Isaiah 41:10

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10 ESV). Looking at the context of this verse we find Isaiah is writing about God’s protection for the people of Israel. The Lord claims to be the first and the last and has power over all the nations on the earth. No matter who would mount a threat against Israel, God will protect them. God has chosen them as a people through whom he would reveal himself and who were to share him with others. As they engage in their assignment and are threatened by others, God tells them to “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

How can we lift this verse out of context and apply it to us in the church? The answer is found in verse 9: "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”  (Isaiah 41:9 ESV). Israel failed in carrying out their assignment, so God raised up the church to do their work. We “who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”  (1 Peter 1:1-3 NASB). Then looking at “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB), we find we were chosen by God and created in Christ Jesus for good works. Those good works are the same as the assignment given to Israel. We are to reveal God in the person of Jesus Christ to the world and as we do we can claim the promise of our verse for ourselves in serving God.

Prayer

Father, as I study the context of popular verses that are lifted out of context and used for various applications, I am beginning to understand why Christians today do not understand the Bible. From a collection of verses like this one, used to preach and teach from and to use in writing devotionals, we have created a false context of the Scriptures based on our application. As a result, we have lost the original intent of the verses. Based upon these verses, we think we know what the Bible teaches, but we don't. Father, we desperately need to “Be diligent to present [ourselves] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB).