Repentant Backsliders and an Eternal Throne

Jeremiah 3:11-25

11 Then the LORD said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:

'Return, backsliding Israel,' says the LORD;
'I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am merciful,' says the LORD;
'I will not remain angry forever.

13 Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the LORD your God,
And have scattered your charms
To alien deities under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.

14 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

16 "Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days," says the LORD, "that they will say no more, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.

17 "At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.

18 "In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.

19 "But I said:
'How can I put you among the children
And give you a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?'
"And I said:
'You shall call Me, "My Father,"
And not turn away from Me.'

20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband,
So have you dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel," says the LORD.

21 A voice was heard on the desolate heights,
Weeping and supplications of the children of Israel.
For they have perverted their way;
They have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 "Return, you backsliding children,
And I will heal your backslidings."
"Indeed we do come to You,
For You are the LORD our God.

23 Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
And from the multitude of mountains;
Truly, in the LORD our God
Is the salvation of Israel.

24 For shame has devoured
The labor of our fathers from our youth—
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.

25 We lie down in our shame,
And our reproach covers us.
For we have sinned against the LORD our God,
We and our fathers,
From our youth even to this day,
And have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

The LORD called for confession of sin and repentance from His backsliding people.  The throne of the LORD was coming as God’s presence would one day replace the visible artifacts of the ark of the covenant, which was a shadow of the heavens to come down with the Messiah (Hebrews 8:1-2, 5).  He would not only bring the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel together in worship, but also all called out of the nations to that throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16, Revelation 22:1, 3-4).  God is merciful and called His people to repent from their idolatry and confess their sin to return to Him.  He was married to His people then and in Christ as we are His bride as well, a covenant of security but also of the intense love of the Father for all His children in that unbreakable covenant of spiritual union with Christ.  The foreshadowing promise to give “shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” is more fully understood now in Christ of God’s grace to shepherd us and teach us all things necessary for the kingdom of God, now and into eternity.  Yes, the promises were to Israel then, but have a further reach in anticipation of the fullness of times to come for His children (Galatians 4:4-6).  They and we no longer need the ark of the old covenant since the new covenant in His blood is all sufficient and His throne in the eternal New Jerusalem will overshadow the foreshadowed one in Jerusalem on earth as described here.  The promise that His people will no longer follow the dictates evil of their hearts is a glimpse at the removal of the presence of sin in the kingdom to come!  The unity of His divided people Israel also foreshadows the division between Jew and Gentile which is done away with as we are united in Christ Jesus the Messiah as one people (Ephesians 2:14-15, 18-19).  God reminded Israel that He is their Father and implored them to be reconciled through repentance from idolatrous sin and forgetting Him.  He promised to heal their wandering souls and perverted paths, for only in Him is salvation from His judgment.  Like them, our sin is in disobedience and shame of our sin against Him, but the hope is His reconciling love to draw us to Him with the promise of standing at last before His eternal throne on earth (Job 19:26-27).  May we all turn to Him and away from sin because of His infinite love and grace in Christ to call His people to Himself.  May it be so! 

Repentance from the Adultery of Idolatry

Jeremiah 3:1-10 

1 "They say, 'If a man divorces his wife,
And she goes from him
And becomes another man's,
May he return to her again?'

Would not that land be greatly polluted?
But you have played the harlot with many lovers;
Yet return to Me," says the LORD.

2 "Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see:
Where have you not lain with men?
By the road you have sat for them
Like an Arabian in the wilderness;
And you have polluted the land
With your harlotries and your wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
And there has been no latter rain.
You have had a harlot's forehead;
You refuse to be ashamed.

4 Will you not from this time cry to Me,
'My Father, You are the guide of my youth?

5 Will He remain angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?'
Behold, you have spoken and done evil things,
As you were able."

6 The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 And I said, after she had done all these things, 'Return to Me.' But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense," says the LORD.

God called to Israel His chosen people to repent, to turn away from their adultery of idolatry and find merciful forgiveness.  He likens them as a people to a woman who divorces, remarries, then returns to her original husband as defiled according to Deuteronomy 24:4.  The LORD goes further to describe His people as having gone to many lovers which are other gods of idolatry as spiritual adultery.  Even so, God invites them back with grace in forgiving arms of reconciliation, just as He accepts us in Christ in that same undeserved forgiveness of grace through repentance and faith (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38, 20:21).  God’s dealings with Israel are a pattern for His gospel message of grace, in other words.  We also lacked shame as we pursued other objects of our worship and affection.  Though they may not have been idols of wood or stone, false religion near and far from the true God and His Son Jesus Christ are no better than other lifeless objects of worship.  There are also idols of dead people revered which are the closest to the Old Testament idols of God’s people in existence today.  These are no better and just as offensive to God.  He is yearning for us to cry out to Him alone to follow as faithful disciples, knowing that His wrath will be abated in our forgiveness in Christ.  We can backslide as Israel had done and pursue other objects of worship and still return as adulterous idolaters who can be forgiven and reconciled to God.  It is never too late.  May we not harden our hearts as treacherous Judah who not only imitated Israel, but far surpassed in treachery of rebellion against the living Lord God by refusing to repent and follow again.  Oh, may we all who wander in spiritual unfaithfulness turn back sincerely and wholeheartedly for reconciliation of forgiveness in that loving grace (Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21)!  He wants us to turn to Him no matter what we have done and continues to offer restoration though our confession of our sins (1 John 1:9-2:1). 

