Devotions

A Light to the Nations

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God used the Babylonian Empire to bring judgement on Israel, but not for Israel’s destruction, it was for correction. But the Babylonians abused them and what we read here coincides with Daniel 5:26 “This is the explanation of the matter: ‘Mene’—God has numbered your kingdom and brought an end to it”. This isn’t the end though, it is just the beginning. There is one coming, “a light to the nations”, that will restore and lead and set free so that we and all creation will in Isaiah 49:13 Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth! 

Your Wisdom and Your Knowledge Led You Astray

Isaiah 47:1–15
Babylon was a strong kingdom and God used them to carry out his judgement on Israel but it was not that Babylon was so great and it certainly was not so they could abuse and oppress the people of Israel. in

Isaiah 47:6 I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance, and I gave them into your hand. You did not give them mercy; on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

Instead, the people of Babylon said in Isaiah 47:7 “I shall be an eternal mistress forever!” and in Isaiah 47:8 “I am, and besides me there is no one. I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know the loss of children”. They used and depended on in Isaiah 47:9 “many sorceries … the power of your great enchantments” and in Isaiah 47:13 “those who see the stars, divide the celestial sphere, who inform by new moons—from those things that are coming upon you” and also in Isaiah 47:15 “those with whom you have labored, your traders from your youth”.

Babylon was so sure of themselves, they didn’t need to concern themselves with those lowly people they had taken captive, they had the power, the astrologers (future tellers), the wisdom, the knowledge, the experience to rule the world. As the Lord said in

Isaiah 47:10 And you felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me.” Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.”

So the Lords judgement on Babylon is pronounced in Isaiah 47:9 “And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you completely”. And the Lord goes on to say in Isaiah 47:11 “And evil shall come upon you … And disaster shall fall upon you … And ruin shall come on you suddenly”.

They Lean on the God of Israel

Isaiah 48:1–11
There are those in Isaiah 48:1 this “house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and came out from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Yahweh, and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth and not in righteousness.

Yet God has called them so for his own name has brought them through what Isaiah 48:10 calls “the furnace of misery”. They were no different than many through the ages who claimed the name of the Lord to justify whatever they wanted to do.

I Have Not Spoken in Secrecy

Isaiah 48:12–22
From the beginning, the Lord met with man in the garden. Who he, the Lord, is can be clearly seen in the things that are made (Romans 1) and the Lord reminds them here saying in

Isaiah 48:16–17 16 Draw near to me; hear this! I have not spoken in secrecy from the beginning; from the time it came to be, there I have been; And now the Lord Yahweh has sent me and his Spirit.” 17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, leads you in the way you should go.

And then there is the Lords lament in Isaiah 48:18 “O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!” 

I Will Give You as a Light to the Nations

Isaiah 49:1–7
Still, the Lord is lifting Israel and will bring salvation to them, and even more He will bring salvation to the nations through them. But look at what he says in Isaiah 49:6a “It is trivial for you to be a servant for me, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel”. Raising up the “tribes of Jacob” and bringing back “the preserved of Israel” doesn’t seem like a small task. With the fragmentation and dispersion, how could you? But he calls this a trivial task.

There is a much greater task ahead in Isaiah 49:6b “I will give you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the end of the earth.” and for much of what we read through Isaiah, the Lord is talking to the nation of covenant, the children of Israel, but now, he is talking about the one, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Here, a little deeper understanding is needed for this cryptic translation so in the “Hebrew, “the despised of soul,” that is, by every soul, by all men (Is 52:14, 15; 53:3; 50:6–9; Ps 22:6) … literally, “who is an abomination to the nation” (Lu 23:18–23) … Ro 9:25), to take “nation” here collectively for the Gentile world, which also spurned Him (Ps 2:1–3; Ac 4:25–27).1 

Sing for Joy, Heavens, and Rejoice, Earth!

Isaiah 49:8–13
We have passed the judgement, the Lord is bringing his people back to their rightful place and he says in Isaiah 49:8 “Thus says Yahweh: “I have answered you … and helped you … and watched over you … and given you …”. This deliverance is for a purpose, it is “to raise up the land, to give the desolate hereditary property as an inheritance”. No longer hungry, thirsty, hot, oppressed or abused because in Isaiah 49:10 “he who takes pity on them will lead them, and he will guide them to springs of water”. And the result will be in

Isaiah 49:13 Sing for joy, heavens, and rejoice, earth! Mountains must break forth in rejoicing! For Yahweh has comforted his people, and he will take pity on his afflicted ones.

This will be the end of the groaning of creation as described in

Romans 8:19–22 For the eagerly expecting creation awaits eagerly the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its servility to decay, into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers agony together until now.

Kings Shall be Your Guardians

Isaiah 49:14–26

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Isaiah 47:1-15
  • Isaiah 48:1-22
  • Isaiah 49:1-26

References

  • 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 486). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.