Day 213—We are at the end of the seventh month of Bible reading, and we are finishing the book of Isaiah.

    Day 213 – Isaiah 64 – 66. (God’s mercy for those who remember Him, judgment & salvation, new heavens/earth, the contrite, God’s glory)

Chapter 64 continues extolling God’s mercy.

“From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides You, who acts for those who wait for him”

The sinfulness of all mankind.  

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”  “There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you…”

Begging for forgiveness.

“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, PLEASE LOOK, we are all your people.”

 

Chapter 65. God responds, offering salvation to Gentiles.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.  I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,” to a nation that was not called by my name.”

God lists the abhorrent sins of His own people.

“I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

THESE ARE A SMOKE IN MY NOSTRILS….”

God’s plans for the future – new heavens and earth, a millennial kingdom. 

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy and her people to be a gladness.”

“The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and DUST SHALL BE THE SERPENT’S FOOD.  (Genesis 3:14)

 

Chapter 66.  The humble and Contrite in Spirit are honored.

“Thus says the LORD; Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool;”   “But this is the one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Jerusalem is pictured as a gracious mother.

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her….that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.  For thus says the LORD: “Behold I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.”

And a final word of JUDGMENT and the GLORY of the LORD.

” For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger in fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by His sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many. ” “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see My Glory.”

For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain (Israel). From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, ALL FLESH shall come to worship before Me, declares the LORD.”

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