I have really been enjoying Isaiah 42 lately. Good stuff. VERY good stuff. I love the proclamations it contains of the Lord establishing justice. I have been reading it with a heart burdened by the realities of sex trafficking, and the contents of this chapter are wonderful and fearful and blazing and hopeful and full of promise.
A couple of interesting things before I launch into my meditation: I have discovered recently that as I read scripture, God seems to be clearly defining for me when He is referring to Himself and when He is referring to His body (the Church). There are many things spoken of in scripture that He is bringing about before His second return, and He plans to use His Church (His hands and feet) to do it. It has been a powerful and sobering realization as I read to feel the Spirit point His finger with emphasized distinction at which references to “I” refer to Christ and which references to “I” refer to Christ’s body.
As I read Isaiah 42:14–17, this is what I see:
(14) For a long time I have held My peace;
I have kept still and restrained Myself;
now I [through the church] will cry out like a woman in labor.
I [through the Church] will gasp and pant.
(15) I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
(16) And I [through My Church] will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
and the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
(17) They are turned back and utterly put to shame
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”
In verse 14, I see the Church rising up (or in this case, kneeling down) to labor in prayer. The pains of this labor will be great because the pains over which they pray are great. It will require physical strength.
In verse 15, I see the Lord remove obstacles from our path, and destroy the plants that bear the fruit of the injustice we stand in prayer against; I see the life source that feeds into supply/demand issue dry up and cease to flow.
In the beginning of verse 16, I see the Lord give sight and reveal a way that has not been known or seen: Safety for the oppressed, purity for the oppressor. I see a way laid out before them that is wonderful to walk upon; a path of holiness, redemption, salvation, righteousness; a path that leads to life and not death, with the Lord as the unfailing, faithful guide. I see the Lord revealing the darkness for what it is and shining the Light of redemption onto the paths that lie before those who are freed from their bondage to walk in the light...what has been made rough, HE will level...He, the repairer of what has been broken will lay out hope beneath the feet of those who walk in His ways (Isaiah 52:12 “And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.”). This is a wonderful thing!
In the second half of verse 16, I see a declaration of who God IS and is NOT: “These are the things I do...” He proclaims, this is how He operates, not just this one thing, but this type of promise and hope flows from Him in action because of who He is; a God of justice, love and peace. “...and I do not forsake them.” He proclaims, this is the reality of His promise, His presence and His love. He does not go back on His word, He does not walk away from His own, He does not forsake us...not now, not ever.
In verse 17, I see a statement to the oppressors; the ones who buy and who sell these women and children. They may think they get away with their dirty deeds because they’ve skirted the law thus far in their oppression and abuse, because they trust the darkness, their power through money, fireplace pokers, manipulation, physical strength, stigmas and ability to hide behind the faces of those they objectify and sell...these metal objects they hold up as gods are the shackles of the prisoners and the money they make off them.
But here is the truth...God is a God of justice (Isaiah 42:1–7), He created not just every person, but the universe in which they reside. HIS voice is all that matters, and His voice says, “I will faithfully bring forth justice...I am the Lord...I will...bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” If you think that your anonymity, your money, your ability to evade justice at the moment means you’ve succeeded, you are wrong. You have only escaped justice to this moment because God is patient and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), He has restrained His hand of power for the sake of your soul...but how long? The Church has risen in prayer, turn from the darkness and repent in the light. Release your hand from the neck of the prisoner and tear down your altars to your metal gods. You spit in the face of the Almighty, and you will be swallowed up when He opens His mouth.
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