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Isaiah 2:1-5 – The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
You know, the mountain on which God’s temple was built in Jerusalem is not very high—more of a hill than a mountain. It tops out at 2,430 feet (740 meters) above sea level. It would take some serious mountain moving to make it the highest of mountains, as Isaiah predicts!
But then, what about the other miracles in this passage? Because Isaiah says people will volunteer to travel there to learn God’s ways. When’s the last time you saw a church packed with people who were there, not for a wedding or funeral, but simply because they wanted to know the Lord?
Or take the last impossibility: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Oh, please, dear Lord, make this one come true soon!
To us these are all impossibilities—but to God, they are part of His daily work. For God is in the business of doing the impossible, as He showed when He came down from heaven to become our Savior. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead, God took people like you and me and turned us into His own children. Now there’s an impossibility for you! Because we know perfectly well we could never change our own hearts. But God can and does. We who were once completely self-centered, living in darkness, looking out for number one, are now forgiven people filled with His Holy Spirit, who are learning to love God and our neighbors more and more as the days go by. How can this be? Because Jesus has loved us, even to the point of death on a cross.
Jesus loves you—and He intends to have you. He has paid the highest price for you, and He does not think it was too expensive. And now that He has risen from the dead and lives forever, there is nothing strong enough to stop Him from bringing you safely to Himself forever, to live with Him in joy and love. As He says, “I give [My people] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, please keep doing impossible things in my life, and make me forever Yours. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- Which of the three impossible things in Isaiah’s prophecy seems to you the most impossible?
- Why?
- What impossible things has God already done, or begun to do, in your own life?
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