Isaiah 9:1-7
For those who had “out like a lion, in like a lamb” hopes for the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, the past week has been a wake up call! How sad to see mob violence and its deadly results in Washington, D.C. last Wednesday! As Christians we should be just as alarmed by such wanton and destructive behavior whether it happens at the Capitol or on any street in any city. In many ways our times have gotten more confused and confusing for average citizens trying to make sense of the world; but for Christians events like these must bring clarity, not confusion. After all, we’re not called to be “average” but model citizens: a city on a hill, unhidden, letting our light shine before men that they might see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven, as Jesus says in Matthew 5.
But a danger for Christians in these days--especially in a media-saturated culture where supposed ‘expert evidence’ and arguments on any side of a given issue may be touted and flouted with a tap or a click--is the danger of what I’ll call “side-ism” or “sideology.” To be clear, I’m not talking about voting decisions! Picking one candidate over another, voting in a particular way on certain issues--every conscientious person does that on an individual level, or at least should! I’m talking about total surrender of one’s conscience such that the “side’s” conscience supplants individual conscience, such that tribe becomes truth and trumps personal conviction.
Clarity for the Christian comes when God’s holy word forms our consciences and shapes our convictions. Clarity comes when we resist tribalism’s fear-based pressure tactics by remembering who our true King is, whose “side” we’re really on. You may not like this, but right and left, Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative, Antifa and Maga--they’re all just decoys, different sides of the same coin. One side of a quarter is stamped with an eagle and the other with George Washington’s head, but whichever side I look at it’s still just a quarter! Side-ism is a tool the devil uses to throw us off the scent of our Savior. He uses sideology to draw us away to destruction-—to divide us not just from other people but from our Lord if possible and from His global gospel mission.
Isaiah 9 reminds us of our true side. Ancient Israel received this prophecy while facing an Assyrian invasion and occupation as a consequence of national disobedience and rebellion against God. Yet it reminds Israel that even in the face of their own sin, even in the face of occupation and oppression, God has a plan for His people and will keep His covenant promise to redeem them. They are on God's side, not because they chose Him but because He chose them. The “child to be born,” the “son to be given” promised centuries before His actual arrival is the same One to whom we look back two millennia and call “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Choosing One! Our position on social issues doesn’t define our side; our possession by the Savior does!
To me the saddest images from the events of January 6th were “Jesus Saves” placards alongside “Don’t Tread On Me” banners and others blazoned with M-16 rifles. Crosses interspersed among gallows and guillotines should be a deeply troubling sight to every Christian. What I see in a mob of any color, party, or persuasion is not strength but fear, fear of losing something: territory, rights, property, or power. But these aren't things Christians should fear losing. We don’t need gallows, guillotines, or guns to gain what God guarantees us with more abundance and permanence in eternity than we could ever claim in this world. What did Jesus say in John 18? “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here.” When they came to arrest Jesus, what did He say when Peter cut off the guard’s ear? “Live by the sword, die by the sword, Peter.” Peter tried to lead a mob, an uprising, an insurrection. Instead of trusting Jesus’ promise to rise from the dead, Peter feared losing his Lord; he wanted to fight, but fear was driving him. Hadn’t he learned anything from Jesus? “Peter, I’m the Lord of life. You don’t need to defend me; and even though they’re arresting me, I’m going to defend you from your own foolishness and fear.”
Being on Jesus’ side means not panicking when the other side appears to be winning. Truth is, we’re either on Jesus’ side or we’re not. We’re either loyal subjects of His government or we’re chasing the devil’s decoys. And trust me, the devil doesn’t care which one we choose to chase! The same Yahweh whose first commandment is “you shall have no other gods before me” is the same One of whom Isaiah says in v. 6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Does this mean earthly human government? Sure. Jesus and others in the New Testament are clear that human government is necessary and good for restraining human evil even though we all know human governments can themselves descend into evil at times. Human governing authority is delegated by God and derived from God for a designated purpose and season. But then v. 7 draws a distinction: “of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” This is specifically His government; it’s corruption-free; it’s perfect and it’s permanent.
