The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Isaiah 19:23-25,
"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.'"
As with the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Jerusalem and Judah followed with a future blessing in the next age, so in the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Egypt. A day will come when the people of Egypt will become God's people, a bright future to look forward to. The same will be true of the peoples of Assyria!
The reality of God being the God of all the peoples on planet earth is on display here. Where once, when only Israel was known as God's people, a day comes when peoples from all nations will be God's people. In Jesus Christ, where the gospel is to go out to all nations, all the peoples of the earth have opportunity to join God's kingdom. Jews and Gentiles alike. All people of the earth can be God's people.
Consistent with the revelation that all people are invited into God's kingdom, Assyria and Egypt, along with Israel will all, one day, embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior, and thereby become his people, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." This looks forward toward the next age, when all the nations of the world become the nations of Jesus Christ. Where Egypt is yet among the family of nations today, Assyria is not. However, from this once world power, a people will emerge as the "handiwork" of the Lord.
Where would I be today if God had not included Gentiles in the target of his agenda of building his kingdom? Where would that leave me? Thanks be to God that in his love of all mankind, his mercy was extended even to me - someone so far removed from the people of God! And, how fascinating the world will be when a highway, the highway of God, will exist between Israel, Egypt to her south and Assyria to her north!
As with the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Jerusalem and Judah followed with a future blessing in the next age, so in the Lord's announcement of his judgement against Egypt. A day will come when the people of Egypt will become God's people, a bright future to look forward to. The same will be true of the peoples of Assyria!
The reality of God being the God of all the peoples on planet earth is on display here. Where once, when only Israel was known as God's people, a day comes when peoples from all nations will be God's people. In Jesus Christ, where the gospel is to go out to all nations, all the peoples of the earth have opportunity to join God's kingdom. Jews and Gentiles alike. All people of the earth can be God's people.
Consistent with the revelation that all people are invited into God's kingdom, Assyria and Egypt, along with Israel will all, one day, embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior, and thereby become his people, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." This looks forward toward the next age, when all the nations of the world become the nations of Jesus Christ. Where Egypt is yet among the family of nations today, Assyria is not. However, from this once world power, a people will emerge as the "handiwork" of the Lord.
Where would I be today if God had not included Gentiles in the target of his agenda of building his kingdom? Where would that leave me? Thanks be to God that in his love of all mankind, his mercy was extended even to me - someone so far removed from the people of God! And, how fascinating the world will be when a highway, the highway of God, will exist between Israel, Egypt to her south and Assyria to her north!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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