It seems appropriate for the first blog of the new year to be about fear – especially in such turbulent times. Isaiah 41 continues like this:
5 The islands have seen it and fear;
Isaiah 41:5-7
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
6 they help each other
and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer
spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.
This describes the state of the nations as they observe the new threat of the rising Persian empire (see previous verses). They fear and tremble, and join together to meet the new threat. They encourage each other. They say “Be strong!”. 41:7 describes the industry of their joint effort to combat their new threat – and it all sound so positive.
Until the very end – “the other nails down the idol so it will not topple”. Here the NIV makes explicit what other translations only hint at. The ESV has:
The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
Isaiah 41:7 (ESV)
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
The word translated by NIV as ‘idol’ is translated ‘soldering’ by the ESV, because it is related to the verb for ‘join’ – and it is used only twice elsewhere in the Old Testament where it means joints of a breastplate in armour (1 Kings 22:34, and the parallel passage in Chronicles). The description does sound like idol construction, especially as it speaks of the joining together so that they are not moved (we’ve already come across that in Isaiah 40, and will do even more strikingly in Isaiah 44), which I assume is why the NIV has made ‘idol’ explicit. The lack of specific mention of any word for idol does intrigue me here though – as I assume the same kind of craftsmanship was required for military equipment and amour, and it would seem entirely possible that the response of the nations was also to increase their military might.
The trust is either therefore directly in idols, or in military might (another form of idolatry) – but either way we have here an all too realistic of a how a crisis brings people together (which looks good) to trust in something that will ultimately fail them. I cannot help but think of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. People came together, especially early on. Governments parroted the mantra “we are following the science” as if science was a mystic force that would somehow save us.
I’m not saying that governments should ignore science – that would be utterly foolish. But to talk of “following” or “trusting” science is to put science in a place it should never be expected to fulfill. Science can show us how to model what is happening, and it can show us what will happen when certain measures are put in place, and it can help us develop and assess treatments. But science cannot tell us whether it is better to lock down for longer to reduce cases but create impacts in terms of mental health and loss of income for others or to remain more open and increase the risk to people with health problems already. Science can create a vaccine that reduces serious illness and doesn’t seem to create significant harm – but it cannot distribute that vaccine fairly across the globe. Science can inform government policy – but more than science is needed to determine what that policy should be. Science is a wonderful tool to use – but it is not a master that we follow – and when we make it our master, we make it into an idol.
Living in a global pandemic should be, at the very least, showing us that we are not as strong and in control as we think we are. But the temptation, like the nations watching the rise of Persia is to try to come together and make the idols we trust in as strong as we can, so that they will not topple.
Even as God’s people we are tempted to trust in idols that give security, in our ability to control and cope with life. I’ve been struck recently by one of the many situations of abuse that have occurred in the evangelical world recently where an abuser was discovered by some, but those who discovered the abuse chose to cover up that abuse and send the abuser away to a different country where the abuse continued. It struck me that the people who colluded in that cover up were trusting in their ability to control and likely fearing the consequences of discovery for the valuable work they were doing.
It makes me search my heart to see where I can end up lacking a trust that God is big enough to take care of the consequences when we let the truth be known – it is so easy to want to preserve equilibrium and comfort rather than face the difficulty. The next section of chapter 41 goes on to show us how God’s people are to be different.
8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
Isaiah 41:8-10
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend,
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Here Israel is directly addressed as Yahweh’s servant, Yahweh’s chosen one, descendants of Abraham – Yahweh’s friend. We’ll see in these chapters a number of different ways the idea of Yahweh’s servant is used, but for now we note that it is first of all used of Israel, and is linked to the idea of Israel being God’s chosen one. This in turn is linked to the idea of Israel being descended from Abraham, the first person chosen by God to be a blessing to the nations.
God’s call and choice of Israel is to do with his call and choice of her to play their part in his mission to the whole world. In these chapters in Isaiah we will also see Israel described as a ‘blind’ and ‘deaf’ servant (Isaiah 42:18-19) and we will also see a figure who often seems much more of an individual described as Yahweh’s servant (Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9, 52:13-52:12).
In the New Testament we see Jesus described in language that echoes these descriptions. He is both the individual servant, and the one who embodies national Israel. Jesus lives out Israel’s mission – and calls gentiles to become a part of that mission, and a part of that people. Therefore when we as Christians read these Old Testament descriptions of Israel it is right that we see ourselves in them – because as those who trust in Christ we are made part of a renewed, restored Israel, no longer defined by outward circumcision, but by inward circumcision of the heart, the Spirit living in us. We haven’t replaced Israel in God’s favour – rather we are grafted in to the new thing God is doing in his people through Jesus (see Romans 9-11 to see how Paul wrestles this one through).
All who trust in Jesus are made part of God’s chosen people to play their part in his mission to bring blessing to the whole world. As such we can read these words in Isaiah and apply them to ourselves today. We can hear God reassuring us, as he says to us “Do not be afraid”. Note the contrast to the nations in 41:5. The nations see the crisis and tremble. But we are not to be afraid.
This is a reoccurring theme in the Bible – coming repeatedly as God speaks to different individuals. {Plea to any preachers reading this: I’ve checked and it doesn’t come 365 times – or even 366 times, so please don’t repeat that urban myth.} It is natural in a crisis to fear. There is so much to fear right now. In many parts of the world Covid and other natural disasters have exposed just how fragile and precarious life is. Even in the wealthy west we can see the cracks of our society all too clearly as the gaps in health provision and vast inequalities of wealth are brought to light.
And in our individual lives, in our family circumstances, in our local settings, and in our church communities there are all sorts of reasons to fear. We may fear illness or financial trouble. We may fear that God will let us down. We may fear that if we do what is right trouble will come. We may fear that being God’s servant will be more than we can cope with.
But we are told not to fear – and given reasons. In the midst of a crisis we are to know that God is with us and that he is our God. The God we have read about in Isaiah 40, the everlasting creator who does not grow tired and weary is with us, and he is our God. He is for us. He will strengthen us. He will help us, and he will uphold us by his righteous right hand – by the right hand of his righteousness. His right hand, because that was the hand used in battle and for work – and his righteousness because he always does what is right and because he is always seeking to put what is wrong right.
That won’t always make a crisis easier – but it does mean that in the midst of the crisis we will be enabled to play our part in living out the mission of being God’s servant. God’s people will always be given all that they need to show God to a world in crisis. Quite possibly that means we will suffer in the midst of all sorts of trouble – after all the servant was called to suffer too – but in the midst of that suffering God is with us, and this God is our God, and perhaps most crucially this God is holding on to us (whether we can sense that reality in the moment or not). Therefore we do not need to be afraid.
That is unpacked in more detail in the chapters that follow. But for now, at the start of 2022, perhaps that is the reassurance we need. God is holding you. He has got you. He knows the situations you face and he is with you. You may not be able to see his hand right now – but it is there, and he is with you.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 