Righteousness and Justice

July 3 – Today’s Readings – Isaiah 10-12 and Psalms 3

Once again Isaiah deals with the many problems facing Israel at the time this book was written. In this same instance however he is also prophesying about the second coming of the Lord Jesus! It’s because of passages like these that the Israelites were so confused about Jesus. When He came to earth the first time He was gentle, loving and gracious toward all those who came to Him. The only people He was rough with were the hard-hearted people.

The Jesus described in the Isaiah 11:1-12 is somewhat different; “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD – and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”

THIS is the soon returning Jesus – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This is the Jesus who is coming with fire in His eye and a sword in His mouth. This is the Jesus who will usher in the new heavens and the new earth, where the lion will lay down with the lamb. This is the Jesus we are waiting for with great anticipation – He will put an end to evil because He will rule supreme – and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Even so – come quickly Jesus!

The Jews insisted that the man they crucified couldn’t be the Messiah because he was not setting up a kingdom here on Earth. Little did they know that this same Jesus, whom they crucified was coming again as the Christ they read about in Isaiah. “Father forgive them – they know not what they do”, Jesus said it – and He meant it – they really didn’t know, but Isaiah has made it plain – the next coming “Christ” will be the coming of Awesome God.

Questions:

1. There are so many “faces” to Jesus, true character. Which of the character attributes of Jesus were you attracted to before you met Him personally?
2. Which character qualities of Jesus now captivate your heart?