The most engaged-with verse in 2025: Isaiah 41:10

The You Version Bible App recently announced that Isaiah 41:10 was "the most engaged-with verse throughout 2025."  The announcement went on to say "This marks the fourth time in six years the verse has claimed the top spot, which is a testament to the enduring need for God’s reassurance in uncertain times."  Here is the verse:  "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand."  

In my opinion, this verse speaks volumes about the current condition of humanity...an anxiety and fear that constantly invades our lives as humans, whether saved or unsaved.  This of course is due to one thing and one thing alone:  Sin.

Sin causes separation between you and God.  Satan delights in this separation and uses it to attack you and drive further wedges between God and you whenever he can, and wherever he can gain a foothold.  Don't give Satan or sin an opportunity, one translation says don't give Satan a foothold, in your life. "and do not give the devil an opportunity."  Ephesians 4:27.

Everyone deals with anxiety and fear.  Don't let Satan convince you that you are all alone in this.  Seek out God.  Talk to Him.  Invite the Holy Spirit into your life to fill you and strengthen you for the battle.  Get into God's Word daily.  Pray without ceasing.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment."  2 Timothy 1:7

Now, let's take this in a completely different direction regarding this verse.  This verse that as reported was the most engaged-with verse in the year 2025, worldwide.  When we read it in context, it brings up a completely different issue that we should also discuss.  An issue that has been growing around the world in the last several years:  antisemitism.  Hatred towards Jews and the nation of Israel.

When we read the verses just prior to and after the Isaiah 41:10 verse, we see the verse in context:  “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham, my friend --  I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said to you: You are my servant; I have chosen you; I haven't rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.   Be sure that all who are enraged against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will become as nothing and will perish. You will look for those who contend with you, but you will not find them. Those who war against you will become absolutely nothing. For I am the LORD your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, "Do not fear, I will help you."  Is. 41:8-13

This verse about not having fear we find out is addressed to Israel, from God.  He calls them “my servant”, “whom I have chosen”, and “my friend”.  He tells Israel “I haven’t rejected you.”  God gives a warning to those who go against Israel that they will be ashamed and disgraced.  Those who contend with Israel “will become as nothing and perish.”  And, those who go to war against Israel “will become absolutely nothing.”

Wow.  Immediately what comes to my mind is the terror attacks by Hamas and Palestinian militants on October 7th of 2023.  Israel retaliated against Hamas in Gaza and decimated the territory.  It reminds me of this tiny country which was reformed from dry bones in 1948 as the Nation of Israel, and how they have been attacked over and over by their neighbors since then.  But yet they remain, and they flourish.

It is a reminder that God has His hand on Israel.  They are called “chosen by God”.  God has a purpose for Israel even to this day and will provide His covering and protection over them as their “friend”.  That is so important for us as Christians to remember.  God’s promises are still in effect to Israel.  

The church is not the replacement for Israel.  We are grafted into God’s kingdom, we are spiritual Israel in a sense, but God still has a plan and purpose for the actual historical nation of Israel.  This plan will begin after the rapture, after the church is removed and escorted to the Father's house by the Bridegroom.  God's program and plan involving the nation of Israel, specifically the remnant He has set aside, will kick back into full gear during the seven-year tribulation period.  Paul discusses this at length in his letter to the Romans in chapters 9, 10, and 11.  John lays out the sequence of events and end result in the book of Revelation.

Pray for the peace of Israel.  Pray that Jews find the true Messiah Jesus Christ.  Be the church.  Expand God’s kingdom.  Look for His soon return to take us to be with Him forever.  Maranatha!

Is the nation of Israel still chosen by God?

Israel continues to be the focus of nightly news reports, and the target of hate and attacks by its surrounding neighbors in the middle east.  There is also a growing antisemitism among America's young adults.  Chants of "from the river to sea, Palestine will be free" fill the streets.  Support for Israel both here in America and world-wide seems to be declining daily.  Which brings up an important question: has God removed His support of Israel?  Will God at some point in the future turn His face away from Israel and no longer call them His chosen people?

“This is what the LORD says:  The one who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar the LORD of Armies is his name: “If this fixed order departs from before me —this is the LORD’s declaration —only then will Israel’s descendants cease to be a nation before me forever. This is what the LORD says: Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel's descendants because of all they have done – this is the LORD's declaration.”  Jeremiah 31:35-37

Israel will remain a chosen people of God (“a nation before me forever”) until the fixed order of the sun, moon, stars, and seas cease.  Does the fixed order of creation, the ordained patterns of the sun, moon, and stars or the cycle of the oceans and the seas ever cease?  Yes, the Bible tells us these will all cease.  When does this occur?  Second Peter 3:10 says "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up".  

At the end of the one-thousand year millennial kingdom period, this present universe will “melt with fervent heat” and be "burned up" and remade into the New Heavens and New Earth.  God and His people will dwell together forever in the city of New Jerusalem.  The sun,  moon, stars, and seas will cease to exist.  Their fixed order in creation will cease to exist and be no more. Revelation  21:1-2 says “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.”  Revelation 21:23 tells us that  "The city (New Jerusalem) does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb." 

At this time, and only when the created order ends, will Israel "cease to be a nation before” God.  The inhabitants of the New Jerusalem will simply be all of God's people from all time, servants of the one true God forever.  They will no longer be divided by nationality or race.  But, until the fixed order of the existing universe  "departs from before the Lord" and ceases to function as God created, the promises God made to the Nation of Israel will stand, and they will continue to be His chosen people, called out for a specific purpose.

What about the second condition laid out by God in Jeremiah 31?  “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below explored, will I reject all of Israel's descendants because of all they have done.”   Will the heavens above and the foundations of the earth below be able to be measured and explored after the millennial kingdom, when the New Heaven and New Earth are brought about?  No, they will not.  As we have established above, the existing heavens and earth will be destroyed and will no longer exist.  Therefore, they will not be able to be measured and explored.  Since they cannot be measured and explored, God will not reject all of Israel’s descendants because of what they have done.

Matthew 24:32-35 records Jesus’ declaration that the heavens and earth will pass away in the Day of the Lord.   "Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.  In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near -- at the door.  Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

In Romans 9:27-28, Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22 and says this about a remnant of Israel being saved: “But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Though the number of Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved; since the Lord will execute his sentence completely and decisively on the earth.”  Later in Romans 11:5, Paul again says “In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.”

Israel as a nation is chosen by God for a specific purpose.  They will be a chosen nation until this present universe is destroyed through fire, and the New Heaven and New Earth come about.  Until then, they will remain a nation before Him forever.  The Bible makes it clear we are to bless Israel, and pray for its peace.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem…”  Psalm 122:6

“The LORD said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Genesis 12:1-3

Yeshua in the Feast of Tabernacles

Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.  These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. Colossians 2:16-17

The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) also known as Sukkot in Hebrew, is the Feast of the Lord that is a Fall Feast, and is similar to our Thanksgiving.  As Paul pointed out in his letter to the Church at Colossae, the Feasts of the Lord all are a shadow of what is to come, and all point to Yeshua (Jesus) Christ in their substance.  Additionally in other passages, Both John and Paul point out specifically how Christ fulfilled the Feast of Passover as our Passover Lamb (John 1:29 and 1 Corinthians 5:7).

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

The Apostle John in his gospel tells us that Jesus (the Word of God) became flesh and dwelt among us, referring to the incarnation of the Lord in human form.   This is God as Son, a part of the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  John states that Jesus “dwelt among us”.  The word for dwelt is skay-no-oh and is the same word as “tabernacle”.  It is possible to determine the approximate time of Jesus’ birth (not Christmas time) by following clues in the Bible.  The time of His birth falls right in the time frame of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Many, including myself, feel that John was using a play on words here to point out that Jesus was born and came to dwell with mankind in human form during Feast of Tabernacles.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"  John 7:37-38

On each day of the Feast of Tabernacles a burnt offering and a drink offering were offered up to the Lord by the Priest.  A priest went down to the Pool of Siloam and withdrew some water into a large gold pitcher. He then returned to the Temple, ascended to the altar, and poured the water on the altar.  It was on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, during this ceremonial gathering and offering of the drink offering from the Pool of Siloam, that Jesus cried out “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink!” 

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

During the Feast of Tabernacles there were four large lamps erected in the courtyard of the temple.  Each lamp was about seventy-five feet tall and had four bowls at the top.  The bowls were filled with olive oil, and the wicks for the huge lamps were made from the priests' old worn-out garments, collected throughout the year.  The light from the four lamps lit during the Feast of Tabernacles were said to illuminate all of Jerusalem at night.  The lamps were symbolic of the shekinah glory which led the Children of Israel at night during the forty-years of wandering in the wilderness.  It was during the Feast of Tabernacles, near the temple courtyard, when Jesus said “I am the light of the world…”.

During each of the days of the Feast of Tabernacles, a chapter from Psalms 113-118 is jointly read by everyone.  On the last day, Psalm 118 is read aloud.  Here is a portion of that reading:

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!"  I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.  I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:14-24

So much of this Psalm points directly to the salvation of Israel by God, and specifically, to salvation coming through God’s Son Jesus Christ.  This is a perfect picture of exactly what will occur during the tribulation period, when the Nation of Israel calls on the Son that they rejected, and the remnant natural branch are grafted back into the olive tree root:

And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.  For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.  Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  Romans 11:23-25

What does the “right hand of God” refer to in Psalm 118?  The power and authority of God.  And, it could be said that it refers directly to Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God we are told in Peter’s first epistle: 

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ... through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.  1 Peter 3:18-22

The reading from Psalm 118 refers to the Gate of the Lord which the righteous enter into.  Who or what is this Gate?  It is Jesus Christ, which He Himself attests to:

Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. "All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. "I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.  "A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  John 10:7-11

Additionally, “the stone that the builders rejected” in Psalm 118 is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, as several verses in the New Testament attest to:

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?  Matthew 21:42

Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”  Mark 12:10-11

But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?  Luke 20:17

This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’  Acts 4:11

To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”  1 Peter 2:7

"And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16