What Weapon Against God?
“Behold, I have
created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth
an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” --Isaiah
54:16,17
There
is no power but of God. The blacksmith
is created by God and has his wisdom and strength from God. The metal that he places on the forge is
God’s creation, as is the fire in the forge.
The wisdom that the smith has learned is from God, so everything he
makes is of the Lord.
This
is the folly and vanity of sin. The
sinner thinks that he has something of his own, and does not live and move and
have his being in God. This leaves him
prone to the greatest folly, for he thinks that his life is his own. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. Men cannot even utter blasphemy
without using the air that God gives them, and exercising the strength that God
gives them. They could not even think
the thought of blaspheme without the ability to reason that comes from
God. Wicked King Belshazzar thought his
thoughts were his own when he defiled the vessels of the temple and praised the
gods of gold and silver, of brass and iron, of wood and stone. The truth was
different, though, and Daniel the prophet spoke the truth to him, “the God in
whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified”
(Dan. 5:23).
In
the passage quoted above, God comforts Isaiah.
“Do not be afraid of the enemy,” says the Lord. “They do not have anything that I have not
given them. I have made the smith. He belongs to me. He cannot make any instrument that will be successful against
you.” What a great comfort! The Hand behind all things that happen in
the world is the Hand of God. His purposes
are good and kindly toward his people, and not even their enemies are able to
change that. The smith may not know
that. The heart of the smith may be
filled with envy and hatred. He may
fancy that he is forging an instrument that will be the ruin of the church, but
he is wrong. Instead, it will be an
instrument for his own destruction and damnation. The godly will survive, for all things work for their good,
according to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:28).
When
we truly believe this, the peace of God rules our hearts and our minds. We can rejoice in tribulation and bear hard
times patiently, for we know that all things come to us from our Heavenly
Father. How could it be otherwise,
seeing He is the creator of all things?
On
the other hand, what could be more terrifying to the ungodly? Where will he hide from God? With what means will he try to raise a
defense against God?
