Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 117th episode. In this episode I want to study Isaiah chapter 49. So far we’ve gone over prophecies predicting the redemption of Israel from their captivity in Babylon. The prophecies cast a grand vision of a great salvation for the Jews. One might think that the actual performance of the prophecy didn’t live up to the hype of Isaiah’s prediction. After all, it was just a bedraggled group of 40,000 repentant Israelites returning to Jerusalem. But this chapter shows us there was yet a deeper meaning to the salvation prophecies of the exiled Jews. Isaiah’s words rippled forth through time and pointed directly at Jesus Christ – the Architect of a salvation infinitely greater than that found at the hand of Cyrus.
This chapter indicates Christ’s designation as the holy Mediator between humanity and the Father. Isaiah speaks about the success Jesus will have in providing the gospel to the Gentile world. Here we see discussion of redemption and the providence of God. That is followed by encouragement and assurances given to the beleaguered church. Many would join the church from distant lands and the Gentiles would set up their own institutions in the name of Christ the Savior. All of this information concerning ourselves and the Church of Christ is given to us through the paradigm of Israel’s redemption from exile. Let’s open with verses 1-6:
Isa 49:1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.
Isa 49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.
Isa 49:3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
Isa 49:4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.”
Isa 49:5 And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—
Isa 49:6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Right away we notice that God is summoning the attention of the Gentile world. This expands the scope of Isaiah’s prophecy so that it applies to both Jews in Babylon and to non-Jews of the future. These were people in distant lands well outside commonwealth of Israel. Despite their distance Isaiah had a message that they needed to hear. It was a prophecy concerning the great Redeemer whose work would bring them salvation. When the Jews paid attention to Isaiah’s prophecy they heard the message of their deliverance from Babylon. But after Christ it was the Gentiles who understood the full scope of Isaiah’s words and heard the gospel of salvation.
Jesus, being the Author of redemption, carried out His work with divine authority. The Father appointed Christ and set Him apart to be the Savior of humanity. This appointment was settled eternally before creation ever existed. Similar language is used for some of the prophets who were called to serve God before they were even born. The same was said of Paul who was set apart for the apostleship from the womb. It’s important for us to keep in mind a working understanding of the Trinity here. If we can even understand it. Jesus Christ is God. He is the full and complete revelation of God to us. The Holy Spirit is God. He is the full representation of God who comes to us as the Helper, the Comforter, the Eternal Spirit, and the Lord – among other names. The Father is God. The Father is fully and completely revealed to us in Jesus the Son. So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit exist as one Entity by being in perfect loving communion with each other. It’s okay if that confuses you. I don’t think we have the dimensional capacity to understand it.
So when God was incarnated in the flesh of Jesus Christ He was perfectly outfitted for the task of redemption. Christ has everything necessary to be our light that combats the powers of darkness and defeats Satan. The spoken word of God is like a sharp, two-edged sword that cuts down His enemies and overcomes deception. God’s word has the power to defeat evil and to attract those who are seeking Him. The piercing conviction of God’s word on the hearts of sinners is illustrated as a polished arrow. Something we need to remember in our churches today is that Scripture is designed by infinite wisdom to convict and restore the soul. If we avoid teaching Scripture or if we modify it to suit our own nature, then we risk derailing the spiritual well-being of ourselves and others.
Jesus was hidden from the generations prior to the incarnation. The people in the Old Testament were given symbolic representations that were meant to keep them focused on the gospel to come. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was – among other things – a ceremonial precursor to the one sacrifice which was needed to cleanse humanity of their sins. Listen to Paul explain this in Hebrews 10:1-18:
Heb 10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
Heb 10:2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
Heb 10:3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
Heb 10:6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
Heb 10:8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),
Heb 10:9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
Heb 10:10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 10:11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Heb 10:12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
Heb 10:13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
Heb 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Heb 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
Heb 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
Heb 10:17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Heb 10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Scriptures pointed to Jesus, yes, but His full revelation remained hidden in the shadow of the hand of God. You might ask how people who lived before Christ’s incarnation were saved. The answer is the same way we are saved – by grace through faith in Christ alone. Christ is God, and when Paul spoke of Abraham he said that Abraham’s belief in God was counted to him as righteousness. Christ on the cross is actually the pivotal moment in the history of salvation. Today we look back on the sacrifice God made for us. Old testament believers looked forward to this very same sacrifice.
Jesus was also protected by the hand of God. We can observe this protection in the divine preservation of the house of David. We also see it when the infant Christ was sheltered from Herod’s murderous ambitions. It’s interesting how this passage called God’s servant Israel. This is an indication of Christ as the summation of God’s people. Israel was called a prince with God. Christ is called the Prince of Peace. The name Israel means to wrestle with God and with men and to prevail. Christ wrestled with the crucifixion, prevailed in the resurrection, and in Him God is glorified. The high priest in the Old Testament wore vestments that included the twelve tribes of Israel gathered together on the breastplate. Christ is our High Priest who mediates between humanity gathered together and God. His salvation of the spiritual Israel, or God’s people, brings glory to God and causes us to admire His gift of grace forever. So you can see just a sample of how Old Testament history is loaded with premonitions that point squarely at Jesus as the Messiah.
The Father gave assurance to Christ that despite all resistance He would be successful in His mission. Those who are called of God will ultimately prosper. This idea is really important for Christians and pastors who haven’t had much success lately. The trouble you’re experiencing is the same trouble prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah experienced. Isaiah lamented the fact that he called and reached out his hands to the people yet they still rejected him. They were ignorant, careless, and estranged to God and hearing the prophecies of Isaiah changed nothing for them. Even so, God had told Isaiah to expect that reaction. Things got so rough for Jeremiah that he considered quitting, but the word of God burned inside his bones and he grew weary when he tried to hold it in. All across the world preachers who are faithful to Scripture experience spending every ounce of themselves only to see so many people continue on in disbelief.
Even Jesus Christ Himself had this trouble with the Jewish elite. They heard the gospel preached in person by God Himself yet they rejected Him and His precepts. When you consider a majority group in history it’s usually best to conceptualize yourself as one of that group. So if you were a Jew in the audience listening to Jesus, and the vast majority of the Jews rejected His teachings, then it’s very likely you also would have rejected His teachings. Now bring that forward to today. Are you believing things about Christianity purely on the basis of popularity? Are you believing things simply because they’ve always been taught that way in Sunday School?
An idea being popular doesn’t make it false. But Christ’s unpopularity among the Jews is clear evidence that popularity is not a sufficient metric for determining truth. If you’re trying to teach what you believe is true – and you can back it up with a case made from Scripture – then don’t allow the rejection of the religious institutions to lead you astray. Religious institutions should not be leading preachers, preachers should be leading religious institutions. And if you’ve been rejected by the religious institutions then don’t feel so bad because the religious institutions rejected Jesus as well.
Another reason you shouldn’t get discouraged is that your work is not to serve the people anyway – it’s to serve God. God called you to be engaged in His purpose for you. You work for God. The judgment of the people means nothing to you against the judgment of God. If you are doing your best to teach the truth in the Scriptures then you are pleading a righteous case even if no one will listen. You must not allow the unbelief of humanity to cause you to doubt what is true. If you’re teaching the Scriptures then you are on God’s side and you’re working in concert with Him. What’s more is that God knows whether you are sincerely teaching the truth. He knows when you have the right of it and you’re being rejected for the wrong reasons. Regarding those who reject the faithfully taught truth the Bible says their blood is on their own heads.
If you’re a Christian whose doing your best to be faithful to God yet being spurned by humanity – rest assured that your labor is not in vain. The only vanity associated with your work is that which falls on those who rejected it. God is the true Judge of your work and if you’re faithful He will justify it and carry you forward even if humanity condemns you and puts you down. Furthermore, the reward for your labor is secure with God. You may expend your strength to no avail in this life but God knows what you’ve done and He will provide recompense. You are a drop in the bucket, a brick in the road that leads to the final completion of God’s work. Be a leader and don’t follow the crowd unless the crowd can show you that they have the right path.
If you’re struggling with a sense of meaninglessness in your life then it’s likely you aren’t fulfilling the purpose God designed you for. This applies to you even if you are active in ministry. If your life is not imbued with meaning and purpose then you’re probably doing work that was meant for someone else. It’s true that not every job is meaningful and you have to do what you have to do. But outside of work you should start looking for ways you can employ your talents for the kingdom of God. There is no amount of positive experience or material wealth that can overcome the black depths of meaninglessness. You need meaning like you need food and water. God has been preparing you for a specific task that you are meant to carry out. This is true of you no matter how old you are – there is no retirement from God’s purpose for you. If you’re still alive your mission is not over.
