Her Penitent Ones

Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Trophies of Grace,” and then he put the song “Forever King” in my mind.

Forever King / NewSong

Forever King, you’re everything my heart has need to know,

My first my last, my future my past, the strength of all my hopes.

You’re the rock of all the ages, eternal, timeless Savior…

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 11 (NIV 1984):

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

    the Spirit of counsel and of power,

    the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

    or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt

    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb,

    the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

    and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

    their young will lie down together,

    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,

    and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

    on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

    as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

He will raise a banner for the nations

    and gather the exiles of Israel;

he will assemble the scattered people of Judah

    from the four quarters of the earth.

Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,

    and Judah’s enemies will be cut off;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

    nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;

    together they will plunder the people to the east.

They will lay hands on Edom and Moab,

    and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

The Lord will dry up

    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;

with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand

    over the Euphrates River.

He will break it up into seven streams

    so that men can cross over in sandals.

There will be a highway for the remnant of his people

    that is left from Assyria,

as there was for Israel

    when they came up from Egypt.

A Synopsis

In the first chapter and second half of chapter two of Isaiah we read Isaiah’s (i.e. God’s) rebuke of Judah and Jerusalem. Judah was a rebellious nation. They had forgotten their God, and they had turned their backs on him. They were children given to corruption. They heaped up meaningless offerings to God, and he was not pleased by them. God could not stand their evil assemblies. Their rulers were rebels, companions of thieves. The faithful city had become a harlot. They were superstitious and idolatrous, arrogant and proud; people who trusted in man over God. God said that if they were willing and obedient, they would be blessed, but if they resisted God and rebelled, they would be devoured with a sword. God promised them judgment in order to purge away their junk (waste), and to remove all their impurities, yet he also promised to restore her penitent ones with righteousness.

Then, in chapter two we read a prophecy concerning the Messiah, Jesus Christ, which continues in chapter 9 and again in chapter 11. Many nations would stream to Christ, the Messiah, in the last days. He would teach them his ways so they could walk in his paths. He would be a light to those walking in darkness. He would shatter the yoke of slavery to sin and the control of Satan over their lives. He would be the people’s God, counselor, protector, provider, sustainer, encourager, and he would bring peace between mankind and God through the cross of Christ and the shedding of his blood. The word of the Lord would go out from the Messiah and from his followers, his body, then Jesus would judge between the nations and there would be a time of peace on the earth, during his millennial reign as King of kings and as Lord of lords.

God would use Assyria (see chap. 8) as his divine instrument of judgment against his people because they refused God’s messages and they chose to put their trust in mankind and in other nations instead of in God Almighty. The “club of God’s wrath” was in the hand of the Assyrian (see chap. 10). God would send him (did send him) against a godless nation (speaking of Judah/Jerusalem). Yet the Assyrian had his own plans in mind. His purpose was to utterly destroy God’s people and to put an end to many nations. He was proud and arrogant and he thought these victories in battle were because of his own wisdom, might and strength. Yet, when the Lord was finished with the Assyrian, and with his work against God’s people, God would (and did) punish the king of Assyria for his willful pride.

The Remnant

In that day when God judged his people via Assyria, he left a remnant of his people, the survivors of the house of Jacob. He did not completely destroy them as a people. The result was that the people no longer put their trust in Assyria or in man, but their trust was now in God Almighty. Why is it that we are such stubborn people sometimes that God has to hit us over the head with a 2X4 before we wake up and realize what we are doing? Anyway, the remnant returned to their God. Yet, God encouraged his people not to be afraid of their oppressor, for the time of their divine discipline would have an end in sight. God would soon turn his hand against the instrument of his divine judgment, and he would deliver his people as he had done before. And, this applies, as well, to the last days on the earth (see Rev.).

The Branch

From this remnant a Branch (the Messiah) bears fruit. The Spirit of the Lord rests on him – the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and power – the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and he delights in the fear of the Lord. He is not like the rulers of Judah who were rebels and companions of thieves. He judges justly and with righteousness. He will strike the earth in judgment (see the book of Revelation), and he will slay the wicked. When he makes preparation to do his work, he does so with righteousness and with faithfulness, not like the crooked leaders of Isaiah’s day.

