Set Free Through the Redeemer, the Lord Your God: A Study of Redemption

The Source of Redemption: The Lord 

The Enormous Price God Paid To Ransom His People

Is The Subject of The Present Scripture. 

But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. ²When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up—the flames will not consume you. ³For I am the Lord your God, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel. I gave Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba to Cyrus^a in exchange for your freedom, as your ransom. ⁴Others died that you might live; I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me and honored, and I love you.

⁵Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you from east and west, ⁶from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the farthest corners of the earth. ⁷All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory; I created them. ⁸Bring them back to me—blind as they are and deaf when I call (although they see and hear!).

⁹Gather the nations together! Which of all their idols ever has foretold such things? Which can predict a single day ahead? Where are the witnesses of anything they said? If there are no witnesses, then they must confess that only God can prophesy.

¹⁰But I have witnesses, O Israel, says the Lord! You are my witnesses and my servants, chosen to know and to believe me and to understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never was and never will be. ¹¹I am the Lord, and there is no other Savior. ¹²Whenever you have thrown away your idols, I have shown you my power. With one word I have saved you. You have seen me do it; you are my witnesses that it is true. ¹³From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do.

¹⁴The Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: For your sakes I will send an invading army against Babylon that will walk in, almost unscathed. The boasts of the Babylonians will turn to cries of fear. ¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. ¹⁶I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a path right through the sea. ¹⁷I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses, to lie beneath the waves, dead, their lives snuffed out like candlewicks.

¹⁸But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do! ¹⁹For I’m going to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you see it? I will make a road through the wilderness of the world for my people to go home, and create rivers for them in the desert! ²⁰The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and ostriches too, for giving them water in the wilderness, yes, springs in the desert, so that my people, my chosen ones, can be refreshed. ²¹I have made Israel for myself, and these my people will some day honor me before the world.

²²But O my people, you won’t ask my help; you have grown tired of me! ²³You have not brought me the lambs for burnt offerings; you have not honored me with sacrifices. Yet my requests for offerings and incense have been very few! I have not treated you as slaves. ²⁴You have brought me no sweet-smelling incense nor pleased me with the sacrificial fat. No, you have presented me only with sins and wearied me with all your faults.

²⁵I, yes, I alone am he who blots away your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. ²⁶Oh, remind me of this promise of forgiveness, for we must talk about your sins. Plead your case for my forgiving you. ²⁷From the very first your ancestors sinned against me—all your forebears transgressed my law. ²⁸That is why I have deposed your priests and destroyed Israel, leaving her to shame.^[1] 

Set Free Through the Redeemer, the Lord Your God: A Study of Redemption, 43:1–28

 

The Source of Redemption: The Lord

The Promises of The Redeemer

The Failure of God’s People To Live Like The Redeemed

 

Set Free Through the Redeemer, the Lord Your God:

A Study of Redemption, 43:1–28

 

(43:1) Introduction: people can be kidnapped to be sold as slaves, for sexual pleasure, for building up a workforce, for revenge, or for a host of other reasons. When a ransom is demanded for the release of the kidnapped person, the cost is usually huge.

The enormous price God paid to ransom His people is the subject of the present Scripture. In the previous chapter, Isaiah said that the people of his day were continuing in their sin and refusing to turn back to the Lord. As a result, God’s anger burned against them (42:23–25). Now we would expect God’s hand of judgment to immediately fall upon the Israelites. We would expect Him to abandon and destroy them. But the very opposite is true. God is longsuffering and not willing that any person should perish and be doomed to eternal separation from Him. With a broken heart over the people’s failure, the Lord reached out to ransom them from both their sins and their enemies. Remember that Isaiah had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people. But he had also predicted that the Persians would miraculously free God’s people from their Babylonian captivity (41:1–20). Furthermore, the Lord would set them free from all the enslavements and bondages of this life through the coming of God’s very special Servant, the Messiah (42:1–25). Now God declares that His people can be set free through the wonderful redemption provided by the Lord. This is Set Free Through the Redeemer, the Lord Your God: A Study of Redemption, 43:1–28.

1.         The Source of Redemption: The Lord (V. 1).

2.         The promises of the Redeemer (vv. 2–21).

3.         The failure of God’s people to live like the redeemed (vv. 22–28). 

The Source of Redemption: The Lord 

“But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” ^[2] (Isaiah 43:1 TLB) 

“BUT NOW [in spite of past judgments for Israel’s sins], thus says the Lord, He Who created you, O Jacob, and He Who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you [ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives]; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.” ^[3] (Isaiah 43:1 AMP) 

