The Promise

Isaiah 12:1 "And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me."

In the midst of judgment, here is a message of comfort that someday the Lord's anger would be turned away and Israel would rest in the promise land.

It reminded me of an oft quoted passage in the New Testament. John 14 came to us between the birth of Jesus and his death on the cross. It was a time when it must have seemed to Jesus' disciples that all was lost.

And for us, as Christians, we are between the birth of our redemption and the promise of our rest in heaven.

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me." The chapter of comfort begins. Then he promises: v2 "...I go to prepare a place for you. v3 "...I will come again, and receive you unto myself..."

Here we see those comforting words to a people that were going into captivity: v3 "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."

They knew about wells. Their forefathers had gone about digging wells to give people water and to water their flocks. One of those wells was an important part of Jesus' ministry. Remember, the woman at the well. John 4:6 "Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well; and it was about the sixth hour."

We know the story of how Jesus used the well to illustrate the plan of salvation to the woman of Samaria.

So, we could call this chapter the chapter of hope. We can endure many troubles if there is hope of relief at the end. It is when there is no hope that people despair.

v4 "And it that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted."

v6 "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."

What was the hope? For one, the LORD would be in their midst. Israel would honor him as in the beginning. They would have joy again and sing as before. That's a lot to look forward to.

Psalm 119:75 "I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."