relationships (Isaiah 11:1-16) Judging the Heart

(Isaiah 11:1-16)  

1   Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
     And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2   The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
     The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
     The spirit of counsel and strength,
     The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3   And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
     And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
     Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4   But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
     And decide with fairness for the humble of the earth;
     And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
     And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5   Also righteousness will be the belt around His hips,
     And faithfulness the belt around His waist.

6   And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
     And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
     And the calf and the young lion and the fattened steer will be together;
     And a little boy will lead them.
7   Also the cow and the bear will graze,
     Their young will lie down together,
     And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8   The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
     And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9   They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
     For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
     As the waters cover the sea.

10 Then on that day 
     The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
     Who will stand as a signal flag for the peoples;
     And His resting place will be glorious.

11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord 
     Will again recover with His hand the second time 
     The remnant of His people who will remain,
     From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
     And from the islands of the sea.
12 And He will lift up a flag for the nations 
     And assemble the banished ones of Israel,
     And will gather the dispersed of Judah 
     From the four corners of the earth.
13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
     And those who harass Judah will be eliminated;
     Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
     And Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west;
     Together they will plunder the people of the east;
     They will possess Edom and Moab,
     And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy 
     The tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
     And He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River 
     With His scorching wind;
     And He will strike it into seven streams 
     And make people walk over in dry sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria 
     For the remnant of His people who will be left,
     Just as there was for Israel 
     On the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Verses 1-5 describe Jesus when He came to earth in flesh.  Of course, Jesus is God and part of the Holy Trinity.  Throughout the Old Testament, THE LORD (aka "the Angel of the Lord", the preincarnation of Jesus) appeared to many people.  But at the right time, He was born of the virgin through the Holy Spirit, so that He could be fully man while still being fully God.  He was also born through the line of Jesse (which is the line of king David) so that He would be Israel's rightful King.

The first time Jesus came to earth in flesh, Israel rejected Him because they wanted a King who would bring physical peace.  God allowed this to happen so that Jesus would accomplish His work on the cross.  This provides forgiveness, spiritual peace and reconciliation with God to anyone who believes in Him.  

At His second coming, Jesus will bring judgment upon the nations, and take all those who become believers during the Tribulation into the Millennial kingdom that He will set up.  This thousand-year reign will be Garden-of-Eden-like, where all the animals and all the people will get along.  Jesus will rule from the throne in Jerusalem, so that all people can go to visit Him, face to face.

Until "that day," people can become believers and experience spiritual peace and reconciliation with God when we accept Jesus into our hearts, which is to place Him on our personal throne.  As our King, Lord and Savior, He changes us from the inside out.  As our faithful Friend, He is always there for us; and when we ask, He works for us, in us and through us.  

As verse 10 describes people physically being able to visit and ask Jesus for advice, we can read God's word and pray in order to "visit" and ask for advice.  As well, believers have His indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and help us, to give us His wisdom, understanding and strength.  It is about getting to know the Lord's "heart" and allowing Him to change our hearts to be more like Him.

As our Judge, the Lord Jesus will judge us according to our hearts.  Unbelievers will be judged according to their sins.  And because they have rejected the Lord, they will go to a place that is void of God.  As for believers, since we have been forgiven, and have humbled our hearts to fear the Lord, and in His salvation, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, we will only be judged according to the good deeds we have done with righteous motives, to God's glory.

Understand that the Lord does not desire to punish anyone, but because He is holy, He cannot have a relationship with sin.  Therefore, because of His love, He came to suffer and die, to pay the price for all sin.  Because of His love, He gives everyone a free will and will never force anyone to love Him back.  But because of His love, He desires that all come to know Him.  Because of His love, He is fair and just, and gives everyone every opportunity to become a believer.  And because of His love, He delights in having a close personal relationship with those who desire to have a close, face-to-face relationship with Him!

In the same way, we should desire to meet, date and marry someone who is also a believer.  This requires getting to know their heart!  Never rush into a relationship, but give it enough time to truly see if there is any fruit of the Holy Spirit, because what is in their heart will become evident.

Regarding all of our relationships, we should be more like God, in that we don't judge anyone based on hearsay or one's appearance.  This is not about us being their ethics-police, judge and jury!  It is about considering others fairly and justly.  

If we see that someone is corrupt, we can carefully and wisely go to the authorities.  If we see that someone could corrupt us, we can know to stay away from them.  If we see that someone is an unbeliever who seems to be searching for truth, we can share the gospel with them.  If we see that someone is a believer who is struggling, depending on how they are struggling, we can help them, and/or mentor them, and/or encourage and equip them, and always pray for them.  And if we see that someone is a mature believer who is walking closely with Jesus, whatever is appropriate, we can consider them as a spiritual example, an ally, a potential mentor and/or a close friend!  These will be the people with righteous hearts, who will steer us towards being closer to the Lord and His heart!