April 25, 2022: Day 88 – Isaiah 26-28 and Matthew 1-3

We continue in our journey through Isaiah and in these three chapters we find ourselves in a place where the prophet sings his praises to the presence and the protection of God for the nation of Israel.  That may seem a bit strange in the midst of other prophecies which saw the downfall and the exportation of the people of Israel, but this is a bit of a reprieve.  Chapter 26 is described as a song of praise sung in the land of Judah: “in that day”.  

Again, chapter 27 describes deliverance for Israel “in that day”.  We find that phrase again repeated in vs.12 where it describes that the Lord will gather all of the Israelites together, including, and especially those who were part of the diaspora that were scattered all across from Assyria to Egypt.  But then we pick up where we left off in chapter 28 with a warning against Ephraim.  Keep in mind, Ephraim is another name for the northern kingdom, or the Israelites who were north of Jerusalem and used Samaria as their religious base. 

This reading takes us into the Gospel of Matthew.  It is no small thing that it begins with a geneology.  Read through the names and don’t lose track of what the author is telling us as we find Jesus described from the very beginnin in vs.17 as the Messiah.  We know from the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah.  We then have the story of the birth of Jesus through the perspective of Moses who is visited by the angel and then the presence of John the Baptist who prepares the way.