Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 12 - Isaiah 62

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December 12 - Isaiah 62 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. Sean here.
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  Lovely to have your company this morning on this Tuesday.
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  I hope you're going well. Me, Huh.
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  I'm sure I'm going very well right now.
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  He's listening to this deep, deep in the wild, listening to
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  those beautiful birds fill my ears, but nothing to do but put
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  one foot in front of the other and not trip.
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  I can live with that. I hope you're going well, as
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  today we continue reading through this final section of
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  Isaiah and you'd remember. Well, you may not.
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  It's been a long time that we've been spending in Isaiah, as I
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  started way back, way back in the land of Israel, when God's
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  people were doing the wrong thing and God was urging them to
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  do otherwise and follow his lead.
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  And then they were sent into exile, far away in Babylon where
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  God spoke his comfort. And now, generations later under
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  the Persians, they have returned to their promised land in
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  Israel. And this is where as they come
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  back, they look to the future. What does it look like to be
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  God's people? And so Isaiah shares God's words
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  to him about their future. And you were going to hear,
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  particularly today, a lot of talk about Zion, Zion.
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  Zion is a lot of things, really. Zion is a hill, a mountain.
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  Well, not really a big mountain, but it's a it's an elevated
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  piece of land just outside of the old Jerusalem city walls.
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  This is the original city of David that they came in and took
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  over from their enemies, and that was their stronghold and
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  their fortress. Zion is this place, physical
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  place of great significance, but it's it's also this city of
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  David, you know, the the place where the lineage of Jesus comes
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  from. It's also the place referred to
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  in Revelation and the future where Jesus will rule from as he
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  rules Earth eternally. And it's also used to describe
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  the eternal city of Jerusalem, God's final resting place for
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  these people. So Zion is this incredibly rich
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  term, not just a place, but an eternal setting of hope and
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  transformation. And today Isaiah is going to
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  share God's words all about what will happen to this place of
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  Zion. So join me as we read together
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  Isaiah Chapter 62. Because I love Zion, I will not
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  keep still because my heart yearns for Jerusalem.
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  I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her
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  until her righteousness shines like the dawn and her salvation
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  blazes like a burning torch. The nations will see your
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  righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by
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  your glory, and you will be given a new name by the Lord's
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  own mouth. The Lord will hold you in his
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  hand for all to see, a splendid crown in the hand of God.
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  Never again will you be called the forsaken city or the
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  desolate land. Your new name will be the city
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  of God's delight and the bride of God, for the Lord delights in
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  you and will claim you as His bride.
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  Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem,
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  just as a young man commits himself to his bride.
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  Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over
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  His bride. Oh Jerusalem, I have posted
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  Watchmen along your walls. They will pray day and night
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  continually. Take no rest.
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  All of you who pray to the Lord give the Lord no rest until he
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  completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the
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  earth. The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem
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  by his own strength. I will never again hand you over
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  to your enemies. Never again will foreign
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  warriors come and take away your grain and new wine.
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  You raise the grain and you will eat it, praising the Lord within
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  the courtyards of the temple. You yourself will drink the wine
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  you have pressed, Go out through the gates, Prepare the highway
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  for my people to return. Smooth out the road, pull out
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  the boulders. Raise a flag for all the nations
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  to see. The Lord has sent this message
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  to every land. Tell the people of Israel, look,
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  your saviour is coming. See, He brings his reward with
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  him as he comes. They will be called the holy
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  people, and the people redeemed by the Lord.
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  And Jerusalem will be known as the desirable place, and the
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  city no longer forsaken. Lord, thank you that you have
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  this great heart for us, your people.
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  And as you share these words through Isaiah so long ago, it
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  can ring out true and loud and so encouraging to us that as you
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  return in your glory and victory, you bring with you what
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  you call your reward. And that's us.
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  That's us. You do all of this.
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  You do all of this work of restoration so that you can be
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  close to us, and that is just the most amazing thing for which
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  we are so grateful. And we praise you, our
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  wonderful, saving God, who reaches out and shapes all of
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  creation toward that singular goal, to share your presence and
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  your glory with us. Here we are.
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  Lord, Your grateful people love you when we praise you all.
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  In the name of Jesus, Amen.