Dear Friends,
One thing to notice as we read chapters 13-23 of Isaiah this week is that, even in the midst of prophesies about God's destruction of the nations due to their sins, there are continued promises of God's mercy and restoration. God's heart is for people, not just the chosen people of Judah, but the people of all the nations of the earth. His discipline is always intended to turn us toward himself.
In 16:1-5, refugees from Assyria's devastation of Moab are pictured asking for the protection of Judah and receiving a favorable answer. Commentators suggest that a delegation from Moab may have been sent with such a request and that God may have spoken these words to Isaiah in response to that event. Regardless, notice that God not only implies that Judah should welcome these displaced people but invites them into the eternal peace that is to come with the reign of Jesus. God's hope in allowing all of this suffering to happen is that the Moabites will recognize their need for the one true God, submit themselves to him, and receive his love and his life.
Likewise, in the prophecy against Egypt in chapter 19, Isaiah predicts that God will make himself known in Egypt and that Egyptians and Assyrians will to come to worship God together. Even for the Assyrians who have done so much violence and toward whom God has expressed such great anger, God's ultimate goal is that they would recognize their need for him, be healed, and enter into eternal life. As we talked about on Sunday March 1, there is no one outside the reach of God's mercy and of the forgiveness we we have in the blood of Jesus.
A prayer for today:
God, in the midst of the wars being waged in our world right now, bring your mercy. Have mercy on those who are innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, on those who are the perpetrators, and on all the people in between. Let them cry out to you and be saved. Bring this violence to an end. And, bring all the nations to you.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
