Isaiah 66:7-13 “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the LORD. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; 11 That you may feed and be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory.” 12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The expectation of the coming Kingdom of God is intimately connected with the restoration of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. The preceding passage describes Zion in labor, as once again, we find the metaphor of birth used to convey this scriptural promise. It is a national gestation which will not be aborted, but will come to fruition. But first, before this labor begins…a “male child” is born… This can be none other than Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, Israel’s King, Himself, arriving beforehand, (on a donkey, at that), quite some time before the labor which gives birth to the nation; and causing the prophet to wonder if a nation can be born in a day.
So, the King comes to Jerusalem, humble and proclaiming the Kingdom, offering it to the people of Israel, if they will accept it, claiming that John the Baptist is the Elijah who came, and demonstrating His Messianic and kingly authority….but knowing in advance that they, especially the leaders, won’t receive Him; [Isaiah 53], and the Kingdom will have to wait. Nevertheless, shall the delivery process stop? Should the womb suddenly be shut? No, it will continue, but after some time.
In the interim, the nations will receive the gift of salvation through Israel’s Messiah, and the seed of the Kingdom will be planted in them. Then, after two days (two thousand years), [Hosea 6:1-3], the Kingdom promise will begin to be fulfilled in our day, in the rebirth of modern Israel as a nation, three years after the Holocaust….”Zion’s labor,” and so a nation IS born in a day, May 14th, 1948. But is this the Kingdom? No, not yet. It’s still only a harbinger.
Such a series of “birthings” already, and still more to come? The modern state of Israel will once again go through the travail of birth. “Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?” Jacob’s Trouble, yet another “birthing”….then, finally, all Israel will be saved! [Jeremiah 30:6-7; Romans 11:25-29]
Ask any mother about giving birth. Ask her especially about “transition,” though you may never have heard the medical term for the final stage of labor. If she’s a believer, she may tell you that she never prayed like that at any other time in her life, and if not, she may tell you that she prayed for the first time in her life during transition. The pain is excruciating. The Lord is longing for the birthing of His Kingdom, even as the labor pains increase, the nations align themselves against Jerusalem [Zechariah 14:2], and Zion’s final travail seems on her doorstep. So He calls to the faithful of all nations to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, [Psalm 122:6], and to His watchmen, to give Him no rest [Isaiah 62:6-7] until Jerusalem is a praise in all the Earth, and to everyone, “Thy Kingdom come!”
But is it possible you also are experiencing some kind of “travail”? The Kingdom, in its seed form, in us also, is birthed through painful trials, and we should not be surprised about it; [1 Peter 4:12]. If the King, Himself was made perfect through suffering [Hebrews 2:10], we also, will enjoy the same privilege, with the same result. Endure in prayer through your trial, and let the Kingdom be birthed in you. He will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Elul is unlike any other month. As we mentioned yesterday, it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th on the prophetic calendar. This dual position gives Elul a unique character — it both closes a cycle and prepares for a new one. That is why the shofar sounds each day during Elul: it is a wake-up call, reminding us to reflect, repent, and return to the Lord before the great and awesome days of the Fall Feasts.
This begins a very special season on God’s calendar — the month of preparation before the Fall Feasts. The month of Elul is unique: it is the 12th month on the civil calendar and the 6th month on the prophetic/biblical calendar. Each day of Elul is marked by the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet call that awakens the soul. These daily blasts prepare our hearts for Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah) and ultimately for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
We have come to the final meditation in this journey through the Z’roah, the Arm of the LORD. From the Arm that redeemed Israel out of Egypt, to the Arm that pierced the dragon, to the Arm that is coming with reward — all of these revelations lead us here: the Arm that brings His people into rest.
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.
Isaiah recalls the Exodus as the supreme display of God’s Z’roah, His Arm of glory. Though the people saw Moses raise his staff over the Red Sea, it was not Moses’ power that split the waters. Behind the prophet’s hand was the Arm of the LORD — majestic, glorious, and unstoppable. The sea parted not to honor Moses, but to exalt the Name of the God who sent him. The Red Sea became a stage for God to reveal His glory, so that His Name would echo through generations as the Deliverer of His people.
Jeremiah uttered these words when everything around him looked hopeless. Babylon’s armies surrounded Jerusalem, the city was on the brink of destruction, and yet God told Jeremiah to buy a field as a prophetic sign that restoration would come. The prophet responded in awe: the God who created the heavens and the earth by His outstretched arm (bizroa netuyah) is not bound by human circumstances. The same God who set galaxies in place and boundaries for the seas is the God who still moves to redeem His people. Truly, nothing is too hard for Him.
Isaiah’s words summon one of the most dramatic images of God’s saving power: the Z’roah — the Arm of the LORD — cutting Rahab in pieces and piercing the dragon.
Here, Rahab is not the woman of Jericho but a poetic name for Egypt (Psalm 87:4), often symbolizing arrogant nations and the dark spiritual powers behind them. In Hebrew poetry, Rahab also evokes the sea monster of chaos, a stand-in for the forces that oppose God’s order. To say the Arm “cut Rahab in pieces” is to recall how God shattered Egypt’s pride and broke the grip of the powers that enslaved His people.