Isaiah 49:7-13 – Take time to share the Gospel

Isaiah 47:7-13 continue to discuss the subject of the Servant of the Lord. We have seen earlier that His ministry would not be a smooth sailing one and He would face obstacles. Now referring to Him as the despised one in verse 7, we will see that this Servant would be despised of men and be loathed by the nation. This was true of the Lord Jesus’ ministry. His own creatures, whom He had made, rejected Him. Here, this verse also  referred to Him as Servant of rulers, suggesting that kings and princes would deem Him inferior to them and would frown upon Him. Yet these rulers would eventually arise and come to honor Him. This would be a certainty because the Holy One of Israel, the faithful One who had chosen Him, would ensure that it would happen.

Verse 8 makes a reference to the age of the Gospel calling it a favorable time and the day of salvation. The was also what the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 quoted, arguing for the arrival of the age of the Gospel. At the first coming of Christ, we saw the inception of the period where the redemption of fallen mankind had begun. This Servant with the enablement of God went about the streets of Palestine bringing the message of salvation, delivering the oppressed, and healing the afflicted and became the mediator of the New Covenant. He would restore the land and establish the Messianic Kingdom. His ministry would continue to set captives free and bring light to the nation. And to those who would follow Him, He would compassionately guide, protect, sustain, and provide for all their needs. Today, Christ through the church is still delivering and saving those who are in darkness. We are still living in the age of the Gospel and we must collaborate with God to advance this message of the Gospel to establish God’s Kingdom. According to Matthew 6:33, we must continue to seek first God’s Kingdom as well as His righteousness.  

In verses 11-13, God declared that He would level the path, remove obstacles, and pave the way for the message of the Servant to go forth unimpeded. People would stream into this Kingdom. They would come from the north and the west and even from the land of Aswan. That has been considerable discussion to ascertain where Aswan was. Some had concluded that Egypt in the south is being referred to. However, the crux of the matter is this: that people from all over, the north, the west, and the south would embrace the work of this Servant and positively benefit from His ministry. What the Lord has brought about through the ministry of the Servant gives cause for the afflicted and the world to rejoice and celebrate. Hence the call to:

Shout for joy, you heavens! And rejoice, you earth!
Break forth into joyful shouting, mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.  

No matter how tough sharing the Gospel may seem, we take heart because the success of the work is ensured. Jesus guaranteed that this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached to all the world for a witness and then shall the end come. We must make time to share this treasure with the world. We are to share it in and out of season. We need only to do our part to share and God will do His part to save. We must do what we can and leave God to do what we cannot. Let us be committed to sharing the Gospel!

Isaiah 49 :1-6 - Jesus Christ, the Messianic Servant.

Systematically, we have seen how the Prophet Isaiah in his book covered the different themes pertaining to Israel. All the recorded events happened according to what Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God, had directed. Being the designer and architect of their history, He was involved in every step of the nation’s development. But what He did for Israel was in preparation for a plan that would affect the restoration and redemption of the whole world. Know that the Sovereign Lord is not only the God of Israel, He is also the God, the Sovereign Lord, who controls the affairs of all the world. Kingdom rises and falls to fulfill His plan. We know this because immediately after Adam’s fall, He already had spoken his intention aloud in Genesis 3:15. At that point, God already had the redemption and restoration of mankind in mind. The call of Abraham, the formation of the nation Israel, their bondage in Egypt, their deliverance, and their whole array of experiences leading to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, were all part and parcel of God’s redemption plan.  

In the book of Isaiah God had referred to both Israel and Cyrus as His servant, at different times. Now in Isaiah 49 - 57, God would be foretelling about another of His Servant. He is none other than Jesus Christ, His suffering servant. While chapters 42-48 refer to Cyrus whose mission was to deliver Israel, chapters  49-57 would center on God’s Suffering Servant and His mission to redeem the world. We will see how the description of this Suffering Servant fits so accurately with the life of Jesus Christ, presented in the Gospel.

Declaring to His audience, the Servant Himself disclosed His worldwide mission. The audience He addressed was not confined to the people of Judah, but those from afar as well. His commission to this worldwide people was made even before He was born. His name was given to Him while He was still in His mother’s womb. His word would be like a sharp sword. In preparation, He would also be hidden for a while in the shadow of God Almighty and in the quiver of God. When fully prepared and thrust into the ministry, He would be like a sharpened arrow ready to hit its target.  

Verses 4-6 suggest that His ministry would be met with obstacles. From John’s Gospel we are told that He came to His own, but they did not receive Him. Despite the rejection, He was committed to His task for HIs approval would come from God. He would bring Israel back to God as well as be a light to the nations.  

God’s target is not only to save Israel but all the world. See His Heart! Yes, God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that we who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life. And in Him, we are recruited to be His redemptive agents. We must take up the responsibility to declare the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. Come, let’s go forth and declare this wonderful Kingdom!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Isaiah 48:17-22 – Don’t forfeit God’s plan for us

If God could, He would have preferred not to bring such a harsh chastening upon Judah. He seemed to have a tinge of disappointment with how His people had behaved that made it necessary for Him to bring such an onerous judgment on them. God only had the best intention for them. How different it would have been for them had they been more receptive to His leading and teaching. Their “well-being would be like a river, and their righteousness like waves of the sea.” Furthermore, their descendants would be as numerous as the sand and their offspring would be in multiplied numbers like countless grains of sand. Their refusal to follow God’s leading necessitated God’s hard chastening.  

