The King of the ancient Assyrian empire sent his Chief of Staff to Jerusalem to demand the city’s total surrender. The general “stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field” (Isaiah 36:2) He did not know that years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had been told by God to take one of his children and stand in that very same place (a place where clothing was bleached) as “a sign child”.
The “upper pool” can be translated “most high”, and from it flowed via the conduit the water needed by the “fullers” (laundry workers) to clean clothes and bleach them whiter than could other fullers. All these things are prophetic. (Compare Isaiah 8:17 and Isaiah 36:2 with Hebrews 2:13. However, I don’t wish to dig deeply into these aspects.)
Isaiah and his “sign children” stood “in place” as their response to the threats by the king. Isaiah’s son had been named, prophetically, Shear-Jashub, which means “A remnant shall return”. Assyria would take away the northern ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel and disperse them throughout its empire. But God would not allow it to do the same with Jerusalem and the much smaller kingdom of Judah.
“Here I am and the children the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts…” (Isaiah 8:18) Isaiah’s children were “sign children”! The inspired writer of the New Testament Book of Hebrews applies this to Jesus and his disciples. In principle, it applies to all believers who “stand” in a place of prophetic promise.
If you think that I may be stretching these texts to fit, Romans 9:26 reads: “In the place where it was said to them (the northern kingdom of Israel): ‘You are not my people’, there [in that very place] they shall be called sons of the living God’.” That “place” was “Galilee of the Gentiles” where Messiah Jesus would do most of his miracles! (Matthew 4:15) Galilee was the area previously known as Israel.
So, to sum up, if God gives you a promise from the Bible, then “take your stand” there, knowing that it speaks of what He will do for you. The place of “darkness” shall see His “great light” shine on you and your “sign children”, and a new day will dawn for all! What matters most is God’s faithfulness to His promise. What matters least is your situation, the enemy’s threats, and what may appear to you as hopeless circumstances.
Think of yourself as a Sign Child.