Where is True Hope Found?

Where do we find our hope? 

Will looking to the earth bring the hope that we need? 

Will looking inward?

The obvious answer is an emphatic NO. Our ultimate hope is not found in this world. Our hope must come from outside of this dark world.

We will be spending some time in Isaiah 9 this advent season. But before we get to Isaiah 9, we need to know the context to which Isaiah speaks into.

Israel was approaching major problems.  They had disobeyed God’s holy Word, and now the foreign nation of Assyria was advancing. How would they try to solve their problems? Would they seek the Lord? Would they repent? Would they turn to His Word?

Reflection Questions

In Isaiah 8:19, who do they seek to inquire to help them with their problems?

Where does ‘trusting in man’ and ‘looking to the earth’ for solutions get the people of Israel?

And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. Isaiah 8:22

It is clear that looking outside of God for peace and protection led Israel to deep hopelessness. It could not be a darker time for the people of Israel.  They had plunged themselves into this gloom of anguish and thick darkness. By rebelling against the Lord, they were receiving the promised punishment for their sins. God did not want to bring this about. He kept warning them. He sent prophets. He pleaded with them, but they did not respond. The Israelites chose to ignore God. They chose the hard path.  God brought a foreign nation against them. Unthinkable travesties came upon the land because of their sins. There was terrible anguish and deep darkness. If you can picture it, this is the worst human condition. It is the bottom of the pit. The worst of the worse. It would have been spiritual, emotional and physical agony.. And it is into this situation that God gives the glorious prophesy of Isaiah 9 to us. When all hope is lost, when things could not get any darker, God speaks a word of hope. 

Where do you turn when things are hard? Do you tend to look at the world? Inward? To God and His Word?