In life, it would be possible for some like the people of Judah who would act contrary to God’s good plan. When they do so, they would unwittingly forfeit the untold blessings God has installed for them. Perhaps, this is a wake-up call for any one of us who had wandered away from God’s blessed plan for our lives. To avoid this from happening, it is needful that we constantly set aside time to do some self-examination. This will help us to get our conduct and ways in alignment with the confession of our faith in God.  

Despite being disappointed with Judah, God assured them of His deliverance from their Babylonian captivity. His overwhelming love and concern could be felt even in promising them their liberty. In verse 2o, we get the feeling that He anticipated that there would be those who would be so acclimatized to their bondage that they could refuse to go free. So, He is seen here cheering and goading them to go forth boldly and joyfully. So, He called them to go forth from their exile in celebrant mood and great triumph, as arduous and painful as their captivity might be. And as they go forth, He urged them to declare to the end of the earth that it was Him who had redeemed them. In verse 21, He promised that they would be guided safely home. He would provide water to see them through the arid desert and wilderness where water would be a limited resource. The last verse indicates that peace will only be found in trusting God. The wicked are those who refused to trust Him. To such people, peace will be far away.

These verses suggest the possibility that believers can get so accustomed to a life of bondage that they may refuse to adopt the new life in the Lord. No wonder Paul in Romans 12:2 exhorts believers not to let the old worldly value and ways of life limit the new life in Christ. We must not be conformed to the world but instead be renewed in mind so that we can enter into the perfect will of God and experience the joy and liberty our new life in Christ offers. This is God’s perfect will for us. Let us pursue it!       

Isaiah 48:12-16 – Be sure to yield to God’s honing.

Earlier, God had already announced that He would deliver Judah from Babylon for His own name’s sake and glory. Here, He again stressed that He alone has the power and capacity to finish all that He had set out to do. Why should God deliver Judah? What made Him want to deliver them? Verses 12-13 answer these questions. First, it was because He was the One who had called them to Himself and they were His covenant people. Secondly, He emphatically pointed to Himself as their Eternal One. He was there at the beginning and would be there at the end. Besides, He is the Creator, the One who stretched out the heaven and gave earth her foundation. And He had designed everything to accomplish His purpose.

So calling Judah to assemble and listen to Him, God in verse 14 further challenged them by declaring that no idol had ever attempted to foretell the future. But He, their God, who alone could reveal the future had accurately revealed to them their captivity and assured them of their deliverance from their captors. Thus, He alone deserved the right to be listened to. Alluding to Cyrus whom He would raise to rescue Judah, God was assuring them of their deliverance from Babylon. The fact that He was behind all that Cyrus would do guaranteed the demise of the Chaldeans and the success of Cyrus.  

 

The last line of verse 16 is tough to interpret. Its ambiguous structure has led some to conclude that this is a prediction of the Messiah. But it seems more likely that Isaiah under the inspiration of God was pointing to God, the Eternal One, who had made known everything, for He had them all wrapped up in His hand from the beginning. Isaiah under the inspiration of God’s Spirit has made known accurately what God was doing.   

 

These verses pointedly tell us that nothing can thwart the purpose of God. It reaffirms what Romans 28:8 tells us. In all things, God is truly working out His purpose in our lives. He is working all things for His glory and for our blessing. In our walk with Him we need to learn to discern His handiwork in every experience we undergo. Do not miss out on the opportunity to advance with Him in every experience. Stay truly blessed!  

Isaiah 48:1-11 - Don’t take God for granted

Beginning in chapter 44, Isaiah prophesized about the rise of King Cyrus, the Persian monarch who would deliver Judah from their exile in Babylon. We have said that what was foretold about his coming took place a hundred and fifty years before he arrived at the scene. God even called him His shepherd, meaning he would care for God’s people enough to grant them their liberty. Chapter 48  closes the segment in the book of Isaiah concerning the coming of Cyrus. Isaiah 44-48 had been termed the book of Cyrus.

Here again, we are reminded of God and His word. The emphasis is on what God had said concerning Himself to prove that He alone is God and no one else. Here Yahweh again called Judah to listen to His word. As we explored in the book of Cyrus, we cannot help but sense the reluctance of God’s people to readily receive His instruction. That accounts for why God seemed to be repeating Himself again and again. 

 

In the opening verse of Isaiah 48, God called the people of Judah to attention and to listen to Him again. Though He recognized that they had called upon Him and invoked His covenant name, He saw in their approach lacking sincerity. God reproached them for their hypocrisy and insincerity. God saw their stubbornness and said of them, “your neck is an iron tendon and your forehead bronze.” God took pain to declare to them the former things. Why? He wanted to make known to them in advance what would happen to them so that they would not attribute His works to that of the work of the idols. God knew they were a treacherous people and had the tendency to profane His name. Hence what He had done would be to preserve His own name and dignity.  He would not share His glory with another.

 

These verses show how magnanimous God truly is. He would inform His people why they would be sent into captivity. Yet at the same time, He would assure them that He Himself would deliver them from the heavy dealing of the Chaldeans whom He would use to chasten them. He did it all for His own sake and for His own name. If God did not intervene, they would be obliterated. Their afflictions, He assured them, was to purify and perfect them.  

 

We must never take God for granted. His goal is to perfect us as we walk with Him. When we choose to respond to Him with obedience, we find ourselves being transformed quickly. When we choose not to respond to Him willingly, we find ourselves confronted with hard times. Even then they are meant to make us better. God will use the hard times we encounter to perfect us. Let us learn to be sensitive to His dealings with us.   

