Isaiah 9:18-21 – Don’t be self-serving

One thing becomes obvious when we read Isaiah 9:18-21, we see a self-serving people being described. They were so consumed with themselves that all they sought for were their own wicked desire and needs. It is said that in the last line of verse 19 that “no one spares his brother.” Being self-absorbed they were unwittingly destroying each other in the family. And due to the destructive power inherent in their sin, they were devouring each other like a fire burning up everything in its way. As a family, they ought to be concerned for each other, but this was not the case. They were selfishly devouring each other up. Their self-seeking nature made them turn on each other and destroy each other. It was not uncommon to read of kings of Israel who had ascended the throne by assassinating the king before him.

Verse 19 tells us sin became the fuel for God to unleash His wrath. He allowed His people to turn on each other and devour themselves. Know it or not the sin of mankind had somehow unleashed its own destructive power on mankind themselves. Verse 20 clearly tells us that a self-serving people the people of Israel would take on each other yet remain unsatisfied. It shows us that the wicked and sinful ambition of man is simply unquenchable.

 

In many places, the Bible exhorts us not to be self-seeking but to be concerned for each other in God’s family. In Galatians 6:2 we are called to bear one another’s burden. In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul reminded the early believers to “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Galatians 5:15 has a warning for us to take note. We are not to chew each other up. We should not keep biting and devouring each other for our own personal ambition. Like Isaiah 9:18-21, this verse is calling on us not to be drawn unwittingly to get at each other out of selfish ambition. Don’t be self-seeking, self-serving, and ending up in self-destruction!