Even though God is a God of judgment, He also offers us salvation. This daily devotional looks at how God offers to restore us and the benefits we receive when we accept His offer.
Nuggets
- We didn’t try to run ahead of God or try to do it our way.
- God is a God of love Who will provide for us.
- God will defeat His enemies.
Devotions in the Isaiah’s Message from Sovereign God series
Isaiah called God the Lord of the Armies. Yes, God is a God of judgment.
God is also the God of salvation. Isaiah described that in the last half of chapter 25.
Let's Put It into Context
“On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. On this mountain he will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations. When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken” (Isa. 25: 6-8 CSB)
We talked in the last devotion that Isaiah 25 is a lot more comforting than Isaiah 24. Isaiah 24 talked judgment. Isaiah 25 talks salvation.
- God choose mankind to be His, but we have to choose Him back.
- We are to praise God for all He does.
- Scriptures talk about blessings being a feast.
- Our disgrace was our acceptance of sin.
We Are Called to Trust God
“On that day it will be said, ‘Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’ For the Lord’s power will rest on this mountain” (Isa. 25: 9-10a CSB)
Okay. Go back to last week’s Sunday Morning Bible Study lesson. All of us were scratching our heads, wondering why we had this as a lesson when we thought there were other passages better suited to get the point across.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
I figured out the why. One thing I pulled out for the lesson but not the devotional was a nugget about Sennacherib.
We did talk about the fact that the Chaldeans were no longer a people group. They had been assimilated into Babylon. That was a major conqueror of Israel.
Before them, the Assyrians tried to conquer God’s people. They were the ones knocking on the door during the last Sunday Morning Bible Study lesson.
What I didn’t pull out for the devotion but did for the lesson was the fact that Sennacherib conquered and destroyed the city of Babylon in 689 BC.
Guess who showed up here?
Liddon thought Hezekiah’s victory over Sennacherib was what was running through Isaiah’s mind here.
Okay, think of the terror they were feeling in the last lesson. Aram and Israel were wanting to overthrow Ahaz so they could form an alliance with Assyria. Ahaz and his father had said no repeatedly.
Hezekiah was Ahaz’s son. Remember there was some question about Hezekiah being the baby that was going to be the sign.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
The point is God saved them. “On that day it will be said, ‘Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation” (Isa. 25: 9 CSB).
Why was it important for Judah to defeat the Assyrians? Liddon wrote, “The victory of a conqueror like Sennacherib meant the extinction of national life and personal liberty in the conquered people; it meant often enough violent transportation from their homes, separation from their families, with all the degrading and penal accompaniments of complete subjugation.”
But that was for just the run of the mill country Sennacherib would defeat. For God’s people it meant they would no longer be free to worship Him.
True, Job Description Duty #1 and #2 focus on our personal relationships with God. However, #1 includes elements of how we are to worship Him.
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
What did we say in a previous devotion? Salvation isn’t only about Jesus paying the penalty for our sins. It is about us being sanctified so that we are pure and full of God’s Truth.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
What are these verses saying?
- We waited on Him.
- He saved us.
We didn’t try to run ahead of God. We didn’t try to do it our way.
We worked God’s plan for our lives. We listened to Him and obeyed.
Plain and simple.
Several of the resources that I pulled hooked this back to the Baby. They said that this passage was talking about Jesus.
Making the Connections
God is a God of love. He will provide for us.
If we don’t believe in God, we should be filled with fear. Sims wrote, “For the faithfulness of God to His word and purpose is an attribute no less to be dreaded by the impenitent than valued by believers.”
Resource
There is good reason to fear God if we don’t believe. Isaiah 25: 7-8 talk about God swallowing up things. He will devour Satan and sin.
This isn’t going to be a silent coup. It will be a loud overthrow. God will be regaining His creation.
Let’s roost a second on what the gospel does. Davies wrote that it trashes the curtains we are hiding behind.
Resource
We want our sins hidden deep, don’t we? I don’t want you to know all of the things I’ve done wrong in my life. I want them buried and forgotten about like they never happened.
God has this way of bringing every sin to the forefront. In order to root out sin, we have to acknowledge it and commit to turn away from it.
We won’t be doing that if we are denying we have committed the sin.
Let’s look at the passage this way. Prophecies were generally given for then and for events that would happen in the future.
We can see where this is a prophesy for the future. God will defeat His enemies. The story of the final war has been written. We know that God will be victorious.
We have nothing to fear.
How Do We Apply This?
God brings our sins to the forefront so that we can deal with them. We have to repent: ask forgiveness and turn away from them.
Glossary
Cooper made an interesting comment. He noted that waiting should be seen as a disciples’ character trait. It has also been described as a posture.
Resource
What does waiting for God show? It shows that
- we have a strong faith in God. Faith is the belief that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
- we have put our trust in Him. Trust is assurance that the promises of God are true.
- we are confident that God will provide for our needs.
- we expect Jesus’ return.
- we actively look forward to and desire His coming.
- we wait patiently.
- we experience peace while we wait.
Ooo, baby. We don’t like waiting. We want what we want now.
How do we wait? We don’t run ahead of God and try to make things happen. We don’t try to make things happen our way.
God has plans for our lives (Jer. 29: 11). We have to let Him work.
Sometimes though, we don’t see God working in our lives. We have to keep waiting.
Macculloch had a great nugget. He wrote, “Though God is invisible to our bodily eyes, we behold Him when we sensibly discern those visible effects which cannot be produced by any other than His omnipotent arm. There subsists between Him and us a reciprocal endearing relation, a mutual tender affection, a continued delightful intercourse, a most agreeable concord, and an intimate union of interest and design.”
Resource
No, we can’t see God. We have to discern Him. Discernment means we can evaluate the situation and is recognize the differences between things.
We have to be able to see where and when God is working. That means we have to be in tune with Him. We are going to be looking into that in a couple of weeks.
God did not just write us off when Adam and Eve committed the original sin. He designed the Plan of Salvation even before He created us.
Glossary
We need to accept His gift of salvation. It is up to us.
We need to submit our lives to God. Then we have to work on changing our characters to match His. That will cut the sin out of our lives.
If we do that, God will reward us. If we continue in our sin, God will judge us.
We want to be on God’s good side.
Father God. Mankind sinned against You. We have and continue to disobey Your laws and commandments. Still, You designed a way for us to be restored to You. Lord, we admit we were separated from You, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess You as Sovereign Lord. Help us to live our lives so that we change to become more like You. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message on God’s Provision – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message on God’s Deliverance – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message on Renewal – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message on God’s Purpose – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message of Service – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message on Living for God – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: The Act of Standing Morally – Seeking God with Elaine