"Deaf Ones Will Certainly Hear"

However, there is salvation for individuals who exercise faith.  (Read Isaiah 29:17-24; compare Luke 7:22)  "Deaf ones" will "hear the words of the book," the message from God's Word.  Yes, this is not a healing of physical deafness.  It is a spiritual healing.  Isaiah once again points forward to the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom and the restoration of pure worship on earth by the Messiah's rule.  This has taken place in our time, and millions of sincere ones are allowing themselves  to be corrected by Jehovah and are learning to praise him.  What a thrilling fulfillment! Ultimately, the day will come  when everyone, every breathing thing, will praise Jehovah and sanctify his holy name. -Psalm 150:6.

What do such "deaf ones" who hear God's Word today learn?  That all Christians, especially those to whom the congregation looks as examples, must scrupulously avoid 'going astray because of intoxicating liquor.'  (Isaiah 28:7)  Further, we  must never tire of hearing God's reminders which help us to have a spiritual viewpoint of all things.  While Christians are properly subject to governmental authorities and look to them to provide certain services, salvation comes, not from the secular world, but from Jehovah God. Also, we must never forget that like the judgment on apostate Jerusalem, God's judgment on this generation is inescapable.  With Jehovah's help we can continue to proclaim  his warning despite opposition, as did Isaiah. -Isaiah 28:14, 22; Matthew 24:34; Romans 13:1-4.

Elders and parents can learn from the way Jehovah administers discipline, always seeking to restore wrongdoers to God's favor, not merely  to punish them.  (Isaiah 28:26-29; compare Jeremiah 30"11) And all of us, including young people, are reminded of how vital  it is to be serving Jehovah from the heart, not just going through the motions of being  a Christian in order to please men.  (Isaiah 29:13) We must show that unlike the faithless inhabitants of Judah, we have a wholesome fear of Jehovah and a profound respect for him.  (Isaiah 29:16) Moreover, we need to show that we are willing to be corrected by and to learn from Jehovah. -Isaiah 29:24.

How important it is to have faith and confidence in Jehovah and in his way of doing things!  (Compare Psalm 146:3)  To most, the warning message we preach will sound childish.  The prospective destruction of an organization, Christendom, that claims to serve God is a strange, an unusual concept.   But Jehovah will accomplish his 'strange deed."  Of that, there can be no doubt.  Hence, through the last days of this system of things, God's servants put full trust in his Kingdom and in his appointed King, Jesus Christ.  They know that Jehovah's saving acts-performed along with his 'unusual work'-will bring eternal blessings  to all obedient mankind.

Next time: Keep in Expectation of Jehovah, Chapter Twenty-Three

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000