Scripture:
Isaiah 4 (ESV)
And seven
women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own
bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away
our reproach.”
In that day
the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is
left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has
been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the
filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from
its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord
will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud
by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the
glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat,
and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Devotional:
Isaiah
chapter 4 starts off with the hardships and fall of Jerusalem, Israel is
defeated. But later in chapter 4 Isaiah
shares God’s promises. Isaiah tells of
Christ and His eternal reign. How God’s
presence will once again be with His people.
Sins will be washed away, and His people restored.
Are there times
when you feel far from God? There are
times when we can drift from God.
Sometimes our decisions are intentional and sometimes we do not even
realize we have drifted. Regardless of
why or how we may feel abandoned there are times that we feel all alone. Times in our lives when we think God is not
to be found. We struggle and we try to make
a go of things on our own. Maybe we do
not think we need God.
I have just
a few thoughts to share on this. One, we
do need God. We cannot make it on our
own. Romans 3:23, “for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. This means that no one is worthy. None of us can make it to heaven on our own merit or actions. That because of our sin we fall under God’s
judgement just as the Israelites did in the Old Testament. The second thought I have is that when we
face judgement we can do so on our own, or we can have an advocate. Jesus is ready and willing to stand judgement
for all of our sins. Romans 3:24-25:
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation
by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
We are
restored through what Jesus has done.
God’s promise in Isaiah was fulfilled through Jesus. No matter where we are or what we have done
or are doing God’s promise includes us. The
Messiah came for all. He will come
again. My final question. Are you ready?
