"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children."
Isaiah begins by asking something like, "Will anyone take a lion's pray away, or will a prison let one of its convicts leave?" The answer is obviously "No"--I could not overpower a lion (excluding the possibility of modern weaponry) and our nation's system of justice insists that prisoners who are found guilty complete their sentence. Isaiah's answer is, I think, meant to be a surprise--"Yes. Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the prey of the terrible will be delivered." The reason for this, as Isaiah points out, is that it is God, not man, who will deliver and save the captives. I love that even the lawful captives will be delivered. Even when we deserve to be punished, even when justice demands payment, we can be delivered--mercy and grace can replace justice. Finally, could there be anything more comforting to a parent worried about a child than the last clause? "And I will save thy children."
Totally tangential thought: Apparently the Hebrew ward "malat," which is what the word from which "delivered" in verse 24 is translated, can mean both "to set free" and "to give birth to" (a lot like the verb "to deliver" in English). Isn't that cool? Maybe we can talk about that some other time.
ReplyDeleteEven convicted, guilty convicts have their own story--often a story that the world (court) cannot understand. God understands all--one's background, one's genetics, one's chemistry, one's environment--and God can rectify/set free because he can heal that which is hurt or wrong.
ReplyDeleteI do love the last sentence.