Signs and Symbols
Opening Prayer
Lord, as the star led to the stable where the baby Jesus lay, may I see signs of Your presence in me.
Read Isaiah 8:11-22
[11] This is what the LORD says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: [12] “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; 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. [14] He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. [15] Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.” [16] Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples. [17] I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. [18] Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. [19] When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? [20] Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. [21] Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. [22] Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. 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 would you summarize the Lord's message to Isaiah?Here it is Isaiah himself who is receiving a message from God. He speaks with feeling as he recalls God’s word that the Lord is the holy one, the one to fear (13). He had the personal experience of that in his vision (6:3), so he can speak from the heart. And Isaiah knows that when God speaks with his “strong hand” upon him (11), he certainly means business. “Here am I” (18) echoes Isaiah’s words in the temple (6:8). No longer caught up in the moment of the vision, he still realizes he needs to be available to God (17). When he is, God will be his sanctuary; whereas, for those who go their own way, God will be a stumbling block (14,15). The names God has given Isaiah’s children–Shear-Jashub (“only a remnant will remain”) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (see yesterday’s note) will spur him on. These names tell a story: times will be unbearably bad, the Assyrians will come “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”; but through all this, there is the promise that a remnant will remain–a small number of God’s people will survive.
Apply
What message might God have for you this Christmas eve? What message could you share with others?
Closing prayer
Pray that, this Christmas, you may be a living symbol of God’s hope and blessing in your neighborhood or community.
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