All 3 years & Late Start Plan read the same readings in December

In December, the theme of the readings is The Coming of the Messiah.     Each day, beginning from the first chapters of Genesis, the whole Bible has a single theme: God’s rescue and renewal of his people by the Messiah in his first and second comings. The December readings are meant to be a “walk through the Bible” of the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, tying together the prophecies in the Old Testament with their fulfillment in the New Testament, and each day, provide a particular aspect of the Messiah on which to meditate. Today, meditate on Jesus as the descendant of Eve who will crush Satan’s head and save us from our sins – God’s rescue to undo the damage we did in the Garden of Eden, reconciling us to Him and to one another and preparing us for heaven.

A hint of the Savior in the Garden… “He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Proverbs 29:1

Genesis 3

Romans 8:18-23

Resources:

Top 40 Messianic Prophecies

The Redeemer is God’s Son: “You are my Son. Today I have begotten you… Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Ps 2); “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For By him all things were created…all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1) Today, meditate on Jesus as God’s Son, who is the ultimate expression of God to us and who is our refuge.

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:2-3 

Psalm 2 

Hebrews 1 

The Redeemer will be an eternal priest.

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'”

Jesus is our eternal high priest who draws us near to God with confidence to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:4-5 

Genesis 14:8-20 

Hebrews 7-8:2 

Psalm 110 

What is the significance of Melchizedek?

There is a curious figure in the Old Testament, Melchizedek, king of Salem, who is a metaphor of Jesus as our eternal priest. Melchizedek lived in the time of Abraham and was not only a king, but was also a priest of the Most High God. Melkizedek is mentioned in several places in the book of Hebrews to help us understand his significance. His name, Melchizedek, means “king of righteousness,” and also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Hebrews chapter 7 explains that Melchizedek has no genealogy, no father of mother spoken of, and no beginning or end, making him a metaphor for a different kind of priest, an eternal one.

Melchizedek, therefore, is a metaphor for Jesus as our eternal priest. Yes, it is a bit confusing, and we might not have even caught the significance of this obscure figure if it were not for one thing: David spells out the connection for us in a prophecy that he made about the coming Messiah. Speaking of the Messiah, David says, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus, then, is the fulfillment of our “forever priest.” Having already paid for our sin, he eternally lives, representing us to God and making us acceptable to him by his one sacrifice for our sin for all time. This figure Melchizedek and the prophecy of the Messiah in Psalm 110, fulfilled by Jesus, reassures us that there is no condemnation, ever, for those who believe in him, because he is our priest, forever.

Heb 4:14  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

The Redeemer will be Abraham’s offspring: God will bless all the nations of the earth through Him, by justifying  them on the basis of faith, not works, just as Abraham was justified by faith.

Regular  & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:6 

Psalm 138 

Genesis 12:1-3 

Galatians 3  

The Messiah will provide justification not by works, but by faith, as lived out by His forefathers Abraham and David.

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:9-10 

Psalm 32 

Genesis 15:1-6 

Romans 4 

Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice, but God supplied the sacrificial ram on the very mountain that he would offer his own son, the Redeemer, as the one sacrifice for the sin of all.

God said to Abraham, “Now I know you trust me because because you did not withhold your son.” Because of Jesus, we can say to God, “Now we know we can trust you because you did not withhold your only Son from us.” Rom 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?”

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:11-12

Psalm 139

Genesis 22:1-18 

Hebrews 11:17-19 

Joseph was a picture of the Redeemer, but more so Judah, when he offered himself as ransom for Benjamin. The Messianic line runs through Judah.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:13-14

Genesis 44-45

A meditation:

God worked a redemption in Joseph’s life. He learned humility, faith, and endurance by the things that he suffered so that he did not hold against his brothers the evil that they committed against him. (These men were not nice men, for jealousy and murder was in their hearts, and they sold Joseph into slavery. Further, they still continued the mindset of hating and arguing with each other.) However, God cared for Joseph, melting his heart, and he responded with kindness in caring for the clan of Israel who had rejected him. He did not return evil for evil upon those who should have been his loving brothers but acted as enemies. Joseph, by faith, recognized the good that God was doing, and in Genesis 50, said to his brothers “As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.”  Grace and forgiveness won out. The clan of Israel was saved from the famine and the table was set for the flourishing of the people and the exodus. However it was Judah, who despite his whoring and the other things that he did, had faith that caused him to offer himself as a ransom for Benjamin. Thus, Jesus is the greater Joseph, who did not return evil for evil, and he also was the greater Judah, who offered himself as a ransom for many.