Christ was given the task of ministering to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But most of the Jews failed to convert and instead rejected him with disdain. Many did all they could to humiliate and dehumanize Him particularly by way of His execution. The Father gave Him the opposite treatment. He honored Jesus in His baptism, His transfiguration, the times He sent angels to minister to Him, and in His resurrection. Jesus is glorious in the eyes of the Father and humanity’s opinion means nothing by comparison. That’s the only correct filter by which to examine your own discouragement.
Ask yourself if your work and your aspirations of character are honorable in the sight of God. God’s discernment of you is equal to the actual reality of you. That means God sees you as you actually are and you actually are the way God sees you. Everything else is opinion and conjecture that is here today and vanishes with the wind tomorrow. You know this is true because you’ve witnessed the opposite. You know what it’s like when someone is bullied or abused and the treatment crushes their self-worth. Their devalued self-image doesn’t match the reality of who they are. It’s the same case with arrogance – the person suffers delusions of grandeur and views themselves much higher than they are in reality.
One of the keys to drawing strength from God is being able to accept the fact that God’s sight of you is the most accurate judgment of you. This understanding is why the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were able to preach God’s word even when the people were against them. If you take the work you’re supposed to be doing for God and instead do it for the people then you’ll just burn out. You’ll struggle with self-doubt because your confidence will erode every time you receive negative feedback from the people. Even the absence of positive feedback can cause this. Individuals whose motive for work is the approval of the people will starve in the wilderness seasons when that approval isn’t there. But those whose work is born of a vertical relationship with God will understand that He has counted them valuable and His favor honors them. This divine embrace is what anchors you in the truth and keeps you marching forward to the other side of the wilderness.
The gospel is a good example of Christ showing us how to make it through the wilderness. Throughout His ministry He preached and performed miracles for the people of Israel. Not only did they reject Him for it but they sought to execute Him. Perhaps the most iconic image of fallen humanity found in all the Scriptures is when the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus. Listen to this:
Mat 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
Mat 27:28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
Mat 27:29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
Mat 27:30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
Mat 27:31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
Scripture is full of passages that seem to fit an entire world of profundity into just a few sentences. Such is the case here. It’s a near perfect description of the hubris of humanity in five verses. The Roman soldiers had before them the King of kings, the God of the universe, the Author of life and the Creator of being itself – and what did they do? They mocked His authority, pretended to kneel before Him, struck Him and spat on Him. That’s how deceived we can become. We can become so tied up and backwards that not only do we lose faith in God – but we turn away from Him when He’s standing right in front of us. The crucifixion was the moment in Christ’s life that was the darkest part of His wilderness. Tortured and killed by the very people He lowered Himself to save.
But what followed this wilderness? The Resurrection and the release of the gospel to the entire world. God’s revelation that He didn’t come to earth only to save the Jews – but to save every single person who has faith in Him. The religious elite tried to snuff out the light of Christ but then it exploded into a global movement that shaped the course of history and brought many nations home to God. The enemies of God meant the crucifixion for evil – but all the while God meant it for good. Only God is able to take the darkest effort of humanity and redeem it into a bright light that guides the lost. What’s more is He calls this work His salvation. God takes full ownership of our salvation because He’s well-pleased with it, He glories in it, and His heart is set upon it. Without God we create the very darkness that kills us. But God’s salvation has given us Christ as a light to guide our steps. Jesus opens our eyes and sets us on the road to sanctification and happiness. Let’s read verses 7-12:
Isa 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Restoration of Israel
Isa 49:8 Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,
Isa 49:9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
Isa 49:10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.
Isa 49:11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up.
Isa 49:12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.”
God had remained with Israel and guided the history of their civilization from the beginning. He had delivered them over and over in ways typical of the great salvation to be undertaken by the person of Christ. Despite His everlasting fidelity to Israel, the religious leaders persecuted and humiliated Him. Humanity despised and rejected the Suffering Servant whose call it was to save them from their sins. Jesus Christ, the eternal Logos, came down from the right hand of Power and gave Himself over to the mercy godless people. For God to voluntarily lower Himself from the Most High to the contempt of sinners is a staggering act of love, humility, and grace.
