1531. The Extended Hands and the Two Comings
The Extended Hands and the Two Comings
"All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people" (Rom_10:21).
1. In the First Coming of Christ, His hands were extended toward Israel; He called and they refused; He stretched forth His hands and no man regarded. In the First Coming Christ walked among His people with a heart full of compassion; He healed their sick, cured their lame, raised their dead, but they despised and rejected Him. In the First Coming Christ manifested unto Israel the glory of the Father; He delivered unto them the Father's word; He told them of the Father's love; He called them to come unto Him and rest, but they would not heed nor hear.
Israel was a disobedient and a gainsaying people; she refused to hear His voice, or to heed His word. She repulsed His love, and rejected His pleas.
2. In the Second Coming, Israel will extend her hands unto Christ. The tables will be turned. He once called and she refused, now she will call, and He will heed her call.
Isaiah 63 opens with a vision of the descending Christ and with Israel crying, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength?"
Christ's reply is, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save."
Israel then asks, "Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat?"
The Lord responds; "I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me."
How different is this description of the Second Coming, to that of the First! The nation which once rejected Him, now cries: "Look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: * * Return for Thy servants' sake."
Chapter 64 opens with Israel's plea: "Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down."
The people who once rejected their Lord, now receive Him with extended hands.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR