Day 19

Today in class, Stephen Venable was teaching on John the Baptist and the Forerunner Ministry. We were looking at a passage in Isaiah 40:9, “

O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

However, today Stephen said that it isn't Zion who is calling the people to behold their God but a better translation of this passage sees these verses as still referring to the ‘voice’ of vs. 3-5, the ASV says,

“O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up to a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

So this is a charge to the forerunner to call the people of Israel to behold their God; to see Him as He truly is, to gaze upon His beauty. The forerunner is exalting Jesus so that “all mankind together will see it.” However, it is impossible to call someone else to behold that which you have not gazed upon yourself. Before anyone can bear witness to the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, they must gaze upon that light themselves. Otherwise, what will you say? How would you tell others that He is good unless you have experienced it yourself? I was really encouraged today just because I know that the last two years that I have been in Kansas City might seem like a waste to some, but all those hours of beholding the Lord are writing a message on my heart. I will be able to tell others, not about doctrines, but about a man. “Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved; this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!” (Sos 5:16).