You would think that those around Him would have responded with gratitude but this just wasn’t the case. The nations abhorred Him and the people treated Him like the worst of pariahs. Crucifixion was reserved for the most despised criminals. It was such a horrific way to die that Roman citizens were usually exempt from it. The faithless among the Gentiles saw Christ crucified as foolishness. The faithless among the Jews saw Him as a stumbling block. The end of His earthly ministry saw the King of kings become a servant to rulers. He was trampled, abused, scourged, and executed. Pontius Pilate looked on Christ with blind eyes as he claimed authority over His fate. Like a lamb to the slaughter Jesus silently submitted to all of this for the sake of our salvation.
But even in the depths of His humiliation Jesus would be honored. At the moment of His death when He gave up his spirit the Roman centurion and others who were charged with watching Him realized He really was the Son of God. After His resurrection and the spread of His gospel, kings and leaders would accept Him as their Lord and Savior. They took His yoke upon their necks and joined the people in worshiping Him. It’s important to note that God doesn’t value worship that comes from a king any more than He values worship that comes from a peasant. The greatest among humanity are still just children to Him.
The exaltation of Christ after His resurrection is more evidence that He was God’s anointed One and He was set apart for that work. It runs counter to earthly logic that someone who died in such a low position would be held so high by so many people around the world. Today global leaders pay homage to the Suffering Servant who carried out God’s commission so long ago. The elevation and the exaltation of Christ happened just as God said it would. Divine declaration is the answer for how such a singular event could reshape the entire world. God promised it would and God is faithful to keep His promises.
The Father and the Spirit stood by Jesus through every step of His trials on earth. Hebrews says that in the days of His flesh Christ offered up prayers, supplications, loud cries, and tears – and that He was heard because of His reverence. Jesus understood that the Father always hears Him. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Father withheld Christ’s request to have the cup of suffering pass from Him, the Father gave Him the strength He needed to drink of it. The Father also hears Christ on behalf of humanity which is why we see Jesus interceding for us as One who has the authority to do so. Christ as Mediator between God and humanity is why we can be reconciled and why we can pray to God. Faith in Christ being our only gateway to heaven is the heart of the gospel message.
Throughout His ministry Jesus prayed to the Father and the Father heard Him. Not only did He hear Him but He empowered Him to accomplish His will. The same is true for you today. God hears you when you pray in the name of Jesus and He empowers you to walk forward in His purpose for you. Before His crucifixion Christ’s disciples abandoned Him. But the Father and the Spirit never did. The powers of darkness unleashed violent attacks against Jesus in an effort to knock Him off course but God preserved Him. The name of Jesus is being divinely preserved in the world even at this moment. When you think about it the attacks on Christ’s name have never really ceased through time. There is no other worldview and no other religious text that has been more critically analyzed than the Bible. For 2,000 years portions of humanity have been trying to snuff out Christ’s kingdom among men. But it never seems to go away.
Christ has the authority to apply the benefits of His redemptive work to the church. Human reconciliation to God became a reality the moment Christ died and the veil of the temple was was torn. The sacrifice of Jesus meant peace with God and the forgiveness of sins. The important point here is that the benefits of salvation are available to us right now. We preach reconciliation through Christ because through Christ the benefits of redemption can be had right now. The peace treaty between God and humanity is sealed by the blood of Jesus. All of history is a narrative of God bringing us back to Himself. For that effort He would spare nothing – not even His own life. The teachings of Scripture are aimed in concert at one thing only: us belonging to Him. And the peace of God that goes beyond comprehension is the direct consequence of Him belonging to us.
God’s work of salvation has benefited humanity, the church, and even the land itself. The land benefited when cities of Judah were restored from desolation after God saved the Israelites from captivity. Then during the time of Christ, under the Jewish religious leaders, the church had suffered decay and corruption. Christ repaired it and built it upon a rock. The preaching of the gospel replenished the house of the Lord. God’s salvation has released the souls of men and women from their bondage to guilt and corruption. Without Jesus all of us are imprisoned to the power of Satan while also being bound by the justice of God. You can’t get more doomed than that.
