10/8/12. Isaiah 10:5-34. A REMNANT WILL RETURN-My devotional

Isaiah 10:5-34
Key Verse: 10:21

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF  Monday, October 8, 2012

“A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the wonderful weekend you provided through Family Life Ministries. Thank you for breaking the chains that hindered our relationships and giving us hope and power and direction for a brand new beginning in our marriage and our family. I pray that the 1 million new couples per year in the USA may go to a Family Life Event and bring their marriages to Jesus Christ. Please grant me one word in my heart. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: The Light of Israel (5-19).

Verses 5-19, “5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! 6 I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. 7 But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. 8 ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says… 10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria— 11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’” 12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says: “‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. 14 As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.’” 15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood! 16 Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. 17 The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. 18 The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away. 19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.”

God would use Assyria as the rod of his anger, but their intent was only to seize and destroy other nations. Once the Lord finished the work for which he raised Assyria up, he would deal with their sin. They were an ax in the hand of the Lord, but the Lord is the one who wielded the ax. He would judge the sin of Assyria and glorify his name as the Light of Israel and the Holy One.

God does not tolerate injustice of any kind. Though Assyria was serving a purpose for a time, that does not mean that they can abuse the power that they procured. Actually they needed to realize that they had no power apart from which was granted. They abused their power. They should have come to the God of the Bible, repented and used their resources and influence to lead the nations to God. But they used all that they acquired to indulge themselves an enslave others around them and to build their own glorious empire.

How we too can be like the Assyrians. We can grow in wealth and power and influence. We can even do some good things every so often. But if our “modus operedi” is how can I build my own glory and my own earthly kingdom at the expense of others. People use others for their own glory. They exploit others for money. They exploit others for benefits. They use people. Before meeting Jesus I was using people to party with, to solve my own boredom issues, to attempt to be a “cool guy” (which I failed to do.) Even after meeting Jesus, I was subconsciously using my own family members to build up my ministry for my own glory. This is a terrible sin. God is a God of justice. He will not allow us to use all the resources he has given for to be used for our purposes and glory alone. What will happen is, we will loose it. If we don’t loose our wealth, we will be driven into deeper and greater isolation. We will be in agony of heart and spirit. If we persist in our “personal empire building” then we will one day have to answer to God how we used our life and the blessings God gave us. I repent of exploiting others for my own benefit. I pray to be a source of blessing to others.

Part 2. A Remnant Will Return to the Mighty God (20-34).

Verses 20-34, “20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. 23 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. 24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. 25 Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.” 26 The LORD Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt. ….33 See, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. 34 He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax; Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.”
When God judged the sins of his people, he did it with hope. Amid the judgment of the Lord against sin is the seed of hope that the remnant will return to the Mighty God. The remnant are those who do not surrender to fear of Assyria, but instead fear the Lord and put their trust in him. The remnant is those who wait on the Lord on the day of his judgment with hope that the Lord will raise them up. The Lord works in history through the holy remnant: those who rely on the Lord who judges and who saves.

I realize that there is hope in the Lord. Our sins and our love for the world, brings all kinds of sufferings on our lives. We bring the suffering on ourselves because we choose not to pursue Jesus and the Gospel. We bring it on ourselves because we choose to live apart from God. But it does not mean that everything is hopeless. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is real hope that things will change. When we think that our marriages are over, there is hope. Of those who felt like divorcing, and held in there, 75% report being happily married 5 years later. When we think that it is all over in regards to ministry, God will reform ministry around the family. It will take on a new form, but God will work and create something new for the whole family. When we think that all is lost in regards to those we love, when it seems like the end is at hand…then something wonderful happens to turn everything around.

Some may say that there is no longer any NIU UBF. But there is a remnant. I have not forgotten about our prayers for the NIU students. A remnant remains. It is just that God is forming something new amongst my family and how we do house church. I thought all was lost. But I see James growing. I see my kids finding their own personal faith. I see Jennifer flourishing spiritually, scholastically, socially and academically at McGill. Things are going well. They are not going as I expected, but they are going well for it God who is leading. This remnant will grow and bear fruit in God’s time and in God’s way. I want to live as a remnant person and I want our ministry to be a remnant ministry.

America seems to be teetering and sliding downhill. But God is at work among us. He is working in the hearts of the remnant. This country is still the No. 1 missionary sending country on the world. Christianity is still taking a prominent part in the fabric of our culture. There are growing Churches and growing Christians all through America. Though there is a remnant, God will work through the remnant in order to bring glory to God.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to rely on you in all things. Help me to live with repentance and with hope in you.”

One Word: God has his remnant