Isaiah 11:10-12:2 - A Highway back to God!

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them.The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dry-shod.There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

God will Lead us back to Him
photo by Ari Moore, used under the creative commons license
check out more photos at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/arimoore/

Because His people deserted Him, the Lord allowed them to be carried away from their land, a land that the Lord Himself promised them.  They felt secure in the Lord's protection yet ignored His warnings to repent. When they didn't, they got carried away to a land they did not know.  Yet the Lord promises to pave a highway back. He promises that His people will not always be in exile. Their enemies will be destroyed and their mouths will be filled with praise for the Lord Who restores and forgives them. 

I do not always follow the path that God lays down for me. I stray and then the Lord allows me to live, as it were, in exile. In that place, I feel far from God but God promises to put me on a path, a highway back to Himself. How I should treasure the chastening of the Lord for it is His Love and Mercy that displays to me to shake me from my inattentiveness to Him. My life came from Him and belongs to Him; I should not live as if it were my own.  Rather, I shall rejoice in the God Who is my salvation, I wll trust and not be afraid.

Today I say, O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away and You comfort me.  You, O Lord, have brought me back to you in the Highway that leads to God.