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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In
that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit
of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.
Those who are left in Zion, who remain
in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in
Jerusalem. The
Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the
bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
Then the Lord will create over all of
Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow
of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.
It will be a shelter and shade from
the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
Isaiah 4:2-6
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
For the last eight devotions, we
have examined signs of judgment, looking at scriptures from Isaiah, Chapter 3
and the opening verse of Chapter 4 regarding the failing and falling of
Jerusalem and Judah. Through this study, we have seen how God’s judgment is at
work in our very world today because people still choose to disrespect and
disregard God just as the Israelites did more than 2,000 years ago. We are
repeating the mistakes of the past and so God will continue to impart His
penalty and consequences for He will not be mocked, ignored, and treated with
contempt.
For the Israelites, their
punishment was destruction of all that they had and exile for seventy years
into a foreign land where they would suffer oppression and many would never
return to the holy, promised land that God had so graciously given them. Essentially
they lost it all after turning away from God, the One who had given them all
they ever needed. Instead of showing their gratitude to Him by being loyal and
faithful, they snubbed Him and worshipping false gods and idols, violating His
primary commandment issued through Moses on Mount Sinai: “You shall have no
other gods before Me.”
Israel turned from God and so God
turned away from Israel. But it didn’t last forever.
You see, our God is a God who keeps
His promises and God had vowed to never wipe out the house of David in
Jerusalem (2 Kings 8:19, 2 Chronicles 21:7). There would always be a remnant
and so when Jerusalem and Judah were laid to waste, the hope of restoration
existed even though it would take seventy years to happen. Out of judgment, a
remnant of the Israelites would get a chance to return to Jerusalem and restore
it, experiencing the splendor and glory of God once again.
This is the message of today’s
passage, a message of redemption, forgiveness, mercy, reinstatement, and
reinstitution. Look at the remainder of Isaiah, Chapter 4 again:
In that day the Branch of the Lord will
be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory
of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be
called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash
away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from
Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the Lord will
create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of
smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory
will be a canopy.
It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a
refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. (v2-6)
Think about what it must have been
like for the Israelites who emerged from exile and returned home. Yes,
everything had been laid to waste but they were free and able to start to
rebuild, knowing that God was once again with them. Compared to Babylon, Zion
was beautiful and glorious, its fruit to become the pride and glory of the
Babylonian survivors. The Lord God Almighty was ready to wash away the sins of
the past and cleanse His people, restoring them to holiness and into His favor.
Once again, His presence would be with them, a shelter and shade from the
trials of life, a refuge and hiding place from enemies who would wish Israel
harm.
Friends, this is the Lord we serve,
a Lord who judges fairly and justly, correcting us when we err in sinfulness
but also a Lord who loves us and offers deliverance and restoration once we
have paid the price for our wrongs. Just as a parent chides their children and
often disciplines them out of love and a desire to make them the best people
they can be, so too does God, Our Heavenly Father, ever toil in raising us, His
children, into righteousness and holiness.
We serve a God who will bring us
into His judgment but He will also redeem us and bring us back into His splendor
and glory upon repentance of our wrongs.
All praise and honor and glory be
unto the Lord God Almighty for His discipline and for His everlasting goodness
and grace!
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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