““See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;” Isaiah 54:16 NIV
Reflection: why would God create, prepare and equip “a destroyer”?
Today we need to look at a topic not often talked about. God creates, and He destroys. The first part, of God’s character, that He is the Creator of all, we as Christians are very comfortable with. But, the second part, the fact that God also destroys? Not so much. That is perhaps a foreign thought to most of us, and is difficult to reconcile with our image of a good, loving God. How can a good God destroy? But the truth is that we see Him destroying over and over in the Bible. We looked yesterday at the story of Noah and the flood. And we remember that it was God who sent the rain. Who opened the heavens so that all flesh died in the flood, except all who were in the Ark. We have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, where it was God who sent fire from heaven. In Egypt, we remember God sending multiple plagues over the Egyptians to let His people go, including the final one, sending the angel of death, a destroyer, to kill every firstborn. We remember that the Lord protected all those who had the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their door posts…
We read a favorite, often quoted and declared verse in Isaiah 54. You might know it by heart. “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17 NIV. And it absolutely is an amazing, and beautiful promise by the Lord. But, as often happens with such beautiful verses and promises, we might forget to consider the context of the verse, which here is important. The focus verse today, is the preceding verse, which says
““See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;” Isaiah 54:16 NIV
The Lord is talking here about what weapons and destroyers He is preparing to be used to “weak havoc”, to destroy. And why would God do that? Because He at times has to destroy wickedness and evil in this earth. And, just like those Israelites who were obedient to God’s instructions, painting the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their door posts, they were saved from God’s destroyer. They were under God’s protection. The destroyer passed by their houses, which is consistent with “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.” Isaiah 54:17a NIV This destruction is for God’s intended purposes, His ordered the havoc, the destruction. And, notice who is the Lord talking about here? “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17 NIV. This promise, the heritage is for the servants of the Lord.
But, what about spiritual warfare, you might ask? We have to remember that the work of our enemy is different than what God is doing, right? God destroys wickedness and evil, while the enemy has the opposite plan, stealing, killing and destroying what is good. The enemy uses deception and lies to corrupts people. His methods of attacks are very different; not all powerful as God. And, we have been given many tools in the battle against our enemy. Paul wrote extensively about this, as he starts out defining the battle we are in this way “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 NIV.
And, Paul continues, describing our armor and weapon for spiritual warfare. Let’s look again, as it is a critically important reminder to all of us these days. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:14-18 NIV. If you study each element of the armor, as well as the weapon of the Word, you will find that each one is found as a characteristic of Jesus (truth, righteousness, and so on). Remember that Jesus, who is the Word, quoted the Word in His battle with the devil.
It is the blood of the Lamb, as a new covenant in the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, which protects us from God’s destroyer, that ultimately will destroy all evil in this earth. But it is the full armor of God, which also is a depiction of Christ Jesus, that protects us from the attacks of our enemy; as well as gives us the weapons to win the battle. We just have to use what we have been given.
