Recap

So far in Isaiah, we’ve read through the first half of Isaiah focused on the judgement and future hope of Jerusalem, the nations, and then judgement on Israel's leaders, for here they put their trust.

Through these different preaches and visions, we gathered a series of images. God was about to pour judgement on the Israelites for their wickedness and corruption. This punishment was described like God laying an axe to a tree and just a stump remaining. It was destruction intended to purge and purify. Out of the remnant of his people, this tree stump, God would raise up a branch from the line of David, who would be king who reigned over the earth and brought peace.

Focusing on the foreign nations, we got mention of a 'day of the Lord'. On this day, God will bring judgement, waging war on evil and wickedness. He will destroy powers that set themselves up against him, whether they be human kings or spiritual beings. These foreign nations are judged for their pride, oppression, and wickedness. Isaiah specifically mentions Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Cush (Ethiopia), Egypt, and Tyre.

Focusing on Israel's leaders, Isaiah pointed out that the judicial leaders, the priests, and even some of those who claimed to be prophets were proud drunkards who put their trust in their own power and authority rather than God.

But through these preaches, Isaiah highlights some key ideas. The Israelites are not to turn to these foreign nations for support and protection. God is in control and will use all this for his purposes. Eventually, even these foreign nations will be brought into God's future kingdom. In that time, all people will celebrate, feast, and worship God, led by a king who will bring peace and flourishing.

Then we started the second half of Isaiah, written to the people after the exile, giving them a new hope. It was God that led the other nations to do what they did, not those nations' own strength of own gods. God was always in control and will lead his people to flourish again. We got the introduction of someone God calls ‘my servant’, saying, "I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations." (Isaiah 42:1). This servant is contrasted with Israel, who is described as a blind servant because the continue to reject God. 

As God leads the foreign nations against each other, ultimately he will still see all nations brought under his authority, worshipping him.

Isaiah 49-51

Yesterday we finished God's initial call to his people that there's still hope, and he still cares for them, found in the second half of the book. Next, he focuses in on a character we've mentioned before, the one he calls ‘my servant’. In this section, we get this unknown figure, God's servant, speak for himself three times. Then each time he finishes, we get a message for Jerusalem, for God's holy city Zion.

We open with a figure talking, and we only realise a few verses in who it is when he mentions the God called him 'my servant'. Next, he says how God has called him to gather Israel back to God, but more than that to be a light to all the nations and gather them back to God too.

Then he mentions how God describes him as 'one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation' (Isaiah 49:7). Whoever this servant is, he will be hated by the people of Israel. But there will come a time when kings will bow down to him because of God. God has given the servant to be 'a covenant to the people' (Isaiah 49:8) and they will set free the prisoner, feed the hungry and the thirsty, have pity on and lead God's people. Then this first message about the servant ends with a call to 'sing for joy' (Isaiah 49:13), for God is going to comfort his people and have compassion on them.

Then the focus switches to Zion. Zion is declaring that God has given up on them, but God challenges them, asking if a mother can forget her own children. God has not forgotten his people. He has engraved them on the palms of his hands so he will remember them forever.

He tells them how he will bless them abundantly. They will be so prosperous and have so many children (children were a sign of prosperity) that when they go back to Jerusalem, there will not be enough room for them all and they will have to build a bigger city. He is going to once again gather all his children from out of the nations they were carried to and restore them to their land. He will also attack those who oppress his people.

Then he reminds the people of their failures that damaged the relationship initially. He reminds them he divorced them as a nation and sold them to over nations. This was all because of their sin. But he reminds them that just as he sold them into slavery, he is more than powerful enough to redeem them and deliver them from slavery.

Take note of this. The Lord is described here as a divorcee. He gave his people a divorce letter and sent them away. Now way know the ultimate goal is to have all people restored to him, so there’s still redemption in this divorce process, but it’s noteworthy, nonetheless. The Lord’s relationship with his people reached a point where it couldn’t continue, because his people were unwilling to work on it and continued to reject him.

Then, in contrast with the disobedience of God's people, we jump back to read about the obedience of the servant. The servant declares that each morning he wakes to God speaking to him. He was not rebellious. He did not shy away from what God told him to do. Because of this, God has protected him so he will not be put to shame. Who can come against him when God has got his back?

The servant then tells the people to trust in God. Though it may feel like you're walking in darkness sometimes, trust that God will protect you and keep you. Don't try to make your own light, like a torch of fire. Don't trust in your own ability to find a way, because those people will end up in torment for not trusting in God.

And then we once more focus on Zion. They are encouraged to once again to seek God, to remind themselves of the God of their ancestors, because God is there to comfort them. God speaks to them and asks they listen to his words, because the law that he is bringing leads people into salvation and righteousness, and it is for all the earth. For those that listen to and obey God's law need not fear their enemies, for God will do away with them so that his righteousness and salvation will be forever.

The next section is a small prayer to God, recognising the great things God has done in the past. The speaks says "was it not you [God] who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?" (Isaiah 51:9). Rahab was a mythical sea dragon, and so this verse, along with the verse after it, is just a metaphorical way of talking about the time God split the sea so that the Israelites could leave Egypt. In other words, God led his people out of slavery before, and he can do it again.

So God promises to once again comfort and protect his people. He then tells his people to wake up. Yes, they drank the cup of God's wrath. Yes, they were devastated and left helpless. But God has now taken his wrath away from them. Now he is pouring out on the enemies of his people.

Psalm 119:65-96

We are continuing on with Psalm 119. This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and falls into the category of wisdom psalm. Each stanza has eight verses each, and each verse within a stanza starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. With twenty-two stanzas, we have a different stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In many ways, this psalm can be seen as the A-B-Cs of Biblical wisdom.

Psalm 119:65-72 - Teth (ט): You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord

Psalm 119:73-80 - Yodh (י): Your hands have made and fashioned me

Psalm 119:81-88 - Kaph (כ): My soul longs for your salvation

Psalm 119:89-96 - Lamedh (ל): Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens

In the ninth stanza (Psalm 119:65-72), the psalmist acknowledges that the Lord did right by them by humbling them. The Lord allowed them to experience the consequences of their actions so that they could then turn and choose his ways. Because of this the psalmist now clings to the Lord’s words. Even when arrogant people attack them for it. And the psalmist is grateful for this process. Through it they have come to realise that the teachings of the Lord are greater than any riches or wealth.

In the tenth stanza (Psalm 119:73-80), the psalmist links the the Lord who provides teachings and commands with the Lord who creates. It because the Lord has formed them, he knows how to guide the psalmist in his ways. It is from a place of love and understanding that the Lord has brought the psalmist through these trials to teach them. So the psalmist asks that the Lord continues to show them mercy and continue to guide them in righteousness.

The eleventh stanza (Psalm 119:81-88) slips into lament. The psalmist is struggling. Their soul languishes and their eyes fail. There are those who judge and persecute them, and others who set traps for them. But despite all this the psalmist continues to hold on to the Lord’s teachings as they are unfailing. They cry out to the Lord to help them and save them so that they can continue to keep the Lord’s ways.

Stanza twelve (Psalm 119:89-96) focuses on the eternal nature of the Lord’s teachings. It is through his ways that the Lord first established the earth, and continues to hold all things in place today. It was the Lord’s law that kept the psalmist going this far, and it’s his law that will keep them going forward. So the psalmist will hold into them in the face of their enemies. Everything else is flawed and weak, but the Lord’s commands are perfect.