December 11, 2008
Isaiah 61, versus 8-11, speaks of a lasting covenant with God, with increasing blessings. This chapter foretells the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon. The final two verses in this selection, in fact, seem to go far in speaking about these blessings:
Vs. 10: “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Vs. 11: For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
It seems incredible today, with world events poised on such a knife’s edge that praise will “spring up before all nations.” Could it be? To any cold-eyed realist, absolutely not. Iran, North Korea, our own economy, the world economic malaise, terrorism. The list goes on, and then on some more, of why this scenario is unlikely.
But of course, the Bible is not about cold-eyed realism. Here, it strips away our objections, leaving us with much more simple questions. Do we have faith? Do we believe? Friends, those are the key questions this advent season.
Doug Cunningham
