Blooming Desert

"Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen."

Read 2 Chronicles 5

Read Isaiah 35

It was difficult to yesterday to read Isaiah 34 without reading chapter 35 right away. In fact, I didn't succeed. I had to continue. Chapter 34 was filled with so much wrath and judgment! I felt like I needed some Gospel (and there is plenty of it in chapter 35!).

But maybe sometimes we rush to the Gospel too quickly. If you let chapter 34 sink in for a while, I think you did a good thing. God's judgment spoken there is harsh, and the threats, terrifying. We see God's sword get drunk on the blood of the wicked. We see wild beasts inhabiting what used to be a civilization. What once was prosperous is now desert. Creation is destroyed. In 34:11 we even see the same Hebrew words that we saw before God created order in the universe, that is, that this land becomes formless and void again, reminding us of Genesis 1:2. Such strong and powerful language is in chapter 34! Certainly it behooves us to pause, consider our sinfulness, and repent with contrite hearts. Take a moment to examine your life with the 10 Commandments. And consider your position in life: are you a father, mother, child, employer, employee, brother, sister, neighbor, friend, citizen? How are you fulfilling those responsibilities? Surely we have left many good things undone, and have committed many forbidden acts.

But in Chapter 35 we see all of that reversed. The exiles of Israel return - "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing" (v. 10); the wild animals do not harm or destroy - "No lion shall be there nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it" (v. 9); those who had been suffering from affliction are healed - "the eyes of the blind shall be opened..." etc. (v. 5); and even the barren wasteland comes to life again - "the desert shall rejoice and blossom" (v. 1).

This beautiful language, and these many gracious promises of God are fulfilled in a very real way when the time of defeat, slavery, and exile was over and Israel could return to their land where God continued to provide and protect his people. But these promises are fulfilled in an even greater way through Jesus Christ. For surely, the release from bondage, affliction, and slavery of Israel foreshadowed the greater release of all who are in Christ from sin, death, and the devil! This is why the New Testament authors took great care to report that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf. They report that Jesus is the living water, who provides us the life and nourishment needed so that we can bear fruit. They report that Jesus is our ransom, the payment that would buy us back from our captor the devil.

Blessed are you if when you read Isaiah 35 you see Christ! "Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you" (v. 4). Be sure to share this Good News with those who have "an anxious heart" or "weak hands" or "feeble knees" (v. 3-4). For Jesus is our life and salvation! Thanks be to God!

Pray:

Christ, our human likeness sharing,
Heaven's love on earth portrayed;
Christ the Shepherd, tending, caring,
In His death our ransom paid:
Christ the Savior, Christ the Servant,
Be Your life in us displayed.

Come, O living Christ, renew us,
As of old in wind and flame;
With the Spirit's pow'r endue us,
Servants of Your saving name:
Christ the Savior, Christ the Servant,
Christ whose kingdom we proclaim.

(LSB 847:1, 4)

Study with me tomorrow,

Pastor Jon

Soli Deo Gloria!