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Daily Devotion: Isaiah 11:16

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Isaiah 11:16     "And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt."

As I get older, I better understand the importance of Bible reading and study. I especially realize the importance of the Old Testament in the everyday struggles of life. Today's passage is an example of that. God has been telling the people through Isaiah that they are going to be taken into captivity. He has given them advance warning that it is coming, but He also is giving them hope in that there will be a day when deliverance will come. "There shall be an highway for the remnant of His people... from Assyria." We know from the book of Jeremiah that they will be in captivity for 70 years, but God is telling them that He already has made the way for them to come back home. He said it would be a highway, not a trail, not a path, not even a simple road. Rather the way back home will be on a highway, or a cleared way for them to make sweet progress on the journey back.

Though this was written decades before the deliverance would take place, what proof did God give the people in order for them to hold to His promise of deliverance?  God told them "...  like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." In the previous verse, He told them "... with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod." This would only give peace if they understood what God did for the people when He brought them out of Egypt in crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River.  We find many promises contained within God's Word and we will only find peace in them if we are resting in His faithfulness and infinite power and wisdom. Just as God has made a way for His people throughout history, He still does the same for us. Yes, it is very important that we are familiar with the Word of God and acquainted with His ways. But especially we are to be acquainted with "... the way, the truth, and the life." His name is Jesus.

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