Monday, January 21, 2013

Isaiah 8:18


Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Isaiah 8:18

18 Behold, I and the children [yeled] whom the LORD [Yahovah] hath given [nathan] me are for signs ['owth] and for wonders [mowpheth] in Israel [Yisra'el] from the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts, [tsaba'] which dwelleth [shakan] in mount [har] Zion. [Tsiyown] KJV-Interlinear

18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. NASB


Both Isaiah, which means the salvation of Jehovah, and the children thus far mentioned, Immanuel, 'God with us,' Isa 7:14; and Shear-jashub, 'the remnant shall return,' Isa 7:3, all have special meanings that point to God as the one and only savior and deliverer of the people and the nation.  Not outsider nations, not foreigners, and certainly not strangers.

And yet the people look to strangers, rather than their own family, to those that they are unfamiliar with, rather than to Him of whom they are more than familiar.

And so it is throughout history, people will look to the world and the many uncertainties of the many tomorrows, rather than to God of whom everyone knows something of the scriptures.  For all have heard the stories of Adam and Eve, of Noah and the Ark, of Jonah and the whale, of Jesus and the Cross, and of many, many more stories beyond that.  While virtually no one knows the stories portrayed in Islam, in Buddhism, in Hinduism, or any other religion you care to name.

And yet that which is familiar is disregarded, and that which is not known is embraced.

Zion is the representation of Gods vast mountain of truth.  Truth resides in Jerusalem, which means the city of peace.  And that peace comes from the resident body of truth maintained inside the soul, which attains inner peace, by learning and understanding and possessing truth by means of the daily study process, by means of the daily residence in fellowship, residence within the confining walls of the city portrayed as flooded with truth and the circulation of truth, and the daily activities of truth.

From the name of infants and prophets, to the vastness of the universe, to the unfathomable and extreme miniscule details and composition of creation, all things point to God and to His magnificent plan and purpose.