June 22, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘So, they will proclaim My glory among the nations. And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the LORD, ‘Just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. And I will select some of them as priests and Levites.’” (Isaiah 66.19b-21)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

For those who do not yet grasp the totality of God’s claim of redemption over all the world, what is happening here in Isaiah 66 should be evidence enough. God extends His call to everyone on the face of the earth to see, hear and believe what God has said He would do, what He was doing and what He has promised yet to do. The deliverance of the Chosen, the Israelites who are the faith descendants of Abraham, is but one aspect of God’s reclamation of the earth and the world of humanity. They were constituted to be the witnesses to the rest of the world of God’s love for His creation. God so loved the world that He sent His own people into it that there would be evidence of His presence and sovereignty in justice, mercy and grace. I know it is difficult to understand the depth of this declaration. It does, however, answer in part, the question posed by Genesis 3 concerning “those whom Cain feared would take his life and those from whom Cain would take a wife.” God used Cain, marked for protection, to become the bearer of the news of forgiveness. Just as God could have justly executed Adam and Eve, Cain’s parents before they were his parents, for betraying God’s command and succumbing to the temptation of Satan, so He could have allowed Cain to be killed as well by foreigners. In both instances, however, God spared them and marked them for protection by a covenant sign. They were His witnesses to a world that did not know who God was or that God, Yahweh Elohim, even existed. It was a similar situation in the days of Abraham who lived in the Ur of the Chaldees (modern-day Northern Iraq.) God was one of many gods whom the population of that region worshipped. However, in the days of Abraham, God revealed Himself and called Abram to take his family and follow God’s lead. Ultimately, Abram and his family navigated the Fertile Crescent and found their way to Salem. There Abram confronted a number of nations and peoples and was God’s witness to them (though imperfectly; who said you had to be perfect to bear witness for God?) God’s call on Israel, the Hebrews and followers of the covenant made with God and Abraham, to be His witnesses shows His desire to bring all people together in peace and harmony. They would dwell together as one people. They each would be called distinctly to a purpose and serve one another thereby bringing glory to God. Who else could make this happen? In the hands of mortals and the insurrectionists against God (followers of Satan), there was a return to chaos, disruption and disharmony. Only God!

Now, that vision is restated. God’s purpose for restoring Israel and bringing her exiles (foreign and domestic) home is made clear. In fact, it is so clear that even those who were not the faith descendants of Abraham believed in God. The word of God was upon them. It would be evidenced in many but one example would have been Cyrus, the King of Persia and Mede. He would be instrumental in restoring Jerusalem and thereby Israel herself. What we read in today’s verses for reflection shows the call being accepted to believe in the work and sovereignty of God. Even the foreigners would assist in bringing back the exiles. There is such an awareness of their work that it would seem all Jews were being returned to Israel and Jerusalem, including those not capable of returning on their own. Those “deliverers” would not submit to the doubters and detractors around them. They kept the faith and their call to duty. God saw it. God recognized it. God rewarded it. God called them His own. Even more so, God selected from them those who would serve Him as priests and levites in the Temple. They would stand on equal ground because of the works of righteousness. They would become witnesses to those who were “of the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” who refused to accept God’s declaration of acceptance. (Again, I relate this aside to the older son in the parable of The Prodigal Son. He rejected his father’s grace extended to the younger son who returned in humility to be merely a servant. He had stained his reputation, his Father’s reputation and that of his brother because of his arrogance and sinfulness.) Is this not the prelude and foreshadowing of the gospel mission to the Gentiles. Is that not another effort to bring grace, mercy, justice and reconciliation to the people of the world? And do they not stand on equal ground with those who were of the line of Abraham who heeded God’s law and kept them in spirit and truth. They brought right offerings and recognized the significance and symbolism of the festivals and seasons which God had established for them. They submitted to them in heart, mind, body and soul as the witnesses of God’s love. They would have, and would again today, recognize the Savior of them all. We know His name to be Jesus who is the Christ. He is the Christ of all who died for the sins of all that all who would believe and receive would become the very righteousness of God. They would be marked for protection and provision just as were those who were the enemies of God and God’s people. (Reference, if you have not already: 666- The Mark of the Beast.)

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works leading others to call Jesus Lord in faith, hope and love. AMEN.