Isaiah 47:12-15 – Don’t dabble in the occult

We see how amazingly accurate Isaiah’s prophecy was in this chapter. He foretold everything 150 years prior to their occurrence. Bear in mind that  when he foretold all these events, the city of Jerusalem was still fortified, and her temple was still standing. Judah was not weak, and Babylon was just beginning to rise in prominence.  We can safely conclude that Isaiah was speaking all these under the influence of God. His words were divinely inspired. For he could not have known all these with such amazing accuracy by analyzing the situation then. Much has been covered in our discussion of verses 1-11.

In these last four verses of Isaiah 47, God persisted in mocking Babylon sarcastically, picturing her as a sorceress devoid of power. Babylon was known for its occultic arts. So in verse 12, God mockingly goaded them to use these black arts, arguing that perhaps they might work to benefit them.  Of course, God knew that there was no power in their occultic practices and all their attempts would come to naught.  

In verse 13, He cynically told them to seek the counsel of their soothsayers and astrologers. Why? They had become weary of the many counsels of the sorceress that did not work. Caustically God told them that even the counsel of the soothsayers and astrologers would also have no effect. In verse 14 God then argued why they would be of no help. He said that all the help they sought would amount to nothing since the sorceress, soothsayers and astrologers would be at a loss themselves. They themselves would suffer the same end and be judged and burnt. They had also strayed into the path of evil, so how could they be of any help? In fact, God assured the people that none of them would be able to save themselves.

Among the many things that God detests is the practice of the occult. When people do not fully trust God, they will have to find some replacement. They would turn to something that they believe would have supernatural power to help them. No wonder fortune-tellers, soothsayers, horoscopes, séance, and the likes, are still flourishing. But these are the arts that God greatly detests. For us believers, we must be deeply rooted in God’s Word and firmly grounded in trusting Him. He alone has the knowledge and power to free one from a bondage to superstition. We must trust Him alone!  

Isaiah 47:8-11 – Don’t be self-deluded

The whole of Isaiah chapter 47 focuses on the prediction of the demise of Babylon. Using the feminine gender God sarcastically talked about how as a nation they would be humiliated. In verses 8-11, God continued to foretell their demise. Here He saw them as a city full of widows devoid of children. Calling them luxuriant ones, implying that they were once full of life proudly boasting that they could not be compared. Securely they would declare that they would have no lack of children to care for them. How audacious!  

Unknowingly, two things would happen to them suddenly all in one day. They would not only lose their husbands but would also lose their children. Calamities that would come upon them would be devastating. Nothing could help them, not even their witchcrafts they had depended upon could prevent it. They had boasted that no one could see what they were doing but how wrong they were. There was a guarantee that the impending calamities and devastation would come. And they would come in a way they least expect to happen and a measure that they could not prevent.

 

The lesson we can take away from here is not to be self-deluded. That was what the Babylonians were. They saw in themselves a capability more than they had. They were so falsely mistaken in their self-security that they were not able to see how flawed they were. In a day everything they had was reduced to nothing. For us who trust the Lord let us not be self-deceived. Allow a passage of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 to guide us as we walk with God. He said, “…let the one who thinks he stands to watch out that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Trust only our faithful God!

Isaiah 47:1-7 – We are only instrument in God’s hand

God had given the assurance that His people would be delivered from the Babylonian captivity and be restored to their own land. Cyrus would be the person God was going to use for His rescue operation. Now as we come to Isaiah 47, we find a shift in focus. Cyrus would not be the main topic but Babylon, the nation that would bring the people of God into captivity.  God began addressing the once proud people in their humiliation. Using the female gender, God was here found mocking them. Reading these verses. one cannot get away from the fact that how God has an intense dislike for pride. He detests it. A lesson here for us to take away.

 

In verses 1-4, we see Babylon portrayed as a proud virgin that had been humiliated and brought low. Devoid of her former glory, Babylon and her people were pictured as sitting in the dust and forced to engage in menial tasks. Babylon was no longer like that tender and delicate lady sitting dignifiedly waiting to be served. But instead, she was now forced to the millstone to grind flour, which was a task assigned to a lowly slave. Isaiah here also guaranteed that the Chaldeans themselves would be led into captivity. They were described as docile ladies made to spread the legs, thread across the river, and be led into captivity. The nation’s violated dignity was described as a lady stripped of her garment and her nakedness shamefully exposed. God would spare none of the Chaldeans. Asserting His covenant name Yahweh, God called Himself Israel’s Redeemer and their Holy One. Babylon was facing the dealing of the Lord of Hosts.

God guaranteed that they would be brought into obscurity and no longer be that once glorious kingdom. The reason why He dealt so severely with them was that they were not measured in their dealing with Judah, His people. They were only supposed to be God’s instrument to align Judah’s unfaithfulness, but they had abused and violated their role. They failed to see that they were finally accountable to God. Hence, they cruelly and mercilessly treated God’s people. They had overstepped their bounds and behaved as if they would be reigning forever.

