The cries of the distressed rise up, but they seem to land on deaf ears. Is there a reason why they receive no response? Is it because the one they cry to is not there? Is it because that one is unable to bring them relief, or perhaps does not care? These are some of the questions that some of the people of Judah asked both the prophet Isaiah and the Lord when it seemed their prayers were not being answered. Many today ask the same questions. What was the Lord’s response? Our Scripture gives His answer.
Depending upon who the king was at the time, the Kingdom of Judah swayed back and forth in their allegiance to Yahweh. Many of the people mixed the worship of the Lord with that of pagan gods and goddesses, with some completely abandoning Him. Only a few were completely faithful to the Lord. But when troubles arose, they would pray to Him for deliverance, and they wondered why God was not responding. Some of them wondered out loud if perhaps Yahweh wasn’t strong enough, or had lost strength since the days of the past. Maybe He just wasn’t listening, others said.
Yahweh answered through His prophet Isaiah, and told the people that it wasn’t that He wasn’t strong enough nor deaf (vs. 1). His arms were just as long and strong as they always were. The reason was that the people’s sins had come between them and Himself. If there is repeated unconfessed and unrepentant sin in our life, God will not hear or answer our prayers (Psalm 66:18). And God will never tolerate or excuse the worship of Him combined with that of false religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, or any neo-pagan religions. This was what the people were involved in, along with unrepented sins (vs. 3-5).
The false religious leaders had led the people astray. Isaiah compares them to people who hatch venomous snake’s eggs, which bring forth a baby snake who is ready to bite right from birth (vs. 5). They are also compared to a spider weaving her web. A spider’s web is a marvel of seduction. With cunning the spider weaves the web to trap unsuspecting insects and small animals. False religions are like a venomous snake’s egg or a spider’s web, equally seductive, but hiding potentially lethal danger. The false leaders make their lies appear to be true, so we need to be on alert, aware, and wise. Rather than being the truth, and being something that can clothe us with Godly wisdom and salvation, these false religions and philosophies are as worthless as trying to clothe oneself with a spider’s web, and their paths lead to evil and sin (vs. 6-8).
The Lord God tries to call the people back to Himself, and to get their attention. He tries to get us to listen to Him. However, all too often they are blind and deaf, or like dead men, like corpses (vs. 10). They are seemingly trying to find the right way in life, but can’t find their way. The justice and righteousness that they profess they want is far away (vs. 9, 11). Why is that? Isaiah answers that it is because they have multiplied sins which they refuse to let go of (vs. 12-13). They have sinned against the Lord so justice, righteousness, and answered prayer will be far away.
This does not please the Lord. He is not happy when people are lost in their sins. Therefore, God Himself brought salvation to mankind by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, clothed with salvation and righteousness (vs. 15-19). When we accept the Lord as our Savior, when we fear His Name, we can call upon Him, and He will hear us. He will also protect us when the enemy comes in upon us like a flood (vs. 19). When the presence of the Lord overshadows you, there is nothing that the enemy can do to harm you. God will rise up and scatter him. His presence covers and protects us on every side. The Lord goes before us into every battle, and He is our rear-guard. He is ever watchful.
In closing, let’s look back one more time at the opening verse of our Scripture passage. When the people were wondering why God did not seem to hear or answer their prayers, rather than suspect that the fault would lie with themselves, they felt the fault lay with the Lord, that He was weak, His arms or hands were “too short”. As we have seen, the Lord does hear and is attentive to the prayers and cries of His children, those who have a relationship with Him through the Blood of the Lord Jesus. No disaster can put us beyond God’s help. When we are frightened in the dark, trapped by poor choices, or over our heads in trouble, God’s arm is long enough to reach us. He is not too weak, and we are never beyond His reach. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39, nothing can separate God’s Blood-bought children from Him!
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