In Isaiah 4, God gives us a picture of His Millennial Reign in Jerusalem.
"... the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel." - Isaiah 4:2b
There will be a lot of fruit in Israel in the last days, and it will be their pride and joy.
Have you been to Israel? Did you know that they are one of the chief exporters of fruit in the world?!
This has been prophesied about in multiple places in the Old Testament, and now it's coming to pass! We're seeing this happen before our very eyes. The time is short!
In that Millennial Reign, Jerusalem will be filled with believers of Christ.
"And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem." - Isaiah 4:3
Everyone who has been recorded for life. Revelation 20 talks about a book of life. Everyone who has put their faith in Jesus is recorded in this book. In that Millennial Reign, those will be the people filling Jerusalem. What a glorious day that will be!
God will wipe away all of the sin, and His glory will fill the city! There will be a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, reminding us of God's glory and His presence covering us. He will be a refuge for His people!
Wow! That's all I can say when I look ahead to this day. What a glorious day that will be.
As Christians, this is what we look forward to. We anticipate being evicted from our tent to join God in Heaven. We're in transit, just waiting to be relocated!
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14
As Paul said, we press on, seeking to draw closer to God, anticipating the day where we will be called upward to God, to receive our inheritance, our prize of eternal life in God's presence.
If you're feeling down, if you're struggling, if you feel as if you've lost hope, remember this!
This is not our home! We are on our way to be with God! I remember the words of a song by Building 429,
"All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus, this is not where I belong."
We're going to be with Him one day!
But look at verse 4 of Isaiah 4 with me.
"when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and a by a spirit of burning."
The first half of that verse is great! Our sins will be washed away. We'll be made white as snow! But when we read the second half, it doesn't seem as pleasant.
A spirit of judgement, and a spirit of fire...
God will deal with our sin, and make us more like Him, but it often takes burning away the parts of us that don't belong any more.
"For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives." - Hebrews 12:6
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11
God will allow fire to try us, to burn parts of us that don't belong. God will turn up the heat to make us more like Him.
Consider the analogy that's made in a few different places in Scripture. We're like gold being refined.
When gold is refined, the heat is turned up. As the gold gets hotter and melts, any impurities rise to the surface, and the refiner is able to remove them.
The refiner knows that the gold is pure when he can see his reflection in it.
We are gold being refined.
God turns up the heat so that He can remove our impurities, and He will keep going until we resemble Him. Until He sees His reflection in us.
So next time you feel it getting hot around you, don't complain. Remember that the purpose is to make you more like Jesus. This is part of your journey to being face to face with your Creator.
Showing posts with label end times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label end times. Show all posts
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The Day Is Coming
As I've mentioned previously, I'm reading through Isaiah, 5 chapters a week with my church (Calvary Chapel of Wilmington - CalvaryofWilmington.org)
Today is chapter two.
Chapter two is an interesting chapter. It can be broken into two sections.
Verses 1-5 describe the Millennial Reign of Christ (See Revelation 20:1-6)
Verses 6-22 describe what it will take for that Millennial Reign to arrive.
Let's take a look.
The Millennial Reign of Christ will be a beautiful time. Satan will be bound and in the bottomless pit. For 1,000 years, his authority and power will be gone. What a beautiful day that will be!
The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established and lifted up. This refers to Jerusalem. People will flock to Jerusalem from every corner of the world to seek God. Wow, that sounds very different to what is happening today.
While we're on the subject of Israel, In Genesis 12:3, God promised to bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. As more and more of the world decides to stand against Israel, we've seen God protect her. Nobody has been able to wipe them out, and nobody will be, because their God protects them.
Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous prophecies of Israel being back in the land, and bearing fruit. (for one of my favorites, read Ezekiel 36:24-36) This has happened! God has fulfilled this prophecy. He still cares for Israel.
So in that Millennial Reign, the nations will seek God. That will be a beautiful day! They determine to follow Him, and to learn His ways.
Verse 4 adds that they will turn all of their weapons into farming tools. There will be no more war. Global peace will finally arrive, when the Prince of Peace finally arrives.
Verse 6 takes a drastic turn though. We begin to see what must happen before that glorious day.
Because of idolatry, because of the sin in their hearts, God will reject His people.
