Tuesday after Rogate
Scripture: Isaiah 4:2-6 (NKJV)
4:2 In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.
3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. 6 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.
Devotion
The Branch of the Lord is beautiful and glorious. The Branch is Christ, the one who comes forth from the roots of the stem of Jesse (Is. 11:1). He is beautiful and glorious in that God the Father has exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every other name. The Branch gathers a remnant of Israel together in His holy Church by writing their names in the book of life, or as Isaiah says here, “everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.”
This remnant is called holy as well. They are not holy in and of themselves, nor have they been made holy. They are called holy, that is, declared righteous by God on account of faith in Christ and justified freely by God’s mercy. He forgives their sins, washes away their filth in the waters of Holy Baptism. Where formerly God appeared to Israel in a pillar of fire and cloud, He promises to be present in Word and Sacrament over every dwelling in this Jerusalem, the faithful Church. He has said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). He is a refuge from the elements for His people, that is, from the hardships of life and the tempests of temptation. This is a beautiful picture of life in Christ’s Church. Here He daily and richly forgives all your sins as you make His Tabernacle your dwelling and refuge.
We pray: O God, from whom all good things do come, grant to us, Thy humble servants, that by Thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be right and by Thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
