The Rule of the Dragon-Slayer

Isaiah 51:1-13

Happy Chinese New Year to you who celebrate it. During this time, people wish one another blessings and prosperity. They believe their words, in wishing people good things, can bring good things to pass. That’s why they visit - to bring blessings to friends’ homes. That’s why they reciprocate - going house to house to bring blessings. If only speaking lucky wishes could bring good fortune and prosperity, our whole year would be problem free. But speaking alone brings no good fortune. Wishes are not magic spells. No, as Christians we don’t believe in that. It’s not that we don’t wish people well, or hope for blessings for them, but good words themselves have no power. Only the living and true God has power. That’s why we believe in prayer to an almighty God.

And during Chinese New Year people also hope for fortune brought by their star or zodiac sign. There are many looking forward to this year - it’s governed by the dragon. Some believe it’ll be a good year for those born in the year of the dragon - their star sign is ascending. But because it’s a wood dragon year, there may be problems unless certain things are done and other things avoided. So some will live in fear - will they do the right things to usher in dragon fortune, or wrong things to experience dragon fire! Now believers in the living and true God don’t believe this. We have a God that’s more powerful than any dragon. In fact, our passage says he can slay the dragon. Blessing and salvation do not come from the year or rule of the dragon, or simply by wishing good things. They can only come by praying to an almighty God - that his rule would increase in our lives. You see, this was the prayer of the people in this passage. When they knew who God was, they called on him. We’ll examine this passage in 2 points. Firstly, the prayer for God’s saving rule. Secondly, the promise of God’s saving rule.

Firstly, the prayer for God’s saving rule. In our church, we’ve been looking at the Lord’s Prayer. We’ve seen why we should pray - God’s a loving heavenly father; he’s merciful to hear and powerful to answer prayer. That’s why we should depend on him, pray persistently because he answers prayer, and pray not just for earthly things, but for spiritual things - things that ultimately really matter. Wealth and health, opportunity and success - are all not bad things; but eternal life and forgiveness are far more important. And this is what the people prayed for. Verse 9 says, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?” They prayed - and they prayed persistently. They asked God three times to awake. Twice at the start - awake, awake. Then in the middle - awake, as in the ancient days. Why did they say it three times? Why the persistence? Is it because God cannot hear? Is he weak? No! Remember, God doesn’t asleep. He’s not like the sleeping kami in Shinto shrines, whose worshipers must clap their hands to wake them up. We’re told in Psalm 121:4 that God neither slumbers nor sleeps. He’s not drowsy, nodding off to sleep; nor is he in a deep and long sleep. He’s alert. Furthermore, God has no body that he needs to sleep. So why did they ask him three times to wake up?

It’s because of his merciful character. Notice in verses 1-8, he told his people to listen up - 3 times. They were about to go through intense difficulties. In those days, the threat of warfare was great. The Babylonians were coming to attack and enslave them. Babylon was a major super power. And yes, God would allow it. The presence of problems in our lives doesn’t mean God is bad. A good God does allow his people to go through difficulties - just like good parents don’t mollycoddle their children. Parents understand that children need to go through hardship at times. So while we may not understand the purpose of the problems, God has his sovereign reasons. But in the midst of this, God promised them salvation. He promised mercy. And he told them to listen to what he would do one day. We read the word “hear” 3 times. Verse 1 - “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness.” Verse 4 - “Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me.” Verse 7 - “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness.” Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye - one day, my wonderful promises would be fulfilled! Despite your difficulties, I will deliver you. What deliverance was this? He promised them blessing, prosperity, and joy (verses 2-3); he promised to give them justice and light; and even their enemies will be converted or judged (verses 4-5); and this deliverance and salvation would be eternal (verses 6-8). He promised to show mercy - to save them one day. So why’d they pray to God? Because of this mercy. Because he invited them to hear how he’d save them. And why shouldn’t they pray to God?

