Word Live: Leaders And Followers
God’s desire is always to draw our wayward hearts to him. Sometimes he does this through wooing us, other times through wounding, as we see in Isaiah 9. Think about how he has worked to draw you to him.
Bible passage
Isaiah 9:8–17
The Lord’s anger against Israel
8 The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;
it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it –
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria –
who say with pride
and arrogance of heart,
10 ‘The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with dressed stone;
the fig-trees have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.’
11 But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them
and has spurred their enemies on.
12 Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
have devoured Israel with open mouth.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
13 But the people have not returned to him who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord Almighty.
14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
both palm branch and reed in a single day;
15 the elders and dignitaries are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 Those who guide this people mislead them,
and those who are guided are led astray.
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,
nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly and wicked,
every mouth speaks folly.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
his hand is still upraised.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
We tend to be very cynical about leadership these days, and think we are independent freethinkers, but we are all led by the prevailing influencers of culture. Just think about the fashions of the 1970s; they look ridiculous now, but at the time seemed totally normal, even attractive! We are more shaped by our culture and its expectations than we realise.
God will hold our leaders to account for the ways in which they have or have not led us in his righteousness. And he will also hold us to account for how we lived for him – did we uphold his laws or were we led astray by our bosses, our politicians or our culture? Each of us is responsible for our own sins; we can’t blame anyone else.
But his desire is always for us to return to him (v 13). ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).
Author
Jennie Pollock
Respond
‘Lord God, you are holy and righteous. Forgive me for the ways in which I have allowed myself to be led astray by those who do not uphold your law. And for times I have led astray those under my influence. Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’1
As a child I always enjoyed Boxing Day. It was a time for the wider family to catch up and for eating up the wonderful leftovers and playing with presents! Now, in adult life, the sense of regret that it was now over for another year is, I have to admit, also accompanied by a sense of relief! Isaiah wanted to make sure that the faithful among God’s people really had grasped the extent of the great hope that was theirs of their wonderful future, both in human history and in eternity. However, he didn’t want the faithless to think they were off the hook. He has rightly proclaimed the future hope and now turns back to the other prophetic tasks to ‘tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, [and] grieve in a society that practises denial’!2
It has been something of a surprise to see just how relevant Isaiah’s words are in our world. Whatever our political allegiance, we are all used to the next government telling us how bad the previous regime has made things and how wonderful the future will be with them! Verse 10 describes this thought exactly! God’s anger is directed to his chosen nation and not directly to any modern country, but his people today need to heed the warnings. Christmas provides us with a real opportunity to talk to our family, friends and neighbours about the hope that the coming of Jesus brings to us. However, we are also called to expose the bad things in our world – and indeed, sadly, sometimes in today’s church – and let people know that we are grieving about the corruption, the division, the nastiness, the greed, the mistreatment of God’s creation etc that we see all around us. Otherwise our Christmas message is not much more than chocolate and toys.
‘O holy child of Bethlehem, / descend to us, we pray; / cast out our sin and enter in; / be born in us today.’3
1Luke 2:14 2 Walter Brueggemann, 2014, see note for 23 December 3 Philip Brooks, 1868, ‘O little town of Bethlehem’
Author
Mary Evans
