ESOCS Devotional 11 February 2024 – Jesus Our Mediator
MEMORY VERSE: “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” Isaiah 59:17
TEXT: : ISAIAH 59:16-END
And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
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An intercessor is a mediator between two parties at odds with each other. Why do we need an intercessor? It is because we are alienated from God our Creator (59:2). We were not created to be separated from Him but separation has occurred and has brought loneliness, meaninglessness, despair to individuals and ungodliness and evil to society. Isaiah 59:1-15 makes this clear. The Lord God sees the evil in the world (59:15,16). There is injustice (59:4,8), violence (59:6,8), lying and oppression (59:13). People sin and sin and think nothing of it. But God sees it all. Remember David who committed adultery and murder and thought nothing of it, but the Lord saw it all and was displeased (2 Samuel 11:27).
The Lord saw that there was no intercessor (59:16) and he was astonished (59:16). He laments over human sin and the inability of people to find a way out of their mire. God is a God who laments. He takes no pleasure in evil. He grieves over our unbelief. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He weeps for the lost. But the Lord arises from lamentation and He himself provides an intercessor (59:16). This is prophetic of Christ Jesus. Isaiah lived about 700 years before Christ but he foretold the coming of Christ who would come and mediate for sinners. What people cannot do, God does.
Note some of the characteristics of the intercessor (59:17). He would be clothed in righteousness, salvation, vengeance and zeal. All these traits are seen in Jesus. Jesus was perfectly righteous. Jesus brings salvation. Jesus takes holy vengeance upon evildoers and He was filled with zeal in doing His Father’s work. Jesus perfectly fits Isaiah’s description of the intercessor.
For us, there is no need to live alienated from our Creator. He has seen our plight and has provided a way to bridge the gap that separates us from Him. This way is through the person of Jesus Christ who is the only person qualified to be our intercessor.
- Develop yourself to become an intercessor. The Church of God globally needs such people desperately, especially in this end time.
- Lord, please help me to grow spiritually until I qualify to be an intercessor.
Further Reading: Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 13:44-end; 1 John 5:13-end
ESOCS Devotional 11 February 2024
