Isaiah 29
What if we could see God right now in all of His majesty and holiness… what would our response be? If we are like the holy men of old who met him and saw him in some way, we would probably be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the moment. Like Peter who knows the risen Lord through His miraculous deeds we might say, “Depart from me Lord!” How could we ever be in God’s presence and stand and rejoice if we know the fierce anger of the Lord against sin? The only way is to have a much surer and fuller awareness of the love of God for us – to know for certain that we are His, and that He is ours, and that nothing in heaven or on earth could take that away.
When we see God’s judgment upon His Old Testament people that He made into a nation, we wonder if obtaining the knowledge of God’s sure eternal love for us is even a possibility. Let’s admit the facts from Isaiah 29. God will bring judgment not only upon the nations that are far away and on the northern kingdom of Israel, but He will judge the very center of His blessed presence on earth during the days of the Old Testament kings, the city of Jerusalem that is called here by the name of Ariel. In the place where His chosen king David camped, God will be like a king encamping against his own people. He will be like the invading enemy that builds siegeworks for the destruction of the holy city. His people have become haughty, and He will bring them low. I wonder how often God in His mercy does this to us still today? We are brought to the dust of the earth in this world of death, the dust from which we originally came.
This humiliation of God’s people is very important if we ever hope to understand the work of Christ for us, but it is not the end of the story. Though God’s people will be brought truly low, the enemies that are arrayed against the city of
Beyond the punishment of these enemies, there will be the coming of true and solid joys for
It will be a time of massive and divine healing. Even the land will yield something big and new. The deaf will hear and the blind will see. Those who are often pushed down by the powerful will have joy in that day, and the poor will celebrate God, their deliverer. What about those who were something? They may very well become nothing. And those that were nothing? God can make them something. This will be the day when God’s
Can you believe in this announcement of hope? Remember that this promise is sure to be more than wishful thinking. The one who rose from the dead is the one who tells us not to fear. In His Father’s house are many rooms. He has gone to prepare a place for you, that where you also may be. You may ask, how can we get to a place like that – a place of security in the love of God, and not just “What have you done for me lately?” Jesus told us how to get there. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ. He is our only bridge to the secure love of God for which our souls really are longing.
posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM
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