In my daily Bible reading this morning were two passages that struck me when I read them. The first was Isaiah Chapter six and more specifically the last verse, verse thirteen.

“And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump (Isaiah 6:13 ESV).”

Here Isaiah is describing the vision YAHWEH is showing him of the coming destruction of Israel by their defeat and ensuing captivity by the Babylonians and Assyrians. The demise of Israel is disheartening with it being cut down and only the stump remaining, until you get to verse thirteen and the final sentence of the chapter, “the Holy Seed is the stump.” This is the continued unfolding of God’s Promised Plan that began in Genesis Chapter three and continues throughout the rest of the book.

The next reading was from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians and Chapter three. Paul is talking about the legalism of the Old Covenant (Old Testament) and how those still following it were still not seeing its meaning because it was veiled to them. The only way one may see and understand both the Old and the New is by the power of the Holy Spirit and that Spirit is the Lord. The Lord lifts that veil from our faces and transforms us by the freedom of the New.

^“11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

¹² Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, ¹³ not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:11-18 ESV).”

And that Lord and Spirit is that Holy Seed left in the stump in Isaiah Chapter 6, so here in 2^nd Corinthians we see God’s Promise Plan gradually unfolding even more. We can also see how our understanding of this plan begins in the Old Testament, but we can only see that if our veil is lifted by our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His Spirit.