In these verses are some predisposing factors that will invite the Lord’s displeasure on one’s life. Pride, boasting, presumption, and arrogance often make one oblivious of how obnoxious one can be. God will give grace to the humble but to the proud, God would resist. Bear in mind that all things that we have, and all roles we play are God-given. We must grasp them gently, realizing that we are accountable to God. If we are God’s instruments of discipline to deal with the wayward, remember to act mercifully like God would. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Isaiah 48:8-13 – Nothing can happen to us without God’s permission

The fall of Babylon and the rise of Cyrus to rescue His people were all be part of God's design to vindicate Himself. He knew all these events long before they happened. What He did was also intended to assure His vacillating people that though they had not been faithful to Him, He remained faithful to them. He would be the One who engineered their Babylonian captivity. And He would also be the one to raise up a Cyrus to deliver them from their captors. His intention was clearly to rescue them from the destruction of their own making. In everything that He would do for them, His goal was for them to recognize His superiority and would give themselves willingly to serve and honor Him alone.  

 This passage reveals the all-knowing God to us. All events from beginning to the end had been outlined by Him to fulfill and establish His purpose. Everything, past, present, or future, would happen to accomplish His own good pleasure. In calling on His people to remember the former thing, God was pointing them to the prediction He had made pertaining to their deliverance from Babylon. In saying that He would call “a bird of prey from the east,” He was pointing to Cyrus whom He would raise to deliver His people from their exile in Babylon. 

Here we are called to remember that our God is the Sovereign all-knowing God. He alone knows an event long before it happens. Nothing can frustrate the event He had planned and would set in motion. We see here that He knew about Cyrus long before He was even born. The prediction of his appearance was made long before he arrived on the scene. No one, other than God, could have predicted all these with such amazing accuracy. In effect, God would also be the One who would bring all these predictions to pass. The outcome of God working through Cyrus would bring about three things: righteousness, salvation, and glory. We can see that the deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity and God’s name were all interwoven. God was putting His reputation on the line in declaring Israel's deliverance long before it happened. And when all these come to pass, God's righteous work would be established, His people would experience salvation and His name would be glorified.

One lesson is clear. What happened to God’s people of old, tells us also that nothing happens to us without the knowledge of God. Everything that we experience in life, positive or negative, happens with His knowledge and permission. They are all part of His perfect plan to complete His righteous work in us. Remember that salvation is a journey. It started at our conversion. We are now in the process of being sanctified where God is constantly transforming us through the circumstances we experience in life. God’s ultimate plan is for us to perfectly reflect the glory of Christ. What a glorious thought!

Isaiah 46:1-7 – Honor God and worship Him alone

In Isaiah 46, we see God began by mocking the two chief idols of Babylon, namely Bel and Nabo. Isn’t it interesting that these names should sound like Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar, two of Babylon’s monarchs? The intention here was to show that Babylon’s defeat was not just a political one but also a theological one. The defeat had shown that the idols were no deities at all. They had been captured and carried by the captor as their trophies of war. Instead of being a help to the people who venerated them they became a burden to them and needed to be ferried around by weary animals. How could these impotent idols save the people who worshipped them when they could not even save themselves. This was an indirect warning to God’s people not to trust those dumb idols and be lured into worshipping them.  

On the other hand, Yahweh, Israel’s God was different. He did not need His people to carry Him. In fact, He was the One who had shouldered them since their inception in Egypt. And had since cradled them throughout their existence as a nation and would continue to do so. Without a doubt, Yahweh had no equal. He detested being put on par with those idols that were the products of man’s futile thought and imagination. How foolish it would be to trust in such an immobile and mute idol of gold made with human hands. They would certainly be of no help in time of their crisis and distress.

Paul tells us that people who worship idols were utterly foolish. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools….” Why? They had traded the image of the true God for something that is not god, some creatures God had created. As we consider this passage, we must turn the searchlight of God’s word on ourselves. For us believers today, our idols need not necessarily be a crafted object of wood or gold. Anything from career to family, from recreation to hobbies and a whole list of endless things can be idols we venerate. Anything that we place higher than God in our heart will become our idol. Let us worship and serve only the true Creator God who has drawn us to Himself through Christ Jesus. He has made us His own. We must worship Him only,  none but Him alone!.  

Isaiah 45:22-25 – Let us evangelize!

In Isaiah 45, we have seen largely how God had taken the effort to prove Himself to be the only true God. In many ways, He had shown Himself to be the faithful God to His people. Despite their unbelief, yet He commiserated and patiently reasoned with them. In these last four verses of Isaiah 45, God showed all along that He had the outreach of the world in HIs plan. He had evangelism in mind.  

So we see here His yearning for the salvation of all mankind. His assurance was to save everyone, all who would turn to Him. So in verse 22, He issues an invitation to all people on earth to turn to Him, emphasizing that He Himself is the only God who can save. In verse 23 He swore that His promises would achieve His righteous deed, and not return to Him unaccomplished. This tells us how broad God’s heart is. In Christ, He activated the plan to save every person. He wants everyone to be saved. This was affirmed by the Apostle Peter who in his second letter to the early Christians wrote: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance ” (2 Peter 3:9). God in His patience and love has been waiting for all to turn to Him to be saved. His trustworthy word promising to save has already been sent out. And He will not allow the word He sent forth to return to Him empty without accomplishing His intended purpose.  

In the later part of verse 23, we are told that God even anticipated a time when all mankind would submit to His authority. This is what the Apostle Paul also said of Christ Jesus in Philippians 2:9-10. He said that He would be highly exalted, for God had been given Him a name that is higher than any other name. And that at His name, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. There is going to come a time when every knee shall bow to God. There will be a realization that only in the Lord is righteousness and strength. And many will turn to Him, even those who had bitterly opposed Him. Even Israel’s future generation will be justified and boast in Yahweh.

