A HIGHWAY

Suggested Reading: Isaiah 17-19

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Looking from Israel towards the East, a highway leads down to the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea, which you can see in the distance with the mountains of Moab and Mount Nebo, Jordan, further behind. Today's reading tells us about a "Highway." This was a steep gravel road when my parents were here in 1924 on their honeymoon. They had to back up this hill because otherwise their 1914 model T Ford, with gravity feed for the gas, would run out of gas.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Isaiah 19:20, 23, 25b

And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them…In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians… Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.

Our key verses about Egypt, Assyria, and Israel are most surprising! Isaiah, the prophet of Judah, could be accused of aiding and abetting the mortal enemies of Israel. Assyria had destroyed the northern ten tribes, and Judah had been invaded and harassed again and again by Egypt. Yet here, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Isaiah looks beyond the past and present to a glorious future when people from every nation would be called, “The people of God.” That’s true today, and someday soon, the nations themselves will acknowledge the God of Israel, His Son and our Saviour and Lord!!! For a New Testament reading concerning people of all nations, check out Ephesians 2:11-19 and Matthew 25:31-34!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, Isaiah carried a deep concern for all people and nations. I pray for a greater concern for their well being. May I have a greater heart for world missions, and may I pray and give more sacrificially than ever before! I even state in Your presence, as Isaiah did, “Here am I, send me!” I pray this in the Name of the One Who gave Himself to all people and to the whole world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I read the key verses several times when I served as an accredited reporter to President Jimmy Carter’s last and most crucial visit to Jerusalem. In my mind’s eye I could envision the highway from Egypt to Assyria when I heard President Carter say to the Israeli Parliament, “The people want peace!” I won’t tell the whole story here, but it is sufficient to say that for the only time in my life, when I was approached by live radio hosts in both the Hebrew and Arabic languages for a interview, I believe I experienced a prophetic word such as Isaiah received. I encourage everybody to get my latest book entitled, This far by Faith, and find this story on page 48 (click here for information on how to get one of these books). Crossroads Christian Communications is reaching all peoples and nations in various ways under the inspired leadership of Dr. John Hull, a true missionary statesman. As the Global Chief Executive Officer of our ministry, John, who served as Pastor of the People’s Church, Toronto, in the footsteps of that other great missionary statesman, Dr. Oswald J. Smith, is my leader in fulfilling the Great Commission given by Jesus, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature!” John was only 35 years old when Dr. Paul B. Smith found him in a local church pastorate and sensed John’s burning passion to reach the world for Christ. Now at 55, John is equipped in heart, mind, experience and total commitment to reach the world for Jesus using all the amazing tools of 21st century communications. I guess it’s obvious that I’m excited, as is my family, about the future of Crossroads. Norma-Jean and I are committed to praying more and giving more than ever.

Yours for the highway, not just between Egypt and Assyria, through Israel, but to the east, the west, the north and the south, into all nations!

David

P.S. Help us build highways which allow us to communicate the message of Jesus by praying and giving special offerings before the year end. The offerings tucked in envelopes which are mailed and postmarked before midnight, December 31st, will qualify for tax deductions for 2013 in both Canada and in the U.S.A.

P.P.S. The photos below were taken by my son Ron through a helicopter window above the Crossroads Centre in Burlington, Ontario (a good friend of the ministry, Tony Ketalaars, took Ron for a flight over the city a while back). Next to our building, the one closest to the the highway, you can see the busy intersection of three major highways…403, 407, and the Q.E.W. From here at this crossroads, the Word of the Lord goes out to the whole world. Your prayers and support puts in the fuel, not in a model T ford, but in the most futuristic means of moving throughout the whole world! Thanks for helping to keep our gas tanks full! Amen!!!