True to His word
For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely in my hand. I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, ‘You are my people!’” Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem! You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops... But now listen to this, you afflicted ones who sit in a drunken stupor, though not from drinking wine. This is what the Sovereign Lord, your God and Defender, says: “See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands. You will drink no more of my fury.” Isaiah 51:15-22 NLT
From the text, Isaiah declared that God has an unbreakable bond with His people and provides them promises that He will keep. Despite His people’s waywardness, God will still bless and will fulfill His covenant promises with them. God will keep His word. The problem is that the people of God are stubborn that is why God has to discipline them by sending them in exile. The trials and difficulties they experienced resulted in despair. They have to face and own up their shortcomings. It is God alone that they need to reconcile with. We cannot escape God’s discipline. “You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury” (Isiah 51:17).The One who put the cup of fury will also be the One who can remove it. “See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands. You will drink no more of my fury” (Isaiah 51:22). When the Israelites realized the disciplinary purpose of being exiled, only then they experienced the dawning of God’s grace. They understood that God will free them and bring them once again to the Promised Land. What they’ve been through should be a reminder that disobedience will not go unnoticed. There will be consequences: “These two calamities have fallen on you: desolation and destruction, famine and war” (Isaiah 51:20). Yet even in their darkest hours, God was still with them. We need to be aware that the greatest threat to our Christian life is not persecution but conformity. When we fail to recognize that God has called us to be His people, distinct and manifesting the life He gave, we seize to become a blessing to others and an expression of God’s glory. Therefore, we should not take for granted God’s call for us to a faithful Christian living.
Blessings,