Since God’s plan is so wide in scope and includes the salvation of every man, we must collaborate with Him. He tells us that the harvest is already ripe for harvesting but laborers are few. As His redemptive agents, can we hear His call saying, “Go into all the world and make disciples of every nation”?  If you have, let us go forth and do it! We must not disappoint Him!

Isaiah 45:18-21 – Being rooted in the true God

In Isaiah 45, especially from verse 9 onwards, God had been presenting one evidence after another to show proof to vindicate Himself to be the only true God. He began by reproofing those among His people who had the audacity to question His intention to deploy Cyrus as the instrument to rescue Israel His people. They failed to recognize that He, the Sovereign Lord, had always been the Maker and Architect of the universe and man’s affair. He had every right to choose who He wanted as His instrument. And He chose to raise Cyrus to fulfill His righteous purpose. He would be used to save His people, liberating them from the exile to rebuild Jerusalem. His plan included restoring Zion, making it a glorious place where people from other nations would be attracted to this restored city. He had been working constantly and mysteriously to bring about His plan and purpose.

In Isaiah 45:18-21, God continued to authenticate Himself and prove His divinity. Here He appealed to the fact that the heaven and earth which He created had been purposefully and logically designed. Where could He have put man and the life forms if He did not first create heaven and the earth as their habitat? So He wisely created the habitat for the life forms and not just a stretch of wasteland. So in creation, we see God’s orderliness which shows us that He has a purpose in how He designed heaven and earth. In verse 19, God proved His divinity by appealing to being the only One who could provide revelation and reveal secrets that would otherwise not be known. He alone could speak righteously and declare the right thing.  

In verse 20, God then summoned all people to come and listen to His reasoning. Here He showed how foolish it was for man to trust in man-made idols, believing that they were gods. It’s foolishness because those idols could not even walk by themselves but need to be transported around by their worshippers. Furthermore, they could not see what was happening currently, much less being able to foretell the future. What the idols could not do, God did. He knows the past and is acquainted with the present and can tell what would happen in the future. He had predicted the coming of Cyrus long before he appeared on the scene. Who could have done so except Him, the only true God? He had proven Himself to be the Righteous God and Savior, and the only One true God.  

The generosity of God is seen clearly in these verses. He invites all people to consider His grace. There is no other God except Him who can save. He is our Righteous God, the Savior. And we are glad that in Jesus He has drawn us to Himself. Now let us give our all to know Him and be deeply rooted in Him. Colossian 2:6-7 exhort us, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Praise be to God!

Isaiah 45:11-17 – God’s unseen hand is at work in us

Using His covenant name Yahweh, God declared Himself as the Maker of  Israel and their Holy One. He then explained why He had all the rights to do as He would. He asked the people who dare to challenge and slander Him to inquire and reason with Him concerning the future of their children whom He owned as His sons. He was sure that when they understood His purpose, they would commit the works that He alone could accomplish to Him.

God again stressed that He, the Creator God, had made everything. He made heaven and earth and ordained the light. And He stressed that He was the One who would raise up Cyrus in righteousness. This suggests that Cyrus’ role would essentially fulfill His righteous purpose of delivering His people from oppression. God would use this Persian monarch to rebuild Jerusalem, God’s own city. He would also be the instrument God would use to liberate His people from their exile. And he would do God’s bidding without requiring any compensation or expecting any reward.

In verse 14, God promised that after His deliverance, His people would enjoy a glorious future.  Zion would be a place that many would be attracted to. Egypt was said to bring their gifts and Cush, their merchandise. And even the Sabeans, men of stature from Sheba would be drawn to Zion, the glorious city. They would gladly associate and would even bind themselves in commitment to the people of God in Zion. The mention of Egypt, Cush, and the Sabeans was probably to indicate summarily that many nations would be drawn to Zion. The reason was that they would realize that Israel’s God was indeed the only true God.  They would recognize and realize that there never was one like Him and would never be another like Him. They would gladly acknowledge Him, Yahweh, as the only God who saves.  

In verse 15, Isaiah then bursts out in adoration referring to the God of Israel as one who hides Himself. What did he mean? Here he was inferring that God was quietly working behind all the oppression Israel had to experience to mysteriously bring about their salvation. He was indeed Israel’s Saviour. He went on to declare the ultimate result that all those who made and venerate idols would be humiliated and put to shame. But God’s restored people, he assured, would experience everlasting salvation. For all eternity, they would not be put to shame or humiliated.  

Reflecting on these verses, we cannot help but feel that we Christians are privileged people just like God’s restored people. His unseen hand which worked mysteriously to save the people of Israel is now working to save those whom Christ in His completed work at Calvary has claimed for Him. God is still mysteriously saving, changing, and transforming us. He is restoring us into His image, the likeness of Christ. What a joy it is to know the Lord and be known by Him. We will never be shamed or humiliated for all eternity!

 

 

Isaiah 45:9-10 – Never test the Lord’s intention

God had already made clear His plan to liberate His people from their Babylonian oppression. He had declared in no uncertain term that He would raise up Cyrus, a Persian king, to execute His plan. When Isaiah prophesied about God’s plan, Cyrus was not even on the scene, and Persia as a world kingdom was nowhere in sight. Only God could give such information with such amazing accuracy. There was and never would be anyone like Him. Who would have the power and authority that could equal His? He had proved His deity beyond doubt. Any question about His ability should have been erased. His people we surmised would willingly submit to His Lordship. Yet there were still those among His people that would question His plan.

