Isaiah 53 was such a wonderful chapter to go to sleep with last night. As I approach my morning devotions today I am filled with praise. My chapter for today - Isaiah 54 - just extends that praise.
Isaiah 54 is another love letter to Israel, with the promise of God's unfailing love. It shows us what the restored, dearly loved Zion will look like.
This is also a chapter that rings true for me as a promise for believers, and one verse, specifically, is a promise that God gave me a few years ago.
I was in the middle of an extremely difficult situation. I had done precisely what I believed God asked of me, and the results were not what I would have scripted. In the throes of the challenges, one day when I was driving home from church, God spoke to me and said, "No weapon fashioned against you will stand."
In reading Isaiah 54 this morning I read almost the same words, and it brought back the memory forcefully of that moment and that difficulty. What did surprise me is that none of the 3 versions I looked at just now state it precisely the way God did when He spoke to me.
Isaiah 54:17 in the ESV says, "no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed...."
In the NIV it states, "no weapon that is forged against you will prevail...."
In the King James it reads, "No weapon that is forged against thee shall prosper;"
I am surprised to read the variety of versions, and find that none of them matches the exact words God spoke to me - though the meaning certainly is the same. I just find it interesting - but that is an aside. The important thing is that God uses His Word to speak to us, and nothing He tells us will ever be in violation of the promises already recorded in His Word. That is one test for whether what people hear is truly from God.
And - though this chapter is a promise to Israel, I can observe from my personal experience, that God used a brief message out of this very chapter as a promise to me. The promises are for Israel - and by extension, for us.
My only regret this morning is that I didn't absorb the rest of this verse in that time of trouble. I must not have looked it up then - but it still speaks to me now!
The whole of verse 17 in the NIV states:
"...no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the LORD.
Even more important than the promise God made to me, this promise to Israel in these days of turmoil, with nations all around them crumbling and warring, gives me comfort. G-D is Israel's defender. As this chapter states earlier in verses 7-10:
7"For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
The LORD has not forsaken Israel. This tiny little country is the center of God's heart - and He is her defender. I absolutely believe God will bless those who bless Israel.
Deuteronomy 33:29 says:
"Blessed are you, Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the LORD?
He is your shield and helper
and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
and you will tread on their heights.”
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