Isaiah 49-53
Original Post:  August 5, 2014

One thing I know for certain:  there is so much content in this selected reading that we cannot possibly cover it all in a brief devotional writing.  And yet, it seems to me almost sinful to summarize the passage, put it in context and then move on.   It could well be the very heart of the Gospel, recorded in the book of Isaiah, some 700 years before Jesus was born.    Could there be any description more plain than the one given in chapters 52 and 53?    This passage is part of the foundation on which our theology is formed.    God says that he will reach out to distant lands (include the U.S.) and that the nation of Israel will never again be destroyed.   Clearly, the Lord has a special place in His heart of Israel and it's people.   We cannot dispute that God loves the city of Jerusalem, and has promised to protect it.   Therefore, I surmise it would be wise for me to support Israel as well.

As I write this passage, there is a 72 hour cease fire in effect in the Israel - Gaza conflict.   The last cease fire lasted only 90 minutes before hostilities broke out again.   I pray that this one takes root.   I'm not sure what side of the conflict you support, there are people who see the tragedy on both sides, and that is certainly valid...however, as I read Isaiah I know that God does not lie, and what He says is always true.   No one who attacks Israel will be successful in their endeavor.    History has already proved this point out.   They will not be overrun  by another nation (as a punishment from the Lord) ever again.   That's not to say that God cannot punish them...He can, and He may.   But He has promised (in this passage) not to allow it to happen by another nation.

This passage speaks heavily of a time called the millennium.   It is the 1,000 year time of peace after satan has been initially imprisoned.  I say initially, because Revelation tells us that he will be released for a short time after the 1,000 years...only to be defeated once and for all.     The millennium is understood by some people to be a metaphor for a time of peace, and not an actual event.   As I read this passage I imagine it to be an actual time in the future when God comes to live with His people, here on the earth.    What a great privilege and honor it would be to be alive for the millennium!  

51:11 says "the ransomed of the Lord will return.  They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads."     Now that could refer to the time when Cyrus the Persian will allow the people to return to their own homes (some 70 years from now).   It could refer to the time when I rode a bus into Zion and sang with great joy.  (I was one of the redeemed that "returned").   Or, it could refer to the time when all people from every tribe and nation will gather together to sing praises to God at the end of the ages.    Maybe it refers to them all.     What a day that will be!

PR