August 14 - Isaiah 61:7-11

 August 14 – Isaiah 61:7-11

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.

“For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Throughout all generations the Lord promised to be with His people.  He speaks to them now of restoration and redemption.  He reminds them of the everlasting covenant that was made and He promises to fulfill that.

Just as He promised Abraham, He continues to promise that their descendants will be known throughout the world.  Everyone will know the Lord because of His children.

This is such a great reminder to us that God’s name is made known to the world by us, by His children, by the ones that love Him.  It is our lives and our words, our work and our worship that tells the world who He is.  We show the world around us the glory of our Creator.  How can we not bring the world to Him?

His covenant is to fill the world with the children of Abraham.  By extension, we are part of that family when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  The same witness that He expected of the Israelites, He expects of us.  We can do nothing less than go out into the world and make disciples!

These final verses take us back to the completed restoration of His kingdom.  In that day, the Sovereign Lord will bring His bride before the bridegroom, righteousness and praise will spring up.

Restoration, Reunion. Renewal. Rejoicing.