Heavenly Evesdropping

“Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.” Isaiah 49:8

There are many verses in Old Testament Scriptures that are prophetic and tell of the coming Messiah. Beginning with Genesis 3:15, we learn the Messiah is born of a woman, and in Micah 5:2, he is born in Bethlehem. I could go on and on, but that is not the purpose of this writing. In the verse led with; that is, Isaiah 49:8, Jeremiah Burroughs in his sermon, Christ is All In All,  said that it was ‘apparent from the context that this (verse) is to be understood of Christ, that God the Father here speaks to His Son.’ Indeed, it came across to me as a prophetic eavesdropping, where God the Father allowed us to listen in to a heavenly conversation. Just when this conversation took place in the heavenlies? I guess probably millennia before the world was created; looked upon by Elohim and pronounced ‘good.’

As to what is it that Father and Son intended us to hear, the Father promised an ‘acceptable time’ when His Son’s prayers shall be heard, and I inferred from that, realized in time and space. In that ‘day of salvation,’ the Father shall help and preserve Him; giving Him in covenant, and thus, establishing the earth; and thus, leading to his inheritance of the desolate heritages. Matthew Henry refers to those ‘desolate heritages’ as to the restoration of Judah, and later, the church. It’s interesting to note that Jesus read in the synagogue another passage from Isaiah 61:2, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.”  Although, I should say that in Luke 4:19 where Jesus made this pronouncement, He stopped short and did not finish the passage from Isaiah related to the day of vengeance of our God. That day is yet to come.

Next, if we fast forward to Acts, Chapter 10, we read of a centurion named Cornelius. He was a devout man and in the third verse we read, “And when he (Cornelius) looked on him (an angel), he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he (the angel) said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.”  Yes, here we learn the fulfillment and realization of the ‘acceptable time in the day of salvation’ when the prayers of a Gentile came up as a memorial before God and were answered at the perfect time. It was through Cornelius that God then revealed to Peter that the Gospel was intended for all men: Jews and Gentiles alike, and thus, taking Christ’s inheritance to the desolate heritages; even unto the outermost corners of the earth, and in time now, to us. How can I say that? Because in II Cor. 6:2, what is the message heard and passed on to us since the day of our Lord’s ascension? “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

Here, we have come full circle. We first heard a pronouncement from time eternal… a promise made between Father and Son… accommodated by countless prophecies telling of Messiah’s coming; followed by His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. We read of the expansion of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and history tells us of it taken to the outermost corners of the globe. And finally, we are here; reading this but to what end? If you listened in, then you heard. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” And for those who have ears, let them hear.