Like the Days of a Tree

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But 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. I 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. No 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. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They 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 the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The 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.

Isaiah 65:17-25

Isaiah 64:3-4

When you did awesome things that we did not look for,

you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear,

no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.

Soon

In days to come Jacob shall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit.

Isaiah 27:6

Perfect Peace

You keep him in perfect peace 

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you. 

Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 19:23-25

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, 

and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, 

and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

This is really hard to imagine in today's world. 

What would it take to bring these nations together? 

What do you think of ancient words like this? 

Can they be for today?

See in the Dark

See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Isaiah 32:1-2

Darkness is all he can see. It colors everything. It clouds beauty, reality, and truth. He doesn't know it, but he is moving by hearing, by following the sound of your voice. He hears righteousness and it moves him, but he is blind. For now. Until now, this precise moment, when the sky cracks and the light comes pouring in to embrace him. It is the first time since he was a child that he has used his God-given sight. He doesn't quite remember how to do it, but focuses on each of us one at a time. He looks into our eyes and sees life. This is marvelous, he thinks, and his thoughts become actions. Reaching up, boldly, he tears away the rest of the sky. Then, it is just him and the stars. They are not random as he supposed. Each is purposeful. So is he. Not random. Not adrift. On purpose. This is how he becomes a king. 

It had all started when he heard, "You need to turn to the Lord so you can see in the dark." 

He didn't know what it meant, at first.

Forget

Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness 

and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Fast

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:6