The Light of the LORD

October 23, 2022

Our lives are driven by light. We want light; we need light. Many creatures can see in the dark. We cannot. Finding ourselves in the dark, we search for a source of light. Our eyes can adjust to the dark, but even that depends on any small sources of light. We are reliant on the sun by day and the moon and stars by night. We want light; we need light.

Light is one of the key themes throughout the book of Isaiah. It is used as an image of the ways of God, his instruction, his word (Isa. 2.3, 5). Walking in the Lord’s paths means living in accordance with God’s ways means walking in the light of the LORD. Perhaps this image goes back to the wilderness wanderings, where we were led through the desert by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In other words, God’s light led us along the right path. 

The problem is, sometimes the light is hard to see. Sometimes we are walking about in darkness, unable to see the path. Sometimes this is the result of a corrupt society (Isa. 5.20), other times our blindness (Isa. 42.16), and still other times it’s because God sends the darkness (Isa. 45.7, which may be an oblique reference to the exile). 

Sometimes the light is hard to see. In Isaiah 40-55, God’s people are in darkness, but the servant of the Lord is a source of light, or at least sees the light himself. We are invited to follow the servant, to listen to his teaching and follow his example, boldly marching into the darkness trusting that God is leading us, even though we cannot see.

Isaiah 58 and 59 draw on this idea, saying that if you want to be or to see the light, you need to be doing the just and righteous deeds of God, things like loosening the bonds of injustice, breaking every yoke, sharing food with the hungry, sharing shelter with the homeless, sharing clothing with the naked (Isa. 58.6-7). Then, and only then, will God restore and heal and vindicate (Isa. 58.8; a similar idea is in 59.9).

We are surrounded by unsearchable darkness. We do not know the future. We can look for hints in the stars or pulses of electricity, turning to astrology or technology for guidance and warning. That work of kindling our own light is folly (Isa. 50.11). 

Isaiah 60 offers a different hope—“Arise, shine; for your light has come.” Well, kind of—a lot of the verbs are in the future tense! Even Isaiah 60 points us to the truth throughout Isaiah—in times of darkness, all you can do is walk in faith, trusting that God will take care of his just and righteous people. This was God’s invitation to Ahaz, Hezekiah, the exiles, and to us—the returned community. Look to Jesus as our light, and follow him in faith through the darkness. So we begin to shine!

—John Coffey

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Dorothy Fennewald