They’d experienced his powerful protection before. Many times, God’s people called on God to awake. When King David was dethroned and slandered, he asked God in his anger to stand up, Psalm 7. He also asked God to awake to bring justice, Psalm 35. Why? God’s people know his power. They acknowledge how God saves and brings justice. He’s like a king who comes to conquer and to rescue his people. We see this also in this passage. Verse 9 says, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD.” It calls on God to clothe his arm with strength. This can be looked upon two ways. And both have the same idea. When you wake up, you change to prepare for your vocation. School children will wake up and put on their school uniform - that’s their job - to be students. Firefighters will wake up at the ringing of the bell, and they’ll slip into their gear to prepare to fight fire. That’s their job. And likewise, soldiers will prepare by putting on their full battle order. Why? To fight. That’s their job. And so, the people asked God to do his job; to fulfill his promises as a conquering king. So this prayer was a prayer for God to rule. The people prayed to God to arm himself - as if to put on armor and a sword to conquer their enemies and to save them - like a king. They would go through years of difficulties - but the year of the king would come. And this king was a dragon-slayer.

God had already shown himself powerful over their enemies in the past. Verses 9-10 - “Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old” - aren’t you the one that cut down Rahab and wounded the dragon? Aren’t you the one who dried up the deep waters of the sea, so your ransomed people could cross the ocean floor like a pathway? Yes, there was another time that God’s people were going through difficulty, 650 years before Isaiah. And God arose and delivered them. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. That was the greatest salvation up to that point. What did God do then? He cut Rahab and wounded the dragon. He was the dragon-slayer. The first word used is Rahab - which means boaster in Hebrew. And it was another name for Egypt. It was the most powerful nation on earth at that time. She was very proud of her power. But God struck her down - this great superpower. So if he struck down Egypt, he could strike down Babylon. Two mighty world powers are nothing compared to God. How did God strike down Egypt? He destroyed Pharaoh. Verse 10 speaks about how he dried up the Red Sea, the waters of the deep. We’re all familiar with how God’s people crossed the ocean bed like it was dry ground. But once they crossed over, God released the waters, which came back and drowned Pharaoh and his men. No matter how much Egypt boasted of its power, God destroyed it. God’s more powerful.

How about the dragon? God wounded him. Who’s the dragon? Pharaoh; he was the dragon. Ezekiel 29:3 says, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.” Pharaoh was thought to be the life giver in Egypt. From him would come all blessings. He was said to be the incarnation of the sun god. And together with the Nile, he was thought to bless Egypt. But God turned the waters of the Nile into blood - making the waters undrinkable, killing the fish, making the Nile powerless. Pharoah couldn’t do anything even though he said it’s my river. God also brought the plague of darkness - even in the middle of the day, it was completely dark. The son of the sun god could do nothing. It was no longer the dragon that brought blessings to the people. God was the dragon slayer. He did that to deliver his people who were oppressed by Pharaoh. That was the power of God in Egypt. We see God’s power to rule and to save. That’s why we pray. So when we pray thy kingdom come, we’re asking God in the midst of all our trials, to preserve and increase his people. That he would destroy the works of the devil and every power that raises itself against him. Why? Because God has promised complete rule and deliverance. You see, our hope is not in good words or good fortune this year. Our hope is not in health, wealth, opportunity, or success. We don’t live for the moment. We live for eternity. Our hope and blessing is to be forgiven from our sins, to be delivered from Satan, to be received by God.

That’s why secondly, we want to see the promise of God’s saving rule - the promise of God’s ultimate and eternal saving rule. Again, the deliverance is not just for a year, for a season - it’s an eternal salvation. We’re not interested only in a good year, but a prosperous eternity. We see here, the prosperity of that salvation described. Verse 11 describes it - “Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” We know from this that the promise of God is for an eternal salvation. Verse 6 - “but my salvation shall be for ever.” It wasn’t only salvation from their earthly enemies. Yes, Babylon - the superpower - would attack. But if God’s people truly understood his promises - what he told them in verses 1-8, they’d know that if they called on him, he’d give them eternal salvation. If they cried to him - he’d do more than just save them from human enemies. God promised a permanent solution. As a ruler, with a strengthened arm, with armor and a sword, he’d redeem the people from sin. Now, how do we know it’s not temporary or earthly blessing? We see the words everlasting joy that will bring gladness and joy. It’s everlasting. And we see that sorrow and mourning will flee away. Why do you think every year, people need to clean their homes? Their homes get dirty. Why do they need to visit and get right with people? They have offended people. And we all know that we have relatives or friends we’d rather not visit. We need a permanent and lasting deliverance.

