“When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.” — Isaiah 14:1 (NASB95)

God’s grace, at times, is deeper than I can understand or imagine. As I read the verse above I try to put myself in the shoes of the average Israelite who was being told by Isaiah that God was going to use the Assyrians and the Babylonians to destroy them because of their wickedness. But at the same time, God was telling them that His compassion for them would be restored, and He would once again choose them and settle them in their own land. Even in discipline, God was expressing a desire for reconciliation and restoration. What an amazing message of hope just before entering into a very deep valley of suffering.

Did you catch the last part of the verse above? “Then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.” In and through all of the suffering that Israel was soon to go through, God planned to use the negative years as a way in which the Israelites would be a witness to the unbelieving Gentiles they came into contact with. God was being faithful to His promise to Abraham that “he would be a blessing to all nations.” God was promising and proclaiming that His grace is not just for the people of Israel but for all people. Most of us are Gentile believers who have come to faith because of the promise in the verse. Jesus came into the world as a Jew, but from the very beginning of His ministry He proclaimed that His message and work of redemption was for all of us. As we are drawn to the cross of Jesus Christ, we are attaching ourselves to the house of Jacob. We are children of Abraham because we share in the same faith that he, Isaac, and Jacob had.

Spend some time today thinking about how deeply rooted in history your faith is. Think about how deep God’s grace is, that He would affect time and space to get to us with His love.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church