Friday, July 11, 2014

A hope worth the Wait

Read Isaiah 25.

Knowing the truth about God's judgment against unbelievers may cause distress.  In the previous chapter, Isaiah felt the weight of the message and cried out, "I waste away, I waste away.  Woe is me!"  But for those who have placed their eternal faith in the LORD, there is hope and joy in our future.

Isaiah wrote this beautiful song to praise the LORD as he looked forward to that day when God would once and for all deliver His people.

There is no mistaking the fact that this speaks of an earthly kingdom where Messiah will rule and reign.  That will be when the Prince of Peace will rule and all the nations will glorify Him.  Don't miss all the descriptors of how the LORD will protect those who love Him.  It will be a time of great celebration.

From the prophet's view, all of the future events blended into one picture.  The New Testament provides many details, filling in some of the gaps the prophets could not see and did not know.  It is always best when we have the Scriptures commenting on other Scripture, enlightening our understanding.  For instance, the same wording of verse 8 appears in Revelation 22:4.  After the Millennial kingdom on earth, Revelation 22 explains that there will be a new heaven and a new earth.  In that eternal place, there will be no tears and no such thing as death.  We will never say good-bye to our love ones who are with us because of our mutual faith in Christ.

Like us, how Isaiah longed for that day!  In verse 9, he even wrote what we will be saying: "It will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.  This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.'"

 

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