Devotion 786

"Restoration of Judah"

Reference: Isaiah Chapter 26

Israel will turn back to God, and the Faithful One will restore them. We cannot exhaust the Love of God. Israel will see the salvation of the Lord and will provoke a song in them.

Isaiah writes:

Let's read.

Isaiah 26:1-4 "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. [2] Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. [3] Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. [4] Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:"

We trust Him by trusting His word. Three great words: "At your word", Lord.
Trusting in his word is the ultimate protection. Jesus Christ is this Word of God.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 26:5-6 "For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. [6] The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy."

The lofty and prideful ones are those who trusted Him not, who remained in unbelief. He will bring them to dust and a pit of darkness.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 26:7-10 "The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. [8] Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. [9] With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. [10] Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD."

Righteousness cannot be taught. Righteousness must be believed. You can teach someone to sing. You can teach them to dance, but you can't teach one to believe. It is a free will that God has given every man. They have to activate that faith at their own will. They say you can bring the horse to the river, but you cannot make the horse drink. The thirst begins in the horse. The desire to believe must begin in the heart of the individual. The wicked can never learn righteousness until they believe to be righteous. They must believe in the blood of Jesus Christ to be moved out of the blood of our first father, to become one with the Righteous One.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 26:11-16 "LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. [12] LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. [13] O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. [14] They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. [15] Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. [16] LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them."

The Lord chastened them. He brought them to their knees. They responded in repentance, and He restored them. So will he restore anyone who would heed his chastening.

Hebrews 12:6-7,11 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [11] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

He chastened Judah out of love, and that chastenng brought out a fruit of righteousness.

We continue our reading.

Isaiah 26:17-18 "Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. [18] We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen."

The pregnant woman in nine months, in pain, will bring forth a child. This is the believer. The unbeliever will go through birth pains but bring forth wind. Empty! No fruit unto righteousness.
The unbeliever, in the end, has nothing to show forth. Because everything in the blood of the first Adam is already destroyed. Life is only in the blood of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

We conclude our reading.

Isaiah 26:19-21 "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. [20] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. [21] For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

He gave us His life beyond the grave. The believer is guaranteed the first resurrection. For Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. Not so for the wicked. The wicked remain separated from God. They remain as slaves to Satan. The wicked go where Satan goes, and that's the pit of hell.

Only BELIEVE. Place your faith in Christ, the second Adam, as we revealed Him from the first Adam. Unbelief is the ultimate sin, in Christ!