I have been studying through the book of Isaiah in my quiet times. Chapters 13-23 record judgements pronounced on foreign nations that in their pomp and pride stood against everything sacred and Holy in God’s kingdom. One such nation was Babylon. Babylon was a center of pagan culture, opposing God and his ways from very early in human history. Ironically, God used Babylon to judge his own people because their hearts had become hard and far from Him.
But when you come to Isaiah 14, God, as He always does, declares that He will once again have compassion on His people. (Aren’t you glad for the overwhelming, awe inspiring, long suffering grace of God!) God declares that Israel will eventually possess the nations that would possess them. Through Isaiah, he declares in verse 2 “they will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.” I like that! God is saying that His people, which also includes you and I, can have the upper hand and rule over what once ruled over us! But then God promises His people will do something even more profound in verse 4,
“you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon…”
Wow, did you catch that? God says that at some point His people will take up a taunt against their enemy. Honestly, the competitive side of me who likes to win loves this statement. I can, and will, take up a taunt against the enemy that has taunted me for so long! Boom!
The moment I read the word “taunt” in this passage, I couldn’t help but to think about David and Goliath. For forty days, Goliath would taunt the armies of God. As a result Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified (1 Samuel 17:11). David, being faithful in his duties as the younger brother of the guys who were too scared to face off with Goliath, overhears the taunting and inquires further. His brothers make fun of him, asking David if he actually thought he could do something about Goliath. David could hear both the distant taunting of Goliath and the personal taunting of his own brothers. Yet what does he do? He declares, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go up and fight him.” (1 Samuel 17:32). In other words David makes a decision that you and I must make:
You can not allow the taunt you hear with your HEAD determine the level of courage within your HEART!
Furthermore, you must take up your own taunt—your own statement of confidence in God. This was David’s taunt in the face of Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:45:
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
David’s taunt, his response to Goliath, was centered in the triumph of the Lord—in the name of the Lord Almighty. David, radically zealous for the honor of God, answered the enemy back with confidence in God. Not only that, but his faith was so deep that he actually forecasted his own victory declaring “the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Sam 17:47)
We know the rest of the story. David runs to the battle line and meets Goliath. He takes a stone and slingshot and hits Goliath between the eyes. He then takes Goliath’s own sword and decapitates him. Understand something here,
David’s faith, and then his faithful follow through, not only silenced the taunt of the enemy but severed it completely!
I believe we can do the same!
- I believe we can take captive our captors by taking every thought captive and make them obedient to Christ. That’s a tongue twister for sure, but read 2 Corinthians 10:5. We can demolish every argument (every taunt) that sets itself up against God and His plan for our lives.
- I believe we can run to the battle lines of our life and not run away from them. I believe we can allow our faith to rise up and even forecast the victory of the Lord over our circumstances. I am reminded of the faith of the centurion on Matthew 8:5-13. He said to Jesus, “just speak the word and my servant will be healed.” And Jesus said, ““Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” Just as you believed—wow. May we too have faith that is specific in this season of life! May we actually respond in the face of attack instead of rolling over and playing dead!
- I believe we can also silence and sever the voice of unbelief, doubt, and shame in our own lives. Let’s not just answer back partially when under attack. Let’s go all the way. May we do whatever is necessary to sever the attack of the enemy at the source of the attack and not be afraid to tackle the root issues that have become his playground.
I’m not sure today who your Babylon is or who your Goliath is…. But I am sure of one thing. You and I will take up a taunt against that which has been taunting us. We will seize, in this season, whatever has been seizing us. And we will take captive our captors!
May faith fill our hearts and may God’s grace empower us to follow through in our faithfulness to both silence and sever the enemy’s taunt. David would go on to say later on in life:
Psalm 144:1 “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
May our hands be trained and my our fingers grip the sling shot and stone a little tighter in this season of our life.
Taking up the taunt,
Mike