Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.
Isaiah’s vision looks ahead — not only to the Arm of the LORD revealed in the Exodus or even in the cross, but to the day when that same Arm will come again in glory. This is not a picture of brute force but of purposeful arrival. The Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — comes clothed with strength to establish His rule, and He does not come empty-handed. His reward is with Him, and His work is before Him. The promise is sure: He is coming, and He is rewarding.
“His reward is with Him” speaks to the faithfulness of God’s covenant. The Hebrew word sakar carries the sense of blessing, vindication, and fulfillment of promise. The Lord does not forget His people. When He comes, He comes with restoration, with vindication for the righteous, and with the joy of fulfilled hope. The Arm that rules does not bring only judgment; He brings blessing for those who have trusted Him.
“His work is before Him” reminds us that nothing is left unfinished. What He begins, He completes. The story of redemption is still unfolding, and the Arm of the LORD carries it forward without delay or distraction. Creation itself testifies to His completed word, and redemption will likewise be brought to perfect fulfillment. The work of salvation is not a project abandoned halfway — it is always before Him, and He will see it through until the end.
Messianically, Isaiah’s prophecy echoes into Revelation 22:12: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” The Arm revealed in weakness on the cross will return in glory, not only to reign, but to reward. The Lamb who was slain will return as the King who repays justice for the wicked, and eternal blessing for the faithful. His coming will consummate what His Arm has already secured: salvation, restoration, and everlasting kingdom.
For us today, this shifts our perspective. We live not as those scrambling under the chaos of the world but as those awaiting the certainty of His appearing. His work is still unfolding — and we are caught up in it. His reward is already secured — and we are heirs of it. Every act of obedience, every step of faith, every burden carried in His name will be answered when the Arm comes.
The Arm that once stretched wide to save you is the very Arm that will soon split the heavens and come for you. Lift your eyes — your King is coming clothed in power, crowned with justice, and carrying blessing for His people. Stand unshaken, for His work includes you, and His reward will surely be placed in your hands.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]While most read the story of Jonah focusing on Jonah’s journey, I want to pause and examine the lives of the pagan sailors. What a journey they were on! We see the hand of God touching them providentially through Jonah’s disobedience. Talk about God bringing good from evil.
So the captain came to Jonah, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” At this point the captain (who probably worshiped Baal and Yamm, god of the sea) has more faith than Jonah.
It must have been a bad storm. These men were experienced, hardened sailors who had seen it all at sea. If they were scared, this could have been the first “perfect storm” since Noah’s flood. So they started the first interfaith prayer meeting in the Bible, each man crying out to his own god. As the ship groaned and creaked in howling wind and massive waves, and the men threw cargo overboard in a desperate attempt to save it, where was Jonah? On deck helping them? Confidently praying to His own God? Shaking with fear and paralyzed with deep conviction? No, he’s taking a nap down below…
For the next week or so we’ll be looking closely at the life of Jonah the prophet. Jonah was told to “preach against the city of Nineveh”, that was in the ancient kingdom of Assyria. Nineveh was a major city on the banks of the Tigris River about 500 miles north and east of where Jonah was; located on a contemporary map in modern Iraq, about 300 miles north of Baghdad. Archaeologists have found the ruins of ancient Nineveh right outside the Iraqi city of Mosul. Yes, the same Mosul that was taken last week by jihadists!
So Jonah goes and begins to preach in this pagan city. His message is very simple. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown”(v. 4). That’s it. That was his whole message. It’s eight words in English; only 4 words in Hebrew.
Abraham was sitting in front of his tent on the plains of Mamre, when the LORD (Yehovah — Yud Hay Vav Hay) came to him and declared the fulfillment of a promise He had made to him many years before, saying that through Abraham’s seed the world would be blessed! (Genesis 12:7; 13:15-16, 15:18, 17:7-9)
As we conclude the Feast of Sukkot tonight, I want to reflect on one of the profound mysteries of God—how He aligns the prophetic clock with the Hebrew calendar. Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, is a harvest celebration. Notably, it remains one of the few biblical feasts yet to be fulfilled prophetically, pointing us to future events in God’s divine plan.