Let me reiterate something. Even though God made Israel this promise and even though Messiah eventually came to pay the price of redeeming God’s chosen people, sin still brought devastating consequences in the meantime. Some in Israel received Isaiah’s promise with hope and faithfulness, but others continued in disobedience. The next part of the chapter outlines God’s judgment on Israel’s wickedness. Look at verses 18 to 21.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds a lot like the hostility in our society. “People are like fuel for the fire,” Isaiah says, “no one spares another.” Wow! Did you see v. 20? “They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm…” Left and right. It’s side-ism right here in the Old Testament! No mercy. No sparing of one another. It all amounts to what? Self-consumption that leads to national self-destruction. This is not Assyrians on Israelites. This is Israelite on Israelite. They're graceless, merciless people. Why? Do they enjoy civil war? No, it’s because they reject the only One who could truly unify them; they reject God as King and want to be a law unto themselves.
Look at v. 21 again: “Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah.” Do you see it? In Isaiah’s day Manasseh was an evil tribe, Ephraim was an evil tribe, and Judah was an evil tribe. Manasseh hated Ephraim; Ephraim hated Manasseh, but they got along just enough to join forces against Judah. Isaiah contains historical information, but it’s a book of prophecy first and foremost. Judah may have been rebellious in Isaiah‘s day, but it was still the kingly tribe; the tribe of David and of the Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace who would one day descend from David. Ephraim and Manasseh are two sides of the same coin. They can’t stand each other but they’ll stand together against the king of kings.
While different tribes of men--even within the same nation--may strive against one another on any number of social issues, when it comes to the primary spiritual issue wicked humans always unite in outrage against God and His holy Son. Psalm 2:1-3 says, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The Kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’”
What are we to do as Christians in these troubled times? Very simple: Pray, Worship, and Witness.
Pray
Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Paul says in 1 Tim. 2:1-2, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
There’s no scenario where prayer isn’t to be the Church’s first and primary response.
Worship
Make every effort to gather as God’s people. It may not seem like we’re doing much when we gather on Sunday mornings. But I assure you, there is no mob, no rally, no protest, no cause that even comes close to the size and consistency of Christians meeting in large and small gatherings all over this country and around the world every Lord’s Day to profess allegiance to Jesus, to study the ‘Constitution’ and to sing the songs of our ‘side’—which is our Savior.
Keep calm and disciple on! Paul says in Eph. 4:3, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Week by week and day by day in large and small ways we’ve got to spur one another on to love and good works. Call, text, meet up to read Scripture and pray for the lost. No amount of effort we put into growing disciples and growing as disciples is wasted effort!
And then, lastly...
Witness
Last Thursday I posted on social media what I believe is an appropriate Christian response in this tumultuous time. “True Christians must rise from our national travail neither as victors on a winning side nor as victims on a losing side but as those who declare the bankruptcy of any social tribe or political ‘side’ to offer ultimate hope and whose lives and words instead point to the Savior!” I also mentioned the “Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above” line in ‘God Bless America.’ I said I wasn’t sure it was Irving Berlin’s intent, but that when I hear that line I hear Jesus telling His disciples in Matt. 5:14-16:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
We don’t stand above our nation or neighbors as superior people; we stand above as SAVED people, humbly and earnestly inviting others to taste the mercy of God and the hope of something infinitely and eternally better than politicians or politics can provide: new life in Christ!
May 2021 get better! May 2021 be a year wherein the Church grows ever more distinct from the rhetoric of any earth-bound political side or tribe and gains once again an elevated (likely marginalized) prophetic standing from which to clearly call out to the hateful hostile tribes of men: “Find hope, find rest, find peace through the blood of the Lamb, the Lion of Judah!”