Sermon - AudioIsaiah 59-63 - Audio
Isaiah 59-63 - Reading
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A long daily reading today. A really long daily reading. I'll try to keep the notes short. Isaiah 60 is such a rich passage that I'll use much of my “space” on it.
Isaiah 59
59.1-8 Israel finds themselves waiting on the Lord. Here the prophet outlines why they must wait. It is not that God is not powerful enough or doesn't hear their cries (v 1). It is because of their sin. There is no justice in the land. Some may have thought that the trouble they faced was YHWH's failure, but this is not the case! It is not because of YHWH's failure to act, but rather the people's lack of faithfulness and obedience to Torah. No justice and righteousness=no viable community life.
59.9-11 These verse sound very much like a Psalm of lament. They cry out to God and wait for him. There are some interesting parallel word pairs that explain what they expect of God: justice-righteousness (v 9), light-brightness (9b), and justice-salvation (11). The darkness imagery is vivid. And sets up nicely what waits for us in Isaiah 60, “Arise! Shine! For your light has come!”
59.12-15 Here we finally have a confession on Israel's part. They accept the accusation of verses 1-8. They take responsibility for their sorry state.
Isaiah 60
A REALLY helpful and insightful book written on Isaiah 60 is Richard Mouw's When the Kings Come Marching In. I borrow these thought from him.
Read Isiah 60 alongside Revelation 21-22, and it becomes clear that the two passages describe the same city: the new Jerusalem. So, in one sense we are talking about “heaven.” But this does not push this passage exclusively into the future. Remember: The hope we have for the future is the same hope we have for the present. There are places where, even now, where heaven and earth intersect and interlock…looking forward (of course) to the eventual marriage of heaven and earth. A simple example: A friend of mine asked if I thought there would be fishing in heaven. And I said “yeah” because heaven crashes into earth. He thought so too. I think this guy sees a glimpse of heaven when he’s out there fishing. He is filled with peace. I can guess that he is very aware of God’s goodness and presence when he is out fishing. Fishing is for some people. For other people it’s art, or maybe even athletics. Or a sun rising over a mountain lake. Or a walk on a beach with the person you love. Or lying on blanket under the stars. Whenever things are (you sense) right with the world, it’s like a taste of heaven. You get some imagery like this in other places in Isaiah. The wolf will live with the lamb, calf and the lion will lie down together with the leopard and the goat. The lion eats straw like the ox. A child plays in the nest of a cobra and is not bitten. These things are true. It’s part of the hope that we have. But this passage takes us even deeper.
I watched a movie a while ago broke my heart. I don’t know if any of you have seen Blood Diamond, but it’s based in Africa where civil wars have been fought for decades over the diamond trade. Diamonds are being sold for ammunitions. Thousands have died. And children are being stolen from their parents to be soldiers. It’s a movie I wish everyone would see. The violence is awful, but not glorified. The story follows a fisherman who risks his life looking for his son, who’s been kidnapped and brainwashed.
See Darkness Covers the Earth. And a thick darkness the peoples.
In Isaiah 60.9 it says In the Lead are the ships of Tarshish bringing your sons from afar.
Bringing your sons? Israel’s sons, literally the children of farmers and shepherds had been kidnapped. Kinda like what’s happening to African Children.
But it doesn’t stop there. In the lead are the ships of Tarshish bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. THEY enter the New Jerusalem with gifts of gold and silver. We’re talking about Israel’s enemies here. And Lebanon brings their lumber, in other words, the best they have. Maybe Liberia and Sierra Leone bring their diamonds.
What’s going on here? Heaven Crashes into earth, and…and.. we have reconciliation. Indescribable healing takes place. So…essentially. Relationships are rebuilt with the people who have hurt you the most. Would I be wrong in saying that most of the time people who have hurt you the most are the people who were closest to you? So often it’s family. And those relationships get restored. Peace is made. Things are made right. Love gets injected into those broken places of your heart.
In Revelation 21, we are told more specifically from where the source of light comes from: Jesus Christ. In Collossians 1.20 we find out too that he made this new world possible: peace is made by his blood shed on the cross.
