Wednesday, August 28, 2024

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 203, Turn And Be Saved

Today's passage begins with the Lord calling upon everyone to witness that He alone can tell of things to come because He alone is God.

"Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods who cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it---let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me." (Isaiah 45:20-21) An idol of wood has to be carried from place to place. It cannot save anyone. It cannot even protect itself.

But there is a God who saves and it is to Him everyone should turn. "Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." (Isaiah 45:22) It was God who made the tree from which the idol was carved. An idol is nothing. But the God who created all things is the source of everything good and righteous. He is the source of salvation and eternal life. In verse 22 He calls to "the ends of the earth" when He makes His offer of salvation because He wants all people---Jews and Gentiles---to be saved. 

"By Myself I have sworn, My mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear." (Isaiah 45:23) The Apostle Paul quotes this verse in Philippians 2:10-11 in reference to God the Son, saying of Him that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This does not mean that every person will turn to the Lord and be saved. It means that every person will have to bow before Him and acknowledge that He is indeed Lord. Let's think about how, in Isaiah's day, a person would come into the throne room of a king. It was customary to bow before a king and to address him by his title. If a person did not voluntarily bow before a king and address him with respect, he would be compelled to do so by the king's men. Even those who rejected the Lord all their lives long will be unable to deny that He is who He says He is when they see Him. They will be unable to keep from falling to their knees in the presence of His majesty. When this happens, "They will say of Me, 'In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.' All who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame." (Isaiah 45:24)

Chapter 45 closes like this: "But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in Him." (Isaiah 45:25) The religion of Israel (the worship of the one true God) will be the religion of the world in the eternal kingdom age.

Everyone is invited to "turn and be saved". It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or what you've done. He calls to "the ends of the earth"---meaning everyone---to come to Him for salvation. There is no saving power in anyone or in anything else. In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength. 


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