Hope For Today
Daily Encouragement for a Healing Heart from the Word of God
Deep pain and brokenness have a way of making Bible study difficult. To help bridge the gap and re-ignite our hunger for the Word of God, we’ve put together a daily devotional designed to help us all lean into God as we heal. May we seek Him daily!
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. Psalms 143:8 (NIV)
- Hope For Today
December 3 - Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (NKJV)
We are examining the prophesies about Messiah in Scripture, and how Jesus fulfilled them. Yesterday we started unpacking the revelation from Genesis below and explained how Jesus fulfilled the first component – He was the male offspring of the woman. Today, we’ll look at the next two components of the prophecy.Genesis 3:14-15 - Then the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel."
- The Messiah would be the male offspring of the woman
- There would be hostility between the offspring of the Devil and the offspring of the woman
- The Messiah would be wounded by Satan
- The Messiah would destroy Satan.
John 8:40-41 & 44-47 – Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father...For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don't believe Me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don't you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don't listen because you don't belong to God."
During the time of Jesus's life here on earth, the Jewish religious leaders had become utterly corrupt. No longer were they living to honor God and lead the people in devotion to and eager anticipation for the coming Messiah. They had abandoned the truth of Scripture for their own tedious rules and regulations meant to elevate their status and wealth among the Jewish people. During the time of Jesus's ministry, he confronted these men numerous times calling them out for what they were – the offspring of the devil. Vipers and snakes! But these men didn't repent and turn back to God. No, they went to war with the long-promised Messiah, bent on seeing Him murdered for His stinging accusations, thus fulfilling that early prophecy. 3. Satan would strike (Bruise in some translations) Messiah's heel.Isaiah 53: 4-5 (NKJV) - Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Though the religious leaders likely didn't realize it, they were fulfilling the role that had been foretold from the beginning. While they foolishly waited for a conquering king to show up, they blindly handed over the Messiah to death on a cross. He was bruised and beaten in our place, and for one triumphant moment, Satan and his forces likely felt they had upset the plan and dealt the death-blow meant for them. In their arrogant lust for power they forgot the very words of the promise - “He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.” Messiah's head had not been crushed, His foot had simply been bruised. We’ll finish this prophecy up tomorrow by looking at how Jesus dealt that death-blow to the head of the serpent three short days later.
- Verse of the Day
Come back tomorrow for a new passage, a new verse image, and a new encouragement here at Hope for Today.
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