Israel's problem was that they had everything they needed. They had gold, they had silver, they had horses, they had chariots, and they decided that they had done it all themselves. They decided that they didn't really need God. They began to worship idols. They began to worship something that they made for themselves.
Psalms 115 says that we become like what we worship.
These idols had eyes, but couldn't see. They had ears, but they couldn't hear. They were unable to save.
In worshiping these idols, they became prideful, they became dull of hearing, and blind to what was happening around them.
Because of their pride, judgement was necessary.
Verse 12 of Isaiah 2 says "For the Lord of Hosts has a day against all that is proud... and it shall be brought low."
God will deal with the pride and sin in all of us. Verse 22 says that this is what it will take for them to realize that their idols can't save them.
Before the day where Jesus reigns, there is a day where God will judge the earth. This isn't something that we like to talk about. This is something that many people will brush past. We don't like the idea of judgement. But check this out - God is just, He is righteous. His standard is perfection. Because of His nature, and because He is a just and fair judge, He has to judge sin. It is below His standard.
So how do we escape that day of judgement? Jump back to verse 5.
"O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the LORD."
Here is our key! The way that we escape judgement is by walking in God's light.
1 John 1:5 says that God is light, and if we want to have fellowship with Him, we have to walk in that light with Him. Light and darkness can't coexist. That means the closer that you get to Jesus, the more of your sin He'll deal with. The key to following God is staying in the light.
I'll end this post with a passage from Romans 13 that seems fitting...
Romans 13:11-14
"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cat off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
Today is chapter two.
Chapter two is an interesting chapter. It can be broken into two sections.
Verses 1-5 describe the Millennial Reign of Christ (See Revelation 20:1-6)
Verses 6-22 describe what it will take for that Millennial Reign to arrive.
Let's take a look.
The Millennial Reign of Christ will be a beautiful time. Satan will be bound and in the bottomless pit. For 1,000 years, his authority and power will be gone. What a beautiful day that will be!
The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established and lifted up. This refers to Jerusalem. People will flock to Jerusalem from every corner of the world to seek God. Wow, that sounds very different to what is happening today.
While we're on the subject of Israel, In Genesis 12:3, God promised to bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. As more and more of the world decides to stand against Israel, we've seen God protect her. Nobody has been able to wipe them out, and nobody will be, because their God protects them.
Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous prophecies of Israel being back in the land, and bearing fruit. (for one of my favorites, read Ezekiel 36:24-36) This has happened! God has fulfilled this prophecy. He still cares for Israel.
So in that Millennial Reign, the nations will seek God. That will be a beautiful day! They determine to follow Him, and to learn His ways.
Verse 4 adds that they will turn all of their weapons into farming tools. There will be no more war. Global peace will finally arrive, when the Prince of Peace finally arrives.
Verse 6 takes a drastic turn though. We begin to see what must happen before that glorious day.
Because of idolatry, because of the sin in their hearts, God will reject His people.
Israel's problem was that they had everything they needed. They had gold, they had silver, they had horses, they had chariots, and they decided that they had done it all themselves. They decided that they didn't really need God. They began to worship idols. They began to worship something that they made for themselves.
Psalms 115 says that we become like what we worship.
These idols had eyes, but couldn't see. They had ears, but they couldn't hear. They were unable to save.
In worshiping these idols, they became prideful, they became dull of hearing, and blind to what was happening around them.
Because of their pride, judgement was necessary.
Verse 12 of Isaiah 2 says "For the Lord of Hosts has a day against all that is proud... and it shall be brought low."
God will deal with the pride and sin in all of us. Verse 22 says that this is what it will take for them to realize that their idols can't save them.
Before the day where Jesus reigns, there is a day where God will judge the earth. This isn't something that we like to talk about. This is something that many people will brush past. We don't like the idea of judgement. But check this out - God is just, He is righteous. His standard is perfection. Because of His nature, and because He is a just and fair judge, He has to judge sin. It is below His standard.
So how do we escape that day of judgement? Jump back to verse 5.
"O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the LORD."
Here is our key! The way that we escape judgement is by walking in God's light.
1 John 1:5 says that God is light, and if we want to have fellowship with Him, we have to walk in that light with Him. Light and darkness can't coexist. That means the closer that you get to Jesus, the more of your sin He'll deal with. The key to following God is staying in the light.
I'll end this post with a passage from Romans 13 that seems fitting...
Romans 13:11-14
"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cat off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
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