203. Dwell in This Place
Isaiah 7:3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
The conditional promise: if you amend your ways, then you will dwell in this place. The “place” is the kingdom of God, the Church, heaven, the place where God dwells on earth. You will live with God in eternal life if you amend your ways and your doings.
“Amending your ways,” on the one hand, includes repentance and determining to live differently than you did before. True repentance is changing your ways and your doings. It is change for the better. But we fail in this endeavor so often that we seldom actually change our behavior for good. But keep doing it. Failing to keep our promises does not mean that we should give up and stop amending or repenting. Even when we fail to keep our word we need to make amends again and again, over and over, until it finally works. No matter how many times we do it, we should never stop repenting and believing.
On the other hand, the deeper meaning of “amending your ways” is simply “believing in God,” that is, worshiping the Lord alone and trusting in Him for forgiveness and salvation. It is turning away from other gods and fearing, loving, and trusting in the Lord only. Amending in this case is “changing your religion,” or looking to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation instead of trusting in self or others for help. You can’t change yourself, but the Lord can change you if you are willing to amend your trust, and believe God.
The promise, in NT terms, says, “Believe in Jesus Christ and you have eternal life.” This gospel message changes us. “Dwelling in this place” in NT terms, means “living with God,” or better, God lives with you. This is eternal life. The more we are aware of and remember where we are and whose we are the better chance we have of actually changing our ways. We need this constant reminder because we are prone to sin and unbelief. Unbelief causes us to trust our own effort and strength and will power to amend our ways. Amend = believe in Jesus. Then God is with you and you are with Him.