Old Testament reading: Isaiah 24-26
Isaiah 24 serves as a summary of all the burdens pronounced in the previous eleven chapters, but there appears to be a particular emphasis on Jerusalem and Judea. In verses 21-23 there is a reference to a subsequent reign of the Lord from Mount Zion. This may be a reference to the establishment of the church in Jerusalem. Moreover, the language of verse 23 may also be a couched reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as it resembles the language Jesus used of this event in Matthew 24:29. Jerusalem’s destruction was God’s final edict against Israel to mark the change from ruling over physical Israel to ruling over spiritual Israel, the church. This line of thought is further confirmed by the consecutive chapters of praise from Isaiah’s pen. For example, consider Isaiah 25:6-8 and the declaration of provision and the removal of the covering and veil cast over the nations, meaning the ultimate revealing of His will, which had formerly been a mystery (Eph 3:9). Verse 9 declares the day of salvation for which Israel had waited and in such they would rejoice. Chapter 26 is a song of salvation and contains a beautiful statement of Divine provision and assurance – “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (v 3).
New Testament reading: 1 Peter
In keeping with the theme of today’s Old Testament reading, we continue our focus of the revealed will of God, which Paul a dozen times referred to as a mystery. Peter said the prophets inquired and searched diligently into the grace of God resulting in salvation, prophesying of it but never the recipients. The prophets searched for the time when Jesus would come and suffer, but they did not find it. They searched for the glories that followed His suffering, but they did not find it. Additionally, Peter said God’s will was not even manifest beforetime to the angels, but that they had to wait and see it unfold on the earth! It is incredibly humbling, yet at the same time thrilling, to ponder the fact that we are the grand recipients of the final, revealed word of God! As great a man as Abraham was, he didn’t get to see it. As great as the prophets were, they didn’t get to see it. They had to wait to see it unveiled in the life of Jesus and the establishment of the church.
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