Pastor
All the Scripture was written for our benefit. Everything that has happened is for our instruction so we can understand not only our own lives but also the heart of God. In these passages we have Isaiah prophesying to a wounded and hurting people. They have sinned and paid dearly.
In chapter 42 there is the promise
of help. As we read it now, we
understand that Isaiah was way beyond himself and his understanding. He was looking far into the future to the
first coming of Jesus. It is a Prophetic
Promise of the coming of Jesus Isaiah
42:1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I
delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. When the Spirit came upon Jesus on the banks
of the
Isaiah 42:6-7 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
The promise
is of a God who would physically do these things for
Isaiah 42:18-25 "Hear, you
deaf; look, you blind, and see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one
committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? 20 You have seen many
things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear
nothing." 21 It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make
his law great and glorious. 22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made
loot, with no one to say, "Send them back." 23 Which of you will
listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? 24 Who handed Jacob over
to become loot, and
This is a personal doom and
gloom scenario.
In the same way for us, Jesus has come but we were somewhere else. God came with healing but we met him with hardness of heart. Jesus came to open our ears but we would not hear of it. He came to us as a servant, but we have acted like kings. If God is not too happy with us can anyone really question why? Is there any doubt as to how self-centered we are? Isnt it true that almost all our life is about us?
Some may feel the pain of hardness of heart and deafness of ear. You know that God has spoken but you did not listen. When you think about your life it feels to you like you have been looted and plundered. Isaiah spoke of them as being held captive in literal pits and prisons. We know what it is to be held captive in a pit of our own digging. Is there anything worse than knowing that you have failed and you did it yourself? There is no one else to blame it on. It was you. It was what you said and what you did.
If we stopped there, how terrible
it would be.
Chapter 43 begins with another absolute turn. It is a turn, not in the heart of God, which never changes, but in human understanding. Isaiah takes us from accusation to assurance.
Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, this is what the LORD
says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
This part of chapter 43 is a powerful assurance that their sins will not be the final thing. This is assurance of redemption. He will save them yet from their powerful enemies. He will save them from themselves.
When you are defeated, how beautiful it is to know that he has redeemed you! He purchased them back out of their self-imposed pit.
Starting in
verse 22, there is yet another shift to accusation. (Isaiah 43:22)
"Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied
yourselves for me, O Israel. In verse 24 God notes But you have
burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. Then verse 25 arrives. It may well be one of the most important verses
in the Bible for you to hear and understand: "I, even I, am he who
blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no
more. 26 Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state
the case for your innocence. 27 Your first father sinned; your spokesmen
rebelled against me. 28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple, and
I will consign Jacob to destruction and
Once again we feel the pain of our failure. We see that Gods judgment against us is just. Our sins are so obvious there is no case to be made for our innocence. If we were to stop there we would be of all people the most despondent. After God, there is no recourse. But it does not end there.
Chapter 44 takes another of those
incredible turns: "But now listen, O Jacob, my servant,