The Messiah will be a prophet like Moses.

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:15, 17 

Psalm 140 

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 

Acts 3:11-26 

The Passover and sacrificial lamb foreshadow the Messiah.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:16, 18

Exodus 12

I Corinthians 5:7-8

An explanation and meditation:

Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed!

The Bible is not a collection of stories, each with its own little moral, which, if we learn and follow them, will make us pleasing to God. Rather, the Bible is a single story of our God who knew us before time began and saved us to be his own. When we rejected him, he did not reject and abandon us, but came, though it cost him all, to rescue us. He was the Passover lamb who was sacrificed, so that the judgment due us fell on him.

What are the symbols of the Passover that relate to the coming of the Messiah?

The main symbols of the Passover, as a picture of salvation, are the Israelites in slavery and of the lamb sacrificed so that judgment and death would pass over them. The Israelites were slaves of the Egyptians, but of what are we slaves? Jesus said that anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. We certainly commit sin, so we are slaves of sin. What does that mean? What is at the root of our enslavement? What is so enslaving about sin? Put in the simplest terms, we are slaves of our independence, resulting in over-desires. The default mode of our hearts is to be committed to meeting our desires ourselves rather than looking to God to meet them, making us slaves to our desires. The problem is not our desires. The desires are good. God made us with desires, strong desires, to be beautifully and wonderfully met by him and his creation. The problem is that we have demanded to be our own gods and to meet our own needs, using his creation, that he made, but trying to do it without him. We don’t love him. We love his things. We love them so much that they are now over-desires, super-desires. They are what we live for – not bad things, but good things that we have made ultimate things. They are our gods, our idols. We are slaves of our independence, resulting in over-desires. This is our sin.

Some call it pride. We think we can do a better job of running our lives than he can. We think we don’t need him. As a matter of fact, we don’t trust him as far as we can throw him. The default mode of our hearts is to be self-oriented and self-willed: self-justifying, self-protecting, and self-satisfying. We can’t help it. “The heart wants what is wants.” The result: envy, malice, and every problem of mankind, including death. What is salvation? Salvation is liberation from the misery and slavery of loving anything more than God and neighbor as self; and salvation is eternal life. It begins when we believe in Jesus and continues after we die. This is the gospel message and is what the Messiah, Jesus, came to do.

The symbol of leaven is a bit confusing because we prefer leaven for our bread. Leaven seems like a good thing. It makes bread taste better. However, leaven is associated in the Bible with envy, malice, and all the evil deeds of mankind – the problems that result from being enslaved to super-desires. Leaven is an excellent symbol because we like it and for its invisibility and pervasive presence throughout our lives. There is no part of our lives or our world unaffected by it. Being “unleavened” requires a completely new lump of dough, and that is what the new birth is – when one believes, the old self “dies,” a new person is “born,” and the Spirit begins working in us to clear out the debris. The clearing process is Oh, so slow, but it is unstoppable. It continues day by day until we see Jesus and are changed in a twinkling of an eye to be like him. This hope encourages and purifies all who believe. It is the hope for heaven, the hope that in the end, God will make every wrong thing right. 

Thank you, Father, for knowing us and loving us before time began – for not forsaking us but remembering us and coming to rescue us. Thank you that, no matter who we are or what we have been like, we can all be saved in this same way – that Jesus our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us, opening the way for us to enter the Promised Land: knowing you, the Father, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.

The Messiah fulfills the Mosaic law and replaces it with the law of the Spirit. He himself fulfilled the requirements of the Law of Moses, freeing his children to live out the royal law of loving God and neighbor as self, not through self-righteous effort, but by grace, through the Spirit. Love, therefore is the power to carry out Jesus’ new commandment: “Love others as I have loved you.”

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:19, 21

Hebrew 12:18-29

Romans 8:1-4

Background passage:

Exodus 19-20

The Messiah is Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ The filling of the Tabernacle with the glory of God, and later the Temple, were events foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah, who, after providing the way of salvation through his sacrifice, has ushered in God’s presence, not in a tabernacle, but in our hearts, by the Spirit as a foretaste and security deposit, until we see Him face to face. He is ‘God with us.‘    “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us.” (Matt 1:23) “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev 21:3) In this present age, God is with us, as Jesus himself promised: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), as well as our Father’s assurance, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). The larger narrative of the filling of the Tabernacle, and in fact, of the whole Bible, is that God himself came, in the person of Jesus, to rescue us and be with us forever. God has come to dwell with us. For the present, we know his presence by faith. Our minds can’t take it in, but our hearts are filled with praise.

