Isaiah 49-53
I feel as though it would be a great disservice to pass over this portion of scripture and not comment on the incredible prophecies of and allusions to the Christ. So here is a comment: it is incredible. Please study this passage with a focus on the light it sheds on the history contained in the New Testament. Though I feel as though I should spend more time on this topic than those two sentences, my thoughts can’t help but be drawn to a seemingly simple, yet complex and culturally pervasive game known as “Peekaboo.”
Everyone has seen a parent play peekaboo with their infant child. They will hide behind their hands to the dismay of the child only to pop out with an exclamation of great joy from the same child. This game is not often given much thought, but it illustrates an important concept in developmental psychology known as object permanence. When an infant has yet to develop object permanence, they don’t know that an object still exists when it leaves their sight. Once they have grown and developed, they are able to understand the idea of “hiding,” and can tell that their mom or dad is still there hiding behind their hands even though they are out of the child’s sight.
Object permanence has parallel applications in all aspects of life. If you have never seen the ocean, you still know that it exists albeit with a lesser degree of knowledge than one who has been to the ocean, has seen the ocean, has been in the ocean and experienced the ocean personally. The act of knowing an object exists doesn’t extend just to objects that we can personally experience but also to those which we have no possible way of ever experiencing. We may know that the inner core of the earth is molten metal and that it is close to 10,000 °F even though we can’t see it, we can’t touch it and we may never be able to experience it in any direct way.
Of all the things that we cannot see and yet believe in, God is the one of whom we have the hardest time convincing ourselves. From the age of one, we begin to believe in things which we cannot see, which we cannot touch, which we have yet to experience. As we age and grow “wiser,” we begin to doubt that we cannot truly believe in something that we cannot experience. How foolish that is. If you have never been to the ocean, yet someone told you that it exists, would you not believe them? If a scientist told you that the inner core of the earth is 10,000 °F based on seismic and magnetic readings, would you not at least consider his claim plausible? Yet for some reason, when you tell yourself that God exists, there is a voice in the back of your head that says: “How can you believe in something you cannot see?” Again, I say: How foolish that is.
The Lord has displayed His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. The oral history of our God, the written history of our God and finally the life and works of Jesus Christ and those who witnessed him are an incredible power, foreseen centuries beforehand and proclaimed in the ear of a man, Isaiah, and then to the world, should be enough to convince anyone of the things unseen if only they are mature enough to see it. If you cannot see it, do not take that as a sign of your lack of faith. Instead, pray that you would develop and grow and develop the ability to believe in the things that you can’t see. It is self-evident in our experience as humans that it is indeed an ability that needs to be developed, to believe in that which we cannot see. When you cannot see God, wait and watch, for he is the one who says: Here I am.
Nathaniel Johnson
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+49-53&version=NIV
Tomorrow’s reading will be Isaiah 54-58 as we continue on the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan
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