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Isaiah 30:20

20And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.


This is one of the many prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. Though Israel was about to face its demise as a nation and go into captivity, the Lord gave them a glorious hope for the future. It was a word from God that they could cling to through the most difficult of times. It is hard to imagine watching your kindred starve, and then finally being conquered, leaving all your worldly goods behind and marching to a strange land not knowing what lay ahead.

The One who had taught them the ways of the LORD was the LORD through His prophets. The LORD was their teacher. He was teaching them through this difficulty that serving other gods only leads to destruction. They had clung to images of gods that they could see, rather than the invisible God whose manifestation over the Ark of the Covenant was only seen once a year by the high priest.

What did God mean when He said their eyes would behold their Teacher? It could mean nothing less than the God-incarnate Messiah, Jesus. The attributes and nature of God would be seen in a man. He would continue to teach them the way of the LORD, holiness, righteousness, mercy, and love. Everything He did and said would show them God. Then their choice would not be an invisible God or an idol you can see, but man they could relate to that showed the greatest love ever seen versus an image made of stone or wood.

Consider: We have seen Him in the gospels. We, too, must choose between our Teacher and the things of this world.