There is a fork in the road ahead. There is ALWAYS a fork in the road ahead which means we are constantly in a state of “decision.” But which “way” do we choose? Through the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah, we have seen Isaiah pointing to YHWH’s people choosing the wrong path, setting a pattern of making bad choices. The people of the promised land are devoid of “righteousness and justice” and because of it, they have been exiled, placed back in the wilderness like their forefathers. Even Israel’s kings have gone the wrong way. King Ahaz offers a faithless, pseudo-spiritual rejection to God’s request to ask for a sign in chapter 7. King Hezekiah (chapters 36-39) leans upon God to save Jerusalem from the Assyrians who had already ravaged the northern part of Israel. He faithfully calls out to God for physical healing. Unlike Ahaz, Hezekiah seems to resemble the messianic “Branch” of chapter 11, but within a few verses our hopes are dashed. In a faithless attempt to seek protection outside of YHWH, he reveals all the treasure and strength of Israel to Babylon, the nation that will be the next invader, sacking the city and destroying its temple. You can feel the irony. Israel was to be the light to the nations, but when God’s solution becomes part of the problem, someone must save humanity from itself.
