Isaiah 54:5 For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Oh Friends, this is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it nuh, especially since we don’t know how many more we shall see. So let’s make full use of this one today, and every today that we awaken to, for remember, tomorrow is promised, but it never comes, it’s always today that shows up. And having heard my words of wisdom, (smile) let’s hear some of Isaiah’s. ‘Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.’ (Isa.54:1) In this chapter that talks about the Lord’s everlasting LOVE for Israel, Isaiah depicts the Gentiles as a barren, desolate woman who never suffered birth pangs as the Israelites, ‘the married wife’ did. The Gentiles are also estranged from God, but through the atoning work of the Lord, in the form of His Son Jesus, will nonetheless be uplifted; be offered salvation. And though there are more Gentiles than Jews, through the mighty power of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they will procreate and inhabit the desolate cities of the Gentiles. (Isa.54:2-3) Though the sins of Israel be numerous, and their disobedience overwhelming, he steadfastly maintains: ‘Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded (disgraced); for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore.’ (Isa.54:4) Now hear Jeremiah’s version. ‘Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (rulers, shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.’ (Jer.3:14-15) Meanwhile Hosea puts it thus: ‘And I will betroth me unto thee for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgement (justice), and in LOVING-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.’ (Hos.2:19-20) What a most wonderful, LOVING, kind hearted and forgiving God, my people! Now please remember, that as children of Abraham and followers of Jesus, all these promises also apply to us today. That means the same LOVE the Lord held out to Israel, way back then, He still extends to us today my people, cause He never changes, He’s the same yesterday, today and forever more. And the promises in these next two verses certainly bring me much pleasure and rejoicing. ‘For a small moment have I forsaken thee: but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.’ (Isa.54:7-8) Oh Friends, how magnanimous and merciful is the God we worship! There is none other like Him. Sometimes His goodness and generosity just boggles my mind. Although we sin and disobey, yet will He show us mercy and forgiveness. ‘For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.’ Wow! Friends, our God is all those things: Thy Maker, thine husband, the Lord of hosts, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah sure laid it on thick, but I guess he had to if he wanted to get the attention of his stubborn, stiff-necked people, like we still are today. But it’s all true. The Lord is our Maker and Creator. And in Isaiah’s imagery of the ‘barren, desolate woman,’ as opposed to the ‘married wife,’ Israel is the Lord’s chosen, and therefore her husband. He is definitely the Lord of hosts; Lord of everything and everyone on the earth and in the heavens, which He created. But the next title though is my favourite; ‘Thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.’ Why? Because if we were to choose the one, most important word in man’s entire history, it would undoubtedly be the word ‘redeem.’ Why, you again ask? Oh Friends, listen to how the dictionary defines ‘redeem’ nuh! ‘To buy back, recover by expenditure of effort, or by stipulated payment, perform, purchase the freedom of another, save by ransom. Save, rescue, reclaim; (of God or Christ) deliver from sin and damnation. Make amends for, compensate, counterbalance.’ Oh mih people, that’s our whole sinful life passing before our very eyes, then having the Lord, through His selfless Son Jesus, pay for, save, rescue, reclaim, purchase our freedom, save by ransom with His innocent life; make amends for us and our sins with His Father. Oh mih breddren, knowing all of this, how can we not LOVE the Lord, our Redeemer eh? It’s unthinkable, unfathomable! He’s done, doing and will do so much for us that unless we have a heart of stone, no, change that to no heart at all, we’ll all be very grateful and consequently obedient, for even a heart of stone would be softened, crushed by such LOVE, mercy and forgiveness. Oh people, the size of our God’s heart is immense, in fact immeasurable, cannot be measured. Who else would be so magnanimous as to bring His specially chosen, but sinful, disobedient people, plus the many others who never knew Him at all, under one, big shelter of LOVE? Only our God; the Most High God Jehovah. And as Isaiah rightly declares: ‘The God of the whole earth shall he be called.’ And all God’s people sang in unison: ‘Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name, for He is most worthy to be praised!’ Zechariah agrees too: ‘And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.’ (Zec.14:9) Not to be outdone, Bruh Paul weighs in with his usual fiery self, straight to the point: ‘Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes of the Gentiles also. (Rom.3:29) Yes Friends, there is but One, True God: our God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of all and sundry, who made everything, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. Selah. Now people, we all know of His wondrous LOVE for and considerable kindness to us; the undeserved forgiveness and mercy He’s showered upon us; the mighty redemption He wrought so we could be made right with Him, so why can’t we show some gratitude and LOVE in response to all of that eh? Oh friends, it’s a two way street: The Lord’s done His part, kept His promise, now it’s time for us to do ours. Please, let’s LOVE Him, show our thankfulness and gratitude by Spreading His Word, and LIVING our Lives in the Faith inspired by His Word. Much LOVE!…it takes two to tango…one hand to wash another…and two to clap…
Oh Friends, this is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it nuh, especially since we don’t know how many more we shall see. So let’s make full use of this one today, and every today that we awaken to, for remember, tomorrow is promised, but it never comes, it’s always today that shows up. And having heard my words of wisdom, (smile) let’s hear some of Isaiah’s. ‘Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.’ (Isa.54:1) In this chapter that talks about the Lord’s everlasting LOVE for Israel, Isaiah depicts the Gentiles as a barren, desolate woman who never suffered birth pangs as the Israelites, ‘the married wife’ did. The Gentiles are also estranged from God, but through the atoning work of the Lord, in the form of His Son Jesus, will nonetheless be uplifted; be offered salvation. And though there are more Gentiles than Jews, through the mighty power of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they will procreate and inhabit the desolate cities of the Gentiles. (Isa.54:2-3) Though the sins of Israel be numerous, and their disobedience overwhelming, he steadfastly maintains: ‘Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded (disgraced); for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore.’ (Isa.54:4) Now hear Jeremiah’s version. ‘Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors (rulers, shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.’ (Jer.3:14-15) Meanwhile Hosea puts it thus: ‘And I will betroth me unto thee for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgement (justice), and in LOVING-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.’ (Hos.2:19-20) What a most wonderful, LOVING, kind hearted and forgiving God, my people! Now please remember, that as children of Abraham and followers of Jesus, all these promises also apply to us today. That means the same LOVE the Lord held out to Israel, way back then, He still extends to us today my people, cause He never changes, He’s the same yesterday, today and forever more. And the promises in these next two verses certainly bring me much pleasure and rejoicing. ‘For a small moment have I forsaken thee: but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.’ (Isa.54:7-8) Oh Friends, how magnanimous and merciful is the God we worship! There is none other like Him. Sometimes His goodness and generosity just boggles my mind. Although we sin and disobey, yet will He show us mercy and forgiveness. ‘For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.’ Wow! Friends, our God is all those things: Thy Maker, thine husband, the Lord of hosts, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah sure laid it on thick, but I guess he had to if he wanted to get the attention of his stubborn, stiff-necked people, like we still are today. But it’s all true. The Lord is our Maker and Creator. And in Isaiah’s imagery of the ‘barren, desolate woman,’ as opposed to the ‘married wife,’ Israel is the Lord’s chosen, and therefore her husband. He is definitely the Lord of hosts; Lord of everything and everyone on the earth and in the heavens, which He created. But the next title though is my favourite; ‘Thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.’ Why? Because if we were to choose the one, most important word in man’s entire history, it would undoubtedly be the word ‘redeem.’ Why, you again ask? Oh Friends, listen to how the dictionary defines ‘redeem’ nuh! ‘To buy back, recover by expenditure of effort, or by stipulated payment, perform, purchase the freedom of another, save by ransom. Save, rescue, reclaim; (of God or Christ) deliver from sin and damnation. Make amends for, compensate, counterbalance.’ Oh mih people, that’s our whole sinful life passing before our very eyes, then having the Lord, through His selfless Son Jesus, pay for, save, rescue, reclaim, purchase our freedom, save by ransom with His innocent life; make amends for us and our sins with His Father. Oh mih breddren, knowing all of this, how can we not LOVE the Lord, our Redeemer eh? It’s unthinkable, unfathomable! He’s done, doing and will do so much for us that unless we have a heart of stone, no, change that to no heart at all, we’ll all be very grateful and consequently obedient, for even a heart of stone would be softened, crushed by such LOVE, mercy and forgiveness. Oh people, the size of our God’s heart is immense, in fact immeasurable, cannot be measured. Who else would be so magnanimous as to bring His specially chosen, but sinful, disobedient people, plus the many others who never knew Him at all, under one, big shelter of LOVE? Only our God; the Most High God Jehovah. And as Isaiah rightly declares: ‘The God of the whole earth shall he be called.’ And all God’s people sang in unison: ‘Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name, for He is most worthy to be praised!’ Zechariah agrees too: ‘And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.’ (Zec.14:9) Not to be outdone, Bruh Paul weighs in with his usual fiery self, straight to the point: ‘Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes of the Gentiles also. (Rom.3:29) Yes Friends, there is but One, True God: our God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of all and sundry, who made everything, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. Selah. Now people, we all know of His wondrous LOVE for and considerable kindness to us; the undeserved forgiveness and mercy He’s showered upon us; the mighty redemption He wrought so we could be made right with Him, so why can’t we show some gratitude and LOVE in response to all of that eh? Oh friends, it’s a two way street: The Lord’s done His part, kept His promise, now it’s time for us to do ours. Please, let’s LOVE Him, show our thankfulness and gratitude by Spreading His Word, and LIVING our Lives in the Faith inspired by His Word. Much LOVE!…it takes two to tango…one hand to wash another…and two to clap…
SCRIP-BITS 