Its appointed Time

Isaiah 8:16-22

Verse 16, begins, “Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.”   The testimony is referring to instruction God has given to Isaiah and they are the words of God that have come to Isaiah.  As with all prophets, a small group would be followers and these were Isaiah’s disciples, who were to keep and protect the word of God until they happened.  It reminds one of what God showed Daniel about the times of the end, and Daniel was given these orders: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.  Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Verse 17, is almost unattainable in our culture, Isaiah is told to “wait on the Lord.”  As a child, I was told often, good things happen to those who wait.  And in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your hearts take courage; wait for the LORD!”  Do you recall the prophet Habakkuk, who complained to God and this was the answer in a vision; “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”  Dear fellow time critters, never forget God made time for us, and it has no control over Him.

Verses 19-20, give us a mirror of the hearts of men, they look for and run to sorcerers, mediums, and even preachers who tell them what they want to hear, but God gave this word to Isaiah.  “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19 ESV) 

And when you examine verses 21-22, do you not come away with a picture of our day, when one does not get what they want they speak out against parents, authority, and even God?  We in the USA are living in this present darkness, where anger and hate rules in the lives of so many, even those that are called Christians.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice