God's Prophecy of Hope

We mentioned in our last post that most times God presented a prophecy of hope to the very same nations about which he prophesied a prophecy of doom. When the Old Testament prophets prophesied about future events they were not necessarily concerned about the chronology of those events. Their main message was to help the people understand the seriousness of the coming destruction and captivity God had prophesied and encourage the people to repent.

The prophecy of future prosperity was a message of hope and an answer to the concerns the various prophets had at the time as well as to help the faithful have and maintain their hope. For example, God showed Ezekiel His presence leaving the temple in Jerusalem (Ek 10-11) because He was going to remove His protection and allow the city to be conquered by the Babylonians. Of course, Ezekiel would be concerned and wonder if God’s presence would remain removed forever. So, God revealed to Ezekiel His presence would one day return and He helped Ezekiel to know that by the specifics which were provided (Ek 43:1-12). The point of this vision to Ezekiel was not to put it into a historical timeline; it was to provide the answer to his questions and to provide the hope he needed to hear.

The earth will always have nations, so many of these prophecies in the Old Testament will continue or be realized even in our future. Once Christ returns the second time to earth and sets up His Theocracy, the earth will still be divided into many nations (Rv 20:3). However, nations will no longer serve themselves but serve the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Although Israel has suffered much ridicule and abuse over the centuries, she will then be the one nation which all other nations will revere (Is 60:14-15). Many of the nations mentioned earlier which have received God’s judgment will now seek to come to Jerusalem to worship the Messiah, now their King (Is 11:10-16). Members of these nations will help to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, but the gates will never need to be shut again (Is 60:3-16).

God’s promises are not bound by time. One day, God will restore the tribes of Jacob and they will be a light to the Gentiles (Is 42:6, 49:6). The mission which God gave the children of Israel at Sinai to be priests to the nations (Ex 19:6) will come to fruition. Israel will be the one to proclaim to all the nations how to worship their God. They will be known as priests and ministers to all the nations (Is 61:3) and those who proclaim the glory of God (Is 66:19). The members of all the nations, as well as the rulers of these nations, will revere every Israelite (Is 62:12). Members of nations will be eager to worship the King and will even carry children of Israelites in their arms and on their shoulders with reverence and joy so they can travel with them to Jerusalem to worship the Lord (Is 49:22-23).

These prophecies still have meaning for us today just as they will for our future. It is a constant reminder to us that God’s word is truth. What God says will come to pass because time is irrelevant to the fulfillment of these prophecies. At the end of God’s longsuffering comes justice (usually interpreted as wrath). Our current age will end with the Tribulation. It’s a matter of when and not if.

We have seen God has a plan for nations. The Bible speaks of those nations in the Middle East because they are the most associated with Israel. Yet, it has always been true that nations who bless Israel are blessed and those who curse Israel are cursed.

We have also seen God has a plan for individuals. An individual‘s response to God trumps God’s plan for a nation. We have seen many examples of this in scripture which have been presented here and in previous posts. God’s words of doom always come with a word of hope. Our hope today is in Jesus Christ who will save us from God’s wrath to come. Aren’t you glad we have a God who plans for us like that?

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens