God Rules With Strength and Gentleness
Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
These two verses condense a tremendous amount of information about how God will rule when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth.
The book of Revelation explains that as Jesus Christ is coming down to this earth, the armies of the nations of this world will attack Him as if He were an alien invader (Revelation 19:19). Christ’s response to these unprovoked attacks will be with “a strong hand,” as He forcefully puts down the rebellion and makes it clear who is in charge (Revelation 19:20-21).
But that is just one aspect of Jesus Christ’s rule. Isaiah mentions that He will bring a “reward” with Him for His faithful followers who will then assist Him in “His work” of teaching His way of life to the survivors of the end-time troubles.
Isaiah 40:11 is a beautiful picture of our all-powerful God gently gathering people like little lambs and feeding and caring for them.
God is both strong and gentle at the right times. He wants us to learn to follow His lead in this area of life as well.
For more about Isaiah 40, see “God’s Perspective on Prophecy.” For more about how God will rule in the Kingdom of God, see the articles in our “Kingdom of God” section.
