以赛亚书

Meditative Reflection
The Purpose of Prophecy

“Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians!” (Isa. 48:20)

Time and again, in Isaiah’s oracles of comfort to Judah, the message of God being the One Who has caused all things to come to pass just as He has foretold is repeated many times, and Isaiah emphasizes that this certainly sets God apart from the idols. Unfortunately, the people of God had failed to admit them (48:6).

However, God has not given up on them, and at the time of Isaiah, God has allowed them to be oppressed by the Assyrians so as to refine them, but God has yet to commit them to total destruction (48:9-10). In an effort to draw them back to Himself, the Lord now allows them to listen to “new things” which concern the total destruction of their next oppressor, the Babylonians in the hands of Persia (48:14-15). Of course, if they had not paid attention to past fulfilled prophecies, how would they pay attention to things that have yet to come! Therefore, I agree with most commentators, these “new things” are meant for those who eventually ended up in exiles in Babylon, so that in their plight, they would have hope and might even repent.

However, I do believe that this is a message for all times — for those in Judah who tended to put their hope in Egypt for their deliverance from the Assyrians, for those in subsequent exiles, and also for all of us today. The reason is, the purpose of foretelling the future destruction of Babylon is made plain in v.20 and that is to “Leave Babylon, flee the Babylonians”, and this command is not just addressed to Judah, but to be proclaimed “to the ends of the earth” (48:20).

Here, “Babylon” is not the Babylon of the 6^th & 7^th centuries BC, but the symbol of the “wicked” power of the world that is bent on defying God and His reign. The true meaning of this command is brought out by the book of Revelation:

“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit…Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven and God has remembered her crimes.” (Rev. 18:2, 4-5).

As we are approaching the fulfillment of these prophecies of the End-times, we should not be just “going here and there to increase knowledge” about the signs of the Lord’s return (Dan. 12:4), but rather, we should heed the same warning to disassociate ourselves with the wicked ways of the world, and “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Rom. 13:13-14). This is the proper attitude of studying biblical prophecies.

Meditative Reflection
Can a Mother Forget Her Baby?

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;” (Isa. 49:15-16)

Isaiah 49:15 has to be one of the most touching verses in the Bible as God uses the image of a nursing mother to convey His love for us. Allow me to share with you Francis de Sales’ thoughts in this respect:

“Comparison of the love little children have for their mothers should not be rejected because of its pure, innocent character. Consider, then a beautiful little child to whom the seated mother offers her breast. It throws itself forcibly into her arms and gathers up and entwines all its little body on that beloved bosom and breast. See how its mother in turn takes it in, clasps it, fastens it so to speak to her bosom, joins her mouth to its mouth and kisses it. Watch again how that little babe is allured by its mother’s caresses, and how on its part it cooperates in this union of its mother and itself. As much as it possibly can, it fastens and presses itself to its mother’s breast and face. It seems as if it wants to bury and hide itself completely in the beloved bosom from which it came. At such a moment, there is a perfect union; it is but a single union, yet it proceeds from both mother and child, although in such wise that it depends entirely on the mother. She drew the child to herself. She first clasped it in her arms and pressed it to her bosom. The child’s strength was never sufficient to clasp and hold itself so close to its mother. Yet on its own part the poor little one does as much as it can and joins itself with all its strength to its mother’s bosom. It not only consents to the sweet union its mother makes but with all its heart contributes its own feeble efforts. I call them feeble efforts because they are so weak that they resemble attempts at union rather than actual union.

Thus, too, our Lord shows the most loving breast of His divine love to a devout soul, draws it wholly to Himself, gathers it in and, as it were, enfolds all its powers within the bosom of His more than motherly comfort.”

(Christian Meditations, 118).

Meditative Reflection
The Power of the Gospel

“I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” (Isa. 51:16)

As the Lord reveals the eternal salvation that would be brought about by His Servant (Christ), He encouraged Judah not to be afraid of their enemies, whether past (Egypt, the Rahab) or future (the Assyrians and the Babylonians). Apart from reiterating the fact that these nations which do not acknowledge the Lord will be totally destroyed, the Lord points out their glorious role in the establishment of the heavens and the earth, because He has put His words in their mouths and covered them with the shadow of His hand and will call Zion “My people” (51:16).