Sin Will Find You Out

Jeremiah 2:20-37

20 "For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And you said, 'I will not transgress,'
When on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, playing the harlot.

21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord GOD.

23 "How can you say, 'I am not polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals'?
See your way in the valley;
Know what you have done:
You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
24 A wild donkey used to the wilderness,
That sniffs at the wind in her desire;
In her time of mating, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
In her month they will find her.

25 Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst.
But you said, There is no hope.
No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.'

26 "As the thief is ashamed when he is found out,
So is the house of Israel ashamed;
They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets,
27 Saying to a tree, 'You are my father,'
And to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.'
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble
They will say, 'Arise and save us.'

28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.

29 "Why will you plead with Me?
You all have transgressed against Me," says the LORD.
30 "In vain I have chastened your children;
They received no correction.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.

31 "O generation, see the word of the LORD!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of darkness?
Why do My people say, 'We are lords;
We will come no more to You'?

32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.

33 "Why do you beautify your way to seek love?
Therefore you have also taught
The wicked women your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
The blood of the lives of the poor innocents.
I have not found it by secret search,
But plainly on all these things.

35 Yet you say, 'Because I am innocent,
Surely His anger shall turn from me.'
Behold, I will plead My case against you,
Because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

36 Why do you gad about so much to change your way?
Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 Indeed you will go forth from him
With your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies,
And you will not prosper by them.

Israel was told by the prophets that sin would find them out, yet they still made out as if they were looking towards God while they committed idolatrous adultery against Him.  They repeatedly told Him they would not sin as they went to worship other lifeless gods who could promise them nothing since they had no life in themselves.  It is a good thing we do not do this today!  No amount of washing can remove our sin, only the Lord of life can do such a thing to cleanse us from our sin (Acts 22:16, Ephesians 5:26, Ezekiel 36:25-27).  Israel’s behavior is a warning example to us all not to be aroused with desire to pursue any other false god or religion as if pursuing an animal in heat, a very vivid visual word picture to understand the banality of such misdirected worship and desire.  Israel’s shame was being exposed as a thief of God’s due worship and glory as they called a carved tree their father and hewn idol rocks as their birth mother, not unlike the nature and earth worshiping we see today.  There is no other God.  Worship Him only.  That is the first commandment.  It is not done away with.  In times of trouble you can cry out for help to carved idols or other manmade objects of worship, but they are utterly powerless to deliver anyone as the LORD reminded Israel through Jeremiah here.  May we not follow headlong off a cliff as God’s people did in the past, disregarding His correction as we continue in sin while expecting Him to bless us in our worldly pursuits and unchecked desires.  God is not a wilderness nor darkness, but a kingdom of promise and light of His countenance (2 Corinthians 4:6).  As a bride, God’s people did not depress for the part in disrespect and disregard for the God who called them to Himself; may we never imitate this gross sin in forgetting who we are in Christ, holy and beloved (Colossians 3:12) as His bride.  Israel claimed to not have sinned, covering it instead of confessing.  That way only led their nation into captivity as a picture of bondage to sin and resulting lack of prospering.  Sin will find you out.  May we learn not to do the same thing, but heed His word of life because of the life He has given in forgiveness and grace to us in Christ. 

Is the Fear of God in Us?

Jeremiah 2:1-19 

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD:

"I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.

3 Israel was holiness to the LORD,
The firstfruits of His increase.
All that devour him will offend;
Disaster will come upon them," says the LORD.'"

4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD:

"What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
Have followed idols,
And have become idolaters?

6 Neither did they say, 'Where is the LORD,
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?'

7 I brought you into a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.

8 The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?'
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.

9 "Therefore I will yet bring charges against you," says the LORD,
"And against your children's children I will bring charges.

10 For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see,
Send to Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.

12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate," says the LORD.
13 "For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

14 "Is Israel a servant?
Is he a homeborn slave?
Why is he plundered?

15 The young lions roared at him, and growled;
They made his land waste;
His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
16 Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes
Have broken the crown of your head.

17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
In that you have forsaken the LORD your God
When He led you in the way?
18 And now why take the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of Sihor?
Or why take the road to Assyria,
To drink the waters of the River?

19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the LORD your God,
And the fear of Me is not in you,"
Says the Lord GOD of hosts.

Is the fear of God in us?  That is the question the LORD asked through Jeremiah to His people and still asks today.  They had begun well as they were led by Him in the beginning, but their calling in holiness to echo and honor Him soon was replaced by going after other things (1 John 2:15-17) instead of doing His will in the fear and awe of His almighty holiness and goodness in choosing them and calling them out to Himself.  May we not make the same mistakes in worshiping other things in life and holding them more important than following His word.  God is not unjust to punish sinners, though even God’s people seem to think so at times as they forget His pure character and sinlessness of being.  We are created to be in God’s image, which means we are to be holy because He is (Leviticus 11:45, 1 Peter 1:15-16) and live in the fear of Him (1 Peter 1:17) instead of as God’s buddy.  We are not to fear hellfire as regenerated in Christ (Matthew 25:46, 1 John 4:18), but are held accountable and will suffer shame and loss of rewards (2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Corinthians 3:14-17) if we refuse to live soberly (Titus 2:12-14).  Like Israel, we have been brought into a bountiful kingdom to eat its fruit and goodness, so our response should be according to the learning of the wrong response shown by them in order to do right in return.  We should walk after profitable things that last into eternity and not only to please the eye of our own desire apart from His guiding word to teach us (Genesis 3:6, Hebrews 5:14).  As the scriptures say here, even pagan nations stick to their false gods, so have can the true and living God’s people change to another of our own hand’s making?  May we never attempt to forsake the One who will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)!   Our sin brings only bondage again when we backslide and the fear of God leaves us.  May we be all the more diligent (2 Peter 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:5) to know we are His and to live in fearful awe under His mighty hand of goodness and grace to His honor and glory.  Is the true fear of God in us and not fear of eternal torment?  May we be certain in our standing and willingly obedient in our responsive love for our Savior. 

