Month: September 2019

• 22. The Lion and the Lamb

Isaiah 11: 6-8 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

God promises there will be a time when there will be no wild beasts, and all the animals and humans will get along with one another in perfect harmony and peace. This describes a Paradise that we can only dream of, and it reminds us of the original creation of Paradise of Eden when Adam knew all animals in a friendly way and named them all. What an amazing feat! All the animals were gathered to Noah before the Flood and they all lived together peacefully on the Ark for over a year. After Jesus was tempted by the devil He remained in the desert “with the wild beasts.”

All the animals that humans are naturally afraid of will play together in a friendly and peaceful way: wolf, leopard, lion, bear, and snakes. In the Kingdom of God all wild animals will become domesticated pets, and there will be no natural enemies in God’s newly created heaven and earth. The metaphorical picture is a part of the beauty and perfection of God’s Kingdom. Other Biblical pictures paint a fertile and verdant vegetarian landscape. Other Biblical pictures attempt to expand our imaginations to bring us some feel for what God has in store for us. The Lord stretches our imagination to create a yearning for such a kind of life that God has in mind for us.

The peaceful and thoroughly enjoyable environment is physically still in our future, and we are uplifted greatly when we meditate on the wonders of what is in store for us after this Age. But the more powerful point of the promise is that already now, today, in this Age, we spiritually enjoy the promised blessings by faith. Heaven lives in our hearts when we believe in Jesus, and God dwells there. All peoples have fantasized about some kind of utopia. The unbelievable promise is this: it is in our hearts right now; it is called eternal life, which we have now. In a Fallen World of Sin, Fear, and Death God gives a perfect life. Be bold enough to see it by faith even now; take hold of the promised paradise. Then fear nothing.

• 21. The Poor and the Meek

Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

God, through Isaiah, prophesies about the Branch that will grow out of the root of Jesse. We know this prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of the Son of David, the promised Messiah. This is the promise of what the Christ will do for us: He will save the poor and the meek. When Jesus came He proclaimed: “Blessed are the poor…Blessed are the meek.” We are the poor and the meek. We are helpless and powerless, trapped and oppressed under the tyranny of Sin, Satan, and Death with no justice and fairness. We cannot rely on our own reason and strength, because we have none. Jesus says, “I have good news for you: yours is the kingdom of God and you will inherit the earth.”

The Branch judged the poor and decided with equity for the benefit of the poor and the meek, We were helplessly stuck in bankruptcy of spirit, in suffering of guilt and sin, in lowliness of life, in humiliation of shame, in prison with no way out; and we had no way of redemption or salvation, until the Branch came. Then the promised Messiah came and rescued us with righteous judgment and fair decisions. On the cross all sin and evil were judged and condemned when Jesus was innocently condemned. By His bodily resurrection He guaranteed a righteous life for us.

Jesus fulfilled this promise for us with the rod of His mouth and the breath of His lips. This is the Word of God, sharper and more powerful than any sword. When our sin was judged at the Cross we were liberated forever; when Christ rose from the dead He guaranteed us life forever; when Jesus comes again the Rider on the White Horse will slay forever all Sin and Evil with the sword of His mouth. Everything will be put to rights, justice will be perfected, and we will live forever in perfect bliss and harmony with God in the Eternal Kingdom.

God does not “help those who help themselves.” God helps the helpless. And the sooner and more often we repent and believe the sooner and more often we are saved and eternally blessed with the New Kingdom and the New Earth. We admit our sin and our need, and God promises: “Got it covered.”

20, Burden and Yoke Removed

Isaiah 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

God promises: the burden and the yoke shall be taken off the shoulder and neck. Jesus promises: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest….My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We carry a heavy burden: the burden is sin; it keeps us from walking and leaping and praising God. We wear a hard yoke: the yoke is the devil; he leads us where he wants with fears and worries, with sin and guilt, with doubt and despair.

