Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Twenty-six years ago next month, I boarded a plane for Europe, courtesy of my rich Uncle Sam! We landed in the dark, were rounded up by a courtesy squad and escorted to the railroad station. I was handed a ticket and told to get off at a little place called Auschaufenburg. An ancient sergeant was also detailed to the same place. Once there, he helped me to memorize the address in German and told me how much to pay the taxi driver.
The next morning I woke up and looked out the window to discover that I was living in what amounted to a run down castle fortress. The classic slum had originally been built in 1846 for the Bavarian Army. The rumor was that the only major improvements had been when General Patton's Third Army drove down the street and air-conditioned the walls!
The doorknobs were strange, the electrical sockets were weird, but the strangest feeling was looking out on the town and seeing a foreign flag flying from a flagpole. The doorknobs and sockets were easy adjustments but my watch never got used to the climate and I just never felt at home looking up at those strange banners.
No matter which of the nine countries I visited, I just couldn't adjust to those strange multi-hued banners. Ireland did make me feel at home because they were the only country to use stop signs like ours and were it not for the donkey carts, horse trams and left handed traffic, it might have almost looked right. Except for that funny looking flag! How good it was to return home to the land of the round doorknobs and big PX. One particular blessing was to look up and see Old Glory in its natural place.
Of course there is one other banner of equal importance, for me this one comes from the pages of history. It is an old blue banner, which hangs still in the small Reformed Presbyterian Church in Belle Center. Those Covenanters still have strong affections for that blue banner from four hundred years ago, when the Scots Presbyterians were struggling to keep their Churches free.
It was the killing time in Scotland and the signers of the Solemn League and Covenant proclaimed their willingness to lay down and die rather than to submit to any monarch but King Jesus. That Old Blue Banner is not much to look at, but the words embroidered there proclaims the crown rights of our Lord Jesus Christ. The words for which so many died were simple: "For Christ's Crown &
Covenant". Of course, we always have to be very careful that a piece of cloth, no matter its color, does not become more than it ought. And the Old Blue Banner points us to the one above all banners - even Christ Himself.
This Lord of ours is the same one to whom Isaiah envisioned almost three millennia ago. In verse ten of chapter eleven we pick up where we left off last week. The glorious sprout, the branch of Jesse is the theme of this chapter. Here Isaiah shows us in a military image for what purpose the Lord's anointed will one day come. We see that the nations will rally to him.
That phrase comes from generation after generation of military practice. Up until this century, battles were usually small affairs. Units of about a thousand or a half would march and fight together as a battalion or regiment. In the dust, heat and smoke of battle the men of the unit would keep their eyes on the Battle standard. When ever the trumpet would blow or the drums roll, the men would rally to the flag. Sometimes a banner had to be improvised. The original Hapsburg Duke had to take off his jacket and raise it on a spear in one bloody battle almost a thousand years ago. His white coat had so much blood on it that there was only a thin white strip where his belt had protected it. To this day, the Austrians wave their red white red banner in his memory.
But our king is much more worthy of our memory and allegiance because His place of rest is glorious. This Messiah of Israel waves His banner of love as one song goes over His people, the elect of all the earth whom He loves.
This ingathering is in the future. Of course we know that nothing like this happened in the near future after Isaiah. A remnant Israel did return, and some peoples from Ephraim, Philistia, Edom, Moab and Amon did join with Israel by the time of Christ. But Isaiah envisions something more distant. A time when even people from Israel's enemies will come in from Egypt and Assyria and places more distant still. His banner will be raised up until every soul given to Jesus from amongst the nations is gathered in. Are there barriers to keep people away?
Yes, of course. It is thought that the Great Wall of China was never meant to be a military wall to keep enemies of the Son of Heaven out, but instead a vast wall around a slave people to keep them in so that they could never leave. Many are the barriers in our world today. Of course, like the "great" wall of Cathay, they are never long effective. The Iron Curtain around the former Soviet Union is now shattered. So will be the wall of separation being fabricated from American misunderstanding of our own Constitution. The banner of Christ will float free so that all men, women and children may see and hear of God's great love.
Of course, there will be some who are devoted to more worldly banners. You can see them being carried in the streets most any time. In fact, the whole state of Ohio is being badgered about appropriate banners to post on State House grounds this Christmas. Isn't it sad the level to which we have fallen in Ohio? What level headed, responsible Church can even raise its voice in the midst of the hatred espoused between the groups of extremists who are using symbols, both sacred and secular for their own devilish purposes. Nowhere do you read that our King's banner is even allowed to float on the birthday that we celebrate in His honor! Even in Isaiah's time, the kingdom that was supposedly His was winding down.
So to, will all earthly kingdoms and republics that supposedly belong to Him. But, Isaiah would encourage us that at long last, all barriers will by the hand of the Lord be thrown down. In graphic terms Isaiah shows how the symbolic water barriers around the Promised Land could be broken so that the remnant of all peoples might be gathered in. In the same way will all man made barriers be broken down.
Even the strongest of barriers? The Iron curtain? The Great Wall of China? Yes, even stronger than those. What is that you wonder, very simply the hardness of the human heart. And yet, whenever and wherever the banner of Christ is raised up, there are those from every clime and nation who look up and by the power of the Spirit are drawn to our Lord!
May the Messiah of Isaiah's vision be lifted up once again in our day. Have you taken notice; does His banner of love cover you? Pay attention in this wonderful time of year, when even minimal Christian bodies consider the glorious baby, virgin born that Isaiah saw centuries before. May we each consider Him and count Him as our King and Lord today and always. Amen.
Resources Used:
Ellis, Charles..
The Wells of Salvation.
Thomas, Derek..
Welwyn Commentery Series: God Delivers.
Young, Edward J.
The Book of Isaiah.
The Holy Bible.
New International Version (1984 Edition)
NOTE: I am not able to automatically
recommend any future editions.
Christ Covenant Reformed (Presbyterian Church in America) -
Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213
(c) 2001
19 December 93
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.