Instead of throwing out what’s broken, God fixes things? God heals. God makes new. Relationally speaking: instead of running off to make new friends-or creating new friends as the case may be- when things get ugly, he sticks it out and makes things right. Which is a tough thing to do. You know if you’ve ever been betrayed or hurt by someone else. If you’ve ever been ignored by a friend. If you’ve ever had your heart broken. If you’ve ever felt belittled, or been pierced by sarcasm. But you also know that if you work to heal the friendship or marriage or father-son relationship, it becomes stronger. It’s far easier just to walk away…or maybe even to hide in isolation. But this isn’t what God does…or what God wants us to do.
Isaiah 61
61.1 This is a profoundly messianic verse. Jesus applies it to himself in Luke 4.18-19. This “annointed servant” was prophesied to usher in the new age that Isaiah 60 talks about. We look forward to this kingdom fully established at his return. Jesus leaves out “Day of Vengance of our God” in Luke not because there won't be a day of judgment, but because the day is still coming!
61.8 The promises of God are ensured by the character of God. He is faithful!
61.10-11 “The speaker is either the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah, or Zion herself. With the Lord God echoing “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” in v. 1, it is likely that the Messiah is speaking here. as a bridegroom... as a bride. The Messiah will lead his people into the romance of eternal salvation (cf. Eph. 5:25–27; Rev. 21:2, 9). As the earth... as a gardensuggests a bountiful harvest (ESV Study Bible).”
Isaiah 62
62.1-5 “the stress is on God’s side of the reunion: the energy of his will (1a); the height (1b) and width (2) of his ambition for her; the pride he takes in perfecting her (3); his joy in bringing home the outcast (4a); and the central mystery—that this is not philanthropy but ardent love (4b, 5b) (New Bible Commentary).
62.1 “For Zion's sake. That is, for the sake of the redeemed people of God who dwell in Zion (another name for Jerusalem), the city of God. This emphasis on God's acting for the sake of his people lies at the heart of Isaiah's ministry: God will glorify himself in the renewed and increased glory of his people, and that future is worth living for now (ESV Study Bible)”
62.4 This verse promises a reversal of the devastation described in Isaiah 32.14 “The once-crowded city is abandoned. Hill and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there.” and 64.10 “Your chosen cities have become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin.”
62.6-12 “The great homecoming is viewed from both the centre and the circumference; from the waiting Jerusalem (6–9, 11b–12) and the far-flung exiles (10–11a). Each of these settings provides its picture of the human preparations appropriate to God’s decisive moment. 6–8 God first gives certain people a concern for Zion like his own (cf. vs 6–7 with v 1), summoning these watchmen (cf. 56:9–12.) and remembrancers (the word here for you who call; see on 63:7) to importunate prayer (cf. Lk. 11:8; 18:7), which he encourages with explicit promises (7–8). 10 Secondly, he calls on those who are in bondage to claim their liberty, and to give a lead to the distant nations from whom and with whom he would bring Zion’s citizens home (New Bible Commentary).”
Isaiah 63
63.1 The last clause in verse one is translated “mighty to save” in the ESV Bible. (you might find it interesting that the popular song by that title does use biblical language—if not totally in context.) The messiah here is depicted as a warrior. It is understandable that when the true messiah came, that people were expecting a figure like Alexander the Great. However, Jesus came to defeat the powers of death...not conquer the gentiles.
63.9 “In all their affliction he was afflicted. God was sorrowful over the suffering of his people (even though it was their own sin that brought it on) (ESV Study).” The connection here is to verse 8, where he calls Israel his children. It is hard for a father to see his son be punished...even if it is done for his own good.
63.10-11 God's has been generously self-giving to Israel. However, they “grieve the Holy Spirit” with their rebellion. “This attributes some personal characteristics to the Holy Spirit and is one of the hints the OT gives of the distinct, personal existence of the Holy Spirit within the being of God (ESV Study).” This verse also gives the context for grieving the Holy Spirit in the NT. Paul says in Ephesians 4.30-32 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.”
63.17 “God did not force his people to sin but, in discipline, gave them over to the power of their sins (ESV Study).”
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