One that is not just temporary or for physical prosperity. Now, when God rescued his people from the rule of Pharaoh, the redemption joyful. But it was not spiritual, so it didn’t last. They were no longer slaves of the Egyptians, but they were still slaves to sin. When they were in the wilderness for 40 years - they grumbled and complained. Even though God had delivered them and showed his strong arm in rescuing them, they didn’t submit to his rule. The murmurings and rebellion led to 40 years of wandering and the majority of them died in the wilderness. And while God fed them daily, gave them water to drink, their clothes never wore thin, they didn’t submit to God’s rule. You see, the people were only interested in an earthly salvation - they wanted a happy life, material blessing, but they didn’t want to give their allegiance to God. So here, God promised those who called on him to rule and conquer; those that would submit to his rule - he’d give them an everlasting redemption - everlasting joy shall be upon their head. He’d also comfort this people. Verse 12 - “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass.” The comfort would be so thorough they wouldn’t fear death, nor the power of men - because all men die. They’re like weeds - they sprout up today and die tomorrow. There’s no fear of death. Why?

Our soul will be saved. We see here the person bringing salvation. There are 2 persons mentioned in verse 13. The first is the Lord. The second is the oppressor. If we remember the Lord, who’s the maker of heaven and earth, why would we fear the oppressor? Verse 13 describes God - the maker of heaven and earth. In fact, where is the fury of the oppressor? Okay. Who is Lord? this God? Who is this powerless oppressor? In the first deliverance, God defeated the dragon - who was Pharaoh. But here, another oppressor is mentioned, another dragon. Who is this other oppressor? It’s the Devil. He’s the ultimate dragon. He’s the one who desires to destroy the souls of mankind. He promises us success, wealth, blessings, pleasure, if only we listen to him. He causes us to sin. He tempts us to sin. But why he oppresses ours because these blessings do not last an eternity. And sin requires judgment from God. The wages of sin is death. But the Lord is strong to save. There are two words in this passage that speak of that salvation - ransom and redeemed. To save, God came as a man - the Lord Jesus Christ - and he took on the sins of those who would believe on him, and gave his life as a payment. The strength that Christ put on to save was humility, sacrifice, and selflessness. He took on the punishment due to sinners. He paid their ransom, in order to redeem them from judgment. And though we sin, the Devil has no power over us, to accuse us - because our sins have been forgiven.

The Bible tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall never die. Physical death yes, for a time, but we will live on forever. That’s true prosperity. Many people wish for good fortune this year. Every year prosperity. Good luck and monetary growth. We even have food to symbolize fortune and laughter. But what we need is not material prosperity, but spiritual prosperity. Some people may be very comfortable this dragon year. But unless their sins have been forgiven, unless they pray for the rule and salvation of Christ, they are still under the power of that ultimate dragon - Satan himself. Friend, what can you do to have ultimate deliverance and blessing? To call on God to awake to save your soul. God has called you 3 times to listen. He will save, he will bless, he will deliver you. But you must turn to him. And so I speak a good word to you - believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, and you’ll be saved. Pray to him as your saving king and he will save you.

And for us who have called on Christ. How is his rule evident in our lives? Are we more and more delivered from the power of the devil? Are we submitting ourselves to his rule? Let us continue to pray that his kingdom would come.

1. The Prayer for God’s Salvation

A. Our persistent prayer

B. His powerful protection

2. The Promise of God’s Salvation

A. The prosperity of salvation

B. The person bringing salvation