The Source of Redemption is the Lord Himself. Despite Israel’s continued sin and rejection of Him, the Lord still loved His people. He still reached out in mercy and goodness to them. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Ro. 5:20). Looking ahead to the terrible hardships His people would face, the Lord wanted them to know that He would not forsake them. He would reach out to rescue them. Remember that Isaiah was predicting the Babylonian captivity, which still lay ahead for the Jews. The Lord promises to be with His people, even in the midst of such a terrifying experience as enslavement and exile. This verse is one of the great promises in the Holy Bible: 

a. In the midst of their awful affliction, the people needed to remember a significant fact: the Lord Himself had created and formed them into the nation of Israel. The words created and formed are the same words used to describe the creation of man and woman (Ge. 1:1; 2:7). Thus, Israel is as much a creation of the Lord as the human race is. God has a distinctive purpose for each, a purpose that must be fulfilled, just as His Word states. Although the Israelites would be exiled and scattered throughout the Babylonian Empire, those who trusted the Lord could rest assured that He would not forget them. They were still His chosen people, created by His own hand. True, due to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people, Israel’s future as a nation looked very bleak. Nothing less than extinction was staring Israel in the face.¹ 

b. But note how God encouraged His people: He told them two things they needed to remember. First, He had redeemed them. In the very midst of their hardship, they could know that God would redeem them again. Their deliverance from the Babylonian captivity was as good as done. The day would come when they would be set free from their bondage and sufferings. Centuries earlier, the Lord had delivered His people from Egyptian bondage. Now He was promising to deliver them from their captivity in Babylon. But the Lord wanted His people to know a second fact: He knew every one of them personally and called each by name. They were His people, and He was very concerned about them. They were bound to Him in a unique way, for He had a very special purpose for them. Remember that when Israel or the Jews are being discussed, their relationship to the Lord was based upon God’s purpose for them, a threefold purpose that blessed the entire world:

Ø  They were the people through whom God would send His Son, the promised seed, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.

Ø  They were the people through whom God would send His Word, the Holy Bible, to the world.

Ø  They were the people God chose to be His witnesses to the world that He is the only living and true God. 

Thought 1. The source of redemption is the Lord Himself. Only the Lord can save us from the enslavement of sin, death, and hell. Being enslaved to sin means that we cannot keep from sinning. All of us sin because we have inherited a depraved nature from our parents (Ro. 5:12). Consequently, we cannot keep from sinning. We cannot live a perfect or righteous life. And since we have inherited a corruptible nature from our parents, we are also enslaved by death. From the day we are born, we are ever progressing to that inevitable day when our bodies will return to dust. But because God loves us, He has provided redemption for us. Jesus Christ paid the ransom for us by giving His life for us. We are redeemed by the shed blood of Christ. This is exactly what God’s Holy Word says:

V  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 3:23–24).

V  “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Co. 1:30).

V  “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Ga. 3:13).

V  “In whom [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).

V  “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:13–14).

V  “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (He. 9:12–14).

V  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pe. 1:18–19).

V  “And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Re. 5:9).^[4] 

¹ But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.^[5] 

Remember, our redeemer, our true Father in Heaven has created, formed, redeemed, and called us by name, we are His, and this is more than enough reason to fear not, for our Father God has said we are His.

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^a 43:3  to Cyrus, implied.

^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

vv. verses

vv. verses

^[2] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[3] The Amplified Bible. 1987. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

¹ H.C. Leupold. Exposition of Isaiah, Vol.1. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1968), p. 78.

^[4] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

^[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. 1995. Electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

How Could (We) Israel And Judah Be God’s Servants And Yet Be So Blind? How Could (We) They Be So Close To God And See So Little?

 

The Summons To Believe God’s Promise 

¹⁸Oh, how blind and deaf you are toward God! Why won’t you listen? Why won’t you see? ¹⁹Who in all the world is as blind as My own people,^e who are designed to be my messengers of truth? Who is so blind as My “dedicated one,” the “servant of the Lord”? ²⁰You see and understand what is right but won’t heed nor do it; you hear, but you won’t listen.

²¹The Lord has magnified His law and made it truly glorious. Through it, He had planned to show the world that He is righteous. ²²But what a sight His people are—these who were to demonstrate to all the world the glory of His law;^f for they are robbed, enslaved, imprisoned, trapped, fair game for all, with no one to protect them. ²³Won’t even one of you apply these lessons from the past and see the ruin that awaits you up ahead? ²⁴Who let Israel be robbed and hurt? Did not the Lord? It is the Lord they sinned against, for they would not go where He sent them nor listen to His laws. ²⁵That is why God poured out such fury and wrath on His people and destroyed them in battle. Yet, though set on fire and burned, they will not understand the reason why—that it is God, wanting them to repent. ^g[1] (Isaiah 42:18–25)

