Isaiah 42:18-25

Passage: Isaiah 42:18-25
Israel’s Failure to Hear and See.
18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the LORD?
20 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, "Restore!"
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

Journal: Yesterday, we learned of the song of redemption. That is, God's covenant with His children that He would send a redeemer to save them. Here, the recipients of that covenant are described as His "servant" and His "messenger." Yet, there is a problem here. The servant is blind to the identity of his master. The messenger is deaf to the content of his message. [v. 19 - 20 -- "Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear."] It seems to be that the servant simply won't see and that the messenger simply won't hear. The ability to function is present, but not the resolve to function. The nation of Israel had been called by God to be holy, and yet was indistinguishable from the pagan nations surrounding her. [v.24 -- "Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?"]

What a tragedy! Israel was in a perfect position to evangelize the Gentiles, and yet lived out a life as a nation that was indistinguishable and unremarkable. We, as God's children, face the same dynamic. We can be indistinguishable and unremarkable in our calling to be holy or, rather, we can be evangelists for the goodness and glory of our God. [v. 21 -- "The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious."] Our blindness and our deafness are self-inflicted, if we have been adopted into God's family, for He has given eyes that can see and ears that can hear. It is a matter of us resolving to function for His glory rather than for our own purposes.