In the devotional study method you answer a series of questions as you reflect on a Bible portion. We’ve been doing this to study Isaiah 52:13-53:12. We started by answering the questions, What does this portion tell us about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? Then we looked for answers to the questions, What does it say about man? Are there any promises to claim? Are there any warnings to heed?
Now let’s answer the final question in this approach to Bible study, Are there any commands to obey?
As I read these verses and reflected on them I didn’t find a direct command to obey. What I did find was a rhetorical question, the answer to which could be considered a command. Isaiah 53:1 asks, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed.” The implied answer is that no-one has believed Isaiah’s message and therefore, no-one has seen the arm of the Lord in action. Put in the form of a command this verse could read, “Believe what God has revealed through His servants.”
We want to turn this verse around and say to God, “If you reveal your arm in action we will believe.” But God says, “Believe what I have said through My servants.” That’s why God gave us His Word. He has told us what He wants us to know and act on by faith.
Hebrews 11:6 declares, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Earnestly seek God by faith and you’ll see the arm of the Lord.
