Isaiah 40-66: Out with The Old, In with The New

Hey everyone - its Erin!  I have the great privilege of writing the post today for the second half of Isaiah. I'm not going to lie, it is a hugely intimidating task for me. Isaiah is not a cakewalk, right?! But I'm excited, too, because these past few weeks I have learned so much through this book which I had avoided for so many years.

REVIEW
One of the first things you'll learn about the book of Isaiah if you study it at any length is that it seems to easily split into two parts. The first part includes chapters 1-39, the second contains chapters 40-66. Matt has been talking about that first part (often called "the first book of Isaiah") for a few weeks now. Here is a summary of what we learned in Isaiah 1-39:

• God is going to judge Israel AND the nations for their unfaithfulness
• Despite this coming judgment, God reveals glimmers of hope for BOTH Israel AND the nations
• God's ultimate desire is to USE Israel to BRING hope and salvation to the nations
• Israel has consistently failed in its mission to reflect God to the world

We believe that Isaiah compiled these first 39 chapters during his time prophesying in Jerusalem. These chapters offer an unfortunate glimpse into the psyche of the Israelites. No matter what punishment was threatened upon them, or what proof of God's incomparable greatness - they were NOT going to turn from the idols and trust in God alone. It's a tragic story, really, and at the conclusion of chapter 39 we are left with a gaping hole in the plan and an obvious question on our hearts:

If Israel won't cooperate with God to bring hope and salvation to the world, how will God do it?

Chapters 40-66 will answer this pivotal question for the Israelites, and for us.

THE FORMER THINGS
But there is one thing we must grasp before we dive in. As I said earlier, the first section was compiled before the Israelites were sent into exile, while Isaiah was still prophesying in Jerusalem. Much of the foretelling within chapters 1-39 was regarding the Israelites soon coming period of exile and the subsequent judging of the nations (especially the judging of Babylon by Cyrus and the Medo-Persians!). Then there are a handful of verses that suggest that after Isaiah recorded the words of the first 39 chapters, he had his disciples "bind up" those words to be opened after the prophesies had been fulfilled (you'll find those in 8:16, 30:8, and 34:16).

Further proof of this fact lies in the opening of chapter 40 itself. There you read these words:

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins."  Isaiah 40:1-2

These verses indicate that the punishment for Israel's sin, the same punishment foretold in chapters 1-39, has been accomplished! Time has passed, and God's words through the prophet Isaiah have come to fulfillment.

When I read verses like Isaiah 40:1-2, I think how unbelievably life-giving those words must have sounded to the Israelites when they heard them! What great encouragement to receive from God! But if we assume that God's chosen people received those words with that attitude, we would be wrong. Instead of finding greater faith in God's abilities, the Israelites were doubting God's presence and activity in their lives altogether. We see this in Chapter 41:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?"  Isaiah 41:27

Now, we should cut the Israelites a little slack. At the time of these complaints they were in exile, under oppressive rule, and the promises of God must have felt like lightyears away. The Israelites felt that their way was hidden from God because the path that they were on didn't line up with what they thought God would do. Interesting, isn't it though? God was doing exactly what he said he'd do (judging Israel and the nations for their sin... Isaiah 6:11-13, 13:17, etc).

So as we read through chapters 40-49 of Isaiah we see an unfortunate pattern develop. Israel continually puts God on trial, and God continuously offers proof of His faithfulness and able-ness. We know that God is able because of something that we see referred to as the 'former things' (Is. 41:21-22, 42:9, 43:9, 43:18-19).

These former things were the prophesies foretold in the first section of Isaiah that dealt with the punishment for Israel's unfaithfulness (Isaiah 42:23-25; 43:26-28) and the sins of the nations (Isaiah 41:2-4). As we read Isaiah 40-49 we understand that GOD accomplished these 'former things'. That is an important point to make because the temptation might have been for the Israelites - and the other nations - to attribute the fulfillment of these 'former things' to other false gods. But throughout chapters 40-49 God makes it clear that He alone caused these 'former things' to come about!  And now that He has shown Himself faithful and able, there is a 'new thing' waiting to be done. And based on the fulfillment of the 'former things', Israel now should trust God for the 'new things'.

THE NEW THING
I don't know about you - but at this point in the story I am really ready for a new thing!  It gets old reading so many accounts of Israel being so easily torn from the God who called them out of darkness and made them His very own (even as much as I have to admit that I would have been no more faithful than them...).

So what is this 'new thing' that God is going to do? How will he bring hope and salvation to the world in light of Israel's inability to stick to His plan and trust in Him alone?

God will accomplish the 'new thing' through His servant. At first glance one might assume that the 'servant' is Israel itself (and in fact, at first it is...41:8-9, 42:19 etc.) but as Israel shows its inability to trust in and follow after God, it becomes clear that Israel will be sidelined and another servant will come to fulfill its role.

And we know who this servant is, don't we? Yes. Here is where the 'Sunday School answer' fits quite nicely. Jesus! Jesus will be the true and faithful Israel (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus will trust in God alone. Jesus will refuse to give in to the cultural tendency to worship anything and everything. Jesus is THE perfect servant.

And what will this servant Jesus do?

Well, bring hope and salvation to the ENTIRE world!

"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."  Isaiah 49:6

And so here we are. Once again, we have seen the fulfillment of God's plan. Jesus did come and perfectly fulfill what Israel was meant to do and be. Jesus did make a way for every person and every nation to be restored to our Creator.

THE BOTTOM LINE
As we bring our study of the book of Isaiah to a close, I think there are a lot of practical applications for our own lives. This might be a confusing and overwhelming book, but I believe that the principle is clear:

Trust God - and God alone. He is faithful, and He is able.

Sometimes we go through periods of time when it feels like God is distant. We experience death, or pain, or betrayal, or stress... The list of heartbreaking things that happen in this fallen world sometimes seems endless. But we have this eternal hope: the same God who spoke the heavens into existence and who knit you together in your mother's womb will ultimately win this war. He will accomplish every single thing He promised and if you trust in Him and follow Him with your whole heart there is nothing - no single thing - that could keep you from Him.

In Isaiah we see the ultimate judgement for sin. We see how God really feels when His people turn their backs on Him and put their trust in created things...

But we also see the unparalleled vision of an incredible God who will stop at nothing to finish what He started - in this world, and in you.

So we find hope in Isaiah. Hope and confidence in our God.

No matter what road you walk, my prayer today is that you would trust that God is faithful and able.