“Stand firm in your faith.”
“Do not fear what they fear.”
Reading in Isaiah this morning, there is so much going on. Two more powerful nations plot to overtake Judah. God tells Isaiah what is going to happen.
Some of the great Messianic prophecies also come from this text.
God rages about idolatry, hedonism, arrogance, and injustice.
He lets Isaiah know he will purify the land from the problem – The rebellious people.
He will whistle and call the king of Assyria, and he will crush the Northern tribes and Aram, and they will not recover.
But God charges Isaiah to let Judah know:
Isaiah 7:9 (NIV84):
“If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.’
They will see the immense power of Assyria, and they will even come against Judah, but God tells them:
Isaiah 8:12–13 (NIV84):
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,
There are a lot of raging storms around us. We can humanly be afraid.
But there is only one Sovereign Lord over all things. He alone should we fear. Only Him should we dread.
We are to trust Him. We are to follow His commands, even in the darkest times.
I am reminded of John 11 when Jesus tells His disciples He is returning to Judea, where the Pharisees had just tried to stone Him—the disciples were scared not only for Jesus but their own lives.
They question Jesus why He would go back. Listen to Jesus:
John 11:9–10 (NIV84):
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”
As followers of Jesus.
As ones who place our lives in His hands.
Let us walk in His light.
Let us:
“Stand firm in your faith.”
“Do not fear what they fear.”
