A Culture of Self

Isaiah 50:5-10

This fear eats at me, that we who have been awakened, our ears have heard, as those who 

are taught and who even teach and encourage the weary, are not prepared for those who will 

come against us.  Many in our culture fear any man who follows Christ; they are a threat to an 

immoral culture.  A culture that has goals to live independently of all authority, especially 

God’s, a culture of self.  It often comes not from the worldly, but from the religious, it also 

comes from those within your family.  So read verses five and six, the Servant is identified 

with Christ, though at the time of this writing the audience probably identified the Servant as 

Israel. (Thoughts taken from page 1207 HCSB)  “The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I 

was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave my back to those who strike, and my 

cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”   

(Isaiah 50:5-6 ESV)

So we have the example of the Servant, we also have His testimony of the Father’s 

faithfulness in Isaiah 50: 7-9, “But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been 

disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to 

shame.  He who vindicates me is near.  Who will contend with me?  Let us stand up together.   

Who is my adversary?     Let him come near to me.  Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who 

will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them 

up.”  As we give thought to these words from the Servant, we also need to look as the 

Servant did; His eyes were on the Father, not government, not religion, not family, but God 

the Father, and His face was set like a flint.  And the call was to the people of God to stand 

up together.  God is calling His Church to stand together in this darkness we are encountering; 

listen to Moses Church, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD 

has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are 

on the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 14:2)  Do you not understand that you have been 

grafted into God’s chosen, you are His Church, and the apostle Peter under the leadership 

of the Holy Spirit gave us this information on who we are in Christ: “But you are a chosen 

race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim 

the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” ( Peter 2:9)

My prayer for the Church is Isaiah 50:10, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the 

voice of his servant?  Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of 

the LORD and rely on his God.” (Isaiah 50:10 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice