The Lord has Spoken

“The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 40:5)

From the day Adam chose to believe Satan’s lie the majority of people have also chosen to believe his lies and not the revelations from God. Only those who have chosen to believe the word of the Lord have seen that the Lord is faithful and accomplishes things exactly as He said He would.

When the women came to Joseph’s tomb in which Jesus’ body had been placed they were met by an angel who said to them, “He is not here, for He is risen, as He said, come and see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:6). Jesus had told His close followers on four occasions that He would die and rise again but they had taken no notice. As a result they were full of grief and sorrow, and were confused.

In Isaiah chapter 39 the Lord had told King Hezekiah that after he died Judah would be almost stripped bare and some of his own sons would serve the king of Babylon as eunuchs. For the people of Judah this would be contrary to expectations. They were anticipating that a descendant of David would reign forever. Being taken captive as eunuchs did not fit their expectation.

 “To whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” (40:18). To some degree we all have a view of Jesus that falls short and others have a Jesus who is quite unlike the Jesus of the Bible. Their Jesus is manufactured out of their imagination and does not resemble the revelation from the Bible. Satan has molded them in his likeness so they want their Jesus to worship them for their good works.

Israel’s future looked bleak but Isaiah told them of a glorious time ahead when the Anointed One of God would reign just as He said. For the present Israel is still generally deaf to the word of God just as Jesus’ disciples were deaf to Him. Israel doesn’t hear what the Lord is saying for the same reason that the disciples didn’t take notice of what Jesus said; they had different expectations.

Isaiah told Israel of a future day when all would be restored. To encourage them to believe what He had said Isaiah recorded the Lord’s words, “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (v5) and “The word of the Lord stands forever” (v 8). In other words, if you will take the Lord at His word your sorrow will not be as those without hope.

The same is true for us. If we will take Jesus at His word we will not grieve or have sorrow over the condition of our world or our circumstances as those who have no hope. The disciples of Jesus would certainly have sorrowed over the suffering of Jesus but they would have had a glorious expectation if they had listened to Jesus when He told them He would rise again. When Christians take Jesus at His word they will have this glorious expectation and their lives will reflect hope as they look for the day when Jesus returns.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *