For me at least, working through Isaiah can be a bit of struggle. Kind of like working through dense brush . . . hard to go in a straight line . . . next to impossible to find a well marked path . . . sometimes I just have to push by stuff that doesn’t make sense to me . . . other times I kind of feel like I’m just hacking away at the vegetation in order to make progress rather than taking note of it. But then, every so often, I walk into a bit of clearing . . . I kind of get where I am . . . and I can take the time to take note of my surroundings . . . and take in some truth . . . and have my soul refreshed with some spiritual reality. The latter part of Isaiah 29 was one of those clearings for me this morning.

A recurring phrase in Isaiah is “in that day”. While much of Isaiah speaks of God’s judgment on Israel and the nations around her, every so often the focus will shift to “in that day.” It’s a future day . . . typically a day of restoration . . . of revival. Most often I understand it to be that day when Messiah returns and sets up His earthly kingdom . . . and thus, it’s a day when things will be on earth as they were intended to be. “So, why wait?” I’m thinking. If I can get insight as to how things should be “in that day” why not seek to model it “in this day?”

“In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. . . . when [Jacob] sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.” (Isaiah 29:18-19, 23)

Lot there, but in a nutshell, “in that day” deaf ears will again receive truth . . . darkness will be displaced with the glorious light of God’s word . . . joy will increase . . . and Jacob, the great patriarch will see his children return to the God who called him . . . they will come to understanding . . . they will learn doctrine . . . and . . . and this is what captures my attention . . . they will hallow God’s name, hallow the Holy One of Jacob. That’s how it will be “in that day.” Shouldn’t it also be reflective of the church today? of me today?

The NIV says “they will keep My name holy.” The ESV, “they will sanctify My name.” My NKJV says “they will hallow My name.” In that day, when Christ is on the throne, His people will be marked by a spirit which set’s apart His name . . . which regards the Name in high devotion . . . which treats the Name with sacred consecration . . . approaches the Name as if stepping upon holy ground . . . driven facedown by the Name as would be case entering within the veil and coming into the holy of holies. When things are as they should be, God’s name will be hallowed.

This is contrasted with the state of the people before “that day.” They draw near with their mouths and honor God with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Him (29:13). Far from revering the name of the Most High, they have things turned around . . . esteeming the potter as they would the clay . . . the clay even denying that the potter had crafted it . . . the clay condescendingly esteeming its understanding above the potter they refuse to acknowledge (29:16). No reverence . . . no consecration of the Name . . . no sanctification of the Creator . . . no hallowed awe of the Most Holy One.

But the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father . . . when His name will be esteemed above every name (Php. 2:9-11). A day when the glory of His appearance will drive away the darkness of self-righteousness and self-exaltation and the magnificence of His majesty will compel us to cry out, “Holy, holy, holy!” To hallow His name will not be “a discipline” it will be a natural response.

So why not now? “In that day” can be “in this day” . . . today. The Spirit of God within me desires to work revival . . . desires to cleanse me and renew me with the washing of the word . . . desires to make known God’s precious Son in fresh and more intimate ways . . . is capable of opening my eyes of faith to the majesty of the awesome presence of the God who is my redeemer . . . to lead me, not just in words, but in heartfelt humility and adoration, to cry, “Hallowed be Thy name!”