Of course, this is the spiritual Zion that He is referring to which will be comprised of all believers who have taken God’s word of the gospel to heart (51:7) and proclaim it. While the heavens and earth to be established, as Young points out, would ultimately be the New Heavens and the New Earth, Calvin sees also another dimension to it:

“(T)he true meaning appear to me to be this, that heaven and earth are said to be restored by the doctrine of salvation; because “in Christ”, as Paul says, ‘are collected all things that are either in heaven or in earth’ (Eph. 1:10). Since the fall of the first man we see nothing but frightful confusion, which troubles even the dumb creatures, and makes them suffer, in some respects, the punishment of our sins; and consequently, that confusion cannot be repaired, but by Christ. Since therefore the whole face of the world is disfigured by frightful desolation, there are good grounds for saying that godly teachers renovate the world, as if God formed heaven and earth anew by their hand. And hence it is evident how great is the heinousness of our guilt, which has been followed by such dreadful confusion in the nature of things. Thus, ‘the heavens’ are said to be ‘planted and the earth to be founded’ when the Lord establishes His Church by the word; and He does this by the agency of ministers, whom He directs by His Spirit, and protects against hidden enemies and various dangers, that they may effectually accomplish what He has enjoined.”

(Calvin’s Commentary, Isaiah Vol. III, 83).

Meditative Reflection
Clothe in Beautiful Garments

“Awake, awake. Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion. Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments...” (Isa. 52:1)

I was imagining myself as one of those Israelites in captivity, living in Babylon in exile, with their homes totally devastated, loved ones killed and their country destroyed. Reading the words of Isaiah written more than 100 years prior, foretelling and forewarning the horrible judgment of God, one has to feel not only guilty but would also be in despair. Indeed, they are like lying in dust (52:2), as good as dead; like drunkard, too drunk to walk home, except that it was not from the drinking of wine, but the cup of God’s wrath (51: 17-18).

Now, Isaiah calls us to “awake, awake!” (51:17; 52:1). The natural response is, “How can we?”

The answer is clear; it is indeed impossible for Zion to awake herself, but this call to awake is preceded by the call to the “arm of God” to awake (51:9), and the Lord responds by baring His holy arm in the sight of all the nations (52:10). The baring of God’s arm is the manifestation of His might — while no one would guide His drunk children, He will (51:20); while Zion cannot awake on her own, He will pick her up; while she is in captive, He will go before them to lead them out of captivity (52:12).

This is also the picture of salvation for all mankind. As sinners, we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), worse than being too drunk to walk; we are slaves to our sins, unable to free ourselves (Rom. 6:16; 7:18). But God has awakened, in the sense that He has acted through His Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, who has “sprinkled many nations” (52:15) with His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. As we believe in Christ, we have also been sprinkled and “made alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:5). Now we, who were as dead as lying in dust have clothed ourselves with the beautiful garments of Christ, marked by holiness, as God reigns in our life (52:1, 7). No, it is not our doing, but God’s; it is not our beauty, but Christ’s.

Meditative Reflection
The Suffering Servant

“Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isa. 53:1)

Most commentators agree that the passage about this Suffering Servant should begin with 52:13 in that as much as He will eventually be exalted (52:13), He will be despised and rejected because of His appearance — so disfigured beyond that of any man, so marred beyond human likeness (52:14), and chapter 53 then continues to detail His suffering.

Very likely, 52:14 is the description of Christ on the cross, after being beaten savagely, especially with stripes that bore metal hooks, and nailed brutally to the cross. One can imagine that on the cross, His head was already covered with blood that came from wearing the thorny crown, together with the extreme exhaustion caused by a night of interrogation and beating, preceded by hours of struggle in prayers in the garden of Gethsemane — He had to be totally spent, and “disfigured” would be an apt description.

However, His suffering did not begin only at the cross. Isaiah testifies that He is
“a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering”. While we know very little of the life of Jesus before His last three years of ministry, I believe that sorrows must have been a part of His adult life — perhaps because of poverty as a carpenter, but most likely because of the burden that our sins had placed on Him — seeing how His creation had been marred by sins and all the people around Him continue to be like sheep that “have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (53:6). This Creator God had to be burdened by what He saw.