 The Summons To Believe God’s Promise

God now calls on the Israelites to believe the promise concerning His Servant. When Isaiah gave this prophecy, He was standing before the Israelites of his day. Naturally, the heart of God would have already reached out to them first. But God was also giving this prophecy to all the Jews who, in the future, would suffer during the Babylonian captivity. He spoke as well to all the deaf and blind people of succeeding generations. “Hear, you deaf!” God cried. “Look, you blind, that you may see” (v. 18). Four clear reasons are given why God summoned the Israelites to believe the promise regarding the coming of the Messiah: 

a. The Israelites were blind servants and deaf messengers (vv. 19–20). Like so many people through the ages, most of the Israelites had blinded their eyes and shut their ears to God’s Word and His marvelous works. Although the Lord had called them to be His servants and the messengers of His promises to the world, nearly all refused to serve God or share His Word with others. In fact, they themselves disobeyed God’s Word and refused to keep His commandments. Even when God performed mighty works among them, they paid no attention. They shut their eyes and ears to both the works and the Word of God. 

V  “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Mt. 6:23).

V  “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built His house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Mt. 7:26–27).

V  “And He said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Lu. 16:31).

V  “But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away” (2 Co. 3:14–16).

V  “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Co. 4:4–5).

V  “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ep. 4:17–19).

V  “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Ti. 4:4).

V  “But He that hateth His brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither He goeth, because that darkness hath blinded His eyes” (1 Jn. 2:11).

V  “To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it” (Je. 6:10).

V  “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house” (Eze. 12:2).

V  “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear” (Zec. 7:11). 

b. God had magnified His law, or Word, among the Israelites (v. 21). He had given them His Word to teach them to believe Him and to live righteously. No people had ever been blessed as richly as they. God had given them the awesome responsibility of sharing His Word with the world. And His Word included the wonderful promise of the promised seed, God’s Servant and Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For this reason, the spiritually blind and deaf had to open their eyes and ears. They had to repent, turn back to the Lord, and obey His law. 

V  “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (Ro. 7:12–13).

V  “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Ro. 7:14–22).

V  “But we know that the law is good if a man uses it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine” (1 Ti. 1:8–10).

V  “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7). 

c. The Israelites were suffering God’s punishment because they had disobeyed His law (v. 22). Down through the generations, Israel and all other nations who disobeyed God’s Word had suffered the judgment and discipline of God. Due to their sins, God had allowed them to be imprisoned and enslaved by enemies. In Israel’s case, there was no one to rescue them from God’s judgment. And there will be no one to rescue any of the wicked who continue to disobey God’s Holy Word and commandments. 

V  “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Ep. 5:3–6).

V  “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Th. 1:7–9).

V  “For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (He. 2:2–3).

V  “And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known” (De. 11:28).

V  “But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers” (1 S. 12:15). 

d. The Israelites needed to believe God’s Servant because they had refused to learn from past experience (vv. 23–25). Isaiah asked a critical question: “Who will listen and pay close attention to the summons of God to believe His servant, the Messiah?” Few people seem to learn from past experience, and the Israelites were no exception. In the future, God would discipline and punish them through the Babylonian captivity and exile. But like their forefathers, they would refuse to believe that God would actually judge and punish them. The thought that their sin would cause God to judge them so severely would never cross their minds. They would still choose to be blinded by sin and refuse to follow the Lord or obey His Word (vv. 24–25). Due to their terrible sin, God would pour out His anger on them in judgment; still, they would refuse to understand His discipline. Like so many people down through the years, they would refuse to heed God’s warnings. They would harden their hearts toward Him and become insensitive to His warnings. 

V  “For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Ac. 28:27).

V  “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to His deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile” (Ro. 2:5–9).

V  “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues, they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips” (Ro. 3:12–13).

V  “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ep. 4:17–19).

V  “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Ti. 4:1–2).

V  “Harden, not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me and saw My work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest” (Ps. 95:8–11).

V  “Happy is the man that feareth always: but He that hardeneth His heart shall fall into mischief” (Pr. 28:14).

V  “He, that being often reproved hardeneth His neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Pr. 29:1).^[2]

How could Israel and Judah be god’s servants and yet be so blind? How could they be so close to God and see so little? Jesus condemned the religious leaders of his day for the same disregard of God (John 9:39–41). Yet do we not fail in the same way? Sometimes partial blindness—seeing but not understanding, or knowing what is right but not doing it—can be worse than not seeing at all.

We may condemn our predecessors for their failures, but we are twice as guilty if we repeat the same mistakes that we recognize as failures. We may be so ready to direct God’s message at others that we can’t see how it touches our own life. Make sure you are willing to take your own advice as you teach or lead.^[3]

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^e 42:19  as my own people, literally, “as my servant.”

^f 42:22  these who were to demonstrate to all the world the glory of his law, implied in previous verse.

^g 42:25  wanting them to repent, implied.

^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 

^[3] Life Application Bible Notes. 2007. Tyndale.

