Isaiah 8:11-22
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Is 8:11-22). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Many people inquire as to when the Lord will arrive. When will the Lord come and take his people to be with him. The World would inquire of ancient calendars, astrology, and even fortune tellers to find the proper time for his coming. Many even think of great moments or records being broken and the Lord will arrive.
But the truth is that no one knows the day nor hour of his arrival. God the Father alone knows the time of Christ's return. But it is the job of his people to speak his word in all the earth. The people of God are to recount his words as they live out their lives. If the people abandon his words they will live out their lives in distress and darkness. They will no longer know the light of the LORD.
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Those redeemed by the blood of Christ shine forth that light. You who are claimed by God have the light of Christ to shine. You carry his word in your heart and mind. You can speak that word of truth to family and friends. It is the same word you hear on Sunday. You have been redeemed by Christ the crucified. Your sins have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west.
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