ISAIAH 55:4 - "The Commander Departing"

"But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) When I was in the Navy, (long, long ago), I remember that the Quarter Master would always announce over the loud speakers, whenever the Captain was departing, or arriving. There was good reason for this, because anytime the Captain was on board, you had to be ready to meet him somewhere on the ship. Anytime he would come into a room, you would hear, "Attention on deck", and you knew that he was in your presence. Whenever the Captain was away, he would always place someone in charge; someone that had seniority, and would represent him while he was away. In Acts 1:6-11, we see Jesus giving His last instructions, just before He ascended up into Heaven. This was not just a farewell wish for us to do, but it was a command; and it was His Final Command. He too would be putting someone else in charge until His return; the Holy Ghost is running the ship while He is away. In verse 6 of Acts chapter 1, the Lord was asked a question: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?". It seems a little surprising to me that Jesus did not answer the question about Israel being restored; but instead gave an answer about times and seasons. The reason that He was asked that question, was because the Messiah was to restore the Kingdom of Israel. Remember God's promise to David; well so did everyone else that cared. But this was not the time for that yet; because there will be a day when Israel will be restored in a whole new way; it's called The New Jerusalem, and it will be spectacular. In the meantime, we are to be busy being His witnesses to all the earth. I like how He points out Samaria in the list of places to witness; Jesus had a heart for the Samaritans. He liked to use parables about them, and He loved to minister to them. In John 4:20, the woman at the well asked Jesus in a statement: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus replied, with boldness: "Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews." This was established way back when God called Abram, (also known as Abraham); Genesis 12:1-3: "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. " Remember something about these people of Samaria: They were half-breeds, they were Jews, but they were not considered to be worthy of being called a Jew. Back in verse 12, the woman had asked Jesus if He was greater than their father Jacob. There was something that Jacob loved to do, and that was dig wells; He was good at it, and always knew where to find the water. Unfortunately, he had a lot wells stolen from him; so he would just go and dig another one. Some people would built alters, Jacob would dig wells; it really matters what you are making available to future generations to do; because after Jesus did what He did on the cross, the alters would not be worth anything; but the wells; well they would keep on serving. Take comfort in this: Once you accepted Christ into your heart, you became a Jew; you might be a half-breed, but you are still a Jew!!! Acts 1:9-11 says: "And when He spoke these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight"; and as they stood there gazing up, two Angels stood by and said: "You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manor as you have seen Him go into heaven." In other words: "Get Busy!!!"