Our Current Christian Calling
Two things can be true at the same time: (1) There is nothing under the sun and (2) times change.
How Can This Be?
Well, first, to understand what is happening now, and what might happen in the near future, we can look at similar cases throughout history. We all know the old axiom: history repeats itself. Empires rise and decline, individuals rise and fall, and they have done this since time immemorial. Thus, we can learn from the past, because as Solomon declared, there is nothing new under the sun:
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again.” (Eccl. 1:9)
Yet, secondly, at the same time, the calling of a Christian will not be exactly the same from one generation to another. Even though these old things exist as resurfacing behaviors and repeated situations, the situations themselves are often new to me. With the rising and falling of nations and cultures, with the changing of times and questions, things that have been tried before might not have been tried in my lifetime.
This is Important because Something Old-New is Happening in our Lifetime.
In the West, we’ve just gone through one of the most decadent and prosperous periods of world history. Following the Second World War, the Allied nations, for the most part, were productive, educated Biblically and ethically, financially sound, innovative, militarily capable, and postured with internal cohesion and moral restraint.
Yet, we are now living in a time of changing world orders as the West declines. This is signified by personal and national debt, internal conflict (socially and politically), and competition from rising powers compounding those stresses. Specifically, there is a rising new world power, China. China challenges the existing dominant power of the United States. And, this is a new thing for those of us who were born after the period between 1917–1933, not during it.
For those who were born and lived through the rise of the Soviet Union or the rise of national socialism in Germany had seen firsthand the old evil of statism. My grandfather, at 16, was preparing his mind and his mettle to join a very real and bloody war to overthrow these evils. He was getting ready to lay down his life for God’s virtues and Europe’s liberty. At 16, I was shoplifting a tie for church from Sears and living a rather inconsequential existence. The draconian measures of 2020–2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic were a completely new reality for me even though I had studied the rise and fall of the Soviet Union in history books.
There are huge political and social conflicts in Western nations today. A number of major developments are emerging that haven’t happened in my lifetime.
This Calls for Wisdom, Both in General and for the Particular
The Christian calling always requires reflection—thinking, deciding, and acting in the midst of man’s collective rebellion against God and man’s constant use of half-truths.
“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints… ” “This calls for wisdom.” (Re 13:10, 18)
It means that we have to reflect on what life is like in God’s created world, in general. And it means seeing the particular signs of the times and the particular applications of Scriptures in the light of our unique times.
For example, sexual temptation, which we will cover soon, has been around since the fall. Pornography in its current forms, however, is a new issue for the church to deal with since the digital age, and now the streaming age.
As another example, I am an individual who is used to a certain societal makeup which is full of life, liberty, and the pursuit of comfort and luxury. These cultural realities shape how I think and behave. However, my American struggle with coveting is not the same particular situation as my Mozambican friends’ perspective on coveting.
Therefore, right now, the West is going to need to be thinking, deciding, and acting while we specifically see our freedoms and comfort and luxuries ripped out from under us. Same general issues, but existing in a more fragile and artificial societal framework. We all experience these kinds of traumatic humblings personally, but we truly don’t know what it looks like for our nation to be thrown into this kind of national stress.
Isaiah and His Family: A Faithful Example Amid Shifting World Powers
In particular, Isaiah and his family are an example of fulfilling God’s calling in the midst of shifting world powers.
Isaiah wrote during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. He wrote:
“The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” (Isaiah 1:1)
Chapters 1–5 address people during Uzziah’s successful and wealthy reign.
This time is marked by comfort, prosperity, and strength, which leads to continuous rebellion and pride:
Is 2:6–8 — “They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.”
Is 5:8 — “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.”
Is 5:11–13 — “Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.”
These descriptions feel analogous to today’s Western world. Or any first-world nation for that matter. When the pressure is off, playing with idols and pursuing luxury are very common and problematic.
As the notes in the ESV Study Bible point out,” Chapter 6 records a pivotal turning point in Judah’s history and marks the beginning of a new era in Isaiah’s preaching. The death of Uzziah (6:1) ends a period of relative strength and prosperity in Judah, when Assyria was weak. The wicked king Ahaz will now rule Judah (7:1); war and weakness will characterize this king’s reign, and Assyria will become the dominant international power on earth.”
