Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the great adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 1096. We are continuing in our journey through the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 9 and 10, as well as only two more days left in the Book of Tobit, Tobit 10, 11, and 12. We're also reading from Proverbs 10:9-12. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress. Com/bibleineyear. You can also subscribe to this podcast and receive daily updates and daily episodes every day. That's what daily means. That's what we mean when we say it's day 1096. We're reading Isaiah 9:10, Tobit Proverbs 10:9-12. The Book of the Prophet, Isaiah 9: The Righteous Reign.

But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zibulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time, he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoiced when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken, as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult, and every garment rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government, and of peace, there will be no end.

Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. The Lord has sent a against Jacob, and it will light upon Israel. And all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, the bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones. The sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. ' So the Lord raises adversaries against them and stirs up their enemies. The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still. The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor seek the Lord of hosts. So the Lord cut off from Israel, head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day. The elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this people lead them astray, and those who are led by them are swallowed up.

Therefore, the Lord does not rejoice over their young men and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this, his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burns like a fire. It consumes briers and thorns. It kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, the land is burned, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No man spares his brother. They snatch on the right, but are still hungry. They devour on the left, but are not satisfied. Each devours his neighbor's flesh, Manasseh Ephram and Ephrem Manasseh. And together, they are against Judah. For all this, his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. Chapter 10, Judgment on the Oppressors. Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they make the fatherless their prey.

What will you do on the day of punishment, in the storm which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? Nothing remains but to couch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this, his anger is not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury. Against a godless nation, I send him, and against the people of my wrath, I command him to take spoil and seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think. But it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations, not a few, for he says, 'Are not my commanders all kings? ' Is not Calno like Karkamesh? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the Kingdoms of the Idols, whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, shall I not do to Jerusalem and her Idols, as I have done to Samaria and her images?

When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the arrogant boasting of the King of Assyria and his haughty pride, for he says, 'by the strength of my hand, I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. ' I have removed the boundaries of peoples and have plundered their treasures. Like a bull, I have brought down those who sat on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples, and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth. And there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped. Shall the ax vaunt itself over him who hews it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood. Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory, a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy one, a flame.

