Isaiah 50:10-11 - Spiritual Night Vision Goggles
- Chad Werkhoven
- Apr 10
- 6 min read
You can fully trust God to guide your steps through this dark world.
Isaiah 50:10-11 (NIV)
CONTEXT: This passage follows the second of the four 'Servant Songs' that described the coming Messiah (we read another a few weeks ago). These words don't describe the Servant, but describe the fates of both those who follow Him (v10) and those who reject Him (v11).
10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the word of his servant?
Let the one who walks in the dark,
who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on their God.
11 But now, all you who light fires
and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
go, walk in the light of your fires
and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:
You will lie down in torment.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-14
Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People
Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion
Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation
Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern
Article 2: The Manifestation of God’s Love
Zephaniah 3:14-17 - The Mighty Warrior Who Saves
Lamentations 3:19-23 - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel
1 Timothy 2:1-7 - God Our Savior
Rom 10:14-17 - The Power of Preaching
1 Cor 1.23-24 - God's Foolishness
Psalm 93 - Mightier Than Chaos
Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel
John 6:37-40 - Tensegral Theology
John 12:42-50 - Buffet Theology
Article 5: The Sources of Unbelief and of Faith
James 1:13-18 - The Devil (didn't) Make You Do It
Ecclesiastes 7:25-29 - Many Schemes
Ephesians 2:8 - The Gift of God
Psalm 95 - The LORD is OUR God
Article 6: God’s Eternal Decree
Ezekiel 36:24-27 - A Whole New Reality
Romans 9:15-21 - God's Mercy, Not Your Effort
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - Love The Truth
Article 7: Election
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Before the Foundation
Deuteronomy 7:1-10 - Set Apart
John 17:1-5 - Sovereign Submission
Psalm 115 - God Does What He Pleases
Article 8: A Single Decree of Election
Romans 4:1-8 - One and the Same
Romans 4:9-17 - Chicken or Egg?
Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts
Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept
Psalm 33 - God's Control, Authority & Presence
Article 9: Election Not Based on Foreseen Faith
2 Timothy 1:7-10 - Passive & Powered
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 - You're Not That Awesome
Psalm 91 - The Shelter of the Most High
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
Luke 2:13-14 - Christmas in March
Galatians 4:1-7 - From Slave to Son
1 Peter 2:9-10 - You're The Best Thing God Has!
Article 11: God’s election is unalterable.
Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor
Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchangeable Blessing
Article 12: The Assurance of election
Hebrews 11:1-6 - Confident Assurance
Malachi 3:14-18 - Childlike Fear
2 Corinthians 7:8-11 - Godly Sorrow
Psalm 65 - The Hearer of Prayers
Article 13/14: The Fruit of our assurance
Isaiah 57:14-21 - God's Second Residence
2 Peter 1:3-10 - Make Every Effort
Isaiah 42:1-9 - The Sovereign & His Servant
Article 16 - Encouragement for the Doubting
Those who do not yet actively experience within themselves
a living faith in Christ or an assured confidence of heart, peace of conscience, a zeal for childlike obedience, and a glorying in God through Christ,
but who nevertheless use the means by which God has promised to work these things in us—
such people
ought not
to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation,
nor to count themselves among the reprobate;
rather they ought to continue diligently in the use of the means,
to desire fervently a time of more abundant grace,
and to wait for it in reverence and humility.
On the other hand, those who seriously desire to turn to God,
to be pleasing to God alone, and to be delivered from the body of death,
but are not yet able to make such progress along the way of godliness and faith as they would like—
such people
ought much less to stand in fear of the teaching concerning reprobation,
since our merciful God has promised not to snuff out a smoldering wick or break a bruised reed.
However, those who have forgotten God and their Savior Jesus Christ and have abandoned themselves wholly to the cares of the world and the pleasures of the flesh—
such people have every reason to stand in fear of this teaching,
as long as they do not seriously turn to God.
Summary
Usually when the Bible refers to those who walk in the dark, it's referencing people with spiritual blindness, whose eyes haven't been opened (regenerated) by the Spirit to see the truth of the gospel. But Isaiah flips that script here in today's passage. Here, Isaiah describes the life of the godly as being dark and having no light.
Jesus would go on to describe this same concept, albeit with a different analogy. His followers would take the narrow road, the road that when contrasted with the brightly lit wide road seems dark, lonely and foreboding to most people, a road in which each step must be carefully felt out before fully planting your foot. Paul also referred to this idea using yet another analogy in Romans 12:2, commanding the Christian to test and approve every decision to discern what God's will is.
But Isaiah here promises that you won't walk this difficult road alone. You can walk it with confidence, knowing that you can fully trust in the name of the LORD and rely on your God. The idea here is that you're no longer relying upon your own senses to navigate life, but are fully in tune and aligned with God's good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:2b).
It's like having a pair of spiritual night vision goggles to make the path ahead visible and keep you on the straight and narrow rather than relying on your own feeble eyesight peering into the dark.
Dig Deeper
Isaiah goes on to describe the false confidence so many of your friends and neighbors have. They're walking in the same exact darkness you are, but they've provided their own light using fires and flaming torches. This seems like a reasonable and practical solution, but the lights they've provided for themselves have a fatal flaw: they only light up the things they want to see. They only point in the direction they want to go. They don't illuminate the danger that the path they're on leads to.
Often their daily journey appears far easier and more enjoyable than the difficult hike that lays before you each day. It seems so tempting to just coast alongside of them for awhile; afterall, it all seems so brightly lit. But their path terminates in torment, and once you're on it, it's really hard to find the exit.
The difficult topic of reprobation that we struggled through last week are meant to frighten the people which Isaiah describes as walking in the light of their own fires. The Canons say such people have every reason to stand in fear of this teaching, as long as they do not seriously turn to God.
But this doctrine shouldn't frighten you, since your steps are guided by trusting and relying in the name of the LORD. You don't need to worry that you'll wander outside of the grip of His grace. Remember, His grace is stronger than you are.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose name we can trust and rely on;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll continue to trust in God rather than relying on your own limited light;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 4
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