Speak Accountability, Judgment, and Deliverance

Jeremiah 1:11-19

11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"
And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."
12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word."

13 And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?"
And I said, "I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north."

14 Then the LORD said to me:
"Out of the north calamity shall break forth
On all the inhabitants of the land.

15 For behold, I am calling
All the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD;
"They shall come and each one set his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
Against all its walls all around,
And against all the cities of Judah.

16 I will utter My judgments
Against them concerning all their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken Me,
Burned incense to other gods,
And worshiped the works of their own hands.

17 "Therefore prepare yourself and arise,
And speak to them all that I command you.
Do not be dismayed before their faces,
Lest I dismay you before them.

18 For behold, I have made you this day
A fortified city and an iron pillar,
And bronze walls against the whole land—
Against the kings of Judah,
Against its princes,
Against its priests,
And against the people of the land.

19 They will fight against you,
But they shall not prevail against you.
For I am with you," says the LORD, "to deliver you."

Jeremiah was called to preach accountability and judgment on the sin of God’s people, not a task to be taken lightly because of resistance to repent and the risk of opposition to death.  The blossoming almond tree was a harbinger of Spring when the season began and other trees still lay dorm. It was a sign that God was ready to act on His word to judge as Je had been watching over Israel as the almond watched over the season’s beginning.  He was ready to perform His word, which was to call Israel to account for their rejection of Him and continuing unrepentant sin.  The LORD would bring His judgment on them from countries to the north as the instruments of His hand.  Because of the wickedness of heIsrael and their idolatry which desecrated the first commandment (Exodus 20:3-5) as they forsook their God for lifeless pieces of their own handiwork of stone and wood, so He brought punitive judgment of accountability for breaking His covenant with them.  They were the work of His hands but substituted their own works for His in defiance of pride as in the Garden to be equal to Him (Genesis 3:4-5, Isaiah 14:13-14) instead of fearing and worshiping Him only.  The prophet was therefore chosen and called to speak to Israel what God commanded and not be discouraged or afraid in the face of their rejection of him because of His message.  God made Jeremiah strong in Him as a fortified city against the sinful leaders of His people.  They would fight him and the prophetic message commanded but would fail in their opposition because He was greater who was with him than those in opposition (1 John 4:4), just as the Lord is now with and in we who are Christ’s to strengthen us in delivering the gospel message in face of the enemy and the world’s opposition.  He will deliver us in life or death for his glory.  As we consider the message of the just and due wrath of God’s judgment on sin as the bad news, we consider bringing the good news of reconciling grace worth the suffering and opposition we will encounter (2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:19) in proclaiming that word of God to salvation (Acts 13:38-40)!  Like Jeremiah, we are also to speak of accountability, judgment, and deliverance for God’s chosen people. 

The One Appointed by the LORD

Jeremiah 1:1-10

1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

6 Then said I:
"Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth."

7 But the LORD said to me:
"Do not say, 'I am a youth,'
For you shall go to all to whom I send you,
And whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:
"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant."

Jeremiah’s name means ‘appointed by the LORD,’ and justified His calling as God’s spokesman called a prophet.  Prophets were the voice of God’s spoken and written word given flesh to be present among His people that we would not imagine we were hearing voices out of nowhere.  Their words were often backed by God fulfilling he message given them.  Ultimately, Jesus Christ as the final prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2) walked among us as God’s embodied word (John 1:1, 14) for us to first see as eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-2, 2 Peter 1:16) and then read and understand as His Spirit placed in us validates and explains to us now (2 Peter 1:19-21).  We have no need for more of the type of prophets of the Old Testament time because of Jesus Christ therefore.  Prophetic words now are explanations of inspired preaching and teaching of the finalized word of scripture given to us that we might understand what God has already spoken and grow in wisdom.  We do not seek new revelations because they have been given to us and recorded in the sealed collection of those He spoke to and through which we call the Bible, the writings of God to us.  Back then Jeremiah was called out by the LORD to speak to His people as a messenger (prophet), having been predetermined and set apart to come into being before he was even conceived and not yet born, which was according to God’s predestined plan to call all His chosen ones before time began (Ephesians 1:4, Titus 1:1-3).  When Jeremiah was old enough to hear and respond to God’s calling, he did not boast to others and try to impress with his abilities, but in humility admitted his utter unworthiness, a stark contrast to the self-proclaimed prophets of our modern times.  God reassured the prophet that it was His call and not the messenger’s ability that was key.  The LORD God provided the commanded words not yet written down (but now in this very book) according to His ability and Jeremiah was assured therefore not to worry about the verity of the messages or fear the hearer’s responses.  He put His words in his mouth!  The messages were God’s plan to rule over the affairs of the nations for His glory according to His word and will.  We no longer are called to such work, but now are to speak His word already revealed to expound it to the hearers whose hearts and ears are exposed by God to hear and see His glory and truth.  We who are chosen and called out now are therefore messengers of the existing message of the gospel and not writers of new words to put in His mouth.  We are accordingly warned in 2 Peter 2:1 and 1 John 4:1 to look out for those false prophets not speaking according to His word.  The One appointed by the LORD is Jesus the Christ, the reason no more messengers to bring God’s word are needed; He is the living Word Himself and we have the finalized written form in the scriptures, so who can add to His completed words?  Prophets such as Jeremiah were needed to bring those words to us and inscribed for us to prepare the coming of the Word and completed in Him as the apostles who met Him face to face recorded as eyewitness for us.  Such prophets and apostles are no longer required because He has in these last days spoken to us through His Son, the One appointed by the Father. 

