All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. – Isaiah 54:13
If you have seen photographs of the land of Israel as it existed before 1948, you would see that it bears little resemblance to the Israel of today. According to David Brummer, who writes for Israel in Focus, “Looking at the geographical and geopolitical landscape in the twenty-first century, the Land of Israel before 1948 is almost unrecognizable.” It is no longer the ancient, slow-moving life, but a place of innovation, invigoration, and modern skylines “with gleaming, shiny multi-story office blocks, apartment buildings, and, increasingly, skyscrapers.” Its highly developed agriculture sits next to amazing archaeological finds. The Sea of Galilee still yields an abundance of wild fish and is now accompanied by fish farming. An amazing restoration of the land has taken less than a hundred years.
Chapter 54 of the Book of Isaiah deals with a restoration for Israel following their Babylonian exile and captivity. In it, the Lord speaks to the people as though speaking to a barren wife, assuring her she will yet bear many children. The Lord promises peace, prosperity, and protection, including peace for the children. Theologian Charles H. Spurgeon says, “Try and suck all the sweetness that you can out of this chapter while [you] read it. The personal application of a promise to the heart by the Holy Spirit is that which is wanted. … This chapter is the wood wherein every bough doth drip with virgin honey. Sip: taste, and be satisfied.”
Israel remains at the heart of God’s plan for the entire world. It is at the center of end-times prophecies. That nation’s ultimate restoration will come only after Messiah returns (Romans 11:25-27). The purposes of God for Israel are inexorable; His promises have never been revoked. In these times of Israels’ distress, pray for their leadership. And pray that the United States will stand for righteousness.
Today’s Verse: Isaiah 54:13
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Zechariah 14:1-9; Acts 15:13-18
14 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