But Christ, by His pardoning mercy, set us free to go forth into the glorious liberty of being God’s children. Jesus opens the door of our dark prison cell and encourages us to step out into the light. He wants us to go into the light of the glory of God so that we can both see and be seen. By His grace He renews us and releases us from the dominion of sin. It’s because of Jesus that we can walk into the sight of God and feel divine comfort instead of holy judgment. This was typified during His ministry when He healed lepers, released them from their quarantine, and instructed them to go show themselves to the priest. When we go to God we see the light and then He empowers us to shine that light into the lives of others.
When God released the Israelites from their captivity in Babylon, He didn’t stop at that. He also provided a safe, comfortable passage to their destination of rest. The analogy is directly applicable to ourselves as Christians today. When we commit our lives to Christ He releases us from our bondage to sin and then He is the one who provides for us going forward. This means that God will give you what you need to be sanctified or made holy. He will give you what you need to accomplish His purpose for you.
Psalm 34 says that those who seek the Lord shall lack no good thing. We need to be careful here. It’s not as if God is going to grant you whatever you want. The idea is that when you step out in faith it’s usually a pretty scary thing. Stepping out in faith is by definition a space where you lose some control. God’s providence says that you can step out in faith with the bold assurance that He will give you what you need to do His will. Furthermore, God will shelter you from evil and from that which would inhibit your progress toward Him. Again we must be careful. This doesn’t mean evil will never touch you again or that temptations to stray will not present themselves anymore. It only means that God will equip you and empower you to overcome such things – even if it takes a long time. A brush with evil is far more dangerous and harmful for the person who doesn’t have God than it is for the person who does.
God will lead you to walk in wisdom through life. If you study the Scriptures and obey them to the best of your ability then you will dodge all manner of pitfalls. The ways of the godless lead to useless misery and suffering. The ways of God lead to refreshment, divine comfort, and spiritual sustenance. If you follow God you’ll find a ready road with unnecessary obstacles removed. One practical reason for this is the simple fact that following God means fellowship with literally billions of other people. You’ll find paths that are well-tread by people who came before you. I’ve personally encountered this through my work on this podcast. It astonishes me how much material has been written on and about Scripture. Intellectuals of staggering magnitude have come before me and I benefit from reading their thoughts and insights on the things of God. I really enjoy Matthew Henry – a man I believe to be undervalued and whose work really helps me with my own.
God doesn’t just set you loose on a path and tell you: Good luck, I’ll see you on the other side! He actually designs the very path where He guides you to walk. Make no mistake – this does not mean you will be free of hardship. The lives of Christians can sometimes be the hardest of them all. But the only difference between an insurmountable obstacle and one that you can overcome has less to do with the obstacle itself. The difference is you and whether or not you are on the side of God. If you seek God as the source of your strength then even the mountains of life will get up out of your way so you can pass through.
Part of God’s guidance is to bring all the faithful together from distant lands. In the case of the Israelites, Babylon had scattered them and separated them from each other. This was common practice for imperial powers because they didn’t want people uniting in rebellion against the empire. After their release God would bring them back together again in Judah so that they could support each other and be of one spirit. This element of bringing the faithful together is expanded beyond the Jews and to the church as a whole with the preaching of the gospel. The final expansion of God uniting His people will take place when each of us pass on into eternity and sit down with the Patriarchs of the Kingdom of God. Let’s read verses 13-17:
Isa 49:13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Isa 49:14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”
Isa 49:15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Isa 49:16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Isa 49:17 Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
The Israelites salvation out of Babylon was an event that typified or foreshadowed the ultimate work of salvation brought on by Christ. It was an occasion of great joy for Israel and it’s also an occasion of great joy for us. Both cases provide evidence of God’s mercy, grace, and loving care for the church. Redemption is such a gift that it should inspire the entire creation to sing songs of praise to the Lord. The creation itself eagerly awaits God’s final redemption because it will share in the benefits. Even if the entire earth and everything in it sang out to God in thanksgiving such praise still wouldn’t equal His gift of redemption. Sinful humanity has the capacity to wreak havoc on the environment and some lost souls are even cruel to animals. All such darkness will be gone when the children of God are revealed and the creation is set free from its bondage to decay.