It will burn and devour his thorns and briars in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land, the Lord will destroy both soul and body. And it will be as when a sick man wastes away. The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. The Repentant Remnant of Israel. In that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that struck them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant two tribes first, because you're coming from the north, and the first two tribes in the north are Naphtali and Zebulin. They're the first to be destroyed and brought into desolation, essentially, not even exile. I mean, it's exile, but they're destroyed completely. And yet the promise is, in this very spot where everything began to be destroyed is the same spot where everything will be rebuilt.Jesus goes up to the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is the land of Zebulin and the land of Naphtali. And what does he begin doing? He sees Simon and his brother Andrew fishing. He says, Come, follow me. Then he sees James and his brother John Fishing, he says, Come, follow me. He assembles these four apostels, and he ultimately assembles how many apostels? How many people? Twelve apostels with him, symbolizing the reconstituted twelve tribes of Israel with Jesus as the King and those 12 tribes as the reconstituted, or those 12 men as the reconstituted Israel. It all begins where? In the land of Zibulin, the land of Naphtali, the land beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the Gentiles. People who walked in darkness have seen a great light. How insane is this? So good, so good. Then not only that, but Isaiah goes on to give this incredible prophecy of what Jesus will be like. Oh, gosh. Here it goes on, chapter 9. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.Of his kingdom, there will be no end upon the throne of David. It's over... Oh, gosh, all the things. So good. Here is Jesus who's completely fulfilling this, because how could any other person at all fulfill this? Why? Because one of his names of this child to be born, a son to be given, is Mighty God himself. And there is no God born to us except for Jesus Christ, who, yes, coexisted eternally with the Father and the Holy spirit. But when he took on our flesh in the incarnation, he was born in time. And so Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, becomes among us. A divine person with a divine and human nature, as it says here, he is He is mighty, mighty, he is mighty God. So incredible. But the rest of the prophecy, of course, in Isaiah 9, goes on to talk about how the people in the north did not turn and will not turn back to the Lord no matter what happens. And so what's going What will happen is, Manasseh will devour Ephraim, and Ephraim will devour Manasseh, and together they're against Judah.And it is horrible. It's terrible, and they're going to be destroyed. And then what happens is, God also speaks to those people who were destroy them. In chapter 10, God is speaking woe to the Assyrians. This is really remarkable because not only is God saying, Yeah, Assyria is the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury. This is chapter 10, verse 5. Assyria He's like, I'm using Assyria, this nation, as a nation to bring justice to the northern Kingdom of Israel. So they're the rod of my anger. They're the staff of my fury. I will be able to use them. And yet at the same time, they are not. They are not good. They are woed, W-O-E-D, if that's a word, he's pronouncing woe over them. Because yes, even though I'm using them as a tool to bring about justice in the north, they are not good. It's remarkable that at the end of chapter 10, God is already promising a repentant remnant in Israel. In that repentant remnant, he's saying that, yes, even though all this destruction is going to happen, there will be my people who will still be left, and my people will still be able to accomplish my plan, which is to bring about worldwide blessing to the world.Just some context for Isaiah 9:10. Last little note, we have this incredible, great story of the Book of Tobit that Tobias has gotten married now, and Sarah has gotten married to Tobias, and they're getting blessed by his now father-in-law and mother-in-law, and he blesses them back, and then they finally get to... It just shows I love just the words, too, of Tobias and Sarah who are waiting for their son, and Tobias thinks, No, he's going to be fine, and Sarah says, No, he's dead. I love even just how the biblical author wrote that Tobit said to her, Be still and stop worrying, he is well. And she responds, Be still and stop deceiving, he's dead. I just think, That's great. That's good writing right there. It's beautiful. But the last thing is Raphael gives his exhortation. And one of the things he says is he says, Okay, you're going to pray. Prayer is really good. Yes, keep on praying. But prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. That it can't just be on my lips. It can't just be, Yeah, I spent some time in prayer. It's also got to a company fasting.I deny myself. And almsgiving, I take care of those around me. And righteousness, I'm actually doing what God has commanded me to do. And those four together, this is what makes up the large part of the spiritual life. So prayer, obviously, our relationship with God. Fasting, this denial of self. Jesus said, You cannot be in a mile, disciple, unless you deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me. So we have to fast. Almsgiving, we have to take care of those around us. And righteousness, we We're going to follow the Commandments of God and follow what God has taught us to do. And I love this verse, this scripture verse in Chapter 12:9-10. It basically says, Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life, but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives. I read that, I hear it, it pierces my heart. Those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives. And so we just pray that God help us not to be the enemies of our own lives. Help us to be friends, not only friends of God, friends of ourselves, by choosing what God wants us to choose, by choosing him, and choosing righteousness, and choosing justice, and choosing almsgiving, choosing all those good things.Help us. We just pray, God, help us not be the enemies of our own lives. I'm praying for you that that is the reality in your life, that you are not the enemy to your life. Please pray for me that I'm not the enemy of my life. Let's pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.

two tribes first, because you're coming from the north, and the first two tribes in the north are Naphtali and Zebulin. They're the first to be destroyed and brought into desolation, essentially, not even exile. I mean, it's exile, but they're destroyed completely. And yet the promise is, in this very spot where everything began to be destroyed is the same spot where everything will be rebuilt.

Jesus goes up to the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is the land of Zebulin and the land of Naphtali. And what does he begin doing? He sees Simon and his brother Andrew fishing. He says, Come, follow me. Then he sees James and his brother John Fishing, he says, Come, follow me. He assembles these four apostels, and he ultimately assembles how many apostels? How many people? Twelve apostels with him, symbolizing the reconstituted twelve tribes of Israel with Jesus as the King and those 12 tribes as the reconstituted, or those 12 men as the reconstituted Israel. It all begins where? In the land of Zibulin, the land of Naphtali, the land beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the Gentiles. People who walked in darkness have seen a great light. How insane is this? So good, so good. Then not only that, but Isaiah goes on to give this incredible prophecy of what Jesus will be like. Oh, gosh. Here it goes on, chapter 9. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.

