Lessons From Isaiah

 

The Bridegroom and the Bride

By: George Young,  today.reframemedia.com

 

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 62:1-5

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. — Isaiah 62:5

Marriage is a metaphor often used in the Bible to describe God’s love for his people. Certainly “treasures in heaven” has rich meaning, and the Lord often uses that phrase to express the infinite value of salvation and eternal life. But in Isaiah 62 and other passages, we also find word pictures describing the Lord as a bridegroom rejoicing over his people as his bride. It is a deeply personal metaphor.

Isaiah prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem, the people’s exile to another land, and, later, their restoration. The promise of salvation is pictured this way: “No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah [‘My Delight is in her’], and your land Beulah [‘Married’].” And “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

Revelation 21:2-3 describes the “new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” And a loud voice says, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people. . . . They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

We eagerly await that day. The new Jerusalem will shine “with the glory of God, and its brilliance [will be] like that of a very precious jewel” (Revelation 21:11). And “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” (22:17).

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Call to Obedience

From: Kurt Sellers, today.reframemedia.com

  

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 6:1-10

I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. — Isaiah 6:5

Occasionally I burn my fingers on our backyard grill. It’s usually not serious, but it definitely stings. Can you imagine the sting of a burning coal touching your lips? That’s what happens to Isaiah in his vision of heaven.

In the same year that Uzziah the king died, the prophet had a vision: he saw the King, the Lord Almighty, high on a throne, and his robe filled the temple. Hebrew tradition taught that no one could see God and live. Isaiah lamented his own uncleanness and that of the people of Israel. Then a seraph, an angel who ­attended God’s throne, used tongs to take a live coal from the temple altar. Touching it to the prophet’s lips, he cleansed Isaiah for service.

Purified, Isaiah could now answer God’s call. “Here am I. Send me!” His passion inspires us. But the rest of the passage is bleak. The people, still impure, hear God’s call, but their hearts remain callous and closed.

Still, there is hope for repentance; there is hope for the people to “turn and be healed.” And the holy seed of God’s faithfulness remains, and from that “stump in the land” a shoot will grow. Jesus, coming from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), will restore God’s people.

Do you hear his call today? By the purifying fire of Christ and his Spirit, we can serve and glorify God wherever he calls and sends us.