs today. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 18

The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. – Isaiah 15:6

Today's Scripture Reading (May 11, 2026): Isaiah 15 & 16

Have you ever heard of the Sepik River? What about the Brahmaputra or Guadalquivir Rivers? Maybe the Indus River? I have to admit that I had never heard of the first three Rivers. However, I am familiar with the Indus River, maybe just because I listen to Anita Anand and William Dalrymple's "Empire" podcast. The Indus River flows through China and India, running the entire length of Pakistan, and empties into the Arabian Sea. The Indus is so important that it lends its name to one of the largest countries in the world: India. As for the Brahmaputra, it flows through Tibet, China, India, and Bangladesh, while the Guadalquivir River flows entirely within the boundaries of Spain. The Sepik River is located in Papua New Guinea. Every one of these rivers is essential to life in its area. Like so many rivers in the world, it was along the banks of these rivers that the cities of the area began to grow. Rivers bring life. And while we may not have heard of these rivers, that doesn't mean they are unimportant. Every city I have lived in has had a river running through it, and that is no accident.

We don't know what "the waters of Nimrim" might refer to. It might be a river, a lake, or even a city. What we know is that "the waters of Nimrim" were important for life. The word "Nimrim" refers to "pure" or "wholesome water." It can also indicate "basins of clear water." Nimrim itself was associated with the Kingdom of Moab: here in Isaiah, and again in the prophecy of Jeremiah after the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah is also speaking about Moab, and he writes;

"The sound of their cry rises
    from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
    for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up (Jeremiah 48:34).

From the context, we know that these waters were necessary for life and that they had disappeared. Without the water, life disappeared as well. It is hard to imagine how life could continue in the places where we live if the rivers or water sources that meander through our towns suddenly disappeared.

It is the subject of a conversation that Jesus had with an unnamed woman at a water source, in this case, a well. And every day, this woman had to come to the well to get the water that kept her alive. Jesus reminds the woman that while physical water gives us life, to truly live we need spiritual water as well.

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 17

The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. – Isaiah 14:5

Today's Scripture Reading (May 10, 2026): Isaiah 14

Legacy is a strange thing. And experiences can shape how we view our leaders, even generations after their leadership ends. One example I have spent some time thinking about is the reign of King Leopold II of Belgium, who reigned for 44 years, from 1865 to 1909. The legacy of Leopold II might depend on where you experienced him. Some see him as a great leader of his time. Statues are built to him in Belgium. In a world that seems to have gone overboard with cancel culture, apparently, Leopold II has not been canceled.

Some of us see a good reason to "cancel" Leopold. Maybe the reason he hasn't been is that his sin occurred in Africa. Leopold believed that a nation's greatness depended on its overseas possessions, especially in Africa, which it could control. So, Leopold took over Congo in the heart of Africa. The problem is that Congo didn't become Belgian property; it essentially became Leopold's personal property. And Leopold might have been a good king in Belgium, but in what he called the Congo Free State, he was about as bad a tyrant as anyone can imagine. I need to make it clear that I have close friends who are Congolese, and I have heard some of the historical stories passed down from that proud nation's history.

The list of Leopold's sins is long. The atrocities ordered by Leopold in the Congo Free State include enslaving a people, torture, murder, kidnapping, and even the amputation of the hands and feet of people, including children, when the quota of rubber was not met. Leopold's practices in the Congo have been described by George Washington Williams, a pastor, naval officer, and politician, as a crime against humanity. The Congo continues to suffer today; it is divided and at war with itself, and one has to wonder how different life in central Africa might have been if it had never come under Leopold II's control. I know that over a century after the King's death, my friends still talk of his terrible reign in their country.

Isaiah argues that God breaks the power of the wicked and the scepter of wicked kings. I think that is sometimes true, but often I wonder if God couldn't do things just a little faster. Leopold II died peacefully in his bed from an embolism. Maybe, in Leopold's case, part of breaking the King's power was that his nephew, Albert I, succeeded him as King.

Or maybe the breaking of Leopold's power is the way some have remembered the King after his death. I have to admit that I feel the emotion and pain in the work of poets like Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), who wrote of Leopold II,

Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost.
Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.
Hear how the demons chuckle and yell.
Cutting his hands off, down in Hell (Vachel Lindsay, 1914).

Or maybe it is just the knowledge that even if we escape from this life with our power intact, we will still have to deal with God for our great sin at the end of the age.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 15 & 16

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. – Isaiah 12:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 9, 2026): Isaiah 12 & 13

When I was a youth pastor, the church had a rule that only Christian music could be played on church equipment. Unfortunately, determining which groups were Christian was not always easy. If we define Christian music as recordings sold in a Christian bookstore (this was before streaming), that is not always a perfect definition. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Larry Norman was too secular for Christian Bookstores. He was also too Christian for secular stores. 

The Progressive Rock band "Kansas" has produced songs that foreshadow evangelical Christianity. And several other bands have as well, including "The Fray." Take a listen to their lullaby, "Be Still."

            Be still and know that I'm with you

            Be still and know that I am here

Be still and know that I'm with you

            Be still, be still, and know.

            When darkness comes upon you

            And covers you with fear and shame

            Be still and know that I'm with you

            And I will say Your Name.

One teen decided that the definition of Christian was simply that they were American or Canadian. I mean, deep down, aren't we all Christian?

How do we know if someone is a Christian? It is a complex question, and one that I think we have muddied over the past few generations. In the world that existed a generation ago, when most people seemed to confess to being a Christian, Christians started adding rules. You were Christian if you went to church consistently. Or maybe if you attended mid-week services. Growing up, we spent a lot of time at the church, attending Sunday School, Morning, and Evening Services on Sundays, midweek services on Wednesday, Friday night activities for children and youth, with a Choir practice thrown in somewhere for good measure. But did any of that make us Christians?

There isn't a simple answer, but there are some clues that have nothing to do with church attendance, and Isaiah highlights one of them in this passage. Who has saved you? Or maybe more simply, do you even need to be saved? Have you asked God for forgiveness for the things that you have actively done wrong during your life? It isn't as easy a question as it might seem. Admitting that I have done wrong, or that I needed saving, is hard for most people. But as Christians, we have come to terms with this aspect of our lives. People who are still on the outside looking in often deny that they need a Savior, or that they have committed any sins large enough to need to ask forgiveness.

As Christians, we understand the depth of our sin. In fact, I admit that as I grow as a Christian, I am becoming more aware of my sin, and frequently need to ask forgiveness for things, like my attitude, that I would never have thought were wrong a decade ago. The closer I get to God's plan and his love for people, the more I realize how much I lack.

Isaiah says, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation." As Christians, we not only hear these words but also feel them and know their truth. I am forgiven, not because there wasn't anything significant to forgive, but because God has forgiven me, and he can forgive anything. I am saved not because I didn't need saving, but because God is my salvation. And he has rescued me!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 14