Isaiah helps me read the news
"(GOD) will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war any more.
Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord."
Isaiah 2:4-5
This week I've been finding comfort in these verses. At a time when some world leaders seem to be sowing chaos and disorder, where ally is turning against ally, and peace talks themselves are a source of conflict, it's good to turn to God's word for an eternal perspective, rather than a temporal one. To be honest, I'm personally finding the temporal perspective (i.e. reading the news) rather terrifying and extremely infuriating at the moment.
In this passage, God tells us that He will judge between the nations and He will settle the disputes. He is the ultimate arbiter, the wise and just One, the sovereign over all nations. All our times are in His hands. From our perspective in history we see that the promise of peace in these verses has not yet come. Rather since Isaiah wrote these words, we have seen humanity gradually beat their swords into AK47s and their spears into landmines. But this promise remains part of God's eternal word, and I believe it is still to come. There will be a time on Earth when God's rule will be the only one, when the power of sin and death will be fully broken and banished. As Isaiah prophesies later in the book, "The infant will play near the cobra's den and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy, on all my holy mountain, for all the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:8-9
Our ultimate hope in troubled times like today, when the continents are shaken, alliances are rocked and truth is hard to find, is that one day God will fully redeem, rebuild and renew this very Earth that we labour and struggle in today.
For now, we still have to live in that complicated time that Christians sometimes refer to as "the now and the not yet." Jesus has fully accomplished His victory across time and space. Death and Satan are defeated and we have the option to choose forgiveness and eternal life with God. But in order for this to be a free choice, God cannot reveal His full power to humanity yet. The Father still waits in love and mercy before He ends the current world order and comes to judge the living and the dead. We still live in the time of broken and sinful human nature that has a choice between life and healing on one hand, or clinging to our sin, pride and self-determination on the other. All of this explains what we see in the world today - in some places and times we see the church victorious, outbreaks of miracles, restoration and revival. But in many places we see the church struggling against the challenges of our time -apathy, individualism and cynicism, or war and suffering. On a personal level we are given freedom, inner victory and a gradual change to be like Jesus. But we still struggle with sin and difficulties. Our diseases aren't always healed and we still face troubles. And in the wider world there is still inborn and lethal sin in everyone's hearts, leading to war, murder and abuse of many kinds.
This passage gives me hope that God's rule of peace is coming one day. It also gives comfort when it says that God will judge between the nations and "settle disputes for many people". His rule will also bring perfect justice. We may see injustice, failure and exploitation between nations and feel helpless to change anything. We may see the structures and organisations that were set up to judge between nations and enforce international rules being sidelined, broken or failing in their aims. But we know that God sees every injustice and pain so much more clearly than we do. He alone is the righteous and powerful Judge and we can trust that He will not brush over wrongdoing, but bring it into the light. When I see things I believe are wrong, I can talk to God and give them over to Him, knowing He is far wiser, far more just and far more angered on behalf of the weak than I am.
This doesn't mean that we have no responsibility for trying to bring justice in our world. We should speak up and protest when we see injustice within our state or sphere of influence. Sometimes some Christians will be called to give their lives to these causes. We can pray and commit issues to God while doing this. And we can pray and commit issues to God when they are just too big for us - when we have no idea how to even start to fix generational conflict, dictatorial regimes or worldwide wars and disasters. Unlike governments and powers, God always listens, never wearies of hearing our protests, and is powerful to act.
From these verses I find trust that God will one day bring perfect peace on earth. I can trust that He will bring perfect justice. So the final verse, "Come...let us walk in the light of the Lord" leads me on to what I can do now. What does it mean to walk in God's light? It means living a life within His presence, seeing everything illuminated by His truth and beauty. In practical terms, this might mean reading my Bible more than the news (I don't currently do this.) It might mean giving every anxious thought over to God as prayer for that situation (nope, don't manage that one either.) It definitely means that If we walk in His light, our lives should look different when others see them - we should display His peace and joy instead of anxiety and fear. Like Moses, who saw God's glory on the mountain, may our faces reflect Him back to others as we battle and persevere to walk in his beautiful, hopeful and restful Light.