Day 2 Feb 27



Day 2 Feb 27

Passage: Isaiah 40: 3-8
God’s judgment and discipline against His people was not the terminal point! Judgment and discipline are meant to renew once more! God clearly expressed to His people that He was the one who doubly punished them. Since this punishment was from God, then one can possibly look forward to a revival from God. If destruction of a nation was due to a chance event in history, then this would be entirely due to acts of man in history. Then God really had nothing to do with the national disaster faced by the people, and whether or not God still represented as hope to the people still could not be ascertained.

So God began Chapter 1 by bringing the charges against the people, and simultaneously proclaiming that God would act to discipline and punish the Israelites. This indeed came to pass; Jerusalem was destroyed, meaning that God’s temple also ended in ruins! With the exception of the elderly and the people who were looked down upon, still staying in Jerusalem, many in their prime were held captive in the Babylonian kingdom. Of course, there were many who had fled to the neighboring countries. The Jewish nation had been destroyed! How could one face the days ahead? All the infrastructure and people having to do with God’s faith were in total collapse! Would God’s religion be lost as a result? Be forgotten as a consequence?

How would God go about starting the rescue and renewal effort? God decided to evoke the faith people have in Him once again! The direction of the revival had to be right, the content of the renewal had to be sound, God needed to be the object of peoples’ trust and confidence again! And God started with how. He could once again become the God whom the people would willingly trust! God needed to let the people understand at this very moment that He is the God whom the people could trust. God needed to convince the people to restore their faith in and fear of Him.

God first began to have the people focus on Himself. God says:
The splendor of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it at the same time.

God once again revealed His glory, man has to see God’s glory once again (imagine the glory which God had revealed to Israel in the past, the gospels also recorded that Jesus revealed glory). God did not explain in further detail here as to how to reveal His majestic glory. God only persistently reaffirmed His steadfast promise to the people to reveal His glory once again, God said this is what he had pre-destined, and no power whatsoever would be able to prevent God from completing this!

Prayer: The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable.

第二天 Feb 27

经文：以赛亚书 40:3-8
神对百姓的审判和惩戒不是终点!审判和惩戒是为了再次复兴!神向百姓清楚表明：是自己在加倍惩罚百姓。既然是来自神的惩罚，就有可能期盼来自神的复兴。如果遭遇亡国是因为历史的机遇，是完全因为人自己在历史中的作为。神还真是与百姓的国难没什么关系，神对百姓而言是否是希望还真不能确定。

神因此从第一章开始就宣告百姓的罪状，也同时宣告神会出手管教、惩戒以色列人。事情果真发生，耶路撒冷城被毁，代表神同在的圣殿也成了废墟!除了年老及不被看上的人仍旧留在耶路撒冷，许多的壮年人都被掳到巴比伦帝国。当然，也有许多逃难到周边国家的百姓。犹大国就此灭亡了!以后的日子会如何？  一切有关耶和华信仰的体系和人员都崩溃瓦解。耶和华的信仰是否就此消失？是否就此被遗忘？   

神会如何着手开始拯救复兴的工作？  神决定再次唤起百姓对祂的信心!复兴的方向要正确，更新的内容要扎实，耶和华上帝必须要重新成为百姓所信赖的对象!神从自己如何再成为百姓所愿意信赖的神这一点开始!神要让百姓明白此时此刻，百姓可信赖的神就是自己。神要说服百姓重新对耶和华产生信赖及敬畏之情。

神先把百姓的目光焦聚在自己身上。神说： 耶和华的荣美必然显现，凡有血气的必同时看见。神要再次显示自己的荣耀，人要再次看见神的荣耀（试想，过去神曾在以色列人中显过的荣耀，福音书也记录耶稣显出荣耀）。这里神没有进一步说明会怎样彰显荣耀。神只是不断地向百姓重申祂再显荣耀的承诺，神说这是祂命定的事，没有任何势力能拦阻神兑现承诺!

祷告：草必枯干，花必凋残，唯有耶和华上帝祢所承诺的事，必然兑现。

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