This past week I have been reading through the book of Isaiah. It is so exciting to see how the integrity of the Bible is beyond question. God called Isaiah as a prophet. He was responsible for sharing the words of the LORD of heaven’s armies many times and though he lived to see some of those prophecies fulfilled he did not see the most amazing prophecy of them all.

Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah gave an amazing prophetic word! Imagine that. Seven hundred years! By God’s perfect design, He used Isaiah to prepare future generations for the birth of His Son. When we read the words of Isaiah today over 2800 years later there is absolutely no mistaking that this prophecy described our beautiful Savior and King, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
 He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
 Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.

 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

If you ever feel your faith wavering just remember the accuracy and precision of God’s Word! EVERY word can be trusted! And just as Isaiah foretold the first coming of Jesus, Apostle Paul tells us of His soon coming appearance when He will come to gather up His church! We can be CERTAIN this too will come to pass!

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.  So encourage each other with these words.

Be blessed!