For August 4, 2026
A Message From God’s Very Voice by Greg Holmes, D.MIN – Director of Missions serving 17 churches
BIBLICAL PROPHECY is sometimes very specific to a particular people for a particular time, and sometimes applies to all people for all times. A prophecy from Isaiah 40 initially speaks hope to the exiles of the Assyrian diaspora, in which the Jews were stripped from their promised land the first time, and then scattered out to the nearby ancient near east countries. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isa. 40:2) But it also brought hope to those scattered after the exile during Jeremiah’s time, and was additionally quoted specifically during Jesus’ time, as John the Baptist was referenced as the “voice crying out in the wilderness.” (John 1:23) In the earlier two diasporas of Israel, the prophets’ voices spoke to those already in exile; when the gospels speak of this, there is an underlying ominous sense of great trial looming before the nation of Israel. This indeed came to pass as Rome destroyed the Temple, the city of Jerusalem, and all of Israel, beginning in 66 A.D.