Isaiah 65:17 and 20.
Not a description of the eternal Kingdom, nor a description of a millennial new Jerusalem... there's no death or sin in either... but hope and inspiration for the believer, perhaps, that things can and will get better.
Isaiah 61:11
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
Genesis 24:11-14
Abraham's servant seeks a wife for Isaac.
I do love how the servant entrusted with such a significant undertaking, uses such a simple approach to discerning a kind and generous heart.
And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
Genesis 19:24-26.
“For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”
But not even ten righteous souls could be found in either Sodom, or Gomorrah.
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
Commentary from Luke 17:28-33.
“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
God’s care is first to His children.
To those who mock the ‘foolishness of the Cross’, wondering why He doesn’t show himself to them, is it any wonder? All are welcome at His table. Accept His gift, let Him in to your heart.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Isaiah 42:14–16
I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
Isaiah 39:6 Poor old foolish Hezekiah.
While it is polite to show generosity to your house guests, it's worth checking that they are not going to come back and swipe it all, plus many of your sons, before you do so.
See also 2 Kings 20:12-19.
Of course the lesson is all about Hezekiah's pride, and his self-belief before his trust and witness in God. He was generous and polite in showing his guests around the house... though pride and boastfulness were the true motives.
Genesis 15:6 Abram is counted righteous by faith, not deeds.
One of the most important passages in the Old Testament. Righteousness in the OT was demonstrated by adherence to the law. But Abram is counted righteous by faith, before he'd proven by work.
Genesis 13:14-15 God's promise to Abram.
All the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
Isaiah 27:1 The Lord will slay the dragon, the twisting serpent, defeating the embodiment of evil that is Leviathan.
Genesis 11:4. Hubris.
"Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
Isaiah 6:2 The Seraphim.
Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Genesis 3:21
Despite their grievous sin that cursed humanity through every generation, the Lord God showed his grace, by clothing Adam and Eve in animal skins - the first sacrifice covering our sins, and a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Genesis 2:8-9a.
The Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.
