AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Wednesday – February 22, 2023, Adar 1, 5783
IN THE DESERT A HIGHWAY
Greeting dear and precious saints and welcome back to our empowering Bible Study of the wonderful Bible Book of Isaiah. How good is our God? He is nothing but good, the other guy, the other kingdom not so. As we are moving forward, please take a moment and share this teaching as widely as possible by every means available to you to expand our reach with the Truth. Thank you so much for sharing, you have a vital role with others in this Ministry, in furthering the Kingdom of God. The featured picture today is of winter in Maine. This particular picture was taken out my Study window in the midst of a snowstorm when we lived in Maine.
Isaiah 40:3-8 (KJV)
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The Lord speaking through His Prophet Isaiah is telling of the coming not only of the Messiah but the one we call John the Baptist. He would not only return repentance to the people but the idea of a changed lifestyle following repentance. What we refer to as a renewing of the mind. Let’s once again review our text on John the Baptist from the gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 3:1-6 (KJV)
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
The wilderness speaks of the very dry place the people of God had willfully come to spiritually. None of us enter a dry place, a wilderness, by accident. We make choices, bad ones, that bring us to the place we have chosen. We don’t choose a wilderness but we lean to our own understanding disobeying Gods’ Word in the process, believing a lie instead and little by little we are further and further from the Lord. John the Baptist is preaching repentance and then to walk the way the Lord walks. The Kingdom of God (Heaven) is at hand and we must walk in this new way of walking and the empowerment to do so is at hand.
Mark 1:1-8 (KJV)
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Water is symbolic of the Word of God, the Word of God is Jesus, we must be immersed in the Word for our sins to be blotted out attaining to eternal life. We should come to such a point that people cannot see the difference between us and the Word. Just as Jesus said to His disciple Philip, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Can we say that? Should we be able to say that?
Luke 3:4-7 (KJV)
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
When we come to repentance and get the obstacles out of our lives, we see the fulness of His salvation. Well, Lord willing, I will pick up right here tomorrow. The Lord is so good.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Receive the blessing in Jesus’ name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (MSG)
24 GOD bless you and keep you,
25 GOD smile on you and gift you,
26 GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
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