Nitzavim/Vayelech/standing/went
Deuteronomy 29:10-30:20
Isaiah 61:10-63:9
Wow! OH,WOW! A few years ago, while praying with a small group of people for Israel and God’s purposes for the Jewish people; I got a small ‘picture’: we were in a small boat on the ocean, in the midst of a gigantic storm with 40+ foot swells; destined for death and destruction…when suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, a small life ring or preserver (those round things you see on the sides of a boat or lifeguard stand) appeared. At first it seemed like a joke; “how is this little thing that is bobbing helplessly up and down on the waves, as badly as us; going to ‘save’ us?”…Then I noticed, written on it was “Israel”! I felt the Lord say, “It’s the ‘way’ through the storm!” As I was contemplating what to write for this week’s portion, I was reading Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
Thinking, “ I just love those Bridegroom/bride verses, so easy to be ‘moved’ and write something”…but then I went back and read:
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
And then:
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Now ‘get’ Isaiah 61:1 and 2
For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory.
All of a sudden, I saw the “life ring”…it is Israel!: And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory.
Israel was meant to be a “light to the nations” (Gentiles)… So, the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 60:10). So when the nations “see” (receive) the righteousness of the Lord, they will be changed! So now the beginning of Isaiah 62 makes more sense for Gentiles to pray: For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest… so they will be ‘saved’ from the darkness (gigantic storm) that now surrounds them!
Today, as we seem to be inundated with fear and confusion that is taking place among the nations; it is so comforting to know that God “has a way through the storm”; an unlikely way: pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that righteousness would go forth: For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 60:10). Don’t measure your situation by the size of the waves or the seemingly insignificance of Israel and the Jewish people; but trust the Lord to cause righteousness to spring forth and dispel the darkness that seems to surround us presently. As my wife has been known to say: “the earth is preparing for war and heaven is preparing for a wedding”…so let us rejoice and be glad, for the God of our salvation, has made a way through the storm! Lord give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the true knowledge of Who you are and your ‘gift’ to us, by providing Your people Israel as a “way through the storm”. by john eisner
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