Read Isaiah 57—59
Justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We
look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in
deep shadows.
Isaiah 59:9
There was a great deal of injustice in the land, with the rich exploiting
the poor and the rulers using their authority only to make themselves
rich. The people lifted their hands to worship God, but their hands
were stained with blood (Isa. 1:15, 21). God could not answer their
prayers because their sins hid His face from them (59:2).
So the Lord Himself intervened and brought the Babylonians to
destroy Judah and Jerusalem and to teach His people that they cannot
despise His law and get away with it.
God’s judgment on His people was a foreshadowing of that final
day of the Lord when all the nations will be judged. When it is ended,
Israel will be not only God’s chosen people but God’s cleansed people,
and the glory of the Lord will radiate from Mount Zion.
While we are waiting and praying, “Thy kingdom come” (Matt.
6:10 KJV), perhaps we should also be interceding and intervening. We
are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (5:13–14), and God
expects us to make a difference.
Something to Ponder
In what ways are you “interceding and intervening” as you await
God’s kingdom?