“In That Day,” the day of the Messiah, the Lord will take the burden away and lift the yoke off. Sin is a heavier burden than we even realize, for we tend to think that that is just the way it goes, that life is tough, and that depression is normal. But we have never experienced life without a burden, and we do not know how exhilarating, joyful, and glorious life could be. The devil is a harder yoke than we realize also, for we have never experienced life without him around. With the burden lifted and the yoke not pressing we begin to enjoy life as God meant it to be.

Then Jesus comes with His gracious invitation: Come to me, and take my yoke upon you. Jesus removes the burden and lifts the yoke, and then He replaces them with His burden and yoke. The new burden is the forgiveness of sins, and the new yoke is the Holy Spirit. The anointing is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that destroys the hard yoke. Now we are led by the gentle leading of the Spirit; He is so gentle that we seldom notice Him or what He is doing. But He gives the faith to trust Him to always be good, to be gentle and lowly, to lead us in the right way, and to grant life and love and peace and joy in all things. The presence of the Holy Spirit, who comes upon us through the Gospel, breaks the yoke and carries our burdens. We need this promise since we don’t always see life this way. With Jesus, life is easy, and life is good.

1.  19. Overflow with Righteousness

Isaiah 10:21-22 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

The remnant is the relatively small group of believers in the Lord that become the faithful church of the New Testament. The historical context refers to the remnant of faithful Jews who return from Exile in Babylon. The prophetic context refers to all the faithful believers who return to the Lord by faith in Jesus Christ.

What will happen to God’s people is that consumption, or destruction, will result in righteousness. The historical “consumption” was the punishment of God by using the Babylonians to take away everything from the people of God because of their unfaithfulness and sin. But there will be a return to the Lord, for they never lost the Lord and His Word. The people would learn their lesson and return to believing in the One True God. Then the end result of the “destruction” would be overflowing righteousness, which means faithfulness to the One God. That “One God” faith would be so deeply ingrained by the time of Christ that they could not accept Jesus of Nazareth as God. 

However, through the consumption (destruction and judgment) of Jesus on the cross there came an overflowing of righteousness. The blood of Jesus flowed out into the forgiveness of sins, which made believers righteous. This overflowing of righteousness spread to many believers in Christ, which is the Church. The promise is this: judgment results in righteousness. All our sins and all evil was judged in the death of the innocent Son of God on the cross; then in the resurrection of Jesus there was an overflowing of righteousness to all who were led to accept Jesus as their Savior through the Gospel.

Practically, the same kind of experience happens to us throughout our life as the difficulties, trials, troubles, bad things, injustices, adversities, pains, and problems caused by sin come upon us as consumption. In our distress we return to God again and again in repentance and faith in the gospel of Christ. This repentance produces an overflowing of righteousness in the penitent believer. We are justified by faith in the innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Christ for us. In forgiveness we rise from our knees and march onward toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The result of the promise: God declares you righteous!

1. 18. Stay upon the Lord

Isaiah 10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

The remnant of Israel is the group of faithful believers in the Lord. The group is a remnant in that it is minority of all Israelites, but it is still a substantial number of people. This faithful remnant brought about the Savior of the world. The Messiah was born, lived, died, and rose again to gather a new faithful remnant of faithful disciples around Him, which becomes the Church of the New Testament, fulfilling the prophecies and enjoying the promises of God from the Old Testament. 

The promise of God for the remnant is that those believers will stay upon the Lord. We shall lean on Him, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. God promises that we will trust in Him in all things, and along with that trust, we will never be disappointed. He is true to His Word; the only problem is unbelief, which cannot trust in God alone above all things. The crazy part is that we have been trusting (staying upon) in those things that have been doing us harm. Satan’s deceptions and temptation are so subtle and powerful that humans continue to trust things and people that will not only let us down, but also actually harm us. We trust in the things the devil provides for us and then he turns around and smites us with it.

