Rejection is only Temporary

“Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” (Isa 66:5 AV)

This statement is prophetical in nature.  It speaks of a time to come when those of Israel who wish to trust in the promised Messiah will be outcasts by those who claim to do God’s business.  They are rejected on the pretext of blasphemy.  They are thrown out because they chose to follow the LORD by the very ones who taught them to do just that.  These kinds of hurts are often the deepest.  When those who should be the godliest become adversaries towards those who are, it hurts really bad.

This is all too often in group dynamics.  When the student becomes independent and then becomes the teacher, sometimes the masters who instructed him become resentful.  When the student takes his subject matter more serious than his masters and becomes the teacher of the masters, there can become hard feelings.  This is a little different in that the Pharisees had no intention of following Christ.  They persecuted the converts and made them the laughing stock of the nation because these simple saints dared take the instruction which the Pharisees provided and saw the Messiah for who he was.

The comfort in the above verse is that eventually, Christ will appear to those who chose to follow Him!  We may not receive the comfort we desire in this life, but we will in the next.  Our final authority is the Bible.  What it teaches and says is where our conscience should abide.  We need to take comfort in the fact that God is pleased even when man is not.  And, just because the enemies of the Bible may charge us with being against the LORD, it doesn’t make it so.