Handicapped Messenger
Opening Prayer
Thank the Lord for speaking through Scripture, prayer, circumstance and people.
Read Isaiah 42:10-25
[10] Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. [11] Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. [12] Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands. [13] The LORD will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies. [14] “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. [15] I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. [16] I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. [17] But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. [18] “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! [19] Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the LORD? [20] You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.” [21] It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious. [22] But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, “Send them back.” [23] Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? [24] Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law. [25] So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How is the "servant of the Lord" described here (19)?This passage begins with great expectation of an exciting new development. God declares “new things” (9) and the response is a “new song” to the Lord (10) to which the inhabitants of the islands, the desert towns and the mountain dwellers are invited to add their voice in a crescendo of anticipation. God is on the move, roaring like a warrior preparing for battle (13). His roar is productive, like that of a woman in labor (14), bringing judgment and liberation (15-17). The outcome will be that blind people will be led into new paths and their darkness will become light (16). The Lord’s teaching will be proclaimed and honored (21). But there is a problem. The messenger, Israel, the Servant of the Lord, is himself blind and deaf–as blind and deaf as the ones to whom he is meant to take this new word from God (18-20). Israel has failed to listen and learn from the Lord’s actions and his judgment (20-25). Like the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22), Israel is in need of “salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
Apply
Is the Lord’s message compromised by my failure to receive it? In what sense might I be deaf or blind?
Closing prayer
Lord, I want to be alert and able to receive Your message and accurately pass it on to others.
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