God’s Wrath of Judgment and His Eternal Reign

Isaiah 66:14-24 

14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the LORD shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.

15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For by fire and by His sword
The LORD will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the LORD shall be many.

17 "Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves,
To go to the gardens
After an idol in the midst,
Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse,
Shall be consumed together," says the LORD.

18 "For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21 And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says the LORD.

22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD,
"So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.

24 "And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

Here in the culmination of God’s word through Isaiah is His wrath of judgment on sin and His eternal sovereign reign laid out for all His people to hear and take to heart.  After true worship is vindicated and the peace of God is realized among the elect at last, we see His works and rejoice even as His enemies and ours realize His eternal wrath.  His wrath will come as a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29) in the final judgment and as a sword to gain victory through His Anointed (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, 2 Peter 3:7, Revelation 19:15).  By these things He will judge everyone (Romans 2:6-8).  Only those who have trusted His atoning grace in Christ will escape this certain wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  Many will fall under that sword of judgment because they have rejected the grace of God in disbelief and continued disobedience.  Many hear the good news calling out, but few among these are chosen (Matthew 22:14) and obey the eternal gospel told from the beginning (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Peter 4:17).  Idolaters who worship any other than our God through Jesus Christ will find their vain efforts to do good works in attempts to be righteous as eternally ineffective.  God has promised from the beginning for His people to trust and follow Him, knowing our sinful thoughts and therefore providing us salvation by His work and His righteousness.  He calls us from our of all nations by faith as promised to Abraham and channeled through Israel that many may be delivered from His just wrath to come.  He is more than fair, for fairness would condemn us all to judgment apart from this goodness of grace.  He will therefore gather all His chosen people from all over the nations throughout time to worship as His priests in that kingdom in the New Jerusalem to come on earth (1 Peter 2:9-10, Revelation 1:6, 21:2).  This new heavens and earth which He creates will no longer fade away as the present ones which are winding down over time already since their creation and corruption (Romans 8:21) by our sin.  We will then worship in spirit and truth without fail and without end.  Yes, we who are the redeemed will see those who rejected Him and His Anointed as the only way (Acts 4:12) and observe the result of never ending judgment on unrepentant sin of rejection which is the hell of the lake of fire where “their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched,”  and be eternally thankful for our rescue.  God’s eternal and sovereign reign necessitates this judgment on sin and removal of its presence among His people and the new creation to avoid the destruction in the Garden again from the adversary and enemy of God’s good creation (Genesis 3:1, 2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 20:10).  We will then stand before our Lord day and night in true worship without sin and with great joy in the eternal consummation of our reconciliation and redemption that we may have hope and joy in His work through Christ on our behalf.  Amen. 

True Worship Vindicated

Isaiah 66:1-13 

1 Thus says the LORD:
"Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?

2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,"
Says the LORD.
"But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

3 "He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog's neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine's blood;
He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.

Just as they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,
4 So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight."

5 Hear the word of the LORD,
You who tremble at His word:
"Your brethren who hated you,
Who cast you out for My name's sake, said,
Let the LORD be glorified,
That we may see your joy.'
But they shall be ashamed."

6 The sound of noise from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of the LORD,
Who fully repays His enemies!

7 "Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.

9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?" says the LORD.
"Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?" says your God.

10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem,
And be glad with her, all you who love her;
Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11 That you may feed and be satisfied
With the consolation of her bosom,
That you may drink deeply and be delighted
With the abundance of her glory."

12 For thus says the LORD:
"Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.

Then you shall feed;
On her sides shall you be carried,
And be dandled on her knees.