All of this looks forward to something, the home Jesus promised to prepare for us, the home we’ve been longing for all our lives, the home where he is present, not by faith, but by sight. We long for everything to be made right. Jesus called this the regeneration, and the same power that brings about the regeneration is in the gospel through which we receive life. 

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:20

Exodus 40:18-38

Revelation 21:1-4

Background passage:

Hebrews 8-9

The Messiah is David’s promised Eternal Heir, the Son of God. “He will be will be great and will be called son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David.” Luke 1:32

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 29:22

II Samuel 7

Psalm 89:1-37

The Messiah foretold by Isaiah: born of a virgin, Immanuel, ‘God with us,’ “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the Root of Jesse,” and “the Spirit of God shall rest upon him.”

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:23

Psalm 141

Isaiah 7:14 

Isaiah 9:1-7

Isaiah 11:1-10

The Messiah as foretold by Jeremiah, will be the ‘Righteous Branch,’ the son of David, whom God will raise up to save his people.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 29:24-25

Psalm 142

Jeremiah 23:1-5

Jeremiah 30:1-9

Jeremiah 33:14-26

The Messiah will come as King, though not an earthly one, from the line of David; he wants us as his bride even though we have been unfaithful to him; he will be born in Bethlehem; and he will be presented to Jerusalem humbly, riding on a donkey.

Regular & Late Plan

Proverbs 29:26-27

Psalm 143

Hosea 3:1-5

Micah 5:2-5a

Zechariah 9:9

John 12:12-16

“A Light for the Gentiles” – The Messiah also brings salvation to the Gentiles.

Regular & Late Start Plan 

Proverbs 30:1-4 

Isaiah 42:1-7

Isaiah 49:5-6

Matt 12:14-21

The Ministry of the Messiah – The lame will walk, the deaf will hear, and blind will see, and he will bring the good news of salvation – “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:5-6

Psalm 144

Isaiah 35:1-6

Matthew 11:1-6

The Rejection of the Messiah – he is the Son of the vineyard owner and the Stone the builders rejected.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:  ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste    (shaken, disappointed).’” Isa 28:18

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:7-9

Psalm 118:22-23

Matthew 21:33-46

Comment:

This prophecy, recorded in Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 28:18, is quoted by Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and Peter quotes it twice: Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:7. It is the idea that God’s means of salvation turns the religious idea of salvation on its head (not only the Jewish notion, but all religions), that people are saved by their good works. No! No man will be justified by his works. Salvation is by faith, through grace, accomplished through the sacrifice of the Son. It forever changes the understanding of how God relates to man from fear to love, as Paul says in Rom 8:31-39:

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can beⁱ against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.^j35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Betrayal of the Messiah – by a trusted friend, for thirty pieces of silver.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:10

Psalm 145

Psalm 41:9 (Cited by Jesus in John 13:18)

Zechariah 11:12-13

Matthew 26:14-15

The Crucifixion of the Messiah

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:11-14

Psalm 22

Isaiah 53

The Resurrection of the Messiah 

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:15-17

Psalm 146

Psalm 16:8-11

Acts 2:22-39

The Messiah is coming, God himself, to redeem and reconcile all who believe. A messenger will be sent ahead of him, John the Baptist, who will prepare the people to hear his message. And who’s coming is John announcing? The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, the friend of tax collectors and sinners!

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:18-20

Isaiah 40:1-8

Malachi 3:1-5

Malachi 4:1-6

John 1:19-38

Matthew 11:7-18

Because of the tender mercy of God, he gave the Messiah, the Son of God, to bring salvation for his people through the forgiveness of sins, for nothing is impossible with him – the angel visits Zechariah and Mary to foretell the births of John and Jesus.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:21-28

Psalm 147

Luke 1

The birth of the Messiah

Regular & Late Start Plan

Matthew 1:18-25

Luke 2:1-20

The adoration of the Messiah, and who it was exactly, who was born, who is worshipped: 

Regular & Late Start Plan

Jesus is God – the reason for, and creator of, everything

1 In the beginning was the Word ^{(Greek word logos, has the dual meaning of ”the Word of God,” and the Greek idea of “the reason for everything”)} and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

His coming announced by the prophets, God became a man

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… Heb 1:1-3

He is God in human form, completely God, but completely man, and killable

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Col 1: 15-19

God emptied himself, became a man, and, in love, gave himself for us

5 …Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and 11 every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:5-11

The Second Coming of the Messiah

Jesus discusses the future and gives warnings to his followers in the ‘Olivet Discourse’:

The temple will be destroyed (Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD) and many difficult things are ahead in the world – “birth pangs” before the end.

