Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
(Isaiah 49:13-18)
I have only a few minutes this morning to give to writing. As I was reading my Bible this morning, the above-quoted passage of Scripture caught my attention. In particular, I want to focus on the very unusual simile in that passage, which likens the ingathering and attachment of souls to some entity, to a bride's ornaments. In the passage quoted, the allusion to the Bride of Christ is not accidental.
Prophetically speaking, the adornment and preparation of Christ's Bride is a very significant antecedent to the Rapture of the Church. Every bride must be properly adorned and prepared PRIOR to the actual wedding ceremony. The Bible in several places addresses the point. It is important, then, that we should understand what is meant by symbolism used in Scripture, with reference to the subject under discussion; if we are to rightly decipher the mysteries of prophecy.
To be sure, the preparation and 'adorning' of Christ's Bride has everything to do with the spiritual development of individual Christian persons, respectively. Those qualities of moral and spiritual character that were exemplified in Jesus Christ, are to be continually maturing and developing in the life of each and every true disciple of Christ. The character of Jesus Christ is the beauty that is reflected in the lives of faithful believers in Jesus. Moral purity; spiritual maturity; a life of obedience to God and loving service to others: all of these are summed up in the Scriptural phrase "the righteousness of Christ" ~ wherewith the Bride of Christ is "arrayed" (see, Rev. 19:8).
Still, in keeping with the simile, it is not improper for us to interpret the meaning of the symbolism as that is used in Scripture, as indicating something more is intended with reference to some "ornament" (in addition to the 'clothing') worn by the Bride-to-be. In a word, that 'ornament' is...souls. Every real Christian should be able to understand that idea. We are saved not unto ourselves alone; but we are then to be Christ's ambassadors. Besides, "ornament" = 'souls' is the plain meaning of the text.
What can that then mean for us who are looking for the soon return of Christ? I believe I see, in the passage of Scripture we have been examining, yet another reason to hope for an End-time Revival that will result in a 'harvest' of souls commensurate with the incomparable magnitude (numerical) of this generation.
If there may be any among my Readers, who disagree with my continuing insistence that there is Scriptural reason to believe God for a great End-time Revival; I urge you to communicate your well-reasoned arguments in the Comments section, below. At the very least, this is a discussion WE OUGHT TO BE HAVING.
I will even go so far as to say that we ALL are confronted with the moral necessity of deciding whether we are FOR or AGAINST the IDEA of an End-time Revival. If we are FOR the idea ~ not merely the idea that an End-time Revival would be a good thing; but, rather, that it is needful and necessary...and, therefore, possible; then, we MUST GET BEHIND THAT IDEA, in every way.
If on the other hand we are AGAINST the idea that an End-time Revival may be forthcoming; then, we must be capable, by sound exegesis of Scripture, to show that such a Revival is not to be expected. Nor then should we pray for such a Revival; nor yet should we by any means encourage others to pray for it, much less to expect it.
But the latter sounds like apostasy and heresy, to me.
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