13 As one whom his mother comforts,
So I will comfort you;
And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

God does not look at how magnificent and proper our house of worship is, but He is concerned about true worship from a heart that is broken in humility and fearful in awe at all His word.  Israel built a marvelous temple according to His word as planned, but they relied on the form over the function of the place according to God’s intent of a place to meet with Him and find atonement for their sins.  Their worship became rituals that no longer honored the LORD as they became out of place and idolatrous.  May we not allow our worship to take place outside our hearts and end up being entombed in the place of our intended worship as we consider these things.  God’s people chose their own way and He chose to harden their hearts which had already left Him.  They were left with their own fears and delusions of false worship because they lest their hearts out of the true worship desired by the God who called them to Himself and not to their own delusions which were in opposition to His word.  He stopped listening to them when they served other gods and idols of self as they willing sinned doing evil more and more.  The command given through Isaiah as God’s word to all His people remains unchanged, that we hear the word of the LORD and tremble before Him in true worship (Psalm 2:11, Philippians 2:12) as we aim to serve Him in spirit and truth and not in mere form and ritual to glorify God and find true joy in that sincere worship from the heart.  All others find only shame.  Like Israel, some from within the temple walls will find our sincere worship which disregards the form of the fashion and building offensive to disrupt their comfortable worship according to their own expectations and manmade rules, and they will even try to cast us out.  But God preserves the faithful who are truly set on His name’s sake and rejoice in giving Him glory in that true worship, for we know that all answer to Him and find reward or loss in the end from Him.  The picture of the nation of Israel born out of the worship on Mount Zion reminds us of the male Child to come (Revelation 12:5, 13, 17) out of that nation for the world to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24) and glorify God in Him.  We should likewise rejoice and be satisfied in our consolation (Luke 2:25, Philippians 2:1, Hebrews 6:18) in the grace of Christ which allows us to worship truly and with great joy as intended for Israel as God’s people.  Peace with Gods is possible only in true worship through Jesus Christ our Lord and the glory due Him is through worship of all chosen and called out to worship from every nation in addition to and through the first one chosen as our channel of redemption, Israel.  We who worship in truth find comfort as His children and are vindicated no matter the opposition of manmade traditions we face from without and within (2 Corinthians 7:5) the walls of our sanctuaries.  We are and shall be eternally comforted who glorify and worship our God according to His word. 

The Glorious New Creation

Isaiah 65:17-25 

17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.

20 "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23 They shall not labor in vain,
Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD,
And their offspring with them.

24 "It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,"
Says the LORD.

The glory of the new creation of the heavens and the earth along with New Jerusalem will exceed our expectations and imaginations so much that we will effectively cease to remember how it is now.  Why would we want to look back when we are in His very presence and sin is no longer present there with us (2 Peter 3:12-13)?  Such joy will drive our praise of endless rejoicing in the Celestial City, and His joy in we the people of the heavenly kingdom will keep any more tears from falling and sorrow will flee away from us with its sad memories of our failures here (Revelation 7:17, 21:4).  We will no longer face inevitable decay to death or sudden loss, yet those who die in their sin without Christ will live In accursed torment in the lake of fire where they will not have the eternal bliss of the redeemed.  May we therefore be diligent to warn them of the outcome of rejecting Him and entice them to repent and trust His work for us all on the cross of atoning sacrificial grace.  He will prepare places for us there (John 14:1-3) which we will never have to renovate, update, replace from disaster, or move from ever again; our eternal habitation will enable us to more enjoy the work of our hands as His elect, chosen and provided for in spite of ourselves.  Our labor now in the Lord and in the ages to come is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58, 3:8, 13).  He hears us before we call out in prayer even now to lead and guide us home where peace will be restored to all creation which now yearns with us for that day (Romans 8:22) when our enemy, the serpent of old (Revelation 12:9, 20:2) will eat the dust (Genesis 3:14) which his evil caused Adam to toil in from the Fall (Genesis 3:19).  The creation will be restored with our standing before God reconciled and in joyful peace when the adversary who brought all this corruption and destruction to creation is judged and removed forever.  May we therefore be exceedingly thankful now and forever in the glorious new creation (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:5), amen. 

The Chosen Remnant Renamed

Isaiah 65:1-16 

1 "I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, 'Here I am, here I am,'
To a nation that was not called by My name.

2 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;

4 Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine's flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

5 Who say, 'Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!'
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

6 "Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silence, but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,"
Says the LORD,
"Who have burned incense on the mountains
And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom."

8 Thus says the LORD:
"As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, 'Do not destroy it,
For a blessing is in it,'
So will I do for My servants' sake,
That I may not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10 Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have sought Me.

11 "But you are those who forsake the LORD,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who prepare a table for Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for Meni.

12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight."

13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
14 Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And wail for grief of spirit.

15 You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen;
For the Lord GOD will slay you,
And call His servants by another name;

16 So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.

God set the pattern for His people in Israel by demonstrating that they and we have not asked for Him or sought Him of ourselves.  The elect, the chosen people of God’s choosing, did not ask for Him but were called out by the Lord and Je was found as they were not seeking Him.  This is the providence of grace in God’s predetermined calling of the remnant out of Israel and from the nations afterwards (Romans 10:20-21, 11:2, 5, 7) as promised to Abraham.  Israel rebelled by seeking false and dead gods of stone and wood instead of the Living God who chose them as a nation, and yet He kept calling to them to stop living sinfully according to their own ways and reasoning.  They just kept rebelling and bringing the wrath of God upon themselves as they refused Him and rejected His word, choosing to worship what are not gods and still boasting that they were a chosen nation and therefore holier than others by the mere association with the God whom they did not follow.  How this warning is appropriate to the church today!  How can we follow the occult or even just go on justifying sin so grace can abound as if naming ourselves by Christ can make up for the sin which separated us from Him in the first place?  May we learn from God’s people in the past not to repeat these errors (2 Peter 2:6, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11), especially the arrogance of pride to justify sin and then judge ourselves better then others as “holier than thou.”  This attitude is a burning smell of God’s wrath.  Humility in light of God’s grace to deliver us from that wrath should stop this pride of judgment.  We all will answer for what we do and think and say, just as Israel was called to task here for their idolatry and sinful works (1 Corinthians 3:14-15), for life rewards or for judgment.  He promised not to destroy all Israel, but leave a chosen remnant as a pattern for the final judgment when the books are opened and compared to the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 20:12, 15).  The remnant of all are the ones called out by the Lord in truth according to His choice which only then becomes ours by God given faith, the elect of God in Christ of His inheritance spoken of here in the realm of the chosen nation of Israel as the beginning of all He has chosen to come in the body of Christ.  Just as God called repeatedly to the nation of His choosing to the remnant lest over out of that nation, so He calls with the gospel to the world to save some out of the whole of all nations.  Many are called but few are chosen and come to Him for the transforming and redeeming grace of salvation from God’s justice just as He called to deaf ears of Israel which Isaiah spoke to.  Ultimately, only those invited to the wedding supper of the Lord will taste of His eternal goodness whole the others will stay hungry, thirsty, ashamed, and sorrowful.  We who are chosen are called by another name then (Acts 11:26) as His true servants, whose blessing is in the God of truth who forgives and forgets our former sins as far as the East is from the West and as deeply buried as on the bottom of the sea (Psalm 103:12, Micah 7:19).  The chosen remnant has a new name, Christian.  What a hope we have and an example to motivate us to a holy and righteous response to live accordingly!  

