In this segment we will begin to examine Isaiah 49:1-6 on a line-by-line basis and apply it to those few to whom it applies. These are God’s true ministerial servants who minister HIS DIVINE WORDS which He speaks through them (His messengers) by way of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit lives within the heart (mind) of those ministers whom God has sent, which comprises only a tiny percentage of those who present themselves as “ministers of righteousness.” As the Scripture says, they are in fact working for the self-proclaimed “angel of light”–Satan (2 Cor. 11:13-15). The world’s church pulpits, as well as her television and internet screens, are filled with his spokesmen. About whom God declares: “I DID NOT SEND THEM” (Jer. 14:14). Let us now hear the voice of those whom He did send.

Bear in mind that Isaiah lived several thousand years ago and spoke to and wrote to the Israelites of his day. However, if you will skip down to verse 6 you will find that HE IS ALSO WRITING (“SPEAKING”) TO PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE LIVING “AT THE END OF THE EARTH”–TODAY. Notice also (vs 1) that he was not only writing to the Israelites of that small, Middle-eastern nation, he was “speaking” to “coastlands” which were “far away.” Just as Jeremiah was commissioned to “speak to” and teach people whom he would never see, Isaiah would also teach billions of people on the other side of the world thousands of years in the future–today.

Our Bibles contain the teachings of “holy men of old who spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21) whom the Lord used to instruct us relative to the ways of the Lord in these end times. God’s use of the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles present perfect examples of the Lord’s “DUALITY PRINCIPLE.” Simply speaking, if you want to know what will happen to America and all of the other so-called “Christian nations” in the near future, read what the Lord did to Israel anciently. Why will He have today’s so-called Christian nations defeated, slaughtered and enslaved as He did His chosen people–the Israelites? Both groups will have been destroyed for the same reason–SIN–THE BREAKING OF HIS LAW–FIRST JOHN 3:4.

Continuing with verse one we find Isaiah referring to his calling to God’s ministry. What he says applies to all who are truly called of God to serve Him in ministry. The message reveals the fact that God knows us before we are known. He chooses whom He will to do His work before they are born. For example, when I was only a few days old a stranger came to our house and announced that I was called of God to serve Him. She walked out the door–AND DISAPPEARED. Another lady told my mother that the first time she saw me the Lord said to her: “One day the world will hear from him.” Three times strangers have called me “holy.” Another time a stranger told me that when he saw me the Lord gave him a vision of me on television. Many years ago my mother had a dream in which she saw me preaching to a multitude of people. The series concerning the gun helps to explain why I want to be certain that I am what I believe I am–God’s sanctified, appointed and anointed servant. John 14:12 requires that I “walk as Jesus walked” (1 Jn. 2:6). That is my one and only goal in this life.

In verse two Isaiah noted that the Lord had given him a sword-like tongue that was like a polished arrow. In the world, swords and arrows have only one purpose–to kill. The words of God’s true prophets and apostles produce death to all that is false relative to His Holy Word. What the world hears spoken from pulpit and podium “in the name of the Lord” is Satan’s version of God’s Truth. Jesus speaks to such ministers in Matthew 7:21-23. Just as Adam and Eve bought what the serpent of Eden was peddling, billions of people have followed in their religious footsteps in the past and are still doing so today. Why? BECAUSE SATAN’S FALSE PROPHETS TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR. They pay their hirelings to preach, not the Holy Bible, but rather their denominational interpretations of God’s Word, commonly known as “church doctrine.”

Contrarily, God’s servants tell people what they do NOT want to hear–HIS TRUTH VERBATIM FROM HIS HOLY BIBLE. Jesus, the prophets and apostles wielded the SWORD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHOUT VARIATION. They paid for their godly efforts by being beaten, stoned, and in the case of some prophets, Jesus and all of the original apostles, killed. Recall that in Revelation 19:15 Jesus is depicted as having a sharp sword protruding from His mouth. The Word of God is described as “the sword of the (Holy) Spirit” in Ephesians 6:17.

In verse 3 the prophet says that, prior to the time for his ministry to begin, the Lord had “hidden” him (the polished arrow) in His quiver. Recall that before Jesus came to John to be baptized at the age of 29, no one had heard of Him. He, like His father, had been a lowly carpenter, working with his hands like the vast majority of men of that day. Recall that several of Christ’s chosen apostles were fishermen–one of the lowest ranking classes in the world at that time. One of His chosen disciples had been a tax collector for the Roman Empire, which was perhaps the most hated occupation among the Israelite people who were ruled by the Romans in every aspect of their lives. Until He turned water into wine at a wedding, Jesus was just the son of Joseph the carpenter. Until they dropped their nets and followed Jesus, Peter and others were fishermen. Until he was called to leave his tax collector’s booth and follow Jesus, Matthew was the most hated man in the area. None of these great men of God would have been picked by those around them for the job God had chosen them to do. Such is the case of all the prophets and apostles of God. He indeed does “hide them in His quiver” until it is time to use them as His instruments of death–AND LIFE.

In the spiritual realm, one cannot spiritually live until one has spiritually died. The “old man” must die before the “new man” can live. The same sword of the Spirit that brings about life puts to death that which it replaces. Indeed, God’s ways are not man’s ways. His ways are beyond understanding. The best illustration of His using the absolute worst to become the absolute best was Saul of Tarsus who had sent many Christians to their deaths and was on his way to kill many more when he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. At that point Saul’s old man died and his new man (Paul) was created by God.

Each of God’s chosen men must have their own, individually designed Damascus Road experience. Though the spiritual phenomenon is not pleasant, it is necessary. What is it that brings about the killing of the old and the creating of the new? God’s Holy Word–the only thing we know about Him. Like His first Son–the Sword Who came in the flesh–His sons who wield His written Sword must be HIS SWORD/WORD MADE FLESH. They are living, breathing, death-producing, life-producing SWORDS OF HIS SPIRIT which He calls His “flames of fire” (Heb. 1:7). L.J.