Trust not in horses and chariots (governments and armies). Trust not in uncertain riches and worldly wealth. Trust not in people, for all are weak sinners, and they are not able to be faithful to their promises. Most of all, trust not (lean not) in your own understanding, for our own pride deceives us into thinking our way is the only right way, just because it is what I think.

The Lord says, “Trust Me!” That is not so easy; easy to say, hard to do. Sure, we believe in God, we believe in Jesus, but trusting Him for all things is actually impossible for sinners to do. Nevertheless, the Lord promises that will trust Him. He gives us the faith to “stay upon the Lord.” We slip, we fall, and we lean on Him. God promises to give us the faith we need for every situation, circumstance, and crisis.

1. 17.  Increase of Government and Peace

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

God promises an increase of the government and peace of the King Jesus Christ, and this continually growing government and peace will never end. This promise was given to David, it is continued through the prophets through the line of David. And it is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the Son of God. The reign of peace will continue forever. We who believe in Christ are ruled with peace now, and that reign will last forever without end.

We pray this pray and we believe it because of the promise: “Thy kingdom come.” The kingdom has come and the kingdom continues to come and it will come in future glory, but we pray that the kingdom will come to us and rule in us. Jesus is my Lord; and He brings increased peace and safety. “The kingdom is within you.” God’s promise and His answer to our prayers is that the kingdom will grow within and it will have greater influence in us, on us, and those around us as it works through us. This kingdom work is all spiritual and invisible. We can only catch a glimpse of the effects upon the physical world; but there the kingdom comes into conflict with the prince of the power of the air, for the whole world lies in the Evil One. Once in a while we experience the spiritual warfare, but usually we simply trust the promise that the kingdom of Jesus is winning and increasingly gaining the upper hand against the kingdoms of the world. We are actually marching “from victory unto victory.” There is an increase of Jesus’ government and peace.

We know this to be true and we can see it by faith; nevertheless, we still pray for the kingdom to come into our lives and lives of our loved ones. And by God’s grace and mercy for the sake of Christ, it happens. And that’s a promise.

1. 16. A Son is Given

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God loved us in this way that He gave His Only Son that whoever believes in Him has eternal life. God promises a child, a male son, to be born for us. The Son is coming into the world to take over; He will take the government upon Himself. He announced the reign of God and called us to come into His government of world history and the course of the universe. “The body of Christ, given for you.” God gives us the very body and the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. After He died He rose again from the dead to take over the governance of the world and of our lives.

We have the promise of good government, not in the kingdoms of the world, but in the Kingdom of God. This King of all the kings is acknowledged, adored, and worshiped with the Strong Name. Jesus is what The Name signifies: The Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Jesus rules as a guide who will always lead us on the right and good path. Jesus is the mighty God Himself who can do all things, the things that we need to have done for us and our good. Jesus is the Father who takes protective and loving care of us now and forever (Jesus is God). Jesus rules as the king who gives peace, not the peace of the world but the peace that passes understanding. All of this promise has already been fulfilled for us, and the effects of His Name and Kingdom will last forever into the eternal future.

God gave. God gives abundant life and blessings by grace yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We did not work for it and we could not earn it. It is freely given. When God gave us Jesus He gave us everything we could ever need forever.

1. 15. A Great Light

Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

God promises a great light for people that have walked in darkness. For those people that live in the land where death hovers God has shined a light to dispel that shadow. The metaphor of light and darkness is used to make stark the difference between sin and forgiveness and between the threat of death and the prospect of life.

This great light has dawned in the coming of the Son of God to the earth as a human being. The heavens burst into praise and applause at the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The exceeding bright light of the glory and life of God shined through Jesus’ human body in the Transfiguration. An explosion of light dawned at the violent resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ. That light of Salvation and Truth and Life has come to us in our Baptism and faith in the Gospel. We all once walked in darkness, groping our way blindly through a world that is darker than pitch; we did not know where we were or where we are going or how to get there. The angst of darkness was compounded by the insistent knowledge that there is a God and that there is another life, but we can’t find it. For this reason God comes to us and He shines a bright light.

