The first two posts in this Advent Calendar are just hours apart, so if you missed the first post, you can click here and go straight to it http://wp.me/pO3kT-bJ .
Reading: Isaiah 4:2-6
On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
The Coming is first a time of washing away of filth and a cleansing of bloodstains, an operation of holiness that God does in His great mercy. We probably cringe to read the words “spirit of judgment” or “spirit of burning,” but we draw back from these words because we ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We brought judgment and burning upon ourselves and we know it.
Yet the day of The Coming is to be beautiful and glorious because the Survivors—those washed and cleansed—have been recorded for life! Those who remain experience the day-and-night presence of the Lord and never need fear the elements of this world again.
I’ve never been in Israel in the summer, but I’ve been in Turkey and the summer heat is wilting. Every shadow is a shelter but shadows disappear as the sun moves across the sky. A canopy, however,–a pavilion—a permanent shelter, now that is something to look forward to! Come, Lord Jesus!
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