Living in the Spirit

October 18, 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45:1-7
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
   and the gates shall not be closed:
I will go before you
   and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
   the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
   and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
   I surname you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
   I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

I was taken aback when I read the phrase: I arm you, though you do not know me, the word “arm” in my mind describes a military weapon, only to be used by well-trained professionals. So, I went to Strong’s Concordance to see what the Hebrew word that was translated as “arm” was all about.  The word is azar, meaning to gird, encompass, equip.*  To me, that sounds more like wearing a helmet or a protective vest, but I am not a trained translator. I do think the word azar moves beyond external protection gear to intestinal fortitude. God does endow us with the strength to carry on our mission in God’s service and even provides us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose very presence encompasses anything that we may encounter in our lives when we welcome the Holy Spirit to join us in all our challenges.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the protection of your love and for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/247.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.