An Old-Fashioned Recipe for Hope
“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. “Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.” For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.” Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness. But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 8:9-9:7, NASB, 1995
According to this passage, here is the recipe for hop for them then and for us today:
1. Put more faith in God then in your enemies or past. (8:9-15) – It has been said that fear is putting more faith in your enemy than in your God. The enemy had invaded, but God had promised Israel would prevail. You have an enemy, hurts, and a past, but put more faith in God than in those things. He will prevail. He is bigger than any of those.
2. Serve God with what you have where you are. (8:16- 18) – The people of Isaiah’s day were told to were encouraged to bind up the testimony and seal the Law. This meant to follow the Law and serve God where they were in their current situation. Many of us want to wait to serve God until…(fill in the blank). We need to serve God where we are with what we have and not keep wishing or looking for more to be faithful.
3. Resist the urge to cut corners; no matter how tough it gets. (8:19-22) – People were telling Israel to go and talk to the mediums who could talk to the dead to get advice, but they were told to be faithful to the God they serve and not cut corners. We need to remember this when we are tempted to use others, stuff, and even social media to make us feel like we belong, we should turn to God and believe He is enough.
4. Trust God for His deliverance; no matter how big a miracle it might take. (9:1-7) – The people were looking for God to deliver them from their enemies and He had a plan to do so, but the plan involved sending His Son to become flesh. That is a big miracle. If we are facing opposition, depression, distraction, or hurt, need to trust God for His deliverance; no matter how big a miracle it might take because He has already done the miracle of saving you, if you are saved.
This is the recipe for hope. Biblical hope is not a wish in an uncertain future, but placing your faith in what is guaranteed by God Himself.