The light has shined upon us who dwell in the land of the shadow of death. Sin causes death; death casts a dark pall over the land of the living, and we sinners are constantly under the cloud, or shadow, of the threat of death. Death is always lurking nearby causing fear and anxiety. This fear of death is compounded by two facts: one, we know death is an intruder and it should never be looming, and two, deep down we know it is really our own fault, our own sin. Upon this shadow of death the light of Jesus Christ shines and instantly and forever drives away death and darkness. Because He lives, all fear is gone. The light has come, and in place of darkness we end up being the light of the world. And that’s a promise we can live with.

1. God Exalted and Sanctified

Isaiah 5:16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

This verse is a prophecy about God, what will happen with Him, and what He will do: God will be exalted in judgment and sanctified in righteousness. But it becomes a promise for us in that what God will do is a benefit for us. When God judges at the end of the age all sin and evil and everything opposed to God and our good will be finally judged and gone forever. When He is sanctified in righteousness the Lord will put everything to rights what is and has been wrong in our life. When God is vindicated, we are vindicated; what we believed would be shown to be right and good, and all the blessings of God come to His believers.

God is exalted in judgment. The proof and vindication of God, His Word, and His Promises will exalt the Lord before the entire universe of visible and invisible creatures. Judgment sounds bad, but it really is a great good for those who believe in Jesus Christ. The judgment is against all that is harmful and deleterious to us. Sin is judged and forever confined to the lake of fire. Death and hell are judged and forever confined to the lake of fire. The Devil is judged and forever confined to the lake of fire. These three enemies will never, ever, again be present in life to disrupt and destroy the perfect life God has planned for the people He created and loved. For this final and absolute judgment God will be exalted. He will be proven to all that He was right all along; and we are the beneficiaries of God’s exaltation.

God is sanctified in righteousness, God is holy already, but now His Holiness will be evident and obvious for all to see. No one will ever doubt or wonder again whether God will do the right thing. Nothing can ever again doubt that God is good. Vindication for the Lord and His believers has been won in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but when God is sanctified in righteousness all will be resurrected, and believers will be sanctified in righteousness; they will live with the Lord in pure and abounding love forever. This is the guarantee of this beautiful promise.

1.  13. A Tabernacle

Isaiah 4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

The tabernacle is the Presence of God on the earth. The tabernacle becomes the temple. The temple becomes the person of Jesus Christ. Christ becomes the Church of all believers. The Presence of God changes over time, but it never leaves. God is always with us, to bless for good.

God promises us a tabernacle. The Presence of God is: 1) a shadow from heat, 2) a place of refuge, and 3) a covert from storm. The tabernacle promised by the Lord is all of these things for us. As a shadow from heat we may hide under the shadow of His wings. Scorching heat is a symbol of the Enemies of Sin, Death, and Devil that threaten to make us burn up and be wasted. Heat can simply make us uncomfortable, but it can also kill. Air conditioning is the modern symbol for comfort and protection from the enemies that would destroy us.

As a place of refuge Jesus Himself is a safe place to hide. We are surrounded by the presence of Enemies, but the Lord provides a safe place to enter. In this mighty fortress the wild beasts cannot touch us. The Enemies use the world around and the sinful flesh within us to tempt us to unbelief, shame, and despair; however, the Lord is our Refuge and Strength. In Christ we are safe and comfortable. The Enemy rages and roars, but the Gospel brings us into the Presence.

As a covert, or a shelter, the Lord protects us from the storm and rain. Periodically, violent thunderstorms, blizzards, tornados, and hurricanes crop up to threaten and frighten us. These storms take many forms (mental, emotional, relational, and physical), but the Lord is a covert where the raging storms of life will not be able to come near. If God is for us, who can be against us?

The promise of a tabernacle is fulfilled in Jesus Christ: He is always there, and He will always provide a safe place. Repent and believe the Gospel and come into the Kingdom of God, the Presence of God. There, in Christ, God promises safety forever.