Have you ever considered what God sees from heaven? What must he think of our societies, loose morals, violence and injustices? We catch a glimpse of what God thinks about what He see in Isaiah 59 as the sins of mankind are discussed.
Isaiah 59:14-15 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
This is a very bleak scene. God’s response is to don his battle armor and set about righting the situation, in verses 16-17 “He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;”
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
Those who have done wrong will receive their just punishment, in verses 18-20.
According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,
which the wind of the Lord drives.
Isaiah ends this portion of scripture with the encouraging words from God in verse 20-21.
“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. 21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
What do we learn about God from this chapter of Isaiah? He is a just God and cannot tolerate sin. He is longsuffering but He has his limits. The Old Testament attests of God’s story of patience towards the Israelites as they continually worshipped other gods and would forsake God for long periods to ‘do their own thing’. The Old Testaments says ‘they did what was right in their own eyes’ repeatedly. God punishes sin, Biblical truth- sin has consequences always. God desires that we repent of our sins and turn to Him. We also learn that God is a promise keeping God who is always with us and will not forsake us. He will bless us with His Holy Spirit and redeem us so we can be with Him forever. God is eternal and desires we spend eternity with Him. I also see a merciful and forgiving God who wants to see us turn to Him.
May you be encouraged today to seek Him, adjust your attitude and heart and let Jesus cleanse and forgive you. Our hope is in Jesus and the power of His work on the cross to redeem us. Thank you Jesus.
Linda