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For anyone who has ever sung Handel’s “Messiah” it is hard to read much of the book of Isaiah without wanting to burst into song, or at least immediately reading into what Isaiah has to say prophecies about the birth of Jesus. Isaiah is talking about how God will rescue his people, so of course for those of us who trust in Jesus we read into Isaiah’s words promises that we believe are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
But we shouldn’t rush past and miss some of the wonderful imagery in Isaiah’s words, where he describes God’s care for his people.
The people can take heart, because in the future the Lord is going to turn the whole of Mount Zion into a beacon of his love and care. There will be a cloud by day and fire by night – just as there was leading God’s people through the wilderness in the time of Moses – and over that beacon there will be a canopy, giving God’s people shade from the sun and shelter from the storm.
The psychologist Maslow tell us what we already know – that the need for safety is only trumped in the hierarchy of needs by physiological demands – air, food and water. God knows that people need to know they are safe. This was true for the people to whom Isaiah first spoke, and is just as true today – as I write this, in Aleppo, but by the time it is read, perhaps in another place. It is good to be reminded by Isaiah that God knows our need and will fulfil it, but we are then left with the question ‘when?’.
The answer may depend on those followers of Jesus who see themselves as agents for God’s kingdom, where all needs will be met. The promise of God’s future should not make us complacent, but stir us to action.
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