January 24 - Isaiah 18

To answer Debbie's question-- the "gleanings" is referring to the remnant. That there will always be a few that will remain faithful and from there God will establish his Kingdom. And, the end will come and then everyone will know that God is God whether they believed it or not. Sadly, not everyone will believe before then. There is a passage in Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Many missionary groups refer to this as meaning that when everyone in the world has heard the gospel, then the end will come. This is why they are focusing on something called the 10/40 window which are the countries within 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. Within this area are the most unreached nations where the Bible has yet to be translated and the gospel preached. Many missions groups work within this region - to try to reach all people of the earth...

Notes on Isaiah 18
-Cush is often referred to as Ethiopia or more specifically Nubia
-v.1 "land of whirring wings" - the area had lots of flying insects :)
-again, the message is.. even a great nation like Cush will be gone. So, hear the message while there is still time.
-v. 7f it is also said that these same people will bring gifts to God, to Mount Zion.
In Acts 8:26-39, an Ethiopian Eunuch does come to believe through reading Isaiah. Today, Ethiopia is about 50% Christian, which is more than the US or Korea which are both below 25% Christian. crazy, huh?