Hope. Do you live your life
understanding you have hope? Do you feel like you have hope? Do you pursue your
dreams, ambitions, desires knowing hope for you has been taken care of. Today’s
reading is full of hope.
In chapter nine of Isaiah the added
title (If your Bible has section titles this has often been added by the
publishers and translators of your particular translation) tells about the hope
of the Messiah. This chapter tells about one who will come from Galilee, the
region north of Judah which is in the land of the nation of Israel, to reign
forever on David’s throne. That idea of reigning forever on David’s throne
signifies that this will be a different kind of kingdom than what Israel and
Judah had ever experienced. We know the fulfillment of this prophecy to be the
virgin birth of Jesus, born in Bethlehem but raised in Nazareth of Galilee.
The reading is also full of glimmers of
hope for Israel and Judah. Destruction and exile has been hinted at over and
over throughout the prophetical books. The end of the kingdom as they know it
is going to be over. But God doesn’t leave them without hope. Throughout it he
reminds them that they will return to their homeland. One day they will find a
faithful remnant back in Jerusalem.
One of the strongest messages of the
Bible is hope. If you belong to Jesus, if you call him Lord and Savior, then
you have hope. You have hope in eternal life with Jesus in heaven. That is the
greatest hope ever.
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