Do not be deceived by false messiahs and prophets, even those that seem to perform miracles.

You will be persecuted for following and testifying about me, but do not worry about what to say because the Holy Spirit will speak through you. Trust and endure, and spread the good news!

Before the end, a great tribulation will occur. Be ready, for unexpectedly, the Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven, and everyone who trusts in him will be saved.

Do not listen to people who say that they know when then end will come. Stay awake!

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:29-31

Mark 13

Daniel 9:24-27

Daniel 7:9-14

For further reading about the Olivet Discourse:

Matthew 24-25

Luke 21:5-36

Test every spirit to make sure that it confesses Jesus, for the spirit of the antichrist is already at work. The end will not come until the man of lawlessness is revealed and deceives many. Stand firm, and God will comfort your hearts with grace and establish your good works.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 30:32-33

2 Thessalonians 1-2

1 John 2:18-25

1 John 4:1-4

Additional reading:

Revelation 13

The Messiah is coming for us.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 31:1-9

Psalm 148

1 Thessalonians 4-5

The Coming of the King

Regular & Late Start Plan

Proverbs 31:10-31

2 Peter 3:1-13

Revelation 11:15-19   Revelation 19

Additional reading about the Day of the Lord and the Second Coming:

Zechariah 14:1-15

Passages about the Second Coming

The Resurrection – Death is swallowed up in victory, and the only thing that matters is that we are His.

Regular & Late Start Plan

Psalm 149

1 John 3:2-3

1 Corinthians 15

Our response: offer ourselves. 

Romans 12:1-2

Heaven: the dwelling of God is with men, “and he shall wipe every tear from their eyes…”

Regular and Late Start Plan

Today’s Psalm

          Psalm 150

Today’s Reading

Revelation 21-22   

Further Reading: The Kingdom of God and Heaven in Isaiah

The kingdom of God is “now, but not yet…”

The Kingdom of God is now:

Jesus brought the Kingdom of God. It is in him, and though it cost him everything, he freely gave it to us who believe, through faith in the gospel.

Having been redeemed, we are no longer ashamed, but can freely experience the Chesed love of God – his indescribable, everlasting love that saves us and transforms us. It is our hearts’ desire and it is destroying all our idols.

But the Kingdom of God is not yet:

When the time is right, it will come in its fullness. God will make every wrong thing right and fulfill all things.

The love of God that we taste now in dewdrops we shall then drink in oceans…

Passages about Heaven in Isaiah

(Not all bible scholars agree that these passages are about heaven, but notice the similarity of language between the passages in Isaiah and Revelation 21-22.)

Isa 65:17-25 – New Heavens and a New Earth

Isa 65:17“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy^c the work of their hands.
23They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,^d
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD,
and their descendants with them.
24Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD.

More Passages about Heaven in Isaiah

Isa 25:6-9 – God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

6On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
9It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Isa 35:1-10 – The Ransomed Shall Return to the City of God

1The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God.

3Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

8And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.^a
9No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isa 54:4-10 – God’s Eternal Covenant of Peace and Steadfast Love – 

                   Your Maker and Redeemer is your Husband

Isa 54:4“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
6For the LORD has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
7For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD, your Redeemer.

9“This is like the days of Noah^a to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
and will not rebuke you.
10For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isa 55:1-12 – The Compassion of the LORD

1“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.

6“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Isa 60:19-22 – The Lord will be your light in heaven

Isa 60:19The sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;^b
but the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.^c
20Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
21Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.^d
22The least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the LORD;
in its time I will hasten it.

Isa 62:2-5 – The Coming Marriage of the Redeemer and His people

                   – God rejoices over you!

2The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will give.
3You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4You shall no more be termed Forsaken,^a
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,^b
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,^c
and your land Married;^d
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.