(Isaiah 40-66)
Questions for Thought
1. God used Assyria and Babylon to punish Israel for disobedience. How may we be punished today for not obeying God?
2. What does Isaiah 53 tell us about Christ?
3. When was Isaiah 61:1-2 fulfilled?
In the previous chapters of Isaiah, we have looked at how God’s people continued to refuse to listen to His words given through the prophet Isaiah. We have seen the promises of woes to come upon the people. Throughout the sections we have also seen glimmers of hope for a remnant of the people. There would be some who would still listen to God and obey His voice. Bible scholars sometimes divide Isaiah into two major sections with chapters 1-39 representing conflict and chapters 40-66 representing hope. The first section ended with God having continued to warn the people of their coming captivity in Babylon.
In this last discussion of Isaiah, we will look at the hope section beginning in chapter 40. In this section, we will see God preparing the people for their upcoming captivity. He promised them the captivity would end and they would be allowed to return to their homeland. In the first 8 chapters of this second major section of Isaiah, God continued to remind the people of His power and deity. In addition to the promise the people would be allowed to return to their land is the promise of an enduring kingdom which we know as a spiritual kingdom, the church.
In chapters 40-53, Isaiah gave the people several reasons why they could have hope in the future. In this section, Isaiah is giving the people hope for the near future when after Babylonian captivity, they would be returned to their homeland and he is giving them hope for the longer future when the Messiah would reign. Sometimes it is hard to see if he is referring to the short term or the long term or even both.
In chapter 40 he began to tell them what it would be like after their promised captivity was over. Notice beginning in verse 3, Isaiah is referring to a period many years in their future which we know was when John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness found in John 1:23. The promise of the Lord feeding His flock like a shepherd and gathering His lambs (Isaiah 40:11) served to give the people hope although they may not have known at that time for what they were hoping. In verses 12-31, God reminded the people of His greatness and how He had told them in the past of His own power and how what He said would happen had happened. He asked them questions like the ones He asked Job to get them to think about how weak and insignificant man is in comparison to God. In verse 12 He asked who had measured the waters in the hollow of His hand. In verse 26 He said for them to look around and behold who had created what they saw. He answered in verse 28 it was the everlasting God who did the marvelous things. That should have provided them with comfort in knowing their God, the creator of the universe, had everything in control. Even when they would be captured, He was still in control.
The idea of God being in control continues in chapter 41 where God continued to remind them of His greatness. Again, He told the people not to fear in verse 10, but to know what was being done to them was from His hand (verse 20). Then in chapter 42 the people were again given assurance God would hold the hand of His servant who would deliver them. This servant would be a light to the Gentiles (verse 6). New things would be coming their way (verse 9). God would be going forth with vengeance in destruction (13-16) and those who had been serving idols would be ashamed and turn back to God (17). Once more God reminded the people in verses 24-25 what was about to come upon them was because of their refusal to obey Him.
But restoration would come. In chapters 43-44 God stressed how He would deliver His people. He would blot out their transgressions and not remember their sins. He reminded them they were His chosen (44:1-2) and while some would call themselves by His name and others by the names of others, yet, there is no God other than Him (6). Graven images are again condemned in chapter 44. Then God gives the name of the one by whom he would provide the first redemption for the people. Remember, I said in the beginning of this section how some parts refer to the return of a remnant while other parts refer to salvation in Christ. It is very clear in 44:28, God is telling the name of the one who would allow the remnant to return to their land as noted in verse 26. This one named in verse 28 is Cyrus. In the book of Ezra, we read about this return of the people. We will save that for a future post as I want us to just look at the prophecy in Isaiah now.
God described how He would use Cyrus in chapter 45. In verse 13 He said He had raised him up and would direct him in letting the captives return to their rebuild city. Later in Ezra and Nehemiah, we will read the account of these events.
From chapters 46-48 we learn of how Babylon’s idols would be destroyed and how Babylon itself would be taken out. This Babylon God was using to chastise Israel and Judah would someday also be destroyed. God had spoken it and when it happened, His people should remember He had said it would. In 48:3 God reminded them of how He had told them in the past what would happen and it had, but they had not believed. In verse 8 He said He knew they would not listen because they were sinful.
