A Polished Arrow

I don’t know about you, but all of a sudden… I think this text has really gotten a lot more interesting. It is just filled with a ton of great stuff… all these words of advice to a fallen people. The first thing I want to really focus on takes us all the way back to verse two:

2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.

Now this is really an interesting verse to me… can any of you tell me what a polished arrow is? Anyone even have a guess what a polished arrow might be. Imagine, the finest arrow a craftsman could make, made out of the finest wood, the absolutely straightest feather, the sharpest steal… and then you polish it… and polish it… and polish it. This is a “polished arrow” and they did this so that the arrow would fly faster, fly farther, and fly straighter than any other arrow.

Now… isn’t that the kind of arrow you would want to use. Isn’t that the kind of arrow you would want to draw back and let fly. This, is an arrow that has a special purpose, and it is not an arrow you want to neglect. Now take it back to verse two… Israel is talking to the Lord at this point and says, “[God] made us into a polished arrow, and the he CONCEALED us in his quiver!” You made us into an arrow… and not just any arrow… but a POLISHED ARROW, and then you put us in your quiver. That is how Israel feels. A polished arrow… all of that potential, all of that promise, all that God has been preparing them for… and God just tucks them away. And Israel is feeling frustrated… they want to FLY, isn’t that what an arrow is for? We want you to use us for the purpose that you made us for! You are WASTING us in your quiver!

They are frustrated! Listen to verse 4 more closely: “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for NOTHING.” Israel is getting a little whiney here if you hadn’t caught that. “We are the arrows you’ve put back in the quiver. We gave you EVERYTHING… and now we are on the bench!” That is the people Israel. That is their situation.

Do you ever feel like a polished arrow… that’s been put back into a quiver? Have you ever felt like things were just SO close to happening… so close to being SO great. But man… look at where we are at! Look at what’s happened. We feel like a polished arrow… ready to FLY… but put back in the quiver. A little angst… a little frustration come out.

And it’s here that the prophet FLIPS IT! Verse 4b… remember we just got done whining in 4a… YET… there’s the yet: “Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God." 5 And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself,” Now… remember he’s talking about bringing them BACK HOME! Where are we going… BACK HOME! We go from whining to a promise! Your time will come! Your time… will… come!

But something’s gonna have to change first. The Lord wasn’t prepared to bring the nations back… Isaiah has all the way until chapter 60 before he gets to the “celebration!” We will get to see it… the celebration DOES happen, but understand where we are today… the celebration HASN’T happened… the hope of a nation is still WAITING to be fulfilled. This is still the sad whiney time.