Of his kingdom, there will be no end upon the throne of David. It's over... Oh, gosh, all the things. So good. Here is Jesus who's completely fulfilling this, because how could any other person at all fulfill this? Why? Because one of his names of this child to be born, a son to be given, is Mighty God himself. And there is no God born to us except for Jesus Christ, who, yes, coexisted eternally with the Father and the Holy spirit. But when he took on our flesh in the incarnation, he was born in time. And so Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, becomes among us. A divine person with a divine and human nature, as it says here, he is He is mighty, mighty, he is mighty God. So incredible. But the rest of the prophecy, of course, in Isaiah 9, goes on to talk about how the people in the north did not turn and will not turn back to the Lord no matter what happens. And so what's going What will happen is, Manasseh will devour Ephraim, and Ephraim will devour Manasseh, and together they're against Judah.

And it is horrible. It's terrible, and they're going to be destroyed. And then what happens is, God also speaks to those people who were destroy them. In chapter 10, God is speaking woe to the Assyrians. This is really remarkable because not only is God saying, Yeah, Assyria is the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury. This is chapter 10, verse 5. Assyria He's like, I'm using Assyria, this nation, as a nation to bring justice to the northern Kingdom of Israel. So they're the rod of my anger. They're the staff of my fury. I will be able to use them. And yet at the same time, they are not. They are not good. They are woed, W-O-E-D, if that's a word, he's pronouncing woe over them. Because yes, even though I'm using them as a tool to bring about justice in the north, they are not good. It's remarkable that at the end of chapter 10, God is already promising a repentant remnant in Israel. In that repentant remnant, he's saying that, yes, even though all this destruction is going to happen, there will be my people who will still be left, and my people will still be able to accomplish my plan, which is to bring about worldwide blessing to the world.

Just some context for Isaiah 9:10. Last little note, we have this incredible, great story of the Book of Tobit that Tobias has gotten married now, and Sarah has gotten married to Tobias, and they're getting blessed by his now father-in-law and mother-in-law, and he blesses them back, and then they finally get to... It just shows I love just the words, too, of Tobias and Sarah who are waiting for their son, and Tobias thinks, No, he's going to be fine, and Sarah says, No, he's dead. I love even just how the biblical author wrote that Tobit said to her, Be still and stop worrying, he is well. And she responds, Be still and stop deceiving, he's dead. I just think, That's great. That's good writing right there. It's beautiful. But the last thing is Raphael gives his exhortation. And one of the things he says is he says, Okay, you're going to pray. Prayer is really good. Yes, keep on praying. But prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. That it can't just be on my lips. It can't just be, Yeah, I spent some time in prayer. It's also got to a company fasting.

I deny myself. And almsgiving, I take care of those around me. And righteousness, I'm actually doing what God has commanded me to do. And those four together, this is what makes up the large part of the spiritual life. So prayer, obviously, our relationship with God. Fasting, this denial of self. Jesus said, You cannot be in a mile, disciple, unless you deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me. So we have to fast. Almsgiving, we have to take care of those around us. And righteousness, we We're going to follow the Commandments of God and follow what God has taught us to do. And I love this verse, this scripture verse in Chapter 12:9-10. It basically says, Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life, but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives. I read that, I hear it, it pierces my heart. Those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives. And so we just pray that God help us not to be the enemies of our own lives. Help us to be friends, not only friends of God, friends of ourselves, by choosing what God wants us to choose, by choosing him, and choosing righteousness, and choosing justice, and choosing almsgiving, choosing all those good things.

Help us. We just pray, God, help us not be the enemies of our own lives. I'm praying for you that that is the reality in your life, that you are not the enemy to your life. Please pray for me that I'm not the enemy of my life. Let's pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.