Isaiah 49:2
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7 and Colossians 3:1-17
The Messiah is on a mission and is equipped with the Holy Spirit to accomplish his mission. Yet Isaiah tells us that the Messiah is hidden in the shadow of God’s hand. The Messiah is a polished arrow but he is concealed in God’s quiver.
These Hebrew words for “hid” and “concealed” are correctly translated into English. As usual, they carry slightly more meaning than our English words convey. The Hebrew word ḥābā’ is translated “hid” which is most often found in the Psalms so it contains a “wisdom” flavor. It portrays deliberate concealment. This was very true of Jesus as we have seen throughout the Old Testament. God has given us many prophecies of the Messiah but they have been concealed to a degree making them hard to interpret so that even when Jesus arrived on the scene the Jewish scholars didn’t recognize him.
The Hebrew word sātar that is actually translated as “concealed” carries with it two main themes – the self-concealment of God and the divine protection that comes from being hidden by God. Christ was both concealed by God until the time had come for him to be revealed and also protected by God so that he could accomplish his mission.
Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Gal 4:4-5). Jesus was concealed until the fullness of time and then God sent him – no longer concealed but for all the world to see. Like an arrow concealed in the quiver, God drew him out and fired him into the world.
Paul had such a grasp of the prophetic Scriptures that he wove them throughout all of his writings like bread crumbs to be found. It’s like discovering hidden gems when you stumble across them. Isaiah clearly was referring to the Servant Messiah being hidden by God. However, Paul links this passage to us in his letter to the Colossians.
Paul explains throughout his writings that when we become followers of Jesus and place our faith in his death and resurrection, we become one with Christ. Jesus literally takes our place and dies the death that we deserve for us. In turn, we become one with him. God sees the sacrifice of Jesus when he looks at our sin. We are completely forgiven. Praise God!
The continuation of that is that since we are now one with Christ, we also are raised to life with Jesus. Jesus defeated the grave and lives with God for all eternity. We also have defeated the grave and will live with God for all eternity. Paul explains this in Colossians and then he says, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). Since we died to sin with Jesus, we now get the benefit of being hidden in the shadow of God’s hand along with Jesus.
Being hidden with Christ can mean a lot of different things for us. It certainly means that we are protected by God from the evils of this world. Sin no longer has a grip on us. It also means that we are hidden from the world. The material things of this world are no longer to be of any importance to us. Like Paul says, we are to “set our hearts on things above” (Col 3:1).
But it also means that the best is yet to come. Paul says, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4). We are hidden with Jesus for now but he is coming back again. When he returns, he will return in glory and we will also appear with him. We will get to share in all the riches of God’s kingdom.
But until then, we are to live lives that bring glory to Jesus. We are to live lives that reflect the fact that we are hidden in the shadow of God’s hand. God is with us and the world has nothing for us. In fact, the world doesn’t need to see us. We don’t need glory here on earth. We will receive glory when Jesus appears. So “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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