The LORD Came Down to Save

Isaiah 64:1-12 

1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
2 As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.

4 For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.

6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.

7 And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.

9 Do not be furious, O LORD,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!

10 Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all our pleasant things are laid waste.

12 Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O LORD?
Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?

As we see also in Micah 1:3 and Habakkuk 3:13, the LORD promised to come down among His people to save them as Immanuel, His Anointed One we know as Jesus Christ.  Isaiah cried out in anticipation and great desire for this as a witness to the nations to tremble in fear and awe at His almighty presence.  He talks of God coming down and doing awesome works as the mountains shook, just as it must have been for Moses receiving the tablets of the Ten Commandments or the opening of the Red Sea.  Likewise when God stepped down in physical presence to walk on water, raise the dead, and turn water into wine the people who saw were in great awe.  Verse four tells how eye and ear did not perceive His great working of any God but the one who exists because He is, the one waiting for active trust like Abraham did (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, 20-22).  He rejoices in those doing righteousness as He draws them (John 3:21) to Himself because they realize they are sinners needing deliverance from His wrath on their sin as they seek to follow him according to His word.  They know their own righteousness is sinfully unclean because it is tainted by the inheritance of Adam and reinforced daily by very imperfect thoughts and deeds when compared to His righteousness and standards set before us in the moral law.  Like God’s people then, we also run from Him as His face turns against our sin until we realize and appreciate that we are under His sovereign hand of providence and grace to lead us to Himself as our Redeemer.  He has the power to choose who to mold and which clay of which we are all made to not reserve for His choosing (Romans 9:20-21, 22-23).  Our prayer has been that He would look on us to deliver and mold for His eternal purpose (Titus 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:9-10) as His chosen people from out of both Israel and the other nations of the world.  The cities of the physical nation of Israel had been made a wilderness because of their rejection of their Lord, including the temple where they met God and worshiped Him at that chosen place.  They cried out for the affliction to end and God’s peace to return.  These things are fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord who came down to save us! 

Remember God's Mercy in Prayer

Isaiah 63:7-19 

7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD
And the praises of the LORD,
According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us,
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies,
According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.

8 For He said, "Surely they are My people,
Children who will not lie."
So He became their Savior.

9 In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the Angel of His Presence saved them;
In His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
And He bore them and carried them
All the days of old.

10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit;
So He turned Himself against them as an enemy,
And He fought against them.

11 Then he remembered the days of old,
Moses and his people, saying:
"Where is He who brought them up out of the sea
With the shepherd of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,

12 Who led them by the right hand of Moses,
With His glorious arm,
Dividing the water before them
To make for Himself an everlasting name,
13 Who led them through the deep,
As a horse in the wilderness,
That they might not stumble?"

14 As a beast goes down into the valley,
And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest,
So You lead Your people,
To make Yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven,
And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your strength,
The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me?
Are they restrained?

16 Doubtless You are our Father,
Though Abraham was ignorant of us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O LORD, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

17 O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways,
And hardened our heart from Your fear?
Return for Your servants' sake,
The tribes of Your inheritance.

18 Your holy people have possessed it but a little while;
Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled,
Those who were never called by Your name.

Like Israel, we as God’s people must reflect on all He has done for our sakes and meditate on His mercy in prayer.  We should also be telling each other and those around us of His great lovingkindness worthy of praise and all His goodness He has given to His own because He is our Father in heaven.  He became the deliverer of Israel and ultimately the savior of all Je calls from all nations as promised by faith through Abraham, so we can understand this passage is for us as well in a larger continuing sense.  May we learn from how Israel had rebelled, walked away, and suffered as they made God their enemy until they saw how the nations looked at their previous deli through the sea and shepherded them through the wilderness into the promised land.  He also has delivered us from bondage to sin and led us through baptism into His Spirit towards that promised kingdom to come, and He has promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) as hinted in His merciful dealings with Israel, among whom a remnant (Romans 9:27) is yet preserved.  As He delivered His people out of bondage (Acts 7:6, Galatians 4:3-5), so we are delivered from the bondage to sin and death by Christ by His mighty hand of grace to bring glory to His name.  As the example of Israel praying here, we also should ask for continuing mercies as we confess our sins (1 John 1:9) when we fall short because He is our everlasting Father and Redeemer!  As we turn back to Him in repentance, He reminds us that He turns His grace to us because we are the inheritance of the Lord (Ephesians 1:18, 1 Peter 2:4, 9-10) because He is ours.  We pray then for His mercy and forgiveness to return His peace and comfort to us when we remember and pray because we have been called by His name and will possess the eternal sanctuary under His sovereign rule forever.  He is our eternal Father in heaven and we are forever His children. 

