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Isaiah 49:2, 3 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. He said to me, “You are my servant.”
Isaiah ministered to Israel during one of the most difficult times in the history of the nation. He carried the weight of the nation on his shoulders. During his sixty-year ministry, Judah had been taken captive, Samaria captured and Israel would be seized as well. He did his best to turn a nation back to God before it was too late. His writings are the most comprehensive in all the Old Testament. It is from Isaiah we read about eternity past and future. We learn more about the coming Messiah than any other writer. To say he had a difficult and heartbreaking life would be an understatement.
He used a polished arrow to describe himself. But what does that mean? In the ancient times as already described, arrow building was a real art. Some people were better at it than others. It was typical to have contests where the very best work of the very best arrow builders was put on display and their work was judged to see which was best. These “show” or “polished arrows” were works of art.
The arrow was made the same way it has already been described in chapter two (Bows and Arrows of the Bible). But extra care was taken in the finishing work of it. The shaft went through additional steps in the finishing process until the wood was smooth and very polished. Artistic and beautiful things were done to decorate the arrow shaft. Sometimes they would die the feathers beautiful colors and split various colors into one feather creating a rainbow of coloring in the feathers of the arrow. But one of the most beautiful things they did was to crest the arrow with paints or dyes. These would be several stripes of color painted around the shaft like fine pin striping. Some stripes would be wider than others and the exact spacing and colors would always denote the maker’s name. The crest was his signature so to speak. You could tell who made a polished arrow just by looking at the crest that was on it. They were a work of art, carefully created by its maker, and then crested with his signature for all to know that it was his workmanship.
Isaiah said that God had made him into a polished arrow. Now do you get the picture? God had made Isaiah into something beautiful even though the whole world was falling apart around him. He put His crest on him for all to see who it was that had made him. But Isaiah’s life was a difficult one. You see it is no fun getting chopped down and split into pieces. But necessary to make an arrow. It is no fun to be straightened out over bending steam. It’s no fun getting polished, no fun at all. But is all necessary to make an arrow. Isaiah said God made him into a polished arrow.
It was God who did the chopping and splitting and straightening. It was God who ground and sanded. It was God himself who did the polishing and cresting. It was God.
Why did God do all that to Isaiah, who served Him for sixty years, look at the next part of the verse, because “You are my servant.”
You see from God’s point of view, He does not want average servants; He wants unique works of art. He grinds and sands and splits, and polishes, and straightens because His servants bear His crest. So from God’s perspective the things we view as being trials, and difficulties, the painful ordeals that we are forced to endure in our lives, are all His way of turning us into beautiful works of art that He can show the whole world as products of His workmanship. Paul said it another way in Ephesians 2:1 “For we are God’s workmanship (perfect, unique, works of art) created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
It hurts to be cut down, split apart, shaped, ground, straightened, polished and crested. It hurts. But to God, the end product is more important than the temporary pain of the process. In fact, it is absolutely essential. Can people look at you and say to themselves, “I know who made him” or “I know who made her?” That is what it is all about. If you are God’s servant, than expect to go through the process of being turned into a polished arrow. It won’t be any fun; in fact it can break your heart. But it is all essential from God’s point of view. Perhaps you are going through that process right now. If you are, take heart; it is only because He loves you, and has great things in store for you. He wants the world to see His crest on your life. And like Isaiah, He has something for you to do for Him. Don’t miss it.
This was reprinted with permission. The story comes from Bow and Arrows of the Bible, written by Keith Jennings and published by Brentwood Christian Press.
| Keith Jennings resides in Pine Mountain Valley, Georgia with his two daughters Jamie and Jennifer. He is a member of Roosevelt Memorial Church and is employed by Realtree and Advantage Brand Camouflage as Senior Hard Goods Manager. He is a life-long student of ancient and modern archery design, frequent speaker at churches, sportsman banquets, and father/son functions across the country. |
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