The times we live in are full of trouble – global crises like the rise of terrorism and the spread of the Ebola virus, and problems closer to home, like high school shootings and neighbors without jobs. We cry out under the weight of worry, and search desperately for freedom and release. Isaiah lives in troubling times, too. He writes these words some 740 years before the birth of Christ. The nation of Israel has deliberately forsaken God. Civil war has divided them into Northern and Southern kingdoms, and the Assyrians have taken the Northern kingdom captive.
God answers Isaiah’s cries for relief, and provides hope and encouragement, by giving him a vision of the coming day of the Lord. Isaiah, whose name means ‘Yahweh is salvation,’ will find the salvation he is seeking in the person of the beautiful and glorious Branch.
We also look forward in hope to a day of salvation, when we are cleansed of the filth of sin and we are sheltered by God’s glory. Jesus will rise up as the new Branch, living and vital, even out of death. We will be holy, separated out from the world by Christ, and our names will be written in the Book of Life. As we anticipate the coming of the Branch of the Lord, we remember these promises God has made to us of finding forgiveness and renewal, and a perfect refuge in Him.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for loving us so much that you sent your Son to save us. We ask that You shelter us with Your glory and write our names in the Book of the Living, and bring us the peace of knowing we are always safe with You. Amen.
Submitted by: Roseanne Havron