Does Isaiah 54:17 apply to us today?

Answer:

"'In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out a weapon for its work; and I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,' declares the LORD" (Isaiah 54:14-17).

Throughout Isaiah, the prophet has been bringing warning of enemy nations coming to destroy Israel.

"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation and commission it against the people of My fury to capture booty and to seize plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it does not so intend, nor does it plan so in its heart, but rather it is its purpose to destroy and to cut off many nations" (Isaiah 10:5-7).

God also left messages for Assyria to warn them that they were nothing but a tool in God's hands. They thought themselves mighty, but they did not realize that God made their destructive work easier in order to accomplish His desires.

"Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, as grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up. But I know your sitting down and your going out and your coming in and your raging against Me. Because of your raging against Me and because your arrogance has come up to My ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came" (Isaiah 36:26-29).

It wasn't just Assyria. God also spoke to the Medo-Persians.

"Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 'I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these'" (Isaiah 45:1-7).

God's point is that it is He who has the tools fashioned and puts them to use. While these tools would be allowed to punish Israel, the tools will not prosper as a result. Assyria destroyed northern Israel, but it did not last. Babylonia destroyed southern Judah, but it did not last. Yet, in the end, the Israelites returned. Thus, while God is promising protection and continued existence to His people, He is not saying that His people will never experience hardship.

While Isaiah is directly speaking of Israel, the principles would be similar to Christ's kingdom. Through the ages, various groups have tried to destroy the church but it has continued while the destroyers have each disappeared. Individual Christians might be physically harmed, but that just means they are going home. "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them" " (Revelation 14:13). However, the kingdom itself endures. "Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:14).