The Bad and Good News of Judgment and Salvation

Isaiah 63:1-6 

1 Who is this who comes from Edom,
With dyed garments from Bozrah,
This One who is glorious in His apparel,
Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—
"I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

2 Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

3 "I have trodden the winepress alone,
And from the peoples no one was with Me.
For I have trodden them in My anger,
And trampled them in My fury;
Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments,
And I have stained all My robes.

4 For the day of vengeance is in My heart,
And the year of My redeemed has come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
And I wondered
That there was no one to uphold;
Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me;
And My own fury, it sustained Me.

6 I have trodden down the peoples in My anger,
Made them drunk in My fury,
And brought down their strength to the earth."

As Edom was a sworn enemy of God’s people, God Himself vowed vengeance on them.  His victory over them was as if He went in a warrior and was covered in their blood as one who stomps grapes in a winepress and is soiled with red splashes all over.  God alone attained His victory; Israel had no hand in it.  The glorious on in heavenly apparel, great strength, and righteousness alone is mighty to save, to deliver His people.  Though this passage does not speak specifically of Christ, the parallel pictured here is clear.  God works our deliverance from His wrath as He enacts vengeance on our enemies because they are His as was Edom.  God’s anger is fearful to fall into (Hebrews 10:31) as the picture of the blood spattering here makes graphically clear.  Such is God’s wrath on sin and certainty of His righteous judgment on those who reject and oppose Him and His people.  This is an unpleasant and often ignored aspect of God’s character, but is essential in understanding His holiness and righteousness.  Just as the day of vengeance with recompense for evildoers is in His heart, so is the time for his redeemed ones to be recompensed with grace and mercy.  Only He can help as Isaiah spoke for God who looked about and saw none but Himself to uphold His glory and His people’s deliverance.  His own mighty arm of power and His wrath upheld His work to save.  Yes, He had stomped down the unrighteous like Edom then and will judge the ungodly in the final judgment day to follow.  They will drink of His fury (Revelation 14:8) as they follow the spirit of Babylon to come just as the enemies of Israel and her God in Babylon of old were defeated by Him as a picture of God’s wrath on sin and judgment in justice and righteousness of His holiness to come.  Knowing these things, how can men and women reject His Christ and face such wrath?  Only blind eyes and deaf ears can keep from taking these truths to heart, unfortunately.  May God open them through the gospel of peace with Him as we proclaim both the bad news of the wrath of God which we all justly deserve and the good news of His gift of deliverance, that they may also realize reconciliation through grace of forgiveness by accepting and no longer rejecting His righteousness for mercy.  Without the bad news, the gospel makes no sense.   How we need to give the whole counsel of God’s word in the gospel of judgment and salvation! 

Assurance of Salvation

Isaiah 62:1-12 

1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace,
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.

2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the LORD will name.

3 You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the LORD,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.

4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the LORD delights in you,
And your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.

6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8 The LORD has sworn by His right hand
And by the arm of His strength:
"Surely I will no longer give your grain
As food for your enemies;
And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine,
For which you have labored.

9 But those who have gathered it shall eat it,
And praise the LORD;
Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts."

10 Go through,
Go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people;
Build up,
Build up the highway!
Take out the stones,
Lift up a banner for the peoples!

11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
"Say to the daughter of Zion,
'Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.'"

12 And they shall call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the LORD;
And you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.

There is assurance of salvation given to God’s people, first the Jew and 5en through Israel as a channel of salvation to the nations as promised to Abraham before there was an Israel.  God promised He would not rest until righteousness and salvation would flow out of Zion of Jerusalem to the world as a shining light (1 John 2:8, Matthew 5:16) of hope.  They were to be given a new name, on the surface as Delight and Married as to the Lord, but ultimately as named of Christ to come which we all are who are His delivered and desired people.  Their marriage was to the Lord as a nation as we collectively all are as His bride, no longer forsaken or desolate but multiplying in fruitfulness as originally commanded to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, 9:1, 28:3-4 according to His word and sovereign plan.  Isaiah told them to not relent in calling out that God would do these things through them for His praise in the city he chose to temporarily dwell with them until the New Jerusalem comes as we now know.  The Lord promised that they would eat good fruit and not labor in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58) any longer, but partake of all His goodness in His presence in worship.  They were therefore to prepare the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, Luke 3:4) for the people because His salvation was coming (John 12:15).  They were to proclaim the good news of God’s work and reward which are the gospel and its results.  They would be called holy as His own people, redeemed because He sought them out and never forsaken again because of the new covenant and new hearts to follow Him according to it.  This is the assurance of our gospel hope which all of God’s people anticipate in the consummation of all things to come (Philippians 3:20) as His redeemed made holy and righteous in Him according to His word and working. 

The Good News of Salvation’s Atonement

Isaiah 61:1-11 

1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,

3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.

7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.

9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed."