God wants to have friendship with you. This can be difficult at times when we feel like He has forsaken us. Feeling like God is distant from you can make you question His concern for you. It also puts you at risk of thinking He’s not mindful of your sins. When Israel felt like God abandoned them in Babylon their temptation for idolatry increased dramatically. If you’re stuck with the sense that God is distant from you – just understand that sense is a deception. He’s not distant from you, He does care about you, and He’s still watching you. God’s promise and grace is equally as certain as His providence and justice. This means He hasn’t forgotten the kingdom work you’ve done in His service. It also means He hasn’t forgotten the terrible things others have done to you. In Romans Paul forbade us from avenging ourselves. We must leave it to the wrath of God, for God says: vengeance is mine, I am the Lord.
When Israel was taken into Babylonian captivity many of their allies abandoned them. God would gather them back in and they would help contribute to Israel’s assistance and comfort. That’s also what happens when new believers become converts to the church. Often times they are on fire for Christ and will do all that they can to help build up the body. They’re eager to join in fellowship with the congregation. These are all good things as long as the new Christian understands this fire is going to even out across time. It’s unlikely that it will burn white hot forever. Israel’s enemies were driven off and in the same why Christ will break the power of the great destroyer and cast him out.
Of course Israel’s doubt in the goodness and presence of God was baseless. His affection for them never ceased and He didn’t want to see them slump over in despair. He didn’t want them to be discouraged or to suffer anxious thoughts. He illustrates His steadfast concern by comparing it to that of a mother. Is it possible for a mother to forget about her newborn baby? The strength of the maternal instinct makes that proposition very unlikely. But unfortunately it does happen. And that’s where God places the distinction. With God you will never be forgotten. With God it does not happen – ever.
Try to imagine the best, most compassionate parents you can think of. God’s care and compassion infinitely exceeds that of the best parents. When it comes to the depth of God’s love we really don’t have much – if anything – that we can compare it to. That’s because all we have at our disposal are created things. If the love that comes from created things like human beings or animals is good, then how much better is the love that comes from He who created them?
To reinforce the proposition that God never forgets you He says He engraves you on the palms of His hands. This is not an allusion to palm reading or any kind of mysticism like that. It’s more likely a reference to Deuteronomy where God instructs Israel to bind His words as a sign on their hands and as frontlets between their eyes. It was custom for people to tie a piece of string around their hands or fingers to remind them of things they needed to remember. It’s also possible that God’s engraving of you on His palms alludes to the crucifixion when the nails were driven into His hands. This idea of your walls being continually before Him means that your safety is always part of God’s concern for you. If you stick with Him and do your best to obey Him then He will protect you from a substantial amount self-inflicted misery. Let’s read verses 18-23:
Isa 49:18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.
Isa 49:19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
Isa 49:20 The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’
Isa 49:21 Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’”
Isa 49:22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
Isa 49:23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
God promised that when Israel returned from exile He would revive them as a people. The temple would be restored and the church would be vibrant once again. This same promise applies to us today. God has more fully established His church through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Israel’s population decreased tremendously while they wasted away in captivity. But after they returned home multitudes of people flocked to Jerusalem from adjacent countries to worship God. Jerusalem was like the localized center of worship. But because of the gospel we are now connected to the body of Christ in spirit and in truth when we give our lives to Jesus. This connection is made and maintained no matter where we are in the world. Being a Christian means that you can go almost anywhere in the world and you will find brothers and sisters in Christ. For Israel it was an occasion for great joy to see so many people coming to Jerusalem. For us it’s an occasion for great joy and celebration when we see multitudes responding to the gospel.
This passage explains to us that we shouldn’t view new church members as a burden or as something to be avoided. Sadly, there are many churches who hold this perspective. God speaks through Isaiah and tells us that new additions to the congregations are like ornaments that improve its quality. The church should treat them as a bride treats her adornments on her wedding day – handling them with care and appreciation. If churches have the faith to treat newcomers this way then they will see that – like the adornments – the additions make the congregation more beautiful. With that said, there is a degree of responsibility on the newcomer to act honorably. When a church is inviting and newcomers take their membership seriously, it’s amazing what God will do through them.