Beginning in chapter 49, while still telling the people of deliverance, this deliverer is someone other than Cyrus and the deliverance is a different deliverance than what Cyrus would provide. The Gentiles were to be brought in as God’s people (22) which was entirely different from what the Jewish nation was accustomed. That Christ would be the obedient one is obvious in chapter 50. Verse 6 is clearly a prophecy concerning how He allowed the wicked men to beat Him. Before His reign in His spiritual Kingdom, He was to be spit on and struck according to Isaiah 50:6. In Isaiah 52:13, He was to be exalted although in verse 14, He was to have his form marred more than any man. In Isaiah 53 we have many prophecies of the Christ. In verse 2, we see this man was to be despised and rejected. But He would bear the griefs and sorrows of the people and be wounded for their transgressions according to verses 4-5. In verse 6 the sin of us all would be laid upon Him. His grave would be with the wicked and rich in verse 9. His soul would be an offering for sin in verse 10. We know all of this was fulfilled in Christ our Savior.
The last chapters of Isaiah from 54-66 tell of the Messiah’s restoration of Israel in His spiritual kingdom over which He reigns. In this kingdom will be both Jew and Gentile (60:3-4). Those who serve the Lord in His kingdom will be saved but those who forsake the Lord and forget His holy mountain will be slain (Isaiah 65:8-15).
In chapter 55 we read about how this new deliverer would invite everyone to come in. There are a couple of often quoted verses in this chapter. In verse 8 we read “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” Then in verse 11 we read another passage preachers are often heard to quote, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please…”
Then in chapters 56-57, Isaiah seems to be concerned more with their current situation but in 56:5 promise of a name that shall never be cut off was made to those who choose to do the things pleasing to God. Much of these two chapters are again God’s words of condemnation to those who have failed to keep His commands.
While the people who had forgotten God still seemed to think they were serving Him, God continued in chapter 58 to condemn them. They were supposedly seeking Him (verse 2), yet, their worship was not pleasing to Him (verses 5-6). God encouraged them to turn back to serve Him and then He would ultimately bless them.
Continuing in chapter 60 we read how it was the sins of Israel that had separated her from God (verse 2). Those sins are listed through the chapter. But once more promise of a future Redeemer is made in verse 20 and continued through chapter 61. A most famous prophecy is given in chapter 61. In Luke 4:16-21, we read about Christ in the synagogue. He had stood up to read and they gave Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lords is upon me…” He read and when He gave the book back to the minister and sat down, He said to the people: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” This is so important to us today, because there are many who say the prophecy of a deliverer here in Isaiah is yet to be fulfilled. They believe the coming of the Messiah is yet in the future. Jesus showed this idea to be in error when He said the scripture which we know as Isaiah 61:1-2 was being fulfilled that very moment.
In chapter 62, God again promised salvation would be going forth from Jerusalem. It was so as we read in Luke 24:46-49 where Jesus told His apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Luke repeated this statement in Acts 1:8 concerning receiving the power from the Holy Ghost and the event occurred in Acts 2. Again, God’s promises always come true.
Once more in chapter 63, the history of Israel is summed up. We see a people who had been loved by the Lord (verse 7-9) but they rebelled against Him (verse 10). A few as seen in this chapter still desired Him and continuing in chapter 64, they begged for deliverance. The Lord answered that remnant in chapter 65 with a promise beginning in verse 9 of bringing forth out of Jacob and of Judah a seed. With the bringing in of that seed there would be changes. In verse 17 we see how the old Jewish system would be done away and a new spiritual order would be put into place. The animalistic nature of mankind would be brought under control of the Lord who would hear their call before they even gave it.
Then in chapter 66 at least one author I have read from sees a beautiful summary of the complete book of Isaiah. In verses 1-6 we can see the totality of Israel’s continued failure to obey God and God’s final decision to provide judgment. In verses 7-14 we have promise of deliverance for the remnant of Israel in what would be the church. Then in verses 15-24 that promise is extended to all nations. We read in verse 18 the promise to gather all nations and tongues together to see God’s glory.
There is no way in such a short writing to expound upon all the great passages in Isaiah. I hope there has been something in these 4 blogs to attract someone’s attention and cause a desire to better understand the prophet. We want to be those who serve the Lord and not those who forsake Him. We want to be those who are obedient children. We do not want to be considered as rebellious children in the sight of God. Reading and understanding the prophecies of Isaiah is very important to our understanding of the birth, life, death, and present reign of our Lord Jesus and to our understanding of the remnant who make up the church. There are many excellent commentaries devoted totally to the book of Isaiah which can provide great enlightenment. One must be careful though in choosing so as to not be misled by those writers who believe the prophecy concerning the deliverance of Israel is yet in the future and who fail to realize the deliverance is here today in a spiritual form of the church and not a physical kingdom.
Next time, we will look at the prophecies of Micah covering some of the same time period as Isaiah.
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