10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

This is the prophetic good news of the Day of Atonement as the acceptable day of the LORD (Leviticus 25:9) to be fulfilled as Christ spoke in the synagogue according to Luke 4:17-18, 21.  It was written long before Jesus the Christ set foot there to read this passage prepared by God thousands of years prior, and reminds us of the sovereign grace and knowledge and wisdom of Him as attested in and by scripture.  The Christ is the Anointed spoken of here to bring this good news to the world, to the poor and broken-hearted, offering freedom from those bound by sin inherited from Adam and release from sin’s imprisonment with a sentence of certain death until a perfect sacrifice could be found to shed blood instead of we shedding our own blood, our own life to atone for our sin.  Yes as Jesus read this passage on the acceptable day of atonement, He knew the bad news of God’s coming vengeance on sin and offered good news through Him as comfort to our mourning hopelessness in finding a lasting sacrifice to forever atone for us.  He offers the beauty of eternal life instead of death’s ashes and joy in forgiveness instead.  He offers praise in our mouths to Him to replace the heavy mantle of our unrighteousness by imputation of His righteousness for His glory through planting us in Himself.  Restoration of cities is talked of here for Israel to undo the desolation of their continued rebellion against Him, a picture of our reconciliation to restore our standing as it was with Adam and Eve in the beginning where all was created and called good.  Yes, as it was hinted that God’s people then would be called priests, we see later in Christ we who are atoned for and called to Him are named this also (1 Peter 2:9) as His servants to minister this great news of reconciling grace of His atonement for our sins.  Our shame is turned into honor with unending joy!  God loves justice, but also mercy, and He has promised an eternal covenant which cannot be broken or come to and end; therefore, He leads and guides us into all truth (John 16:13).  We are truly the posterity of the LORD along with believing Israel who are blessed by Him as His people.  What shall we do then and how should we respond to the good news?  After believing His work in Christ and receiving Him (John 1:12), we are to rejoice with exceedingly great joy (Luke 2:10) for the new clothing of our salvation from sin’s bondage and penalty as we are clothed in His beautiful righteousness alone.  The LORD had promised and prophesied of fruitfulness and righteousness to move us to praise, and this is fulfilled in the work of Christ as Jesus told those in the synagogue long ago.  This is the exceedingly good news of His saving atonement for us which all other sacrifices can never effectively work in us (Hebrews 10:3-4, 10, 18) to be made right with God for eternity.  Jesus Christ is the only way, truth, and life offered to us.  Believe His work as John 6:29 tells us how to do the works of God for our salvation.  Our work then is our faith exercised in trusting His work alone to atone for us and not working good in vain attempts to earn His good favor.  His unearned favor is called grace, and that is His work alone to save us from His wrath on our sin in judgment, not our own.  God in Christ brings good news, which is healing of the heart and soul, freedom from the bondage of sin, so that we are no longer its prisoner.  Then He makes us as priests to minister to each other, serving Him and others.  We receive joy beyond words, made right and righteous in God's eyes that cause us and those who see to give praise to God and all He does.  Amen and amen! 

The Mighty LORD, Redeemer and Savior

Isaiah 60:13-22

13 "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
The cypress, the pine, and the box tree together,
To beautify the place of My sanctuary;
And I will make the place of My feet glorious.

14 Also the sons of those who afflicted you
Shall come bowing to you,
And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
And they shall call you The City of the LORD,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 "Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
So that no one went through you,
I will make you an eternal excellence,
A joy of many generations.

16 You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles,
And milk the breast of kings;
You shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 "Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
Instead of iron I will bring silver,
Instead of wood, bronze,
And instead of stones, iron.
I will also make your officers peace,
And your magistrates righteousness.

18 Violence shall no longer be heard in your land,
Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders;
But you shall call your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise.

19 "The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.

20 Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the LORD will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.

21 Also your people shall all be righteous;
They shall inherit the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.

22 A little one shall become a thousand,
And a small one a strong nation.
I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time."

The Lord worked in His people to make the place where He stood to meet with them glorious and make the nations come to worship the Holy one there also.  Though they had been rejected and hated by the nations, they were to be an eternal excellence and joy for many, which is a picture of the New Jerusalem and the complete people of God with the addition of the gentiles to Israel.  Then they and we would know the mighty LORD as the Redeemer and Savior.  Their dwelling place would be enriched with things that last and find their government of peace and righteousness there, just as we find peace with God in the Lamb and righteousness in Christ our Lord.  Violence and destruction caused by the presence of our sin will flee away as we dwell in the Celestial City whose walls of salvation will focus our praise as we enter there to worship before His living throne forevermore.  There we will know God is the glory of all His people.  There will be no more tears of sorrow which passes away (Revelation 21:4) as His light rises over us to replace the lesser lights of the sun and moon which He originally created so we could see Him in Eden’s Garden in the beginning of creation.  He will be our eternal light when we are in His holy presence!  He will be our only glory!  There will be no more sorrow and mourning from death and sin, and with Him all His chosen people will be counted righteous (2 Thessalonians 1:5, Ephesians 4:24) who have inherited an eternal kingdom planted by Him there.  Even now the gospel reaches those He draws and calls (John 6:44), becoming thousands from one witness and a strong nation of His people together in Christ.  Our Lord does these things according to His word in His time for his glory.  Of this we can find solace and peace until we see our mighty Lord who is our Redeemer and Savior face to face!