Isaiah 49:14-16
Zion says, “The LORD has abandoned me;
The Lord has forgotten me!”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you.
Look, I have inscribed (H2710) you on the palms of My hands;
your walls are continually before Me.”
The apostle Paul exhorts us to put on the full armor of God (Eph 6:15). When I gird my loins with the belt of truth, I remember to thank God for His love and that He will never leave me nor forsake me. That helps me remember to abide in His love (John 15:9).
In our initial text, Isaiah uses the Hebrew root “Chaqaq,” meaning to inscribe or engrave. I believe Isaiah is seeing prophetically into the future where Christ would have spikes driven into his hands as marks of His love for us. Just a few chapters later, Isaiah would prophesy that he would be pierced for our transgressions (Isa 53:5). The holes in his hands and wound in his side serve as everlasting reminders of His love for us.
Like Thomas in the gospel account of John, many of us doubt the love of God. We need to have an experience in order to believe in God’s love for us.
John 20:26-28
26 After eight days His disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace to you!”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and observe My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Don’t be an unbeliever, but a believer.
28 Thomas responded to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
After Thomas’ experience, Thomas believes in God’s love for Him. Like Thomas, we doubt the reality of God’s love for us, but the markers in His hands and His side are an everlasting reminder of God’s love. He died for me in order to bring me home to the heart of God.
Behold the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20, Rev 13:8). In many charismatic circles, there is a preoccupation with the lion of the tribe of Judah. However, there is only one reference to this lion in the book of Revelation. Every other reference is to the lamb. Why? I believe the lion shows the lineage of Jesus, tying it back to the prophetic word given to Judah in Genesis 49. The lamb used throughout the book of revelation demonstrates His personal love for me and for you. In my opinion, That is the more important revelation with the most spiritual weight.
Our flesh wants the heroic lion to represent God; a strong, courageous, majestic king. The God we need however is and will forevermore be a lamb. Meek, humble, innocent. Totally dependent. Offered up as a sacrifice to take away the sins of the whole world. All as an expression of His love.
I learned recently that the first occurrence of the word “love” (“ahav” in Hebrew) in the scriptures occurs in Genesis 22:2. In this text, God is foreshadowing having to give up the only Son that he loves as a love offering. In this love test, Abraham prophetically says that God will provide the lamb for the sacrifice. Love is revealed.
It is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The end-time plan of God has the lamb as the key symbol in God’s story and plan of redemption.
Revelation 5:6 (HCSB)
Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.
Revelation 7:17 (HCSB)
For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 21:23 (HCSB)
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
I believe the “slaughtered” description is reference to how Jesus died. The book of Revelation shows us that even in the eternal plan of heaven, Christ’s markers will be a permanent memorial to us that “I love you.”
His side, feet, and hands were all pierced for our transgressions. These are the everlasting markers of the lamb of God. These are the markers of His love.
For God so loved the world…
adonainissi 
I love your insights Tim. So encouraging.