March 26 - Righteousness & Peace

March 26 - Righteousness & Peace - Isaiah 32:1-20

Do you ever get tired of watching people who cheat, lie, and make terrible decisions have terrific lives? Isaiah tells us that the day will come when scoundrels will no longer be highly respected.

Righteousness and peace will one day prevail. It's not here yet and there will be a lot of strife before it gets here. But, the king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. The day will come! (Isaiah 32:1-8)

The women in this passage may very well be the same that Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 3:16-19. They have been complacent and felt secure hiding in Jerusalem. But, the seige that Sennacherib and the Assyrians are bringing against the city will drain all of the resources. While they worry about the fields outside the city, they will end up selling off all of their beautiful clothing and accessorie. They will be taken down to nothing. (Isaiah 32:9-14)

Isaiah's prophecy shows that the world is going to continue to spin into chaos until God decides to set things aright. The day of the Lord will come!

The Spirit will be poured upon us from on high ...

Other prophets spoke these same words! Joel said, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke." (Joel 2:28-29)

From Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirita of grace and supplication. They will look onb me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

And finally, from Ezekiel 36:26-27, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

When the Spirit of the Lord pours out over the earth, everything will be transformed! Righteousness and peace will prevail.

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest." (Isaiah 32:17-18)

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in Goda; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-4)

A peaceful dwelling place, prepared for us by the Lamb of God.