I Need to be Obedient

Advent & Christmas

December 11, 2023

I Need to be Obedient 

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Isaiah 52:7

Read: Isaiah 52:7-12

Today’s passage is in the part of Isaiah’s prophecy about God coming to claim His Kingdom. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, many of its sacred vessels were looted and taken to Babylon and many of the people of God were taken in exile to Babylon. Isaiah is prophesying the return of the people to Jerusalem and the return of the sacred vessels to be placed in the rebuilt, or Second Temple.

Two questions I think of in reading Isaiah 52: what will it look like when “they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem” (v.8), and how will God claim His Kingdom?

Jesus answered the first question in Luke 4:18-19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

    that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

   and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” 

Isaiah answered the second question in the next chapter, Isaiah 53. I encourage you to read this chapter which tells of God’s Messiah, The Suffering Servant. The Apostle Paul summarized chapter 53 in Philippians 2:8, “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (See also Hebrews 5:8)

The essence for us today is that God claims His Kingdom on Earth through obedient humans. Jesus, fully divine and fully human, modeled this for us and Jesus empowers us to follow in his footsteps to be God’s obedient children as we seek God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.

My Takeaway: Those who were returning the sacred vessels to the rebuilt Temple of God were charged to “purify yourselves, you who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord.” (Isaiah 52:11b) I too need to be obedient to Isaiah’s word to purify myself because,

“. . . you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (1 Peter 2:5)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.