Subpoenaed
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.” Isaiah 43:10
Witnesses – When Jesus gave us the Great Commission, He did not offer a new directive. God developed the strategy hundreds of years before Jesus arrived. Once we see the Great Commission of the Old Testament, we will understand more about the Great Commission of the New Testament.
God elaborates His commission through the prophet Isaiah. It begins with the purpose of election. The first declaration is that you and I and all of God’s people are witnesses. The Hebrew is edai. Although the word comes from legal language, our role as witnesses is more than just faithfully recounting the facts. In this case, we are witnesses only because we have been chosen by the court. This court does not ask for volunteers. It issues a subpoena. You are required to comply. You have been called to testify. Implied in that divine subpoena is the fact that your testimony has been accepted as true. What you say and do really matters, not only to the court, but to all the world observing this grand legal proceeding.
Notice that you cannot be a witness unless you are chosen. God does not use just anyone. He uses only those whom He chooses, those to whom He has revealed certain, special things. Now that you are included on His witness list, you will have your turn on the stand and He will accept your testimony as true. All of those who claim to speak for God, but are not chosen by Him have neither a true testimony nor are their claims accepted. In this courtroom, the Judge determines who will speak and who will be heard.
Finally, the Hebrew verse shows us that the word witnesses is plural servant is singular. It does not say, “You will be my witnesses and my servants.” Did Isaiah make a grammatical mistake? Not at all! We are witnesses but our role is characterized as one servant. Isaiah’s passage looks forward to the time when a single Servant will fulfill completely the role of the witnesses. Our testimony is never divorced from the function of the Servant. We are a community of one voice, fulfilling a destiny that is summarized in one man, standing before the Judge as one person acceptable to Him. Without the Son, there is no point in being a witness. God’s plan for the rescue of men comes in only one way. We are witnesses because there is one Servant.
The contemporary Christian church puts a lot of emphasis on witnessing. Of course, glad-handing people in the name of Jesus is not what God has in mind when it comes to giving testimony in His court. Perhaps we would all be refreshed and renewed if we realized that our calling to be witnesses is not our choice. It is God’s. He has equipped each of us to deliver acceptable testimony because we have a direct relationship with the Servant. Speaking up for God is really declaring the truth of His handiwork in my life.
