Isaiah 53: 6:
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
The Savior referred to those who would follow Him as His “sheep.” (John 10: 27.) However, Isaiah’s use of “sheep” here is not about those who would follow Him, but rather those who would scatter, find other shepherds, or lose their way altogether. Isaiah’s “sheep” are disorderly and have gone “astray.”
The bookends of these two messages – Isaiah’s sheep, who are astray, and Christ’s, who “hear His voice” – are two sides of the same coin. Until “ALL” of us have been, or to some degree, have gone “astray,” we are unprepared to “hear His voice” and be gathered by Him.
We have turned away from the True Shepherd and gone into our “own way.” That errant “way” is appealing to the ego, the mind, the imagination, or the traditions we need to control us because they are safe, tested or handed to us by those whom we trust. Whatever the reason for choosing our own way, it is nevertheless ours. We must leave it, respond to the True Shepherd’s “voice” and gather again to Him.
It is His “voice” whenever He sends a true messenger, empowered with a message from Him. It is not His “voice” when the messenger has not been sent or empowered with a message from Him.
The “iniquity of us all” in finding ourselves in these strange paths has been laid upon Him. He has found His way back from every error man can make. He has solved every dilemma, confronted every error, overcome every false and tempting doctrine the devil has thrown at you. He can solve your imponderable problems. He knows the answers. He has overcome the iniquities of every false, evil or prideful teaching ever given to any man or woman.
He can lead you back to the light, because He has remained true to the light throughout. Therefore look to Him.
I’ve felt that before, in the parable of the lost sheep, it is easy to take for granted that the 99 are never found by their Lord. You have to be lost first in order to be found, and you’re never lost until you realize it. It is our human tendency to never ask for directions because we refuse to believe we are lost.
Denver,
It seems that this ties well to Isaiah 66:6 which distinguishes between three distinct types of voices: a voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, and a voice of the Lord.
Isaiah 66:6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
Any additional insight on this? Interestingly, this topic correlates to Moses 6:66 (note all the sixes here on both) which speaks again of the voice of the Lord as a voice from heaven:
66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;