Isaiah 64; Proverbs 23:1-11

Wednesday's Bible Reading: Isaiah 64; Proverbs 23:1-11

40 days until Christmas . . .
40 days until we celebrate the answer to Isaiah's prayer . . .

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!

2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!

3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.—Isaiah 64:1-6

God did indeed come down
     but not to make the mountains tremble.
He did indeed make his name known
     but not by causing the nations to quake.
For Jesus came not in strength, but in weakness,
Not in power, but in humility,
Not to exalt himself on a throne but to be lifted up on a cross.
Not to polish us, but to purify us.
Not to make us look good, but to make himself look bad.
We can be saved because he wore our filthy rags so that we can wear "the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Isaiah did not live to see God come down and answer his prayer. But he may well have been part of the great send-off party in heaven when Jesus left home to become the answer to his prayer. Surely that would have been worth the wait!