Hence in Isaiah 45:9-10, God rebuked such people for their audacity to question His decision of using Cyrus. How dare they question God? How could a piece of what He had made question His rights to do as He pleased? After all who could challenge the wisdom of God, the Maker and Master Architect of their future? God sternly told them that they were overstepping their bounds and their absurdity. How dare they question His plan when they were only like clay in the hand of the potter. How could they question His wisdom and skill? In saying that “He has no hands” suggests that these people were insinuating that God had no wisdom or skill. They were like foolish children questioning the ability of their fathers. Or like mindless children who question their mother concerning the purpose of giving birth to them. What audacity! What rudeness!  

We should never strife or remonstrate with God concerning His plan for us and our lives. The call of these two verses is for us to willingly admit and submit to the wisdom of God and His Lordship. Do not test the capability of the Lord. Do not test His endurance and wear out His patience. He is our Lord and has the prerogative to do as He wills. We should never question His intention regardless of our circumstances, be they congenial or not so congenial. When we are blessed, praise Him. When we are struggling, trust Him. He is more than able to see us through. He will, and we can depend on Him!

 

Isaiah 45:1-8 – All events happen to work out His sovereign purpose

The reason Cyrus was successful in his dominion of the nations was by and large because of Yahweh. He was the One who had it all worked out to use this Persian monarch to execute His plan to deliver His chosen people, or as Isaiah puts it, “Jacob My servant.” Did Cyrus know that he was God’s instrument? Here in verse 1, we are told that the LORD Himself made it known to him. He was referred to as the LORD’s anointed. Perhaps he did not know initially but at some point, he must have sensed the hand of God working through him. Why do we say so? Ezra 1:2 tells us that Cyrus himself acknowledged it. The verse reads, “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.”

Cyrus himself acknowledged that his far-reaching success was accomplished with the help of Yahweh. Through him, God overcame nations, opened strong doors, broke down resistance, and granted him great treasures. God did all these for two objectives. Firstly, to use Cyrus, a pagan king, to deliver His people. Secondly, through his success, everyone in the world would know that Yahweh alone is God and there’s no other who can claim to be God. He alone sovereignly controls the universe and releases righteousness as rain from heaven, to effect salvation so that His righteousness may reign on earth.   

Verse 7 says that God is the one causing well-being and creating disasters. This in no way suggests that He is the source of evil. What God through Isaiah wants us to know is that experiences in life, both positive and negative, will not happen without His permission. And both good or bad that had happened or will ever happen to His people serve to work out His purpose in their lives. His ultimate plan is still for righteousness to reign and the earth be divinely blessed.   

Knowing that everything happens to accomplish God’s sovereign purpose gives us a fresh perspective on all circumstances we ourselves experience. A passage like this helps us to see that everything that happens to us, good or bad, is working out God’s plan in our lives. Whatever happens to us will ultimately affirm His greatness, reveal His glory, and release His blessing in and through us. The reason we are still facing hard times is that God is not through with us yet. Ultimately, you will marvel when you see His finished work in you!   So be patient with God, with others, and with yourself.

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 44:24-28 – Our God holds the future

In these verses, Isaiah appealed to the things that God had done to show why He alone would be able to deliver His people from their oppression and captivity. Using His covenant name Yahweh, He declared that He was not only their Redeemer but also the One who had formed them as a nation. 

He had earlier contended that there was and never would be anyone like Him. What He said about Himself, and what He declared that He would do in the future, would all substantiate His claim of being the only true God. He made it known that He was not only the one who had formed Israel as a nation but also was the Creator of heaven and earth. It was He who had made all things. As Creator, He alone stretched the wide expanse of heaven and spread the broad space of the earth. In verse 25, Isaiah said that God was the One who had caused the divination of the diviners to fail. He alone could frustrate the works of the diviners by annulling their prognostication and prediction, making a fool of them. He made their perceived knowledge to look foolish. Meanwhile, in verse 26, He affirmed and stood behind the words of His prophets ensuring that what they had declared would be confirmed and authenticated.

Pointing to the future, He assured the Jews of His intention to restore Jerusalem, their beloved city, as well as the other cities of Judah. He would reinstate orderliness to the ruins and chaos that had resulted from the Babylonian's oppression. Amazingly, Isaiah even identified ahead of time who God would use to initiate the restoration of Jerusalem. Interestingly, here in verse 28, this Persian monarch was specifically identified by name. This was about 150 years or so before he arrived at the scene. And despite being a Persian monarch He would be God’s instrument to initiate the restoration of His people in exile. God called Cyrus His shepherd, to carry out His plan and be used to initiate the restoration of Jerusalem and rebuilt the foundation of the temple in that beloved city.  

Let us put on our thinking cap and think for a while. How could Isaiah name Cyrus so specifically? How did he know with such accuracy the details of a man who did not exist 100 over years before his prophetic words? When Isaiah prophesied all these, the kingdom of Persia did not even exist. Whatever may be our conclusion, one thing is clear. Only God alone could provide the information to Isaiah with such accuracy. This accuracy solidifies the truth that the Bible is God’s Word and that God alone is the true God. He alone knows and holds the future, yours and mine as well. So trustworthy is He that we can safely and confidently abandon ourselves and submit to His Lordship over our lives. He is worthy of it all!

