Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 26
Monday


GONE THE SUN

READ:
Isaiah 60:17-22
______________________________________

Your sun shall no longer
go down,.... for the
LORD will be your
everlasting light, and
the days of your
mourning shall be
ended. __Isaiah 60:20
______________________________________

In 1862, during the US Civil War, General Daniel Butterfield wanted a new melody for "lights out." And so, without any musical training, he composed one in his head.

Years later, the general wrote, "I called in someone who could write music, and practiced a change in the call of 'Taps' unti I had it suit my ear, and then... got it to my taste without being able to write music or knowing the technical name of any note, but, simply by ear, arranged it." General Butterfield gave the music to the brigade bugler, and the rest is history.

While there are no official lyrics to the hauntingly familiar strains of "Taps," here is a commonly accepted version of one verse:

````````````````````Day is done, gone the sun,```````````````````
`````````````From the hills, from the lake, from the sky;````````````
```````````````All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.`````````````````

What a comforting lyric as faithful members of the military are laid to rest! and what hope in the acknowledgment that God is near, even--especially--in death!

At a time when death and evil reigned, the prophet Isaiah anticipated a day when death itself would die.

"Your sun shall no longer go down," he wrote to Israel, For those who follow Jesus, the strains of "Taps' are not a funeral dirge but a song of hope. "The days of your mourning shall be ended" (v.20). All is well. God is nigh.
__Tim Gustafson
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Sunset in one land is sunrise in another.

*****************Today's Bible Reading __ Isaiah 60:17-22
17 Instead of bronze I will
bring gold, instead of iron I
will bring silver, instead of
wood, bronze, and instead
of stones, iron. I will also
make your officers peace,
and your magistrates
righteousness. 18 Violence
shall no longer be heard in
your land, neither wasting
nor destruction within your
borders; but you shall call
your walls Salvation, and
your gates Praise.

19 The sun shall no longer
be your light by day, nor for
brightness shall the moon
give light to you;but the
LORD will be to you an
everlasting light, and your
God your glory.

20 Your sun shall no longer
go down, nor shall your
moon withdraw itself; for
the LORD will be your
everlasting light, and the
days of your mourning shall
be ended. 21 Also your
people shall all be
righteous; they shall inherit
the land forever, the branch
of My planting, the work of
My hands, that I may be
glorified. 23 A little one
shall become a thousand,
and a small one a strong
nation. I, the LORD, will
hasten it in its time.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Isaiah ministered to the Jews in Judah who were seeing the
destruction of Israel and many of Judah's own cities. Isaiah spoke
of prophecies of condemnation (chapters 1-39) and prophecies of
restoration (chapters 40-66). One of Isaiah's main themes of
this restoration (as well as of biblical prophecy) is that God will set
up a kingdom on earth where Messiah, a descendant of David,
will rule the whole earth from its capital city Jerusalem. Isaiah 60
describes this Messianic kingdom. __Sim Kay Tee