Isaiah: Part 2
The Moral of The Story
As we look at the second part of Isaiah, we still have much to cover with 33 chapters remaining. As we discussed last week, many of the prophets that God used were to warn nations of their sinfulness and the coming judgment that was about to take place because of this sinfulness. This is exactly what Isaiah’s message is to the land of Judah and Jerusalem. God has led Isaiah to tell God’s people of their fallenness, their repentance, and their coming savior. All three of these aspects we saw last week in the first half of Isaiah’s letter and we see the same things in more depth in the second half of this letter as well. When discussing the book of Isaiah, Insight for Living Ministries notes, “The book of Isaiah provides us with the most comprehensive prophetic picture of Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament. Because of the numerous Christological texts in Isaiah, the book stands as a testament of hope in the Lord, the One who saves His people from themselves.” What a fascinating observation. In a book of judgment and sinful living, we see the most descriptive picture of Jesus in the Old Testament. It really is a beautiful scene being painted here when we see that even amid sin and darkness, the light of Christ shines bright. With this in mind, let’s dive in.
Judgemtent & Redemption
To start, the second half of this great prophetic word doesn’t hold back on what God’s plan is for His people. Just like the first half of this book, God makes it clear that He will pour out His wrath on His people, while also being sure to state that He has come to redeem those who will follow Him as well. In fact, this is literally what the first two chapters in this second section are about. Pending your translation, chapter 34 is titled, ‘God’s Wrath Against the Nations’, and chapter 35 is titled ‘The Joy of the Redeemed’. There is no question what God intends to do here with the wicked and with the redeemed. Isaiah 34:2 says “For the LORD’S anger is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them, He has turned them over to slaughter.” This is no soft language by any means. God’s plan for the evil and wicked is not to put them in a timeout and hope they learn, but to give them what they deserve. The reason why such strong language and action are taken here by God is because the evil and wickedness that is taking place here is an abomination to the Lord. Remember that these people have been the Lord’s chosen people for years at this point, which means that they are actively turning against the ways of God even though they’ve seen His goodness up close. That makes the rebellion here even worse. These people aren’t denying God because they are unaware of His goodness and holiness, they are denying God even though they’ve experienced His goodness and holiness. This is why God is very firm with His judgment and punishment of the wicked. On the contrary, God isn’t just firm with His judgments, He is firm with His promises as well. Isaiah 35:4 tells us, “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The retribution of God will come, But He will save you.” If there is one common theme we can see in the first and second half of this book, it’s that God is coming to both judge His people and save His people.
Fulfilled In Christ
But how is He going to accomplish these means? Yes, there will be suffering for the wicked and yes, there will be blessings for the redeemed, but the ultimate answer to how this justice and redemption will take place is Christ. Look at what God says in Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” This is an astounding statement. The servant our Lord is speaking of here is certainly Christ. But how is justice going to be brought by a man who hasn’t come to this earth yet? This could be taken one of two ways. First, Christ is still in heaven with the Father, even if He hasn’t taken the form of a man yet here on this earth. So even though the world doesn’t know who He is yet, Christ is undeniably still at work with the Father in the heavens, bringing justice to the earth. Second, this could be a foreshadowing of when Christ physically comes in human form. Throughout the Old Testament, the Father will bring forth His judgments on the earth, and leave the ultimate justice to be handled by Christ when He comes. I would argue, that both of these views are correct. Christ is currently judging His people in heaven and will come in the future to judge the whole world as well.
But what about redemption? Sure Christ can judge the world, but how does this book foreshadow His redemption of His people? This is where the famous chapter of Isaiah 53 comes into play. Isaiah 53:5-6 says “But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him.” What a beautiful description of our Savior. Christ ultimately is able to purchase our redemption because He pays the price that we were never able to. He is the Lord’s ultimate servant because He never sinned, and only a being who never sinned could pay the price for sin. This is also why this chapter is titled ‘The Suffering Servant’. Christ isn’t just worthy of judging the world because of His righteousness, He is the only one who can redeem the world because of His holiness. All nations may experience temporary judgment and blessing from the Father because of their willingness to follow Him, but ultimate and eternal judgment and redemption will only come from Christ and Him alone. I hope and pray that as we go through this month and see how God handles these nations, we will be praying for our own nation and that we will be actively pursuing the Lord, regardless of what our nation currently prioritizes.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Book of Isaiah Overview - Insight for Living Ministries. (n.d.). https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-major-prophets/isaiah
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