Parallels to Revelation

Isaiah is called as a prophet of God here to rebuke God’s people, to warn them of impending judgment, to call for repentance and a return to their God, to declare an end to the wicked, and to give hope of a future with peace and safety to the penitent. Isaiah also spoke words of prophecy concerning the coming Messiah, of his birth, of his redemption of his people, of his judgments, and of his kingdom reign on the earth during a time of peace. I find it really interesting that God led him to give these prophecies about the Messiah and the end of time along with these warnings of judgment against God’s people and of coming judgment in their day. Many prophecies have more than one fulfillment, plus history has a tendency to repeat itself, and yet there is something very intentional here in the blending of these warnings of judgment of the people of that time with the prophecies of the last days.

I believe we are to see the parallels here with the book of Revelation. In Revelation, John began by sharing his vision of Jesus Christ and then he moved right into the letters to the seven churches. Only two of these churches had nothing bad against them. The other five all had something God had against them and of which they were told that they needed to repent or face certain judgment. Only one had nothing positive – the church in Laodicea. Many people believe the church of Laodicea represents the apostate or lukewarm church of the final days before God sends his judgments on the earth. Then John presented us again with Jesus Christ, the Lamb who had been slain for our sins. He was the only one worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. The seals were opened next, and they were declarations of judgment upon the earth and upon the inhabitants of the earth.

Then we learn with the fifth seal opened concerning the souls of those who had been slain during the tribulation because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They are pictured in Rev. 7 as the great multitude from every nation wearing white robes and praising Jesus Christ for his salvation. They are the ones who will come out of the great tribulation; “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

And, this fits with the prophecies in Isaiah chapters 1-11, too. First we have warnings and threats of judgments and calls for repentance of God’s people, the church, as well as promises to shield those who put their faith and trust in the Lord, and these are followed by God’s judgments, and then by people from all nations flocking to Jesus Christ, and believers in Christ being revived and made right with God, then God judging his divine instruments of judgment (the beast, the false prophet and the dragon), and then the promised millennial reign of Christ on the earth and the promised inheritance of the saints of God and their salvation complete. “And, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

I believe that we should not assume the entire body of people who call themselves the church will be raptured before these judgments begin. I believe scripture teaches, and this is supported by the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the last days, that true followers of Christ will exist during the tribulation, and they will be persecuted for their faith, and many will become martyrs for the cause of Christ. I also believe that the pattern in Revelation fits with the pattern in Isaiah and that God is presently warning his church to repent of her adulteries and her idolatrous ways, and to stop putting her trust in man, but to put her trust in God alone. I believe he is warning of impending judgment to those who refuse to turn back to God in repentance, and to the institutional church of today which fits the description of the people of Judah of Isaiah’s day (see synopsis). Yet, I also believe God promises us the same forgiveness and restoration to the penitent, and the hope of eternity with God, and this time of peace on the earth during the reign of our Messiah and Lord.  

Jesus Christ bought us with a price – his blood and his death on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world. He asks, in return, or in acceptance of what he did for us that we humble ourselves, that we deny (disallow) our flesh natures, that we willingly and daily die (put to death) sin and self, and that we daily follow him in obedience (see Luke 9:23-25). Paul, speaking for Jesus Christ, said that the way we come to know Christ is through forsaking our old lives of sin, by being transformed in heart and mind (the working of the Spirit of God), and by putting on our new self, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph. 4:17-24). This is what it means to come to Christ, and this is what it means to walk daily in fellowship and obedience to him. Don’t take his grace for granted!

Trophies of Grace / NewSong

We are trophies of grace

Perfectly placed in the Body

Bought with a price

The supreme sacrifice of our Lord

We were wooed by His Spirit

We were won by His love

Exalted with Him to a heavenly place…