“In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.”
~ Isaiah 4:2
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you think that fighting is okay? Do you think that wars are okay? Do you fight with each other – or with other kids? Who wins in a fight? Who wins in a war? What happens when guys, gals and kids fight? What happens when countries war? How does a guy, gal or kid win in a fight? How does a country win in a war? Fighting between guys, gals and kids is happening all the time. Why do you think that guys, gals and kids are always fighting each other? Warring between countries is happening all the time. Why do you think that countries are always warring against each other? Wars leave dead guys, widows and gals with no one to marry. As God unfolds the plan that He designed before He created planet Earth, why do you think that God willed fights – and wars, into a plan that your grandpaa sees as being a perfect plan? Why do you think that God willed a plan in which young guys would die fighting in wars? Why do you think that God willed a plan in which wives would have their husbands die in battles? Why do you think that God willed a plan is which young gals would beg the few remaining young guys to marry them? It is easy to forget that God is presently permitting Lucifer – a fallen angel who is also known as Satan, to have possession of planet Earth. Even though Satan has had God permit him to have possession of planet Earth for the time being, God has maintained absolute control of the plan that He designed before He created planet Earth. Nothing has happened, is happening or will happen on planet Earth that is not in God’s perfect will and plan that He willed/planned/created/designed before He created planet Earth.
Do you know any guy, gal or kid who is okay with guys, gals and kids fighting with each other? Do you know a guy, gal or kid who is okay with countries warring against each other? What do you think that Satan wants to see happening on planet Earth? Satan wants guys, gals and kids fighting with each other. Satan wants countries warring against each other. Why do you think that guys, gals and kids fight each other? Why do you think that countries war against each other? As an evil fallen angel, Satan wants to see appalling, wicked things taking place on planet Earth. Because God is a holy Being, God can only bring about pureness and beauty to exist. For God to have His holiness and mercy internalized, fighting and warring are ways that God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids will be able to understand Satan’s capacity to cause corruption and depravity. Isaiah 4 celebrates a very special moment in time. Verse 2 says, “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” A day is ahead when Jerusalem will have over it the glory of God’s presence as a cloud of smoke during the day and the glow of a flaming fire at night. A day is ahead when Satan’s ability and/or influence to cause horrific, dreadful evil things to happen – and Satan himself, will be removed from Jerusalem by God. A day is ahead when a widow will no longer sense being disgraced because she no longer has a husband. A day is ahead when a young gal will no longer sense being disgraced because she did not have the chance to have a kid. A day is ahead that will begin the arrival of hope on planet Earth. Hope first arrived on planet Earth 2000 years ago as God the Son – Jesus Christ. God the Son – Jesus Christ, will return to planet Earth one day to claim every guy, gal and kid who God – God the Father, gave to God – God the Son, to have as His very own.
Your grandpaa does not know the timeline of what Isaiah is writing about. Your grandpaa does know that the orb that God has him living on today has guys, gals and kids also living on this orb who are filled with hated, anger, jealousy, despair, greed, fear, bitterness, etc. Even though there are guys, gals and kids who have made decisions of faith to believe in what Jesus Christ did on a cross to defeat sin and death for them, these guys, gals and kids – like your dad, ma, grandmaa, grandpaa, etc. . . . will always be in a lifelong process of being made holy or sanctified by God. Being sanctified by God is having God – God the Spirit, continuously removing the dirty, filthy sinful junk that has wormed through senses into the hearts of guys, gals and kids who have made decisions of faith to accept God the Son – Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. Fighting and warring are in God’s perfect plan as a way of life on planet Earth. Fighting and warring are ways that God sends wakeup calls to His specially elected guys, gals and kids to look for hope – or peace, through another source other than through a fallen angel who wants guys, gals and kids to believe that having more money, more things and more prestige is the answer to hope and peace. There were several coups or government overthrows the first years that your dad was in Bolivia with your grandmaa, grandpaa and Aunt Lynn. A coup or a government overthrow was done by guys who thought that they deserved having the top power position as the country’s President – putting them in a place where they would be able to appropriate all the financial benefits of being the guy on top. A coup or a government overthrow by a power hungry grabber was scary for almost every other guy, gal and kid who was living in the country. Guys and gals would sometimes get hurt or killed in the fighting during a coup. Guys and gals would feel uncertain about their own future. Guys and gals want to trust other guys and gals but as that trust is repeatedly broken, guys and gals begin to live with less and less trust. When guys and gals no longer know that they can trust in other guys and gals, the only choices that these guys and gals have is to only trust in themselves or to trust in God. Your grandpaa hopes that you are looking past all the fighting and warring that is happening on planet Earth and that you are looking ahead to the day of Hope’s return.
Isaiah 4 (246)