18–Fear God Only – Avoid The Wicked

Isaiah states what the Lord has instructed him to do relative to the apostates. It is important to see the intensity of the manner in which this message is conveyed. The Hebrew text for a strong hand is cehchzkat haiyad. It connotes the intense strength, force, and urgency in which the Lord is imparting in a prophetically inspired command for Isaiah to stay away from the apostates. God is revealing awesome visions to Isaiah instructing him not to even be influenced by those rebellious individuals at the time of this prophecy. In Isaiah's day it was King Ahaz who did not trust God and sought military help from Assyria. He was fearful of the threat of the conspiracy of the Northern Israel and Syrian military alliance. Isaiah was told not to allow the fear of Ahaz to influence him. Fear is contagious and God wanted Isaiah to continue to trust in Him alone and not any earthly rebellious unbeliever. When God says neither fear ye in verse twelve (Hebrew yārēʾ), He challenges Isaiah and his followers to focus on fearing God and treating Him alone as holy in the next verse, thirteen. When we treat God as holy we do not ignore his words, dishonor his name, or fail to trust in him. We give Him due reverence, and in faith obey what He says. We do not honor God when we do not trust His promises and commands, but instead allow ourselves to be influenced by the fears of unbelievers regardless of the way we are treated. Believers must follow God and do things differently than others within society. Today we call these people apostates and the apostle Peter severely condemns them and warns us to avoid them.