Today in God's Word—September 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
September 9, Isaiah 2
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. - Isaiah 2:5
The older I get, the more I appreciate a good light. I have noticed that I need better light to read these days. (I think that is because the print in my old books and Bibles have shrunk over time.) I also like a better light to see where I'm going at night. (When we fall at our age, we don't bounce quite as high as we used to, and it takes longer to get up. So I choose not to fall if I can help it.)
The Bible contrasts good and evil with the idea of darkness and light. The things of God and righteousness are light, and the things of Satan and the works of sin are darkness. Jesus spoke of light and darkness in several of his teachings. The apostle Paul said that followers of Jesus were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord. Paul exhorted them and us to "walk as children of light” as the result of that transformation.
In Chapter 2, Isaiah described a coming kingdom that Messiah would set up. He described the wickedness of God's people in his time and place, and reminded us that judgment was surely coming. In the middle of that trio of topics, the prophet (or the Lord through the prophet) encouraged the people of Judah and Israel to come and “walk in the light of the LORD." They did not have to live in dark ignorance about the true God and his will for their lives. They were the people of God. The Lord promised to bless those who would humble themselves and worship him. When Messiah's kingdom came, it would go forth from Jerusalem. It would be a kingdom of peace and righteousness.
Isaiah said the Lord had rejected his people. They were full, but filled with all the wrong things. They were full of idolatry and unholy alliances with the pagans around them. They were filled with material wealth and military might. They were idolatrous people, worshiping
their own creations instead of worshiping their Creator.
Isaiah warned that their arrogant defiance of God would not last. If they persisted in their evil ways, they would be humbled when God was exalted in the coming day of judgment. All the misdirected worship of people and things other than God will come to an end that day. All the proud rejectors of God will bow down before him.
How much clearer the contrast between light and darkness ought to be for you and me, blessed with the New Testament understanding that Messiah, the glorious light Isaiah predicted, has come in the person of Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ that Isaiah foretold. He is the light of the world, and those who follow him are called to live or walk in that light. Isaiah's call to Israelites living in the 8th century BC is just as applicable to Abraham's spiritual descendants (in Christ) as it was to his fleshly descendants so long ago.
The same spirit of grace that desires reconciliation of sinful people to God still invites us to "Come." The same God who wants the best for his people calls us to be changed from darkness into life, living life transformed by our new life in Christ and God's spirit within us. When the darkness calls us to return to the ungodliness, we should remember and respond to Isaiah's ancient call to come and walk in the light of the LORD.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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