  

Isaiah 44:21-23 – God always remembers us

Having shown the folly of idolatry, God turned to console His people in Isaiah 44:21-23. He reminded Israel, His people, of who they were to Him and told them what He would do for them. God’s purpose was to cause them to turn and trust Him instead of pandering to their fear.

He began by reminding Israel that they as a nation was His servant, and He would not forget them. And neither should they forget who their God was. God would not forget Israel, and neither will He forget us, whom He has adopted as His sons and daughters in Christ. What a comforting thought! This was how David felt when He thought of the numerous times He was on God’s mind. So in Psalm 139 verse 17 and the first part of verse 18, he said, “How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand….” What a blessing it is to know that God thinks about His people all the time. He never forgets us. We are ever before His watching eyes.

In Isaiah 44:22, God then went on to promise that He would wipe out their sins and wrongdoings and remove them like a thick cloud. The usage of the cloud illustration serves to demonstrate how magnanimous and forgiving God would be to them. Their sins might be as thick and dark as the cloud in the sky on a stormy day, yet instantly when the wind begins to blow, they will dissipate and vanish. Like what the wind would do to the thick, dark clouds, God promised to do the same for them. No matter how much they had wronged and sinned against Him, He would wipe them out and restore them. How magnanimous and forgiving is the LORD! In the last part of verse 22, God then urged His unfaithful people to return to Him. He was so ready to blot out their transgressions and to forgive them. They should seize the opportunity and return to serve Him.    

With so great a redemption, it calls for a celebration. Heaven, earth, and all created things were summoned and enjoined to rejoice and celebrate. With such gracious and glorious acts of God, how could one sit still and not celebrate? Such a gracious act of God to an undeserving people certainly should elicit a glorious commemoration. What a wonderful thought to know that God will not forget us! He will not forget who we are to Him in Christ and neither will He forget our prayers nor our works. Wouldn’t that be enough reason for us to want to trust and pray more fervently, and then serve Him more diligently? We surely must!

 

 

Isaiah 44:9-20 – The folly of idolatry

God had emphatically asserted His divinity in Isaiah 44:6-8 and proved Himself as the only true God. Contrasting Himself from those idols, God alone could tell and forecast the future. Hence, it would be He alone who could rescue and deliver His people from the hand of their oppressors. Immediately, in Isaiah 44:9-20, He then proceeded to talk about the folly of idolatry and why it was foolishness to engage in venerating idols  The passage was probably addressing the problem of idolatry that was prevalent, close to Jews being led into captivity. God also intended to make known to the Jews that the idols of the captors could not prevent Him, the only true and powerful God, from rescuing them from Babylon. 

In these verses, God sarcastically described how idols were being made and how utterly foolish it would be for one to engage in worshipping these works of man’s hand. He began in Isaiah 44:9-11 by pointing to the futility of man-made idols. They did not possess any inherent power and would have nothing to benefit their worshippers. In fact, those who associated themselves with idols, whether in worshipping them or making them, would all be put to shame all at once.   

Mockingly, verses 12-20 describe the idols as being made by workmen who themselves were weak and weary and needing help themselves. The implication is that how could ordinary and frail humans make something greater than themselves? How could the works of their hands have the capacity to protect them? Furthermore, the tools they used to shape and fashion their idols, to make them stand on their feet, were ordinary tools used in carpentry. And the wood they used to fashion those idols was the same material used to create fire, to warm them when they were cold, and used as fuel for fire to do their cooking and baking. What is laughable was that they would use a part of the wood as fuel and the other part as material for their idol. So dumb and blinded were the idol-makers and worshippers that they were unwittingly being deceived and entangled in a grand scheme of self-deception. Their hearts were so misled that they could no longer discern a lie.

In these verses, we sense the call to wise up to the deceit of idolatry. People who become thickly involved in idolatry are spiritually blinded. Deceptions always begin in the heart. Hence the heart that is deceived cannot detect the delusion. It will take the power of God to help break the lies that lay within a deceived heart. Remember that the heart of education is the education of the heart. It is wise therefore to take heed of the exhortation of Proverbs 4:23. We must watch over our heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” So for God’s sake let’s take care of our hearts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 44:6-8 – Our God is the eternal and unchanging One

In three verses, from verses 6-8, God made two claims to show that He was who He said He was. Firstly, in verse 6, He emphatically maintained that He Himself was the only true God. Secondly, in verses 7-8, He appealed to the challenge that He had put forth in earlier verses confronting the so-called gods to prove their power by foretelling future events. None of them could do so whereas He could. So He offered that as the proof and asserted Himself undeniably as the true God. His purpose was to make sure that the Jews understood who He really was and why His promise of their protection and deliverance were certainties.  

In these three verses, God revealed several truths concerning Himself. He was, firstly,  Israel’s King and Redeemer and the Lord of armies i.e. under His command were the whole angelic hosts ready to do His bidding. Never would there be an army big or strong enough to overcome the whole host of angels under God’s command. Secondly, God is the first and the last. This is what Jesus also said about Himself in the book of Revelations. He claims to be the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. This phrase essentially emphasizes that God has existed from the very beginning and will never stop existing. He is the eternal immutable God. Thirdly, God made known that there had never been a god just like Him, none from the beginning and none in the future. He challenges any so-called gods to speak up and tell it to His face if they truly were a deity.     

All that God had done was to allay the anxiety of His people so that they could be fully assured of  His capability to rescue and restore them. So in verse 8, God called on them again not to tremble or be fearful. He had already declared to them what would come to pass and that they would be rescued and restored. Besides, God had appointed them as witnesses to His mighty power to confirm that there had never been one like Him.

