From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. (Isaiah 46:11, NIV)
Every champion golfer goes into a competitive round with a plan. We might even say these top players go into their practice rounds with a plan. They know what they want to accomplish every time they put the peg in the ground on the first tee.
God still lays plans. He still executes them. And he does so with precision.But this is equally true: not a one executes their plan perfectly. Leading up to this year’s US Open at daunting Oakmont, Jordan Spieth said, “There are a number of holes where if you hit it on the line you want, you can make birdies.” Then he went on to say how because of the camber in the fairways, it just wasn’t that easy to hit it on the line you want. So much for best laid plans…
In speaking through the prophet Isaiah about the coming judgment of his people through exile in Babylon, God revealed the stunning details in how he executes his plans.
The kingdom had been divided into Israel and Judah, the latter representing the house of David, through whom Jesus would come. Because of this lineage of the coming Savior, there was no permanent judgment to be levied against Judah because of its disobedience to God, but just as Israel was carted off in the hands of the Assyrians, the people of Judah would be nearly all removed from the Promised Land and marched to Babylon for 70 years of discipline. This was the plan of God.
But how would this happen? Babylon was a country so distant, it was likely unknown to the people of Judah. Did they really have anything to fear?
This is when God spoke through Isaiah, reminding the people of his matchless power demonstrated by how he had ordered the past (see Isaiah 46:9). Now he was preparing to exercise his power in the future. He would do so through “a bird of prey” from the east, “a man to fulfill my purpose” from a far-off land. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was this bird of prey, this man to fulfill God’s purpose. Those who know the book of Daniel know the outcome of this plan of God.
What is critical for us to understand from accounts like these is that they do not stand in isolation. God still lays plans. He still executes them. And he does so with precision. No plan of God has ever been discarded or fallen by the wayside.
This should bring a confidence, and a holy fear, to God’s people. The unfilled prophecies of Scripture are only unfulfilled as of yet. God’s plans, announced and unannounced, remain in place; the details are in his hands. May we praise him and obey him with this awareness ever in mind.
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Jeff Hopper
August 3, 2016
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.