As the reader approaches chaps. 7–8, the events described there recall circumstances surrounding the Syro-Ephraimite War (734–732 BC) when the Israelite king Pekah and the Syrian king Rezin attacked Judah. These kings wanted to force Ahaz to join their coalition against the mighty Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria.
This time is marked by idolatry and weakness:
Is 7:3–4 — “Then the Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field. Say to him, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.”’” (Shear-Jashub means "a remnant will return.")
Is 7:14–17 — “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey so that he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
Is 8:3 — “Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, ‘Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. (Quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil.) Before the boy knows how to say “My father” or “My mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.’”
Is 8:18 — “Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.”
Is 8:20 — “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.”
Chapter 8 is significant to our dialogue and to our current Christian calling.
This son given to Isaiah and his wife, another sign, would live in a difficult era (very different from the luxury of Ahaz). He would learn to make good and just decisions in contrast to the evil decisions of the dynasty of Ahaz and reject evil choices.
In the same way, we are in a time of exile-ish. We live in a post-Christian era-ish. With the shadows of international war, the potential balkanization of the USA, evangelical denominational breakdowns everywhere, rising left-wing violence, and rising Islamic dominance, the situation feels like an Isaiah 8 moment in history. It feels like our enemies will be quick to the plunder and swift to the spoils. What do we do?
To the law and to the testimony!
Is 8:11–14, 16–22 — The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: 12 ‘Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. 13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, 14 and he will be a sanctuary... 16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. 18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.”
Go to the law and the testimony because the Lord is the One we should dread. Not other intimidating individuals and institutions. Rather than fleeing to the witches and philosophers and cultural Marxists, at this time of cultural idolatry and societal play-making, the better way is toward God’s law and His Word.
Isaiah is attesting to people, as they anticipate coming doom, that a better alternative is available in the true words of God contained in the testimonies and laws and written instructions God gave the nation. God’s whole counsel is what people need to seek. These are all the instructions one needs and the only source of true revelation about God’s will. They are a test that people can use to judge all prophetic statements. And they are ultimately fulfilled (brought to their fullness, filled up to their brim) in Christ.
Personal Rootedness Is Always Found in Christ
The New Testament equivalent for our current situation is Colossians 2:6–8:
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
Just as you received Christ (by faith), continue to live (think, decide, act) in Him (by faith), rooted (able to stand, unswayed, anchored) and built up (strong and steady, with shape and definition) in Him (by faith).
Every day, in the working world, in the business world, in the boardroom, in the lunchroom, when the police knock, when employers pressure you to compromise, when “Karens” seek to humiliate you — LIVE BY FAITH IN CHRIST.
And specifically, in relation to the Isaiah 8 experience:
Do not seek special insight outside of Scripture.
Do not seek special power outside the power of being Spirit-filled in your service.
Do not reject complex ideas and solutions and legal structures in favor of hopeless conspiracies.
Do not fear the upheaval of society as others fear the loss of their comfort.
God has something to say about everything. Christ has wisdom for every moment — even times when world powers change. And that’s right where we are in the West.
The phrase “see to it that no one takes you captive” means that if anyone tells you to leave Christ, for neutrality, for their own personal perspective, to cover someone’s sin, or for people-pleasing, or for a church growth strategy, for academic freedom, or any other cultural shift, you are to resist being pulled away from Christ.
Not through fine-sounding arguments.
Not through “hollow” philosophies—fluffy (ad hominem, empty words, obvious motives).
Not through “deceptive philosophies”—Do we understand the total depravity of man? Every idea, every action that men and women do apart from Christ is tainted by sin. Twisted by sin. People lie all the time.
Not through “human tradition”—false teaching, false language, false religion such as secularism, atheism, and Islam—these are anti-Christ cultures and man’s traditions. False family commands, false family traditions, etc. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
Not through “the baser principles”—pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, laziness.
Every day you must go back to Christ’s treasury, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, rather than give way to these things.
“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Pet. 1:24–25)
