Isaiah 62 & 63

It's been an outstanding day already - I'm down to 176.5lbs and can comfortably get into a pair of slim-fit jeans that I've not been able to wear for a couple of years at least. I probably could have worn them for a few weeks. Debs says I've definitely been putting on muscle around my upper body - and I can feel it when I wear certain clothes as they are tight in places they aren't usually tight and loose in places they aren't normally loose! Thanks to God and to Iain's gardening job that I do on a Friday & Saturday.

The passage this morning Isaiah 62 & 63.

Continues the theme of God's delight in his children and how he longs to bless them and wipe away their enemies. I love the bit in verse 62:4 where God says

"You will be called Hephzibah, and you land Beulah"

Hephzibah means "my delight is in her" and Beulah "married". It requires you to put your head into a bit of a paradigm shift to get the true significance of this. Firstly it's talking about Zion and Jerusalem and secondly it looks forward to the coming kingdom.

The Old Testament is wonderfully baroque when it talks about vengeance - you get all the gore and venom and it's nearly always contrasted with God's love and tenderness to his children. For example, one of the Psalms (139) talks like this: The similies are all of love and tenderness until verses 19, 20 & 21 when suddenly you are assailed:

"Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord and abhor those who rise up against you?"

and so on. It is the same here at the start of chapter 63.