Tag: prophecies fulfilled

A Sign to the Nations

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 8-9

POETRY: Psalm 106

NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 3

If you’ve ever gone on a road trip, you know the dance that you start whenever mealtime approaches. If you haven’t packed a lunch to bring with you, you turn to the passengers and start asking if they’re hungry. Then, you begin to think about what type of fast food you’re in the mood for. Finally, you start to look at the signs on the road for what you could actually it. 

Growing up, we always gravitated towards the Holy Grail of Southern Fast Food, Chick-fil-A. If we were on a road trip, we would probably eat there. We even had the Chick-fil-A locations memorized on the way to Atlanta or the beach. We knew the easiest ones to get to and how far it was to get to them and would plan our departure time to arrive at said Chick-fil-A around lunch. 

For road trips a little further out or off the beaten path – especially for those desolate places where Chick-fil-A has not reached yet – the dinnertime dance grew a little more tedious. On one particularly long trip, we passed through one of those places that said ‘50 miles to your next gas station.’ I remember watching the signs on the road, my stomach starting to growl as I waited in anticipation for the next place to eat to appear. 

Even in the age of GPS and Google Maps, we have a tendency to rely on signs to direct us to the next location. Signs move us along. They tell us where to go to order food, where to drive our cars, and where to place our paperwork. As a teacher, one of the key pedagogical points we were taught was to make sure that we had appropriate signage in our classrooms so that kids were never lost or confused about what to do or where to go. 

Isaiah’s calling required him to be a sign as well. Isaiah 8:18 says, “Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.” Even the name of his son, “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” which means ‘quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil’, was a sign to the Israelites. Isaiah 8:4 tells us, “For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” 

Imagine the fear that Isaiah must have felt as he looked into an uncertain future where kingdoms were failing and being taken over by pagan lands. He looks at his child and thinks about their tumultuous existence in a land that is about to be ravaged by war. 

This is why in Isaiah 8:12-17 we see God comforting Isaiah with ‘a strong hand.’ God tells us Isaiah that the only thing he should fear is God himself. Isaiah resolves, “I will wait for the Lord. I will trust in him.” 

God’s chosen people were often called to be a sign to the surrounding nations. Israel was supposed to be a light to the world. When they failed, Jesus came into the world and was also the light (Is. 9:2). Now, we are taking up the mantle to be a ‘city on a hill, a light to the world.’ 

Our lives are our testimony that shows Christ to the world. We are not called today to name our sons and daughters interesting, long names to speak of future peril. But, we are called to be a sign to the surrounding nations to tell them of God’s faithfulness, his plan, and his redemption. 

How is your life pointing others towards Christ?

-Cayce Fletcher

Cayce Fletcher is a teacher-turned-SAHM mom of two. She blogs and podcasts at A More Beautiful Life Collective where she focuses on how you can create a life you love and cultivate your heart for God. Currently, she is working through a systematic theology series on her podcast. You can find her latest post on Bibliology here. 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

  1. How is your life pointing others towards Christ? What kind of ‘sign and symbol’ is your life to others? 
  2. The beginning of Isaiah 9 is an important prophecy that is read often during Christmastime. Who is this prophecy about? What has already been fulfilled in this prophecy, and what will be fulfilled in the future? 
  3. Hebrews 3:12-15 speaks to the temptation to fall away from the truths that we have received. How can you better encourage one another to stay faithful in the midst of trials and persecutions? 
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Hope for A Broken World

Isaiah 33-34 and 2 Thessalonians 1

Hello!

I am excited to dig deeper into God’s word with you this week as we go through some chapters in Isaiah, 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Timothy!  I have to be honest with you… I am never “looking forward” to writing these devotions when the time comes.  However, I am always so surprised and happy with how God speaks to me while I write to you, so each year when the wonderful Marcia asks for writers, I will never turn her down! I imagine that this year will be no different 😊

We are going to start this week off in Isaiah, chapters 33 and 34.  The first chunk of Isaiah is mainly discussing destruction, purification (not really a fun process), and God’s vengeance.  What I find so interesting about the prophecies of the Old Testament is that we often look at them through the lens of our current age, yet so many of these destruction prophecies seem to apply to our world across generations and generations.  People have been going through cycles of brokenness throughout all of existence!  These prophecies to broken people in Isaiah’s day applied in the moment just as much as they apply to our lives today. Thankfully, the prophecy of hope will also apply!

In chapter 33 Isaiah is describing a sad, sinful, and broken world.    There are destroyers, traitors, broken agreements, despised cities, no ways to travel, and human life has been disregarded.  Sounds pretty familiar to me.  In verse 10 God starts to speak, and OH MAN does it get exciting.  From this perspective Isaiah describes God essentially smack-talking the kingdoms of that day and putting them in their place, under Him, and shares how His people (the righteous) will be blessed and safe, also in their place as citizens to a just and majestic King.  We are told that everyone who dwells in this Kingdom will be forgiven of all their sins (v. 24).  Visualize that AMAZING day and tell me it’s not something you want to be part of!! 

In chapter 34 Isaiah explains all the emptiness and evilness that will be in Edom, a nation “set apart for destruction” (v. 5) after God has had His day of vengeance.  This idea can seem confusing, especially if we don’t take the overall context into account.  Here’s a quick recap of what we know about Edom based on the Bible: God had given the land to Esau, the nation of Israel and the nation of Edom were active enemies, Isaiah prophesied about Edom’s destruction (as we see here) and multiple other books of prophets describe the same eventual ruin, Edom was attacked multiple times, and this prophecy eventually came to pass when King Amaziah slaughtered the nation in 2 Chronicles, even though the people were not officially wiped out until King Herod (that guy that tried to kill Jesus as a baby) died.  While this still doesn’t completely answer my questions of “Why Edom?”, it does give that much more credibility to the prophets and to God following through with what He says he will do.  In my quick research of Edom to provide the recap, I came across some notes of people who had more recently traveled to the ruins of Edom and described the deserted space filled with ‘unclean’ wild animals, just as God says it will be forever, from generation to generation (v. 17). 

We also see God’s consistency in judgement in our verses from 2 Thessalonians today!  We are told that God will show vengeance to those who don’t know Him and to the people who afflict His righteous citizens (v. 6 & 8).  Our broken world has not changed, and neither has God’s opinion on how to handle it.

I am not going to pretend that God’s plans and purpose for the world always make sense to me.  But I am always convinced that God follows through on everything He says, and I do trust that it all has a plan and purpose, even when it doesn’t make sense.  Our world has always been broken (since the fall of man that is…), and God has always had a plan, and that plan has always included a way out for the righteous.  How lucky are we to be living in the age of brokenness that has the opportunity to experience salvation in such a grace-filled way?

The rest of this week we will continue to dive into scripture and see that our brokenness isn’t all that new, and our hope is closer now than ever!

-Sarah (Blanchard) Johnson

Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened at BibleGateway here – Isaiah 33-34 and 2 Thessalonians 1

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