The book of Isaiah, to me, becomes more and more a very sure word from God, my Father, Almighty, for me to ponder (meditate on), as I read it.
Chapter 64, of the book of Isaiah, seems to me to be a veery good source of some great encouragement, because God does treat all His children much as He has dealt with His people Israel.
Below, I have typed out chapter 64 of Isaiah. I trust God's Words will also encourage you and cause you to ponder His Truth, and His mighty ways.
"Oh that Thou wouldest rend the Heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains would flow down at Thy Presence,
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil (sound like a volcano?), to make Thy Name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy Presence!
When Thou didst terrible (awesome) things which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at Thy Presence.
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, not perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.
Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh Righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy Ways: behold, Thou art wroth; for we have sinned; in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. (delivered)
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
And there is none that calleth upon Thy Name (haShem; YHVH), that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee: for Thou hast hid Thy Face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
But now, O Lord (YHVH), Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we are all the work of Thy Hand.
Be not wroth very sore, O Lord (YHVH), neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech Thee, we are all Thy people.
Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation (at the time of Isaiah's life on earth).
Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. (at the time of Isaiah's life on earth)
Wilt Thou refrain Thyself for these things, O Lord? (YHVH) wilt Thou hold Thy Peace, and afflict us very sore?"
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Isaiah pleads with his Father in Heaven, His Deliverer, to come and ... though he realizes he and his fellow companions, the Israelites, are not deserving of God's deliverance, he asks, nevertheless, for God to bring His "salvation" forth, on their behalf, because ... he acknowledges that he, and all others who are God's children, are "the clay" and God, our Father, is "the Potter." He, alone, knows what to do to "shape us" into the "vessels of honor" that He designed us, originally, to become.
To me, this passage is a reminder that God will, ultimately, and even during our lifetime on earth, reward those who "wait on Him," and He will "meet" (with?) him "that rejoiceth (continually) and worketh (produces, or does) righteousness (continually)," ... if we believe in Him, as our Father in Heaven, and as The God of Israel, and as The One Whose only-begotten Son, Yeshua (Jesus), chose (voluntarily, willingly) to come to earth to live (fulfilling over 350 prophecies made by God's true prophets in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, some call the Old Covenant), suffer,
die (as a result of taking upon Himself all the sins of all the people who have ever lived on this earth, ... at one point in time, ... while He was 'hanging' on the 'cursed tree,' the Roman execution stake, which most call "the cross"), and then, be resurrected to His glorified Life (eternal) on the third day, after He was dead in the grave, ... according to God's Word (the Scriptures). (according to the Old Testament prophets' words)
He promises to "meet" those "that remember Him in His Ways.
He realizes "we are all as an unclean thing...." Yet, He still chooses to offer us, and cover us, with His (unconditional) Love. ... if only we will believe in Him, trust in His Name, and surrender our lives to The Lord of all, Who made all things, and Who designed us to praise & glorify Him. Since this is in complete agreement with how we were designed, in our mother's womb, then it "fits." Yet, so many resist.
He says, of us (before we trusted in Him), that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Even after we have trusted in The Lord Yeshua (Jesus) for salvation (for deliverance from the punishment / penalty, and the power of sin, from the punishment we deserve for our iniquities), all the best that we could do, are as filthy, to the Holy God (YHVH, The I AM), as "filthy rags" which are to be cast out and burned, because they have no further value to anyone.
However, He then "rescues us" from "the depths" and chooses to love us, instead, though we were as good as dead, and the best we could do is no better than the rubbish in a garbage dump. Why? Because to love is His Nature. (His true character "is" Love)
We are "the work" of His Hand. Let's live as if we believe this thought! He cannot lie. It is the Truth.
He has formed us, as a potter forms clay to be a vessel of honor.
He has all Wisdom and all Knowledge.
Even if we are ungrateful, He has still chosen us, and designed us, to work in cooperation with Him to produce good, and to do what He calls "righteousness." If we do, our lives will bring glory and praise to His Holy Name. That, then, will bless us, in our souls. We will rejoice (in Him, alone)! And His Name will be exalted!
The Word of The Lord inspires me!
I trust it inspires you, also.
May we study it, and learn from it, every day, so that He can build us up "in Messiah Yeshua (in Christ Jesus)!" We are complete in Him, if we have trusted Yeshua (Jesus) as our Deliverer, Redeemer, Saviour and Lord. But to "walk with Him," and "abide in Him," we must realize the Truths that Isaiah shares with us, in this passage, along with many other Truths God has to share with us, using many men to get those thoughts / truths into our souls.
Only when I realize what God says is True, and apply it to my own life, and leave behind my old ways of thinking, and my wrong attitudes, will I do what God sees as "righteous." I want to live in harmony with my Maker. Don't you?
... this week, I plan to walk in His triumphal victory march, as mentioned in II Corinthians 2: 14. Let's do it together, so His Name is glorifed! He is Lord! He deserves all our praise! We are learning to shine as lights, reflecting His true Light, upon anyone who will look to see it. If our lives have integrity, by yielding our rights and expectations to Him, then we "will" shine.
Daniel 12: 3 shares
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to Righteousness (shall shine) as the stars forever and ever."
Hallelujah!
