Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Identity
- Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father. Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.
Isaiah
contains three directives, each to a different group. The first directive is a warning to Israel –
the northern kingdom. Israel has placed
all of its faith in the strength of the nations around it. When Assyria comes for them, the treaties and
alliances into which they have placed their trust will fail. They will be unable to save themselves. They will be washed away under the mighty
river that represents the power of Assyria.
Their identity was rooted in their own alliances and military power and
they will pay the price for that choice.
The
second directive is to the nation of Judah.
Most of them have likewise abandoned God as the source of their identity. They are up to their necks in disobedience,
but they are not completely lost. Some
remain who are in God. Therefore, God
will not abandon them. While most of the
nation has fallen away from God, because there is a remnant who still get their
identity from God He will save them in the end.
However,
I find the most important directive to be the last one. This is a personal directive for Isaiah. God reminds him to stay one of the loyal
ones. God tells Isaiah specifically to
keep his identity in God and not the other things of the world. God reminds Isaiah to not fear what the other
people fear. God reminds Isaiah that the
only place where faith can reside confidently is in Him.
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