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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.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the
Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over
the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations
will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
“Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come
to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. Then
you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the
wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations
will come.”
Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn My glorious temple.”
“Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to
their nests? Surely the islands look to Me; in the lead are the ships of
Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the
honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with
splendor.”
“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will
serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. Your
gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that
people may bring you the wealth of the nations—their kings led in triumphal
procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it
will be utterly ruined.”
“The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir
and the cypress together, to adorn My sanctuary; and I will glorify the place
for My feet. The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all
who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
“Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling
through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. You
will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will
know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead
of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I
will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your
governor and well-being your ruler. No longer will violence be heard in your
land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls
Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor
will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your
everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set
again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting
light, and your days of sorrow will end.”
Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.”
Isaiah 60:1-22
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Imagine this for a moment.
You are taken from your home to a
foreign land. All you had was left behind and you were under the control of
your captors, not just for a day or two but for seventy years. There is no doubt
that it was the darkest time in your life and those seventy years seemed like
they would never pass. Every day, you longed for the chance to be set free to return
home and get a fresh start to rebuild your life to what it used to be but it
was hard to hold onto any sense of faith or hope in the midst of the struggle.
Wouldn’t this be extremely
difficult to cope with? I don’t think anyone would say it wasn’t.
Now consider that the Israelites
actually did go through this. It really defines the latter years of the Israelite
nation not long before Jesus came to walk this earth and bring salvation.
The Light of the world was preceded
by the darkest time in Israel’s history and although the exiled people of God
had His assurance that they would find deliverance after the seventy years
ended, it still had to be extremely tough for them to see that better days were
ahead.
Enter the prophet Isaiah and his
words of encouragement to the people as seen in the scriptures from Isaiah 60.
For the Lord’s rescue was about to dawn with the fullest measure of His light
and glory, restoring them to the joy that could only come from knowing you are
living in God’s favor.
Indeed, the Israelites would be
permitted to return to Judah and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, a rebuilding
project that would include the reconstruction of God’s holy temple. God’s
protection would be upon them and nations would once again return to a place
where they revered the holy people of God, showering them with their riches and
service. The holy city of Jerusalem would return to a place of prestige and
honor as God’s splendor was showered upon it.
In the end, Israel, once forsaken
and hated, would be restored to a place of prominence, the everlasting pride
and joy of all generations.
This would be a great story of liberation
and redemption in its own right but it gets even better.
Because this chapter shifts gears
from the present to the future and what is to come from God.
Note that a time was coming when
there would be no more violence or ruin or destruction for Israel or anywhere
else in the world for that matter. This is because Jesus, the Prince of peace,
is coming back on a day of God’s appointing to first judge everyone on the
earth, separating those who placed their belief in Him from those who didn’t, and
then to destroy the heaven and earth as we know it. Those who rejected Him will
be annihilated with the earth.
But for the saved in Christ, this
is what they will experience on what will be the best day ever:
a. They will call the walls of
their new kingdom “Salvation” and their gates “Praise”.
b. They will live in the
everlasting light of the Lord, no longer needing the sun or moon.
c. They will never live in sorrow
again.
d. They will all be counted
perfectly righteous because sin will be no more.
e. They will inhabit this new
kingdom forever.
Friends, we may never go through
seventy years of exile but we do go through times of difficulties in life and
some of those can endure for what seems to be forever. This is why these words
to the people of Israel offer encouragement to us all.
For we serve a God who delivers and
saves us, now and forever. We only need to place our full faith, hope, and
trust in Him, patiently waiting for His light to pierce our darkness, reveal
His glory, and return us to the radiant joy that can only be found in Him.
It’s a light, glory, and radiant joy that we can
experience in the here and now as well as the everlasting life to come when
Jesus returns to bring the final deliverance of those who placed their hope in
Him as Savior.
No matter how tough things might get in life, keep your
eye on the target. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the salvation that is to
come.
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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