Until the Spirit is Poured Out

Jerusalem’s days were (and are) numbered. Unrighteousness was rampant among the leaders, priests, and people. Their sin and idolatry was coming up before the LORD and His righteous judgment was coming on the city He chose for His Name to dwell. They had elevated foolish men into places of leadership. Their princes were not noble. Fools were speaking nonsense, their hearts inclined to wickedness, leading themselves and many astray to practice ungodliness and to speak error against the LORD. They were not caring for anyone, not even the needy. 

But God saw that. The Word of the LORD had came to Isaiah for this reason, to give him words of warning so they might hear and repent. Isaiah would speak many words to this stubborn people, all aimed at encouraging repentance, but few would hear and obey. So the future of the beloved city was set. It would fall. Its fall would be complete. The palaces and house abandoned, the fields would grow over with thorns and briars. Wild donkeys would trample the places where people once walked. Shepherds would let their flocks graze where children once played. It would become a pasture instead of a populated city. 

Isaiah even admonished the complacent women of Jerusalem for their ease and wickedness. A timeline was set - within a year and a few days they would be troubled. The grapes of wrath were about to be harvested and trampled. He called them to mourning for the loss to come. They would see its fall. 

How long would it be abandoned? How long would it suffer this fate? Until The Spirit of God is poured out on His people, and the wilderness became a forest. The justice would prevail and righteousness would abide. There would be peace, quietness, and confidence in God forever. The righteous King would reign, and princes under Him would rule justly. Each one would be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storms. Only then would God’s people live undisturbed in a peaceful habitation and secure dwellings. But until then, the city would be laid waste.