Be still and know that I am God

Be still, and know that I am God;
      I will be exalted among the nations,
      I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46: 10

One of my favourite books of the Bible is Isaiah.  His gift of beautiful poetry and wonderful use of words is an inspiration. However Isaiah lived during some very troubled times in the kingdom of Judah and he must have experienced great highs and lows during his ministry.

The early chapters of Isaiah were written during the reign of King Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah who did not follow in the path of King David.  He reigned in the troubled times of the Assyrians whose total warfare of terror, destruction and deportation was both brutal and barbaric.  The surrounding nations of Syria or Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel suffered greatly at their hands. Indeed it was the Assyrians who took Israel into exile as God had promised because of their unfaithfulness to him.

These were truly terrible days and King Ahaz did all he could to appease the Assyrians but to no avail. Isaiah kept urging him to seek the Lord, turn back to him because only he could help. Instead King Ahaz closed the temple and set up his own altar which he had built modelled on one he had seen and liked in Damascus (II Kings 16).

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this, Isaiah prophesies one of his most famous and frequently read encouragements found in Isaiah 9. At Christmas we usually hear and read just Isaiah 9: 2, 6 – 7 because this is the most obvious prophecy about the Messiah but the first seven verses of the chapter taken together were indeed a source of great encouragement in the dark days of King Ahaz’s reign.

God promised through Isaiah that the northern lands of Zebulun, Naphtali and Galilee which had suffered terribly at the hands of the Assyrians would one day be greatly honoured. This of course was fulfilled during Jesus’ ministry there. God promised the people who were walking in the darkness of despair that a light will dawn, that the yoke of oppression will be broken and all the tools of warfare will be burnt.

This will happen because a child will be born, a royal child from the house of David who will rule with justice and righteousness for ever. ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’ God will make sure this happens and he has. He has sent his son Jesus who even now is reigning in glory and will one day return to the earth to establish his kingdom on earth for ever.

In the midst of despair and terror, God spoke words of life and hope to the Jewish people. God never left them even when they were eventually taken off into exile; he is indeed Immanuel God with us.

In the midst of our trials and difficulties, no matter their source, he will speak words of life and hope to us if we will be still and know He is God.

Opening blind eyes

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:

 “Say to the Daughter of Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”                      Matthew 21: 1 – 5

The book of Matthew was written mostly to Greek speaking Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and so there are frequent references to Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.

In this instance, as we know, Jesus was about to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. A donkey is a sign of humility and peace and on which David’s sons rode (II Samuel 13: 29). Jesus as the Son of David would also ride a donkey in his triumphant entry when the crowd recognised him as king.

This was a wonderful prophetic sign to the people and those who had eyes to see would have recognised its significance. The crowd also played their part in fulfilling prophecy. They spontaneously welcomed Jesus, casting their cloaks and branches on the road and crying out ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord’ from Psalm 118: 25 – 26. It was a royal welcome by the people to the Son of David into the city of David.

What is also very interesting is that in three of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) one of the events preceding the triumphal entry is the healing of a blind man or Bartimaus, or two blind men all of whom called out to Jesus as the ‘Son of David.’ When asked by Jesus what they wanted, they all replied that they wanted to see and Jesus opened their eyes.  For those who recognise their need for Jesus, the Messiah, Son of David, he will open their eyes so they can see; not just naturally but supernaturally. They believed and then they saw. The spiritually blind will never recognise Jesus or what he is doing.

Today God is continuing to fulfil prophecy as the end of the age draws nearer and he will open our eyes to see and understand what is happening if we ask him. Again and again Jesus fulfilled prophecy and through miraculous events revealed that he was the Messiah to anyone who had eyes to see or to those who would ask him to open their eyes.  We too need to be like the men of Issachar who understood the times (I Chronicles 12: 32) when they came to make David king at Hebron. We also must keep asking God to open our eyes to see what he is doing and understand these times so we too can be ready to welcome Jesus, the King of kings, the Son of David, when he returns.