Isa 50:10-11 “Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God. 11 Look, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled — This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.
Isaiah 50 is one of those “Servant Songs” included between Is. 49-53. It is a look at the Messiah described as “The Servant” and these chapters house some of the most beautiful words written in Scripture. It is a preincarnation prophecy of the Messiah and how He would be. I especially like what The Servant says in verse 4 – “He awakens me morning by morning”. Remembering that Jesus came to show us how to walk “in His steps” (1Peter 2:21) these passages speak to us profoundly.
One critical word is given here in these two verses from chapter 50. It is a contrast between the life of faith and that of self-effort. Notice the direction given to those who walk in the dark; they are told to trust in the Lord in the dark, but they are not then promised light. What a difficult word. They are not told that if they have faith their circumstances will change, i.e. have light. Instead they are just called along with The Servant to rely upon God despite the dark or pain or whatever.
This is the believer’s life – faith in the dark.
Then there is a taunt by The Servant to those who must know a change of circumstance and no doubt will do so in God’s name. They will light their own fires. And why not, didn’t Shirley McLain tell us that we all have a “spark of the Divine within us”? This is the life of self-effort, even that accomplished in the name of Yahweh. And The Servant promises that this person will “lie down in torment”. How harsh. But this is the value God places on sincere religion that does not follow His will of faith. So be careful of reaching for the light switches. Trust The Servant, you’d rather sit this lifetime in the dark than run about in your own light.
1 response so far ↓
raginggenius // September 30, 2009 at 2:17 am |
I have spent the last 3 weeks with 1 to 2 hours of sleep a day, and have been mentally tourmented almost 24 hours a day for the last three weeks. And will tell the world this…..
“If this is what only 3 weeks of no rest and no peace is like, if this is a glimpse of what hell really is, YOU DON’T WANT TO GO THERE FOR AN ETERNITY!!!! So get your walk with God straight! Don’t play Christian, be one!!” This horrible experience has motivated me more than anything I could ever experience to tell the world that Hell is real and you don’t want to go. I want to go knocking on doors.