Isaiah 49:1-7 NIV
(Will be read later in the sermon)
A Polished Arrow
[The Light Revealed: As Inclusive]
To bring up a bit of background to this morning’s text… it comes in a time in Israel’s history that is filled with troubles. To help prepare us for this text, we need to have a quick glimpse of the historic timeline of the nation of Israel. Beginning with 900 years before Christ’s birth, the good and wise King Solomon dies, and the sons can’t decide who will lead in his place. The kingdom becomes divided into two… a church split.
Nine tribes form the Southern Kingdom known as Judah, and the three remaining tribes form the Northern Kingdom known as Israel. They enter a time of great stress and fighting between the two kingdoms. The one great nation of Israel… has now been split. Trouble.
Fast forward a few years, and we see Egypt’s rise to power… starts conquering land. Assyria rises to power and IT begins conquering land. You have the Babylonian Empire rising in power and conquering land. Trouble… trouble… and MORE trouble!
This leads us into 700 BC… (200 years after the death of the great King Solomon), the great Northern Kingdom… the nation of Israel… is fallen! Leaving just Judah. Trouble.
600 BC… Judah falls. This begins what is known as the Babylonian Exile. Israel and Judah are destroyed and decimated and all its people are scattered like dust in the wind. Trouble… trouble… trouble… trouble. Both kingdoms are gone… the people are no longer even together. All hope… (it seems) is lost!
That is the setting where our scripture text lives and breathes. Our scripture text is given to us by the prophet Isaiah, and he is writing in response to all of this “trouble”… he writes to his people: exiled… completely defeated and destroyed after all this conflict. He writes to his people, and he begins addressing the exiles back in Chapter 40… and his first words are this:
“Comfort, O comfort my people Israel, says my God”
“Comfort…. O comfort.” That is how he starts. And he keeps going for 20 more chapters… addressing a people who have been destroyed, a people who have been lost, a people who have been exiled to Babylon. What do you suppose they “hope” for? They are looking for a savior! A savior to rescue them and deliver them home.
And so, that is what Isaiah gives them. Here, in beautiful language… Isaiah gives them the savior they hunger for! So hear these words again, and listen closely knowing the context behind all of this:
Isaiah 49:1-7 NIV
Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
Now… pay very special attention to this next part:
“he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor." 4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;”
They’ve been kicked out of their homeland! They have lost the war! Their army is decimated! They are down and out and they shout at the Lord:
"I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God." 5 And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself,” (Here he’s talking about bringing them BACK HOME!) for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength-- 6 he says: "It is too SMALL a thing for you to be my servant (here he is talking about his servant Jesus and Israel together) to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. (If God was going to bring them home, that fine… but God wants them to know he has MUCH LARGER PLANS FOR THEM!)
He continues, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: (Again, he’s talking about Jesus… which is odd because they want a savior - a conquering king - to take them home, and here Isaiah is talking about their savior who is despised, who is abhorred, who is servant!) "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, (again were talking about Christ, Christ will bow down before princes), because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
I don’t know about you, but all of a sudden… I think this text has really gotten a lot more interesting. It is just filled with a ton of great stuff… all these words of advice to a fallen people. The first thing I want to really focus on takes us all the way back to verse two:
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
Now this is really an interesting verse to me… can any of you tell me what a polished arrow is? Anyone even have a guess what a polished arrow might be. Imagine, the finest arrow a craftsman could make, made out of the finest wood, the absolutely straightest feather, the sharpest steal… and then you polish it… and polish it… and polish it. This is a “polished arrow” and they did this so that the arrow would fly faster, fly farther, and fly straighter than any other arrow.
Now… isn’t that the kind of arrow you would want to use. Isn’t that the kind of arrow you would want to draw back and let fly. This, is an arrow that has a special purpose, and it is not an arrow you want to neglect. Now take it back to verse two… Israel is talking to the Lord at this point and says, “[God] made us into a polished arrow, and the he CONCEALED us in his quiver!” You made us into an arrow… and not just any arrow… but a POLISHED ARROW, and then you put us in your quiver. That is how Israel feels. A polished arrow… all of that potential, all of that promise, all that God has been preparing them for… and God just tucks them away. And Israel is feeling frustrated… they want to FLY, isn’t that what an arrow is for? We want you to use us for the purpose that you made us for! You are WASTING us in your quiver!
They are frustrated! Listen to verse 4 more closely: “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for NOTHING.” Israel is getting a little whiney here if you hadn’t caught that. “We are the arrows you’ve put back in the quiver. We gave you EVERYTHING… and now we are on the bench!” That is the people Israel. That is their situation.
Do you ever feel like a polished arrow… that’s been put back into a quiver? Have you ever felt like things were just SO close to happening… so close to being SO great. But man… look at where we are at! Look at what’s happened. We feel like a polished arrow… ready to FLY… but put back in the quiver. A little angst… a little frustration come out.
And it’s here that the prophet FLIPS IT! Verse 4b… remember we just got done whining in 4a… YET… there’s the yet: “Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God." 5 And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself,” Now… remember he’s talking about bringing them BACK HOME! Where are we going… BACK HOME! We go from whining to a promise! Your time will come! Your time… will… come!
But something’s gonna have to change first. The Lord wasn’t prepared to bring the nations back… Isaiah has all the way until chapter 60 before he gets to the “celebration!” We will get to see it… the celebration DOES happen, but understand where we are today… the celebration HASN’T happened… the hope of a nation is still WAITING to be fulfilled. This is still the sad whiney time.
Now, we kick it up a notch. “Just going home? That is what you are whining about? You just want to go home? That’s it? You just want to go home? You want a military leader to rescue you and just go home? Guess what… that is too SMALL a thing. You are a POLISHED ARROW! Just going home is too SMALL a thing. You have a very SPECIAL purpose. To just send you home is too small a thing! It would be like taking a polished arrow and shooting a gopher!
God has been working through Israel, God has spent thousands of years preparing Israel. Israel is a polished arrow and they just want God to pull the draw string back and just let them go home. And Isaiah lets them know… that is TOO SMALL a thing.
Isaiah lets them know that when… WHEN their time comes… they won’t just go home… but thy will ALSO begin the process of opening the door of salvation to EVERYBODY!
Verse 6, "It is too SMALL a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
They are whining about going home, and Isaiah lets them know that their day will come, but that they need to remember that they ARE a polished arrow. They need to understand the purpose of a polished arrow. What kind of target do you save a polished arrow for? You don’t wanna hit a small target… you wanna hit a BIG target.
That is where we pull into the end in verse 7: “This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
He wraps it all up, by saying Israel’s purpose is going to be to introduce the entire world to Jesus Christ. They are a POLISHED ARROW, and God is aiming them at a BIG TARGET… that is salvation for the entire world!
How many of you feel like a polished arrow? Because guess what, every single one of you is a polished arrow. God has been working on you and polishing you for a very special purpose. He has made you to fly straight, fly true, fly far and hit your target. But unfortunately, we haven’t seen our OWN potential, and we’ve spent our energy and spent our purpose aiming at small targets… shooting gophers!
We aim for small targets, we keep our hopes small, we keep our visions small, we keep our ambitions small… and the word for us is… that is too SMALL a thing. You are a POLISHED ARROW! Think about what that means.
This church is a polished arrow and our church aims too small. We want to focus on the 80 people inside these walls and the word is that is TOO SMALL A THING! Isaiah tells us who this good news is for… it is for everyone.
Brothers and sisters, maybe it is time for all of us to take aim at a bigger target. Let the Lord draw you back, and LET YOU FLY! Remember… you are a polished arrow… you were meant to fly… you were meant to hit a BIG target.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
