“He exiled Israel to call her to account. She was exiled from her land as though blown away in a storm from the east. The Lord did this to purge Israel’s wickedness, to take away all her sin” (Isaiah 27:8-9, NLT).
This verse is a response to a question the prophet Isaiah posed to the hearers of his message: Has God punished His people in the same way He has punished the enemies of His people?
“Everything is futile. What does a man gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun… For who knows what is good for man in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen after him under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3; 6:17, HCSB).
It seems like the writer of Ecclesiastes, who calls himself the Teacher and is probably Solomon, had a jaundiced, even cynical outlook on life.
“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian so easily? I wish before God, replied Paul, that whether easily or with difficulty, not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am—except for these chains” (Acts 26:27-29, HCSB).
In the book, The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight contrasted how the gospel was presented and what was the message preached by the apostles with how we present the gospel and what we preach today.
The Apostle Paul’s presentation of the gospel to King Agrippa in these verses provides a good example of this contrast.
Steve's Bible Meditations 