SET LIKE A FLINT

The book of Isaiah is filled with sobering accounts of Israel's rebellion against God and dire warnings of their impending judgment. But the prophet also offers a message of hope; a prophetic account of the Suffering Servant who will save His people from their sin. 

I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint,

and I know that I will not be ashamed. Isaiah 50:5-7

It tells of Jesus' steadfast determination to finish that which His Father had called Him to do. He refused to turn back on His peregrination to Calvary's cross.   

The phrase, 'set My face like a flint', is used to describe the Messiah’s mindset concerning the excruciating task set before Him. Flint (a very hard, black rock) expresses the inflexibility of Christ's unwavering resolve. He faced arrest, torture, and an agonizing death, yet nothing could deter Him from accomplishing His goal. 

Spurgeon - My great object is to lead you to love Him who so loved you that he set his face like a flint in his determination to save you. O ye redeemed ones, on whose behalf this strong resolve was made, ye who have been bought by the precious blood of this steadfast, resolute Redeemer, come and think awhile of Him, that your hearts may burn within you, and that your faces may be set like flints to live and die for Him who lived and died for you! 

Staying on track requires us to work out our salvation with eyes fixed on eternity.

The apostle Paul 'set his face like flint' to finish his course: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12)

May we do the same ...