And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
A ranger in a pitch black cave gave an unintentional lesson in theology to a tour group when he lit a match. That one match brightly beamed all over and lit the cave perfectly. If not for that light in the darkness, despair would have set in as the people would have feared for their lives wondering if they would ever be able to see their way to safety. But of course they had hope because they could trust the ranger, that he knew the way and could lead them out of darkness. The promise of salvation was inherent in their trust of the ranger. The Apostle Paul had a similar message for the church in Rome. In his masterful letter, Paul gave a theology lesson about the hope in Jesus Christ that is gained by trusting in him to lead us out of sin and into eternal life. It was plain to see.
Isaiah wrote those words to a people who had forgotten God and trusted in themselves. They would soon find themselves lost in the dark cave of captivity. But there was hope for Israel, Isaiah said. A descendant of King David would arise because God promised David. That is true for us in dark days before the Merry Christmas. As I heard recently in a documentary called Covenant and Controversy…
Dark and distressing days are ahead of us but we are not without hope…
The King is Coming.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church