Who among you fears the Lord

  and obeys the word of his servant?

Let him who walks in the dark,

  who has no light,

trust in the name of the Lord

  and rely on his God.

But now, all you who light fires

  and provide yourselves with flaming torches,

go, walk in the light of your fires

  and of the torches you have set ablaze.

This is what you shall receive from my hand:

  You will lie down in torment. Isaiah 50:10-11 | NIV84

When I read these Scriptures I saw something I thought was interesting that I would like to share with you. The Lord is speaking to two different types of people here. Those who are walking in the dark and those who are walking in light. However, it’s not exactly as you’d expect it to be. The Lord calls to those who are walking in the dark to trust in Him and to rely upon His direction. However, to those who are walking in the light, God says something completely different. He tells them to keep walking in the light to their destruction. That’s interesting.

There are two things to consider here. Dark and light. They are opposites. Most often light is associated with having been enlightened or coming to an understanding that didn’t exist before. Darkness is often associated with not having an understanding of something or being lost.

However, when I look at these Scriptures, I see the dark as something different from being lost and the light as something not so good, but why would that be so? Why does Scripture often talk about the light being good and dark being bad, but here it seems to say the opposite?

Let’s look at this from a different angle… or better yet, let’s consider the following words spoken through the Prophet Isaiah,

But now, all you who light fires

  and provide yourselves with flaming torches,

go, walk in the light of your fires

  and of the torches you have set ablaze. Isaiah 50:11a

Notice that it says “all you who light fires and provide for yourselves flaming torches”. It seems to me that these people are taking it upon themselves to find their own way, their own enlightened path… or better said, they are relying upon their own wisdom to guide them as if not needing God’s direction. One could look upon this as being guided by the world’s wisdom or being in complete rebellion to God.

When we read the following:

Let him who walks in the dark,

  who has no light,

trust in the name of the Lord

  and rely on his God. Isaiah 50:10b

We see people walking in the dark, or they are not trying to enlighten themselves with their own wisdom or with the wisdom other people. It seems to me that the dark God is talking about is not allowing false light in or man-made light. It seems the dark is a place where a person chooses to shut out the false light and stay ‘unenlightened’ by the world. The world is a spiritually dark place and God calls out to those walking in the dark to trust in Him. God gives those who trust in Him the direction they need while walking in the dark, or in the world, if you will. God provides His light and those who take it choose to walk in their own darkness (forsaking worldly wisdom) and let God lead then while trusting His wisdom and not their own. They follow God’s direction, God’s path and not their own. They don’t create for themselves a path to follow, but instead let God carve the path to enlightenment for them.

Then it seems like there are those who don’t want God, so they create their own light or flaming torches to guide them wherever they want to go. Flaming torches are something that man has created, not God. If you want to think a little deeper about this, one could compare flaming torches to the world’s wisdom which is in direct rebellion to the Lord. Those who are lighting their own paths think they are wise and know what they are doing, but they are walking to a place of complete separation from the One who knows what is best because He only has good things for those who follow Him. These people, by lighting their own torches, or following their own wisdom, forsake God and choose worldly wisdom instead. The world’s wisdom is pretty much exactly the opposite of how God thinks and so this type of light is therefore, quite plainly said, evil.

Those who rely upon God while walking in the dark must have faith that God will do what God said and the Bible says it is impossible to please God without faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 | NIV84

Those who rely upon their own wisdom forsake the goodness of God and do not have faith at all, so therefore they are walking down a lit path to destruction while holding their own torches… they can see their way around, but they can’t see the final destination of where they’re headed because they are walking in complete rebellion toward the Lord. Their path is lit, but their minds are dark.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 | NIV84

The person who walks by faith, trusts in the character of who God is, which was demonstrated by the life and death of Jesus Christ and so they walk in the dark, refusing to take upon themselves the mantel of the world’s wisdom or even their own wisdom and instead let God lead them to everlasting Life. To lead them to a place where God is, a place of true Love and complete Goodness.

The light of the world’s wisdom is like comparing a candle to the sun; there is no real comparison. In a dark room, a candle seems bright, but test the candle by putting it outside in the sun and the sun will melt it. In the sunlight, the candle has no real power. So, the Lord instructs those to trust Him in the dark and not to follow the candles of the world because He is Truth and in Him is where one finds Life.

There are those who run around with very bright torches and they seem like they are wise, but I caution you. Measure everything by the Word of God and lean not on your own understanding (or the understanding of others). He spread out His arms and the Universe was formed. God laid the foundation of the world with a spoken word and breathed life into the man, named Adam. He is the Creator, that Master Artist. He has all the wisdom anyone could ever need and so much more.

If you have lost your way and are following worldly wisdom, stop. Lay down that torch, stomp it out and start walking by faith. Learn how to walk in the dark by forsaking this world’s wisdom and learn how to trust in the True Light, Jesus Christ.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 | NIV84