Contrary to Hope, in Hope Believe
Sometimes I am tempted to despair that Israel, my people, will survive the hate that this world and its ruler has for them. I know the promise of God, that He will one day send the Anointed One, Y'shua, again to earth to sit on the throne of David and restore the kingdom to Israel, but that promise seems so distant. I know that I am part of the Church, but I am no less a Jew for that. I still care for my people, my countrymen according to the flesh. When I think of the suffering that yet lies ahead for them during the time of Jacob's trouble, though I will not be here to experience it, my heart quails within me. Yet in studying for the book of Acts I came across a prophecy in Isaiah, and one night in bed when these thoughts were troubling me I read it again and I knew that God had written this so that all generations of Israel might have hope.
This is what God said through the prophet Isaiah, "Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.' One will say, 'I am the LORD's'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' and name himself by the name of Israel."
"Fear not..." Like my father Abraham I will, contrary to hope, in hope believe because the LORD is the God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.
This is what God said through the prophet Isaiah, "Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.' One will say, 'I am the LORD's'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' and name himself by the name of Israel."
"Fear not..." Like my father Abraham I will, contrary to hope, in hope believe because the LORD is the God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.