Cleansing, then relationship

Cleansing, then relationship
Isaiah 4:4b "... he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire".

The context of this verse is speaking of the end times, when Jesus returns to Jersalem, to reign as king. Chapter 2 speaks of the millenial time of peace that will exist under the Lord's reign, chapter 3 speaks of judgment on Jerusalem and details its sins, especially of the leaders of the people (3:14).

Punishment comes. But then in chapter 4 we return to Jesus' intervention. The Lord comes with a spirit of judgment - in other words, with justice - God's purpose is not to execute vengeance, but to cleanse his people. The spirit of fire then removes the sin.

The result is in verse 5 - the presence of the Lord that accompanied the Israelites in the desert, now will be with them again, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. The cloud will be a canopy over God's glory, a shelter for those who take refuge with God.

So what does this mean for us? What about the spirit of judgment? God is a God of justice. He cannot ignore our sins and failings, he has to deal with them. Sometimes we do not want to see where we have gone astray, and need to be brought back on track. If we have a sensitive heart and a listening ear, we can be brought back relatively easily "This is the way, walk in it" (Isa 30:21).

If we are more reluctant to change, God may have to resort to correction. He does not delight in discipline, just as a loving father does not look forward to disciplining his child. But Hebrews 12 tells us "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" (Heb 12:10). The result is that we share in his holiness, we have a closer relationship with Jesus, and our life is on track once more.

So if we are going through a hard patch in our life, consider if it may be that God is encouraging us to change in some area of our life. This is not some surprise, because he will have already spoken to us about the matter. Now he is telling us that it is time to turn back to him in this area of our life.

When we listen to him and respond to his discipline, our relationship with him will now be uncluttered by sin and he answers our prayers and communes with us in our time with him.

"Lord, please cleanse me from all my sin. Restore in me a heart that is pure before you, so that I may share in your glory and experience your closeness in my life. I know that any correction I may receive is for my good, help me to learn the lessons you are teaching me. Thank you Lord, amen".