Sun.’s Devo - Our New Covenant

Read: Isaiah 28:14-30:11; Galatians 3:23-4:31; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 23:19-21 Hezekiah had made an alliance with the Assyrians to protect which he ended up breaking but it gave them a false sense of security. God was also talking about their spiritual condition. They were not living their lives with eternity in mind; they were trusting in their own power to protect them. God was going to remove the things they trusted in and the very ones they trusted in would be the ones who would trample them and take them captive. God is the great husbandman of the earth. He taught man how to plant and reap each crop according to its nature and he knows just how to reap every man according to their nature. In Chapter 29, Ariel refers to Jerusalem. Ariel means “the lion of God” but in this case it means “an altar covered with blood”. The people of Jerusalem would be blinded and not be able to hear the prophecies against them. They would not be able to understand what God was doing until Jesus came and took off the seal and revealed truth to them. Since they couldn’t see what God was doing, they thought he couldn’t see what they are doing. God’s judgment were going to come so swiftly it would astonish them because they wouldn’t be prepared. In Chapter 30, God rebuked them for making alliances with Egypt. They sent caravans of treasures to pay Egypt for their support but it would be for naught. Egypt would not help them. They should have asked the Lord for help; he is the only one who cares about them. In Galatians, Paul explains that the law protected them until the way of faith could come. Now that grace has come, everyone that comes to the Lord through Jesus is saved and a child of Abraham. Paul reminds them of Abraham’s two sons. Ishamael was born because Abraham and Sarah tried to make God’s promise come early. He was the son of the slave wife, Hagar. It still kept them in bondage to it. Isaac was the promise fulfilled and he represents Salvation through Jesus. Hagar stands for the covenant given on Mt. Sinai to Moses which enslaved them. Those who live by the law are enslaved by it. Sarah stands for the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman who is our mother. We are her children just as Isaac was. They were being persecuted by those who kept the law just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac. Ishmael was born by human effort and Isaac was born by the Spirit of God. God through Abraham told Sara to get rid of the slave and her son because they wouldn’t share in the inheritance of Isaac, the child of promise. The same is true of us. The ones who live by the law will not inherit the promise of heaven given to the ones who believe in the Son. Lord, help us to remember our inheritance is not on this earth but awaiting us in heaven. We are children of freedom and life.