Read
11The Lord took hold of me with his powerful hand and said:
I'm warning you! Don't act like these people. 12 Don't call something a rebellious plot, just because they do, and don't be afraid of something, just because they are. 13I am the one you should fear and respect. I am the holy God, the Lord All-Powerful! 14-15 Run to me for protection. I am a rock that will make both Judah and Israel stumble and break their bones. I am a trap that will catch the people of Jerusalem—they will be captured and dragged away.
Isaiah and His Followers
16My message and my teachings are to be sealed and given to my followers. 17 Meanwhile, I patiently trust the Lord, even though he is no longer pleased with Israel. 18 My children and I are warning signs to Israel from the Lord All-Powerful, who lives on Mount Zion.
19Someone may say to you, “Go to the fortunetellers who make soft chirping sounds or ask the spirits of the dead. After all, a nation ought to be able to ask its own gods 20what it should do.”
None of those who talk like that will live to see the light of day! 21They will go around in great pain and will become so hungry that they will angrily curse their king and their gods. And when they try to find help in heaven 22and on earth, they will find only trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness.
Reflect
Taken hold of, by a powerful hand, with infinite grip. That is not the irresistible we like.
Isaiah embarked on a ministry doomed to fail (6:9). He mocked a king for claiming divine endorsement. He named his children just to make a point. Yet none was done under such duress.
He is taken by the scruff of the neck and warned: “don’t act like these people” – these fearful conspiracy theorists. “I am the one you should fear and respect. I am the holy God, the Lord All-Powerful!” Do we give too much credence to the dark arts of politics and culture? Do we fear plots and power, more than His plans and His powers?
Isaiah needed God’s “strong arm” because obeying God is not simply following instructions, but submitting one’s whole being. We are not only distracted and disorientated by shadows and fears, but by the fruit of our little obediences. The fruit of the Spirit, its peace and joy, patience and love, are to be savoured. But fruit is not the tree.
The great peril of religion is that the goodness and blessings God cultivates in our lives can become idols too. It is not just the obvious villains – pleasure, pride, power – that snare. Isaiah warns, God can be a “trap” and a “stumbling stone” not just when we reject him, but when we run to him. Our deep desire for self-determination can turn our greatest most noble triumphs, into hollow victories, for they are ours, not His. Real victory is our surrender, unconditional. Are you negotiating terms?
Isaiah’s message was hidden – from “trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness” – until one man read it and obeyed, without reservation. They called him Immanuel – “God with us.” If He is with us, there is no room for more.
Respond
Take hold of me, and not just by the hand, with all your power, so I can say: “I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Alexander Best
Alexander cultivated a network of Christian leaders, OneMission, to promote collaboration, including service to the 15,000 new students arriving at University of Toronto each fall, under the umbrella, ServeToronto. He helped foster the same at the PanAm Games in Toronto and is the former Canadian Director of the Lausanne Movement Canada. He publishes THisToronto, a social media platform promoting & connecting the activities of over 300 ministries and churches in the city."