The Great Day

Readings for today: Isaiah 18-22

“On that Day…” Over and over we read this refrain in Isaiah. It refers to the Day when God will bring an end to all idolatry and injustice. He will break the power of tyrants and oppressors. He will lift up the poor and powerless and seat them at His table alongside the rich and powerful. He will level the playing field. He will assemble all the nations before Him. He will rule over the earth with mercy and grace and compassion. The world will heal. The nations will bow before Him in wonder and awe. There will be no more crying, no more suffering, no more pain. Evil and sin will be vanquished along with death. It’s a beautiful Day and one we all long for down deep inside.

Until that Great Day, we have been given a Great Commission. We’ve been called as God’s people to proclaim this Great News to the nations. And this is not just a New Testament command! Consider these words from today’s reading in Isaiah, “On that Day, more than one city in Egypt will learn to speak the language of faith and promise to follow God-of-the-Angel-Armies. One of these cities will be honored with the title “City of the Sun.” On that Day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. It will show how the God-of-the-Angel-Armies has helped the Egyptians. When they cry out in prayer to God because of oppressors, he’ll send them help, a savior who will keep them safe and take care of them. God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they’ll get to know him on that Day. They’ll worship him seriously with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They’ll make vows and keep them. God will wound Egypt, first hit and then heal. Egypt will come back to God, and God will listen to their prayers and heal them, heal them from head to toe. On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they’ll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians! On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: “Blessed be Egypt, my people!. . . Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands!. . . Blessed be Israel, my heritage!” (Isaiah‬ ‭19‬:‭18‬-‭25‬ ‭MSG‬‬) Can you imagine it? Israel’s greatest enemies gathering with her to worship and bring praise to God! It’s an incredible vision. Assyria and Egypt learning the language of faith. Crying out to God in prayer. Erecting monuments to God in their lands. Taking vows to God and keeping them. Building a highway from Assyria to Egypt so all people can gather together for worship. All the nations of the earth experiencing God’s blessing. This is God’s heart on display and it remains His heart to this day.

God is on a mission, friends. He is on a mission to gather the nations of the earth before His throne in worship. Every tribe. Every tongue. Every ethnicity. Every generation. All will appear before Him. All will bow the knee to Him. All will proclaim Him as Lord and give Him praise. John Piper once said, “Mission exists because worship does not.” Until the Great Day of God comes, God’s mission remains. To proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. To proclaim the good news to every nation on earth. And God entrusts this mission to His church. To the people called by His name, set apart for His purposes, and empowered by His Spirit. It is not God’s church that has a mission but God’s mission that has a church. (Newbigin) Like Israel before her, the church is called to be a vessel for the good news. A light to the nations and salt to the earth. May we never rest until every person in every village in every nation on the face of the earth hears about Jesus.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 23-26

Trusting God for Victory

Readings for today: 1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18-20

Jehoshaphat is one of my favorite kings. He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes along the way. He makes alliances with the wrong kind of people. And yet, his heart is for the Lord. “Jehoshaphat kept his residence in Jerusalem but made a regular round of visits among the people, from Beersheba in the south to Mount Ephraim in the north, urging them to return to God, the God of their ancestors.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭19‬:‭4‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬) I cannot imagine the daily pressures a king faces. Pressures to make decisions. Pressures to provide for his people. Pressures to defend against his enemies. Pressures all around and yet Jehoshaphat made it a priority to go out among his people and bring them back to the Lord. He obeyed the Great Commission long before Jesus spoke those words. He taught his people to obey all the Lord had commanded. He believed one of the defining priorities of his kingship was the ability to make disciples. To foster an environment in his nation where his people would grow spiritually. It’s truly stunning when you take a step back to think about it.

Now some might ask what purpose did it serve? Some might question if this is really the king’s job? Shouldn’t he be attending to affairs of state? But then we run across a story in our reading today where God’s people had to put their faith into action and all the hard work Jehoshaphat had put in bore fruit. Once again, God’s people had come under threat. Another enemy rose up and came against them. They were outnumbered. They were outmatched. They were outgunned. But rather than despair, Jehoshaphat turned his heart to the Lord. He called on the Lord to be faithful to His promises. He walked by faith, trusting God to deliver him. And his people - having been taught the faith by Jehoshaphat himself and seen his example firsthand - followed him. Listen to what Jehoshaphat says and does, “They were up early in the morning, ready to march into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were leaving, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen Judah and Jerusalem! Listen to what I have to say! Believe firmly in God, your God, and your lives will be firm! Believe in your prophets and you’ll come out on top!” After talking it over with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed a choir for God; dressed in holy robes, they were to march ahead of the troops, singing, Give thanks to God, His love never quits. As soon as they started shouting and praising, God set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir as they were attacking Judah, and they all ended up dead.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭20‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬)

Imagine trusting God so much that you can literally face death with a tune on your lips! Imagine believing in God so much that you can walk into battle with a song in your heart! Imagine facing whatever overwhelming odds you may face in your life today with joy because you know…YOU KNOW…the Lord is good and His steadfast love endures forever! It can happen, friends! I’ve seen it and experienced it myself! Last fall, I was in northern Ethiopia training church planters. Over 100 of them were being sent north into a region where a civil war had been raging. Everything had been burned to the ground. There was famine and hardship and incredible suffering. There had been violence and war crimes and the ceasefire was fragile at best. The challenges these men and women faced were overwhelming. All of them will be persecuted. Some of them will lose their lives. But as we finished commissioning them, they left the platform singing! Singing! They believe God has gone before them. They believe God will be with them. They believe He will have the victory no matter what happens to them. It was simply incredible.

How does one get to such a place in their faith? By worshipping God. Spending time with Him regularly and frequently. Never neglecting the gathering of God’s people. Seeking to serve God in all you say and do throughout the week. Keeping God’s will and God’s glory as the overarching priority of your life not because you are trying to earn anything or have something to prove but simply because you love God and you want to live for Him. Will you do this perfectly? No. Neither did Jehoshaphat. But God’s not asking for perfection. He’s asking for your heart. Give Him your heart today.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 1-4