There is a theory among physicists, or at least among science fiction writers about quantum physics and quantum mechanics. In short, what would it be like if we could travel along different plains of time and space…Don’t worry, I am not going all “Sci Fi” on you! But as one reads the prophecy of Isaiah one sees two Israels. the first Israel is what God envisioned for Israel–a nation of priests. Israel would be a dominant nation–but, not to tyrannically reign over the rest of the world, instead to be the servant leaders and teachers of the nation’s bringing the truth of God’s greatness and grace. Bringing peace into the world.
The second picture exposes the chaos of living as the world then and now lives. Isaiah speaks of the spiritualism, the lack of national identity. Materialism and power are king, and people are worshiping the things they have made and the things they have earned–sound familiar. It is not a prophecy of 2020, all though it could very well be any day across the globe. Sadly, the scenario keeps playing out without reprieve.
Still, in the midst, there have been periodic revivals and reawakening. When that has happened on a national level, God has blessed the revived nation; and the nations have become leaders in spreading the Gospel around the globe.
In recent history revival hit in England, In America, and In South Korea. In each case the nation has prospered greatly and influenced the lives of so many. Sadly, in each case prosperity also led to comfort and a desire for independence from God. That independence looked a great deal like the cycle in Isaiah’s description.
God’s model of submission and Humility works both individually and nationally. It has played out thousands of times in the lives of individuals and countries great and small. We need to submit and follow the lord. As we do, we pray for our communities, our states, and our nation to do the same. Isaiah knew, and we now know that revival starts with the right heart and life bathed in prayer. Otherwise, we will fade into obscurity as have so many before and so many to come.
God Bless You
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[a]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
6 For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9 So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them!
10 Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
Walking With God 