Have you ever been to a ghost town? Maybe it was a place that once thrived with industry but economic changes caused everyone to leave. That’s what Jerusalem was like during Israel’s captivity. Almost everyone was gone and nearly no one wanted to live there. But God’s promise was to restore their population so much that they would hardly have space to keep everybody. It’s not like they would be squeezed in by their enemies either – no – this newly robust city would be full of Israelites and those who were friendly to them. This sort of thing happens to the church sometimes. Corruption makes its way in and the pews grow increasingly empty across time. During the time of Jesus, the Kingdom of God among men was rather depopulated as a consequence of both Jewish corruption and Gentile abomination. But by the grace of God and the glory of His gospel the Christian church exploded and the Kingdom of God among men spread all across the world. If you remain faithful to preach and teach Scripture God will not let it return void and desolation will not continue forever.
We all encounter situations in life where we lose that which we thought was meant for us. Marriages might be the most prevalent example. No one gets married with the anticipation of divorce. Everyone wants their first marriage to be their only marriage. And yet we observe the alarming statistic that 50% of marriages end in divorce. So what happens? Well, the Jews lost their people and their children to the sword, to famine, and to captivity. Israel was supposed to be a great nation and yet so many people died that they were faced with a small number of survivors instead of a great nation. Abel was supposed to be the progenitor of God’s people – but then Cain killed him. Job had a wonderful life until Satan stripped it away by murdering his children.
The difficult truth is that we often make ourselves the authority who declares what is meant to be. We want to be the only author of our own existence. And then when it’s gone from us we feel especially alienated from God and we begin thinking that nothing is meant to be. But if nothing is meant to be and everything is random then we quickly lose our sense of meaning and descend into bitter, resentful nihilism. That descent takes a tragic situation and turns it into a hellish nightmare. Ultimately that path transforms you from one who endured pain to one who spreads it to others. That’s why they say hurt people hurt people.
The difficult truth is we’re not the ones who decide what’s meant to be. And that’s actually a really good thing. We are corrupt in nature and horrendously ignorant. When we choose to be the authors of our own fate we inevitably craft something like hell. The far better solution is to humbly accept God’s will and understand that your loss of what was meant to be can never overpower God’s grace to fix it. This isn’t to say that anything or anyone can be replaced. But it is to identify the pathology of suggesting you know better than God how to work all things out for good.
Israel lost what they thought was meant to be their great nation and became exiles – but then God brought them home and restored their people. Adam and Eve lost Abel who was supposed to be the progenitor of God’s people – but then God gave them their son Seth whom they loved. Job lost the life he thought he was supposed to have when he lost his wealth and his children – but then God restored double his wealth and gave him more children whom he loved. The world lost its Messiah when they nailed Him to a cross – but then God resurrected Him and gave humanity the best news of salvation. History is a tale of our loving God redeeming all that we are and bringing good things out of our bad. Don’t make the mistake of consigning yourself to a lifetime of resentment because things didn’t work out how you thought they would. Instead have the faith to accept that the best option is for things to work out how God thinks they should.
Israel thought the church should be restored and empowered among their own people. But God brought in the Gentiles. God compelled the Gentiles to come in from distant lands as their hearts willing to turn to Him. They gave aid to the Israelites as they returned to their homeland. God is able to raise up children of Abraham from the stones – so He’s certainly able to raise up friends of the Jews from the Gentiles. The truth is we can’t know how much value God is trying to bring into our lives through other people. When new believers or young people express a desire to come to God it’s the church’s responsibility to handle them with compassion. The same compassion Christ displays when He gathers His lambs to Himself and carries them close to His heart.
Not only was the church in Jerusalem restored, but it also gained the endorsement of powerful heads of state. The Persian kings Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes were all very compassionate toward Israel and gave them encouragement. We’ve watched this happen throughout the history of the Christian church as well. Roman emperor Constantine and his mother Helena helped nurse and grow the church. I’m actually quite libertarian on this point so I’m never likely to advocate mixing church with governmental power. The reason is because governmental power inevitably corrupts the church. Another reason is that if people are compelled by force to believe and act in certain ways then you rule out the possibility of love. If there’s no freedom of choice then there cannot be love, there can only be servitude and forced acceptance. But it’s clear that sometimes God uses governments to boost and maintain the church.
