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]Once upon a time, there was a prince who received a very rare and beautiful bird. He named her Goldie and placed her in a lovely, 14K gold cage. But the poor creature was not impressed by the gold at all. She pleaded for her freedom but the prince loved her much too much to part with her. Still, she continued to beg. In final desperation, she asked that he at least allow her go to her relatives and tell them that, though captive, she was still alive.
I came across an old legend about three cowboys crossing the desert on horseback by night. Suddenly, as they reached a rocky spot, a voice came from heaven and commanded them: “Friends, pick up some pebbles, put them in your pockets and do not look at them till morning.” The men looked at each other in astonishment and began to do as they were told. The voice went on to promise that if they obeyed, they would be both glad and sad. The perplexed men put a few pebbles each in their pockets and went on their way.
This is a story relayed by Corrie Ten Boom, “It was Christmas, 1944. My sister, Betsie, had died. I was in a hospital barracks in Ravensbruck, a Nazi prison camp. Dark it was in my heart, and darkness was around me. There were Christmas trees in the street between the barracks. Dead bodies of prisoners had been thrown under the Christmas trees. I tried to talk to the people around me about Christmas, but they mocked and sneered. At last I kept quiet.
The baby that came into the world through the scenario above was named Ishmael. According to Islamic belief, it was Ishmael that was offered as a sacrifice by Abraham, and through him that they became the rightful inheritors of the promises of God. In other words, Ishmael was the seed through which Islam was born. Hmmm.
When Jim Burke became the head of a new products division at Johnson & Johnson, one of his first projects was the development of a children’s chest rub. The product failed miserably, and Burke expected that he would be fired. When he was called in to see the chairman of the board, however, he met a surprising reception. “Are you the one who just cost us all that money?” asked Robert Wood Johnson. “Well I just want to congratulate you. If you are making mistakes, that means you are taking risks, and we won’t grow unless you take risks!” Apparently, Mr. Johnson wasn’t joking! Years later, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the largest multi-national manufacturers of pharmaceutical, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, personal hygiene, baby and biotechnology products.
In her book, Let Me Be a Woman, Elizabeth Elliot records the story of a friend who had great difficulty accepting the looks God had given her. While everyone this girl knew had grown beautiful golden hair, hers was black. And while they were all still growing, she had stopped. She grew to be only about four feet ten inches tall.
“A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do. ‘Well,’ said the chaplain, ‘you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don’t provoke them.’