July 27, 2015

WAKEY WAKEY! EGGS 'N' BAKEY

Isaiah 49–51

Laura Johns
Monday's Devo

July 27, 2015

Monday's Devo

July 27, 2015

Central Truth

The Lord keeps His promises. Always. As His creation, we can’t always know how or when, but He is holy, trustworthy, and faithful. 

Always.  

Key Verse | Isaiah 49:13–14

Sing for joy, O heavens!
Rejoice, O earth!
Burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on them in their suffering.
Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us;
the Lord has forgotten us.”
(Isaiah 49:13-14)

Isaiah 49–51

The Servant of the LORD

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.
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.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 1 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
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.”

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—
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.”

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

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,
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;
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.
11  And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
12  Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, these from the north and from the west, 2 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
    and these from the land of Syene.” 3 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim

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.

14  But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
    my Lord has forgotten me.”

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.
16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
17  Your builders make haste; 4 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
    your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
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.

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.
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.’
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?’”

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, 5 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
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.”

24  Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant 6 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man be rescued?
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.
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.”

Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

Thus says the LORD:
“Where is your mother's certificate of divorce,
    with which I sent her away?
Or which of my creditors is it
    to whom I have sold you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
    and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Why, when I came, was there no man;
    why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
    Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,
    I make the rivers a desert;
their fish stink for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
I clothe the heavens with blackness
    and make sackcloth their covering.”

The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
    He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

10  Who among you fears the LORD
    and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the LORD
    and rely on his God.
11  Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment.

The LORD's Comfort for Zion

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.
For the LORD comforts Zion;
    he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
    her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law 7 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7 will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; 8 51:6 Or will die like gnats
but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
    the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
    nor be dismayed at their revilings.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
but my righteousness will be forever,
    and my salvation to all generations.”

Awake, awake, put on strength,
    O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced the dragon?
10  Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
    for the redeemed to pass over?
11  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12  “I, I am he who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made like grass,
13  and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
    who stretched out the heavens
    and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14  He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
15  I am the LORD your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the LORD of hosts is his name.
16  And I have put my words in your mouth
    and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing 9 51:16 Or planting the heavens
    and laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

17  Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, the cup of staggering.
18  There is none to guide her
    among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
    among all the sons she has brought up.
19  These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you? 10 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
20  Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the LORD,
    the rebuke of your God.

21  Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
22  Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
    your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23  and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

Footnotes

[1] 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
[2] 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
[3] 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
[4] 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
[5] 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
[6] 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man
[7] 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7
[8] 51:6 Or will die like gnats
[9] 51:16 Or planting
[10] 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you

Dive Deeper | Isaiah 49–51

The savior is coming, and Jerusalem is (read, YOU are) told to worship—to burst into song. Things burst when they just can’t contain it anymore. A balloon bursts when it is filled with too much air; a firework with whatever on earth makes that happen. The Jews are told to burst with anticipation of a savior. Do you know what Jerusalem does? 

They go the completely opposite way, saying the Lord has forsaken them. They believe He has forgotten them. They lose sight of hope because they don’t know how or when God is going to act. I, too, have doubted God—simply because I didn’t see how God was going to show Himself at the time. I’ve since had to ask forgiveness for doubting so quickly. 

If I were God (and everyone is glad I’m not), I’d be quite frustrated with Jerusalem. After all, God has promised them a savior and has kept every single promise He’s made. Ever. Why the doubt?

God responds to their doubt with compassion—reassurance that He keeps His promises. He’s not defensive or huffy like I would be. He reminds them, lovingly, with images of the utmost love on earth—which His love surpasses. He goes so far as to say that he has already engraved them on His hands. Slaves used to do that with the names of their masters. What humility! 

This reminds me of a story in Genesis about a couple who had always wanted children, but were pretty "advanced in years" shall we say and seemed barren. God had promised Abraham offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky, and He’d even promised it multiple times. But Abraham and his wife Sarah hadn’t seen it yet—they didn't understand how it could happen, so they didn't believe it. When Sarah is told that she’ll have a child in the next year, she even laughs! Then comes Isaac—right on time. (Genesis 18:12-14).

God keeps promises—from the first book to the last. Those who wait for Him shall not be to shame (Isaiah 49:23). And He is always on time.

Discussion Questions

1. God wants to say something to you. He says in these chapters in Isaiah: “Listen to me” (49:1), “Look around you and see” (49:18), “Wake up” (51:9, 17). What is God telling you in these verses? 

2. What barriers are preventing you from “bursting into song”? What can you do today to address those barriers? 

3. The Lord says, “Those who trust in me will never be put to shame” (Isaiah 49:23d). Some versions say, “those who wait for me shall not be put to shame” (ESV). How are trusting and waiting the same? What is one area of your life that you can give over to God, based on this verse? 

4. I just learned that Isaiah has 66 chapters, just like the Bible has 66 books! They’re even in two chunks of 39 and 27 (like the number of Old Testament and New Testament books). Can you start to see some parallels between Isaiah and the Bible as a whole?