Isaiah 8:10, Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
A word against the enemies of God’s people—specifically against the incoming Assyrians. Who are our enemies today? In the militaristic sense, ISIS and other likeminded Muslims, and various other pagans and heretics. They might plot to kill us and even succeed in doing so, but their schemes and murdering will ultimately come to nothing.
The Assyrians sought to crush God’s people, but Isaiah exhorted Israel to wait on Yahweh (8:17), for the promise of the Messiah is coming (9:1-7). Indeed, Israel was not utterly destroyed, though they lived as exiles for a time; and indeed, the Messiah came and gives life to all who believe, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. Therefore, today our martyrdoms and persecutions are not failures, for Christ is coming again to actuate eternal life—those who died in Him first and then to those still alive in Him (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)—and He will destroy the enemies of His people once and for all.
Bibliography
©Featured image from Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s The Martyrdom (1675-1682), oil on canvas.
The Lutheran Column 