Ultimately every human government and world leader will kneel before Jesus Christ. Many will simply fall down and worship Him because of the unfathomable love He has for us. At any rate it will finally be made clear that God is the sovereign Lord of all and there is no possibility of rising up against Him. For those of us who wait for Him and have faith in this promise – God assures us that we will not be ashamed of our hope. We are on the winning team and we have the truth of it. God’s vision of peace is for an appointed time in the future and when that time comes God will speak and all shall see. Let’s finish with verses 24-26:
Isa 49:24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
Isa 49:25 For thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.
Isa 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
As was to be expected, all of these lofty promises for Israel inspired a bit of objection. How could anyone on earth possess such power as to free Israel from Babylon? Babylon was a mighty predator and the thought of them being beaten by force was unlikely. In addition to that problem, many Israelites correctly believed that God was the One who ordained their captivity to begin with. So this is kind of like what I was saying about claiming to know what’s meant to be. The Jews incorrectly assumed their captivity was God’s final destiny for them simply because God allowed it to happen. The situation was made worse by the fact that the Babylonians used this mentality as justification for why they would never let Israel go. It’s not uncommon for the person or group of people with the most power to also claim divine right. The idea of Israel’s deliverance from Babylon was such a spectacular salvation that many were simply skeptical of it.
The gospel has the same effect on us today. Look at the world around you. Innumerable people have chosen to walk away from God because of all the suffering and evil. Salvation from such a cursed creation is equally if not more unbelievable than Israel’s release from Babylon. And all of us know that the suffering and evil is not simply around us – it’s also inside of us. When we observe the darkness surface in our hearts we can’t understand why a holy and perfect God would want anything to do with us. For any human to suggest that he or she is loved by God strikes many as dizzying narcissism. Satan is a mighty predator who holds us captive by the power of death.
Salvation is only possible when it comes from Him who is the Source of life. And when you tell people the gospel part of their skepticism seems to come from the fact that it feels like a get out of jail free card. Christianity has long been accused of being wish-fulfillment because of how easy it is to put your faith in Jesus and go to heaven when you die. But this understanding of the gospel is missing two critically important points. Point number one is that not only is getting into heaven difficult – it’s actually impossible for us to do on our own. Point number two is that your get out of jail card wasn’t free. It cost the life of Jesus Christ, the only sinless human to ever walk the earth. This was a cost so high that human language is incapable of articulating it. The value of the life of Jesus is so infinitely inestimable that it outweighs every sinful action that has ever transpired on the face of creation.
Israel didn’t think they could be delivered from Babylon any more than we think we can be delivered from a suffering world. The mighty serpent has us all bound up in a cursed creation where the only thing guaranteed to all of us is pain. But there happens to be a predator infinitely more deadly and infinitely more powerful than anything that can hold us captive. He is the Lion of Judah, His name is Jesus. When God decided to deliver His people from Babylon there was nothing Babylon could do to stop it. When God decides to deliver you from the suffering of fallen reality there is nothing even Satan can do to stop it. And when those who are wicked of heart attempt to steal you from the Lion of Judah they do so at their absolute peril.
Babylon defied God by refusing to release Israel. For that defiance the merciless captors became the captives. The outside pressure of Cyrus and the Persians caused the already cruel Babylonians to turn on each other in civil conflict. The destabilization resulted in them devouring each other and being drunk on their own blood. Ten years ago this kind of behavior would have seemed impossible to enlightened people like ourselves. But lately we’ve observed such hard lines of division in our society that hatred rules the hearts of many.
Those who turn away from God lose the love of God and become increasingly cruel over time. The Christlike principles of mercy, redemption, and forgiveness are unlearned and the population becomes blind to them. The culture’s conception of virtue and goodness becomes so warped that devouring your neighbor is not only acceptable but heroic. That’s what cancel culture is. There’s nothing progressive about it. It is a fast backslide to primitive, unsophisticated tribal violence. That’s what happened to Babylon and that is what will happen to us if we fail to remember who we are and who God is.
And in the end it will be the same for us as it was for Babylon. Babylon watched with shocked eyes as Israel walked free out of their grip. They finally realized, too late, that God is sovereign and He will not be contended with. All of history is aimed at magnifying and glorifying the name of God because it is the only name by which we can be saved from ourselves. If we stray too far from Him we will watched with shocked eyes as our civilization tears itself to pieces. Then we will understand, too late, the meaning of what God speaks in the final verse of this chapter. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
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