In Truth, Every Human Being Should Praise God For Sending The Messiah Into The World On Such A Great Mission. No Greater Gift Could Have Been Given To The World.

The Response To The Messiah 

¹⁰Sing a new song to the Lord; sing His praises, all you who live in earth’s remotest corners! Sing, O sea! Sing, all you who live in distant lands beyond the sea! ¹¹Join in the chorus, you desert cities—Kedar and Sela! And you, too, dwellers in the mountaintops. ¹²Let the western coastlands glorify the Lord and sing His mighty power.

¹³The Lord will be a mighty warrior, full of fury toward His foes. He will give a great shout and prevail. ¹⁴Long has He been silent; He has restrained Himself. But now He will give full vent to His wrath; He will groan and cry like a woman delivering her child. ¹⁵He will level the mountains and hills and blight their greenery. He will dry up the rivers and pools. ¹⁶He will bring blind Israel along a path they have not seen before. He will make the darkness bright before them and smooth and straighten out the road ahead. He will not forsake them. ¹⁷But those who trust in idols and call them gods will be greatly disappointed; they will be turned away.^[1] (Isaiah42:10–17) 

The Response To The Messiah 

God foresaw the various responses to the Savior, His Servant. In truth, every human being should praise God for sending the Messiah into the world on such a great mission. No greater gift could have been given to the world. Through the Messiah, all human beings can be saved, become acceptable to God, and have a personal relationship with the Lord. Furthermore, they can have all the darkness of sin, guilt, and death erased from their hearts. For these reasons, all people should respond to God’s gift of the Messiah by lifting up their voices in resounding praise to the Lord. Note the responses that God foresaw. 

a. God saw that some people’s response would be positive. They would accept and believe in His Servant. Of these people, God demanded praise (vv. 10–12). Because of His great gift to the world in the person of the Messiah, God expected everyone to worship Him in song and praise.

Ø  the sailors and islanders

Ø  the people who live in the desert and its towns

Ø  the few people living in the villages of Kedar or the desert wilderness of Arabia

Ø  the many people in the city of Sela, the capital of Edom 

All the people were to shout from the mountaintops, singing for joy because God had made the most glorious and sacrificial contribution possible to the world. He sent His only Son, His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to save men and to set them free. Thus, everyone should glorify the Lord and praise His name to the farthest islands, the ends of the world. 

b. The Lord knew that His enemies would not respond favorably to the Messiah. He knew that they would reject Christ and remain His enemies (vv. 13–15). Consequently, the Lord foretold that He would march forth like a mighty conqueror against them and triumph over them. Filled with righteous anger due to the rejection of His Servant, God would shout out the battle cry and take vengeance against them. No longer would He keep silent or be patient as He had been, hoping they would repent and praise Him for sending the Messiah. Due to their continued defiance, the day for judgment would come, just as the day comes for a woman to give birth. Like a woman in labor, God would groan, pant, and gasp as He gave birth to a new era, the period of judgment on earth. All the enemies’ land and vegetation would be destroyed. Their rivers and water resources would dry up—all because they rejected the Messiah and refused to praise the Lord for sending His Servant into the world. 

c. God also foresaw the response of people who confessed that they were blind (v. 16). The blind would have no difficulty confessing their darkness and need for God’s Servant. Therefore, God promised to lead and guide them. He promised to turn their darkness into light and to remove all obstacles in their path as they walked through life day by day. God also promised to never forsake those who confessed their spiritual blindness and their desperate need for the Messiah.

V  “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lu. 1:78–79).

V  “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But He that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God” (Lu. 12:8–9).

V  “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (Jn. 16:13).

V  “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Ac. 26:18).

V  “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Ro. 10:9).

V  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Co. 4:6).

V  “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ep. 1:18).

V  “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ep. 5:8–11).

V  “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pe. 2:9).

V  “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and He in God” (1 Jn. 4:15).

V  “The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way” (Ps. 25:9).

V  “For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death” (Ps. 48:14).

V  “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24). 

d. God also foresaw the response of idolaters (v. 17). Although many would refuse to worship God’s Servant, they would still choose to worship idols and false gods. Despite the fact that God had demonstrated His love by sending His Servant into the world, they would deliberately choose to place their trust in the false gods conceived in their own imaginations. As a result, God declared that He would turn them away from His presence in utter shame. He would reject and condemn them. And they would be utterly embarrassed by their idolatry, ashamed for having worshipped trivial material possessions made by their own hands.

V  “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Co. 6:9–10).

V  “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Ep. 5:3–6).

V  “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 Jn. 5:21).

V  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Ex. 20:3–5).

V  “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (De. 11:16).

V  “There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god” (Ps. 81:9).

V  “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Is. 42:8).^[2] 

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^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 

https://my.bible.com/bible/116/ISA.42.10-17.nlt

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