Come near, you nations, and listen;My Understanding: God created man in his image, and to have perfect fellowship with him, yet man, given a free will, chose to rebel against God, to listen to Satan’s lies, and to give way to sin, so God’s wrath was then against mankind. Man was thus separated from that perfect union with God and was subject to his wrath and to eternal separation from God in hell. Yet, God did not leave us there. He provided a way that we can be saved and can be restored to that right relationship to him through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to earth, taking upon himself human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, then he died on a cruel cross as a criminal, though he had done no wrong.
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The LORD is angry with all nations;
his wrath is upon all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
Joy of the Redeemed
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
When he died, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, having crucified our sins along with him and having buried them with himself, as well. Yet, that is not the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead victoriously, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could be free from the ultimate penalty of our sin, i.e. eternal separation from God in hell, and so we could be free from bondage to and the control of sin over our daily lives. He set us free, as well, to be in perfect union and fellowship with him through faith in Jesus Christ, and he set us free to walk in holiness and in obedience to Christ, leaving our lives of sin behind us.
A day of judgment will come to the earth. There will be the time of judgment called the time of tribulation, which is over a span of years, and then there will be the judgment at the end where God will separate believers in him from those who do not believe, and he will take his children to be with himself and we will reign with him on the earth for 1,000 years. During the time of judgment on the earth where God judges the nations with whom he is angry, I believe a time of revival will ensue, as well. Then the eyes of those who are spiritually blind will be opened and those who have had spiritually deaf ears to the truths of God’s word will hear him speaking. A highway, i.e. the way to salvation will be there for those who would choose to place their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is called the Way of Holiness.
Yet, we have that way of salvation now for all who would choose to enter this Way of Holiness and would choose to walk in that Way. So, spiritually speaking, God’s wrath and judgment stand against all those who have not chosen that Way of Holiness provided for us through Jesus’ price he paid on the cross so that we could go free. When our eyes are opened and our ears unstopped and we are able to see with our eyes and hear with our ears the truths of God’s word, by God’s grace, and we are able to respond with our hearts to God’s calling on our lives through repentance and obedience to Christ, via the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, then we are able to journey on that Way of Holiness.
Those who choose to walk in the Way of Holiness are the redeemed of the Lord, i.e. those he purchased for himself with his blood shed on the cross for our sins. He bought us back. We are the ransomed of the Lord, too, because he paid the price so that we could be set free from those who once held us captive, i.e. he set us free from bondage to sin. Because we have been set free, we will sing praises to our Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation. Gladness and joy will overtake us because of the freedom we have in Christ to no longer be controlled by our flesh but we are free to walk in faith and obedience to Christ Jesus. Everlasting joy will crown our heads and sorrow and sighing will flee away, because we are no longer held captive by what once held us in bondage, but now we are free! Amen!!
In That Day / An Original Work / May 21, 2011
Based off of Isaiah 12
In that day you will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water from salvation’s wells.
In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One, who among us dwells.”
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Song
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