and he( the root of Jesse, Jesus, the Christ} will delight in the fear of the LORD.  He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.  Parentheses, mine.  See vs. 1 and 2

He will not judge by what he sees or hears, but he will judge by the perfect qualities of His character.  His judgments will be righteous.  His decisions will be just. Our governing authorities make decisions and judgments based on testimony and facts. How different His reign will be.

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

When the LORD takes out all of those they have put their trust in instead of Him, when all hope is gone, they will return to God; they will rely on Him, the Holy One of Israel.

How many times has this happened to us in our own lives.  The things we have relied upon for wisdom, for provision, for stability are removed.  We then do what we should have done to begin with –   rely on God, do it His way, enjoy His blessing.

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.  In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles by the way of the sea, along the Jordan –  the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Clearly, this is a prophecy of the arrival of Jesus in human history.  In a land that is dark with sin and shadowed by death, the light will come.  His Name is Jesus.  He will cleanse men from sin and raise the shadow of death.  Then, as now, many will see the Light or Jesus, and, sadly turn and embrace the darkness.

Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.  The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary… 

It is only God who is holy and to be feared, yet he has said that he will be a sanctuary.  The One Who controls it all, the Sovereign over all the earth and mankind, He will be our sanctuary.  To know this is a special gift in these troubling times.

Say to him, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid.  Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood – because of the fierce anger of Rein and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.  Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin,… vs. 7  Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ” It will not take place, it will not happen.”

Don’t lose your head when people whisper against you, say evil about you to bring you down.  TRUST God, Who is in charge of your life and times.  Remember, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart.  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste.  But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.

Here is the mention of the remnant again.  A tenth of the people will remain., but the land itself will be laid to waste.  This is when they must trust the Lord and remember Isaiah 3: 8 through 10, Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.  Woe to them!   They have brought disaster upon themselves.  Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

Even though the destruction is all about them, the land is wasted, God has promised to care for the righteous

They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.  Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding.

Verse 13 in effect, says they receive their punishment “for lack of understanding.”  It seems to me that, then and now, in our society, men choose to not understand.

Romans 1:19 and 20  “…since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”  These verses make it very clear:i f creation was all we had as a reference, we would need to make a choice NOT to understand that these are the works of the hands of God.

thank you for your patience.  After six weeks on the sick list, I am finally in recovery and looking forward to our devotional time.