The God we worship and serve is the eternal and unchanging God. And there is no variableness with Him. There had been none like Him and there will not be another like Him. He does not say one thing and does another. He means what He says and says what He means. We do not have to second guess His intention. He will never leave us in a lurch. Hence no matter how trying life may be, we can take comfort in Him. So let us be firm, immovable, always trusting our unchanging God, and always excelling in the work He has assigned us. This is the best way to honor Him!

 

 

Isaiah 44:1-5 – Drawing from God’s vast resource within us

To understand the drift of the argument in Isaiah 44:1-5, we need to see it as a continuation from the previous chapter. In Isaiah 43, God gave reasons for Israel’s punishment. Nationally, Israel had demonstrated their lack of passion for God and had sinned against Him. Primarily the priests, “the official of the sanctuary”, had failed. God would allow them to be profaned and be brought to shame. God had to chastise Israel and told them to anticipate destruction. But it would not do justice to God’s faithfulness had the passage stopped at Isaiah 43:28. God’s covenant faithfulness would not leave His people in a lurch and be left for destruction, despite their unfaithfulness. Though He would punish them for their sin and irreligion, yet in His love for them and His faithfulness to what He had promised, God would not allow Israel to be terminated completely. So we see in Isaiah 44:1-5, His fresh assurance of rescue and restoration. He would come to their aid.   

Isaiah 44:1 opens with God calling Israel to pay attention to what He would say to them. The conjunction ‘but” connects the thought of the first five verses of the chapter to what God had said in Isaiah 43:28. Israel was told, “So I will profane the officials of the sanctuary, and I will turn Jacob over to destruction and Israel to abuse.” This connective suggests that though Israel should be punished and destroyed, yet they had nothing to fear. Why? For as a nation, Israel was God’s Servant and His chosen. He had made them and formed them from their inception. The question we need to ask here is, who is this Jeshurun that verse 2 is referring to?  This name Jeshurun means  “beloved and upright people.” It is a name that has symbolically been used to refer to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy. Though they had not reciprocated to God’s love toward them or lived up to the privilege of that name, they nonetheless were God’s dear and beloved people.  

As God’s dearly beloved people, Isaiah 44:3-5 then went on to promise blessings upon their offspring and descendants. The two terms water and streams are used to describe the promise of God’s abundant blessings upon them. It is noteworthy that in the Bible, these terms also suggest the refreshing work of the Holy Spirit. Here we see the promise of spiritual revitalization. Just as the parched land would be revitalized by water and streams, the Holy Spirit of God would be poured out on them and bring them spiritual vitality. And just as field and plant would vibrantly flourish by the water, God’s Spirit would bring about holy virtues among them. There would be a stream of people who would affiliate themselves to Israel’s God. They would gladly be known as belonging to the LORD. Like them, we who now belong to God would gladly turn our lives over to Him to worship and serve Him.  

As believers whom God has drawn to Himself in Christ, are we reflecting the image of our LORD? Do the ways we conduct our lives reflect our calling as His people? The glorious truth is that Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to walk alongside us. We have no excuse if we are living a barren life, spiritually speaking. Christ Jesus has promised us that if we believe in Him, out of our inner being shall flow abundance of living water. Learn to tap into the vast inner resources that He has placed within us and live a victorious life. You will enjoy it!

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 43:22-28 – The call to total surrender

These verses demonstrate the magnanimity of God. The people of Israel had never been worthy of what He had done for them. God had not only been faithful but also merciful toward them and had delivered them though they did not deserve it. The graciousness of  God toward them was not in response to their prayer, for He could tell that they had long been tired of Him.

How did God conclude that way? Verses 23-24 described the way the people of Israel had treated Him. From their conduct, God concluded that they were weary of Him. They did not bring the sacrifices the way that He had required of them. Neither did they show any honor due to Him. Though God could have, yet He did not slavishly burden or impose on them in the sacrifices and offering of incense they presented to Him. They did not bring God any sweet offering on their own accord nor a satisfying sacrifice, but instead brought to Him their sin and wrongdoings to burden and weary Him.  

 

Even though they had not been deserving, yet God assured them that He would blot out their transgression. The graciousness of God is shown in how emphatic He made His assurance in verse 25. God did it not because they deserved it but for His own sake. He demonstrated His magnanimity in allowing His mercy and forgiveness to flow so generously. He assured His people that He would remember their sin no more. God did all these to truly reveal Himself.

 

How God dealt with them was needful. He did not unjustly allow them to undergo their destruction and shame. In verse 26, He offered them the opportunity to vindicate themselves. On His side, God pointed to the sin of their forefathers. Their history had shown how their spokesmen, either priests, prophets, or kings, had all rebelled against Him. Hence, what they had gone through and would go through, whether destruction or shame in captivity, had a justifiable cause.   

From a passage like this, the magnanimity of God cannot be missed. Though the people He so sacrificially loved had spurned His love, yet He relentlessly pursues them with His love. He continuously stretches out His arm of forgiveness to make them return to Him. Only the magnanimous God has the capability to be so generous. Aren’t we glad that He has made us His people? Now on our part, we must not take His goodness for granted. We must love Him with all our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength. So with all that we are, we offer ourselves to God 100 percent. Anything short of a 100 percent surrender would be an inappropriate response. Let us not grow weary of God but instead give our all to Him.