January 29

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR JANUARY 29, 2026: ISAIAH 18, JOHN 20, PSALM 149                                        ISAIAH 18 This chapter seems cryptic to this writer. Let’s see what it tells us about God and ourselves.  It begins by prophesying bad times ahead for Cush, present day Ethiopia. There seems to be a command to send messengers to Cush, perhaps for purposes of negotiation in light of the powerful and oppressive reputation of this nation. This mission apparently will be well known to all the people of the earth, as represented by the trumpet sound and banner raised for all the world to hear and see. 

Then God states He will monitor this whole situation from His position of authority.  God will disrupt the crops before they can be harvested. Animals will consume them instead. It is not clear where this disruption will take place, but since this woe is targeted to Cush, that could be the place. Then the people of Cush will bring tribute to the Lord, seemingly to Mount Zion, which usually means Jerusalem. 

This could be one of those prophecies that has not yet been fulfilled or only partially so. Thus, we should keep our eyes open in the future to see how God brings all this to pass.  We do know that God’s people/messengers have communicated the Gospel message to Ethiopians, starting with Philip witnessing to the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. Also, we know that Ethiopia has, in recent years, been site of horrific famines through crop failures and hostilities. Perhaps these could be the first two prongs of this three-pronged prophecy. What is clear is that God has been or will be acknowledged by this nation as the Lord, worthy of receiving tribute.  We must make the same acknowledgement with our mouths and offering of our lives: “Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord” (Rom. 10:9). AND “Present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1).

JOHN 20 In chapter 19, we learned that everything changed with Jesus’ dying cry, “IT IS FINISHED.”  The evidence of the complete work of redemption comes in this chapter when the disciples discover the empty tomb. In the resurrection, the finished work was shown to be completer – life conquered death, love conquered hate, light conquered darkness. John, in writing about himself, says, “He saw and believed.” (v 8) John was so convinced of the resurrec- tion; he wanted everyone to believe. So, this chapter ends where we began in chapter one…John’s purpose for writing this gospel: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (20:31) From the first verses, John has tried to convince his reader that Jesus truly is the risen Christ, and one can have life in his name. His writing is full of what could be called, “one-sentence-gospels.” Take some time to slowly read and meditate on these sentences from John’s gospel:

  • Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (1:12)

READING FOR JANUARY 29, 2026 CONTINUED: JOHN 20, PSALM 149

  • For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (3:16)
  • Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (3:36)
  • I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (5:24)
  • Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty (6:35)
  • For my father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  (6:40)
  • I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  (6:47)
  • Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.  (7:38)
  • I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. (8:12)
  • If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.  (8:24)
  • I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  (10:9)
  • My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (12:28)
  • I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (11:25)
  • I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (12:46)
  • I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (14:6)

PSALM 149 This is the fourth of five Psalms that begins and ends with the words, "Praise the Lord.” Each has a different angle. This one commands us to praise God both as assembled believers and individuals at home, even lying in bed. If we have no other reason to praise God, we can always praise Him for our existence. It’s His idea that we’re here now.  We are told to praise Him joyfully, with instruments and even dancing. Verse four should put us in a good mood for the rest of lives: God takes pleasure in us if we are His people! The last part of this Psalm is militant, because God’s people had lots of militant enemies seeking to destroy them.  After Jesus died and rose again, we still have enemies, but they are not people or countries: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness.” Eph 6:12. And Hebrews redefines the Psalmist’s literal two-edged sword to be the Bible: “the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12).