A Reed - Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20

by Rohn Sat Sep 14, 2013 11:30 pm

A REED

Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20

(Isaiah 42:3) A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (KJV)
Matthew 12:20) A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. (KJV)

If you go down to the pond or the riverside you may see some tall green plants growing in the water. What are they?
Rushes, or reeds. Sometimes they grow so thick that you can hardly see the water. But you know that the water is there because rushes will not grow where the ground is dry.

(Job 8:11) Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? (KJV)
(Isaiah 19:6) And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. (KJV)
(Isaiah 35:7) And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. (KJV)

There are many different kinds of reeds. The Egyptians used to make their paper from one kind of reed. Pens were also made of reeds in ancient times. Rushes are also used to make baskets.

(Exodus 2:3) And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. (KJV)

There are three particular things that we are going to notice about reeds in the Bible.

1. A SHAKEN REED.
(Matthew 11:7) And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? (KJV)

This was spoken by the Lord Jesus. He was speaking to the people about a man they all knew well - John the Baptist. John had preached in the wilderness, near the river Jordan. There as the breeze swept up and down the river, the tall reeds would quiver and bow, turning whichever way the wind blew.
Jesus asked a question, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?”
John was just the opposite of these bowing reeds. He was not shaken with the winds. He didn't tum first one way and then another. Was there anything that might have turned him?
There are two winds that would blow us as reeds and tum us from the Lord if we aren't careful.

1. THE FAVOR OF OTHER PEOPLE.
Everyone wants to be liked and thought well of. And sometimes when we get around other people they want us to do things that are not right. We don't want to be classed a different and it causes some to turn aside to do things that are not quite pleasing to God.
Everyone likes to be praised and admired, but if we cannot allow the wind of favor to shake us.
Some of this wind blew on John the Baptist. Crowds from all parts went out to hear him.

(Matthew 3:4-5) And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, (KJV)
They thought a lot of him. Some even wondered if he was the Messiah.

(Luke 3:15) And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; (KJV)
Did he grow vain or proud?

(John 1:20-27) And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. (KJV)

He was glad when people left him to go after Jesus.

(John 3:26-28) And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. (KJV)
(John 3:30) He must increase, but I must decrease. (KJV)

2. THE OTHER WIND IS THE WIND OF FEAR.
This is a wind that swept over John the Baptist. He had an enemy.

(Mark 6:17-19) For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: (KJV)

Herodias hated him because he spoke out against sin. She tried to set her husband against him. Did he stop preaching the truth? No. He was not shaken by the wind of fear. He was at last imprisoned and slain.

Some people wish to do right but are afraid of what other people will say. They don't want to be laughed at or disliked. They are easily shaken by the wind of fear. Are you afraid to serve God because of fear?
How can a weak and easily shaken reed become strong and unmoved, like John the Baptist?

(Psalms 62:2) He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. (KJV)
(Psalms 62:6) He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. (KJV)

Make God your strength.

II. A BROKEN REED.
(Isaiah 36:6) Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. (KJV)

Rabshakeh wanted Hezekiah to give up the city to him. He thought that Hezekiah was perhaps trusting in Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He called Pharaoh the "staff of a broken reed. The "staff' or stalk, the strongest part of a reed, but if you lean on it heavily it will break. It is not strong enough to bear much weight, and the sharp edges will cut into your hand and flesh. It would pierce and hurt. It could not be depended upon.

Are you a friend like that? Someone trusts you, they lean on you for help, and you fail. Instead of help you become a disappointment and hurt. It is sad to be a broken reed. Friends should be ready to help one another.

But remember this - no friend can bear all your heartaches and troubles. There is only One who can do that.

(Jeremiah 17:5-7) Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. (KJV)

You must have a Rock to rest on, not a reed.

III. A BRUISED REED.
(Isaiah 42:3) A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (KJV)

If you have a reed in your hand, will it take rough treatment? No. lt will very quickly become bruised. He must be very careful and gentile who does not break a "bruised reed."
But what does a bruised reed mean? A sorrowful, troubled heart. Jesus is ready to comfort such.
What is the worst trouble of all?

(Psalms 40:12) For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. (KJV)

Sin is the worst trouble of all. When was it that Peter wept bitterly?
(Matthew 26:75) And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. (KJV)

His heart was bruised and broken on account of sin.
What does God think of such a broken heart?

(Psalms 51:17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (KJV)
(Isaiah 66:2) For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (KJV)

He offers us fellowship with Himself, but He looks for fellowship from us as well. He longed for the fellowship of His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer." He needed their fellowship to strengthen Him for His conflict and His cross. He asks for it today also. It is something constant and continuous that He needs. A sense of His presence at the Holy Communion is good, but it is not enough. A wave of emotion at some evening service and the opening of the heart to Christ is good, but it is not enough. An act of self-consecration at some service like the present is good, but it is not enough. Some characters are deeply touched at some mission service, but the impression soon passes away. Some welcome Christ as a visitor for the weekend; but when Monday comes, care or pleasure banishes Christ from heart and home. Something more is needed. Our heart must be one that He can make a home in. It must be a contrite heart. It must be a cleansed heart. It must be a sensitive heart.

"Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? . . . To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite heart, and trembleth at My word" (Is. 66:1, 2). What shall our attitude be?
What did Jesus come to do?

(lsaiah 61:1) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (KJV)

He came to bind up the broken - hearted.
It is better to have a bruised heart rather than a hard heart.

(Romans 2:5) But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; (KJV)

There is only wrath for the hard heart. There is mercy and comfort for the "bruised" one.

by 12acrehome Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:42 am

hmm gotta ponder this one

A Reed - Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20

A Reed - Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20

Re: A Reed - Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20