“But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies. The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” Isaiah 9:11-12 ESV
Reflection: how can a loving God allow bad things to happen?
We studied previously the prophecy written by Isaiah, of a child to be born, who would be called a “wonderful councilor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace”. We see this fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. But, the prophecy also states “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom”. The people, especially the religious leaders at the time of Christ knew this prophecy very well, and were expecting a king that would reestablish the Davidic kingdom, including getting rid of their oppressors; the Roman Empire. But as we know, the King who was born was not who they expected. Or even wanted.
Christ would “establish it [the kingdom] and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” An everlasting kingdom of peace, operated with justice and righteousness for all. That was so far away from the days of Isaiah with ongoing wars and conflicts, or at the time of Christ, with Roman occupation, and ultimately the destruction of Jerusalem in around 70 AD. But what about in our time, some 2000 years later? Are we seeing Christ kingdom being established, with an “increase of his government and of peace” happening in our time, given all the wars and rumors of wars going on, especially in the Middle East? If not, when can we expect the fulfillment of this prophecy?
It is easy to get confused here, looking at the physical world around us, what is going on, and trying to use Bible prophecies to fit what we see in the world. We see many trying to do this, but this is exactly what got the people confused 2000 years ago. They were looking for a worldly king and kingdom, when Jesus was establishing a spiritual, everlasting kingdom. Isaiah wrote about the people at the time of Jesus’ birth “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Isaiah 9:2 ESV. But thankfully, a few of the people, such as the disciples, resonated with the message of Christ, and took it upon themselves to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world. We are the benefactors of their work 2000 years later.
You might be wondering what all of this has to do with the focus verses today. Even in the days of Isaiah, long before him and ever since then, the Lord has been and still is calling people to Himself. And we can read that His people went their own ways in pride and arrogance, over and over. He tried to discipline them, but “The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 9:13 ESV. While He is patient and merciful, at some point His anger flares and as any good Father, He must deal with man’s wickedness before it destroys everything.
And we see in the focus verses a pretty extreme way of dealing with the sins of the people, to hopefully “knock some sense” into them. “But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies. The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” Isaiah 9:11-12 ESV. He used foreign armies to destroy much of His people at that time. And, we may look at this with questions, how God could allow this to His own people. But, we also have to remember that He is a holy God, and his people were called to live in peace, in justice and righteousness. And, we can also easily forget that His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than our thoughts and understanding.
Perhaps a couple of takeaways here for us today. First, let us always remember that God is always fulfilling His promises that He has spoken. The everlasting kingdom of Christ has been established, and is expanding daily. We who have already received Christ and believe in His name, have been delivered “from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,”Colossians 1:13 ESV. And secondly, sometimes the Lord will allow us to experience something that might be very difficult at the time, perhaps for our discipline and correction, or even for others benefit, as He wants all people to come to the knowledge of truth. In all circumstances, we have to turn to Him, follow His ways, trusting in Him alone.