Isaiah 48:12-16

¹² “Listen to me, Jacob, and Israel, “who was called by me” I am he. I am the first; also I am the last. ¹³ Indeed, my hand founded your land, and my right hand spread out those skies; when I am calling them, they stand at attention together. ¹⁴ Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them declared these prophecies? Yahveh loves him; he will do his wish against Babylon and display his arm against Chaldea. ¹⁵ I, I myself, I have spoken! Indeed, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will be successful in what he plans. ¹⁶ Draw near to me; listen to this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the start; from the time it came to be, there I have been; And now the Lord Yahveh has sent me and his Spirit.

fall in!

Any soldier who has ever heard those words knows what they mean. They are the words a commander or Sergeant belts out when he wants his group to stop what they are doing, come together, stand at attention, and receive their instructions. Isaiah is the voice of the Son of God here. He commands his people to stop what they are doing and saying, gather together at attention, and hear his plans to send a foreign ruler to accomplish his will against Babylon. He reminds them that even the land and the sky do this as soon as he speaks. He gives the word, and they fall in at attention, awaiting their next task.

How much more should we, as creatures of this almighty God, stop what we are doing and listen attentively to our Lord’s instructions. Sadly, we are failing to do this. For some of us who read the Bible often, his words are very familiar. So familiar, in fact, that we have stopped feeling the need to listen carefully to them. For others, his words seem ancient and archaic, and irrelevant, so they, too choose to ignore them. The end result is the same for both groups. The commander summons us to fall in, and we just keep doing what we do.

LORD, give us the discipline of a solid soldier, who jumps to attention at your voice, and who pays careful heed to your commands.