Holy, Holy, Holy
.
Isaiah 49:8-13
8. Thus says the Lord: "In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; 9. saying to the prisoners, `Come forth,' to those who are in darkness, `Appear.' They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10. they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up. 12. Lo, these shall come from afar, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene." 13. Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Revelation 7:9-17
9. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10. and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11. And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12. saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen." 13. Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?" 14. I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The book of Isaiah was written around 700 years before John put to paper Revelation. Certainly John was familiar with the teachings in Isaiah, and other Old Testament Books (the Torah). But Revelation takes Isaiah’s words and makes them very “up close and personal” for me! John didn’t just imagine or hallucinate all these things. He actually experienced them, I think, in a type of “out of body” experience. God wanted him, personally, to have a foretaste of what was to come. And God wanted John to experience the “future” in such a powerful way, on such an intimate level, so he could put it all in “human terms” for us to understand.
Of course there is a great deal of symbolism and references that seem foreign to us. But the words have such power! Revelation reads almost like an adventure story -- action packed and full of heavenly bodies, and evil beings -- and of course the ending -- where the “Good Guys” win and conquer the world at the end of time. I hope that’s not too sacrilegious! It helps me to read through Revelation and not get hung up on whether or not John’s words are literal or figurative.
Bottom line is: When the end comes, it will be so spectacular, so amazing, so unimaginable, so mind-boggling and incredible that we will fall down before the throne of God, ever praising and worshiping him for his love and for his faithfulness. We will be unable to express our gratitude, awe, humility. We will merely spend eternity at the foot of the throne, singing, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
I hope today you find comfort and encouragement in the certain truth that we will spend eternity with God. And that you’ll begin today to help bring about that perfection.
Mary
