The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Authority and the Morning Star, continued

The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear. (Isaiah 2:12-18—NIV)

THE LORD ALONE WILL BE EXALTED IN THAT DAY!

All these figures of speech, the tall and lofty cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the towering mountains and all the high hills, the lofty towers, the fortified walls, the trading ships and stately vessels refer to the pride and ambition of the carnal nature of man, including religious man. Until all these are brought down into the dust we are nothing more than a religious person.

We may claim to be a Christian. We may claim we belong to Christ and are abiding in Christ. But an unwillingness to enter the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to live each day and night in the crucifixion of Jesus and the power of His resurrection, proves we are nothing more than a religious person and need to be brought down to the dust in abject humility and abasement.

If we save our life we will lose it. If we lose our life in Jesus we will find it and all that we need will be added to us.

The question is one of how we pursue joy. If we hold onto that which we "must have," not giving it to Jesus, we are seeking to save our life. If we put our treasures in Heaven, giving every desire, every decision to Jesus, looking to Him alone to give us each day the joy He wants us to have, then we have truly died in Him and are living in His resurrection. Then and only then are we qualified and competent to be given authority over the nations.

Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship. They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:19-21—NIV)

The above was written to Israel, the people of the Lord, as well as to Christians, who also are the Lord's people.

We have been taught that the coming of the Lord will solve all of our problems. There will be an end of our pain and dread. The Jews as well as the Christians look forward to the coming of Messiah as a time of joy and peace.

We are depending on our traditions, not on the Scriptures. The coming of the Lord will be great and terrible for Jews and Christians alike. Unless we have served the Lord in righteousness, and holiness, unless we have obeyed God, doing His will from the heart, the Day of the Lord will be a time of weeping as our sins are revealed.

To be continued.