READING FOR FEBRUARY 4, 2026: ISAIAH 23, MATTHEW 3, PSALM 2:7-12 ISAIAH 23 This chapter is a pronouncement against Tyre, which was an important port on the Mediterranean coast, just north of Israel. We are again reminded that what God revealed to us in the Bible is alert to all countries, and his standards apply universally—not just to Israel or the church. The pronouncement acknowledges Tyre’s trading success with its trading partners throughout the Mediterranean. This enabled them to be materially well off. But God will bring troubles to this city and environs. For a period of 70 years, they will not be a major force in the economic world. They will be called a forgotten prostitute.
The reasons for God’s actions toward Tyre are not stated as explicitly as is usually the case in these pronouncements. Some hints are given, though. We see they colonized distant lands, took pride in their beauty, were honored throughout the earth, and received prostitute’s wages. Likely this means they encroached unfairly on other lands, displayed pride instead of humility, and were not honorable in their business dealings. These tendencies are still problems for so-called powerful countries in our time.Certainly, as followers of Jesus, we must set a Godly example in our personal and business dealings.
Interestingly, the pronouncement promises a restoration by God of Tyre’s trading practices. These practices will still not be honorable, but the profits will be used for God’s purposes somehow. This writer has no insight as to how this either happened or will happen in the future. Let’s keep an eye on the world’s economy with this chapter in mind.
MATTHEW 3 According to verse 3, John the Baptist’s ministry was prophesied centuries before by the prophet Isaiah. John’s task, according to Isaiah, was to prepare the way for the Lord’s arrival. What was this message that would make the world ready, and us, for the arrival of Jesus’s ministry? “REPENT, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Do we really need to repent first to be ready for Jesus, to realize we need a savior? That’s seems counterintuitive, certainly in our culture. What if that message offends folks? But...what if it is true?
Here is a statement by a very popular current inspirational writer. It represents what many people believe:
“Most people are good. Most people kiss their pets goodbye and read just ‘one more’ bedtime story to their children. Most people visit their grandparents even when they have no time and stop by to check on quiet friends, after a long day. Most people give money when money is scarce and most people worry about people they don’t even
READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 4, 2026 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 3, PSALM 2:7-12 know, day in and day out. When the world seems bad, remember, most people are good.”
Most people may do these good things, but ever since the rebellion of Adam and Eve, all of us have fallen short of the perfect standards of a Holy God. We have continued to pursue our way instead of God’s way. John the Baptist’s message is that, although created in God’s image, we now first need to know that we are not good and need a savior. Our supposed natural goodness is not enough. One pastor summed up the gospel (the good news) well: “We are worse off than we realize, but we are loved more [by God] than we can ever imagine.”
Finally, after Jesus's baptism and temptation by Satan, what were Jesus’s very first words as He began His ministry? “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” At the end of His ministry, the unbearable weight of our sin led Jesus to pray, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Had our sin been no big deal, this agonizing act of sacrificial love by Jesus would have not been needed. This sacrificial love is much greater than any our current culture could otherwise portray: “But God demon- strates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
PSALM 2:7-12 In Acts 13:33, Paul preached the good news that Psalm 2 promises: “God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘Thou are my Son: today I have begotten thee.’” The rest of this Psalm completes the story: God’s wrath remains on those who reject or ignore Jesus. God’s blessing is for all who take refuge in Him. God’s message of the hopelessness through our own efforts but the certainty of entrance into the kingdom of God for all who take refuge in Jesus is the good news of the entire Bible. THE GOSPEL.