Certainly, His silent submission during His arrest and trial, like “a sheep before his shearers” (53:7) added to the disappointment of those who might wish to crown Him as king earlier, but the people’s despise and rejection of Him did not begin only at the cross. Many pictures depict our Lord as a handsome man with charisma, but Isaiah also testifies that even in His early days, He “grew up…like a tender shoot, and a root out of a dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” (53:2)

If you were to paint a picture of Christ, how will you depict Him?

I had struggled with such a thought for a long, long time, until one day, I was walking past a man on the street. I did not see his face at first, but just as I was passing him, he turned. Honestly, I had never seen such an ugly, disfigured face in my life, and I just could not help myself but to quickly turn and avoid looking at him. At that very moment, these words of Isaiah came to me, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering — like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (53:3).

That day, I went home and cried.

“Lord, what have you become…all because of my sin!”

Meditative Reflection
God’s ways are Higher

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:8-9)

Chapters 54 and 55 of Isaiah contain some marvellous messages of God’s compassion and love, as the Lord calls Israel to return to Him.

In 54:5, He tells Israel that He is their “husband”. It is unthinkable that the “Maker”, “the Lord Almighty”, “the Holy One of Israel”, “the God of all the earth” calls Himself their husband. This conveys the unfailing love of God who keeps His covenant with Israel as a covenant between husband and wife, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed” (54:10). What a commitment fit for a marriage vow!

Then in 55:1-2, the glorious invitation is given to all who are thirsty (and hungry) to come and drink of the eternal fountain and eat of the eternal bread which is Christ: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn. 6:35).

Given their wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts (55:7), Israel probably think that this is too good to be true, and so the Lord assures the certainty of His promise with this marvelous reminder of who He is, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).

Of course, His ways and thoughts are so unlike ours in that irrespective of how wicked and unrighteous we have been; He will always pardon freely as we return to Him (55:7). This is what He says about His plans for us: they are “to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).

My 28-year old niece was dying of an incurable disease; she struggled with why God would let her die so young. Then a week before her death, she received a card from her pastor on which was written these words from Isaiah 55:8-9. She asked me to read them and said, “Uncle, I liked these words”. As she put her trust in these words of God, I believe they “will not return empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it” (55:11).

Meditative Reflection
Salvation for All

“The Sovereign Lord declares — He who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” (Isa. 56:8)

From chapter 40 of Isaiah onwards, we read passage after passage of words of comfort, as God seeks to give hope to Israel who is about to be punished for their sins in the hands of the Babylonians. These messages are obviously not only meant for the people in Isaiah’s time, but those who would end up in exile, those who would return to Jerusalem because of the decree of Cyrus, and also their descendants — that include those who would live in first Christian century and beyond. And, that will also include Gentiles like you and me. However, given the repeated focus on how special Israel is to God, the message of salvation can easily be misconstrued as the privilege or even monopoly of Israel. Certainly, bits and pieces of hints that this salvation will also be extended to the Gentiles do surface from time to time in these chapters, but none is more explicit than the message in Isaiah 56.

Chapter 56 makes it plain that everyone is equal before the Lord. While the Apostle Paul affirms such equality with these words, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:28-29), Isaiah hammers home this truth citing eunuchs and foreigners as examples.

Why are eunuchs and foreigners being cited as examples? The reason is obvious: because they are the ones who are excluded from the assembly of God according to the Law of Moses.

Eunuchs are excluded with these instructions: “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deut. 23:1).

On the other hand, foreigners are not explicitly excluded, except the Ammonites and Moabites, while the Edomites and Egyptians may be included under certain conditions (Deut. 23:3-8). But just the same, any foreigners who may wish to worship the Lord, either as seekers (God-fearers) or proselytes, could at best worship at the “Court of the Gentiles”.

In other words, since they cannot be part of the assembly of God, they are obviously not part of the “covenant”. Chapter 56 completely shatters any such barriers. Twice, the Lord affirms that they are part of His covenant (56:4, 6).

While the Law might prevent eunuchs to enter into the assembly and they lament their inability to continue to leave a name for their fathers, they now can go into the spiritual temple of God (which is God Himself) and have “a name better than sons and daughters”. In fact, it will be an “everlasting name”, which is eternal life (56:5).

While the foreigners might not be able to enter the temple of Jerusalem and are confined to the “Court of the Gentiles”, they now enter into the very heart of the Holy Mountain — God’s House of Prayers, because His house will be called “a house of prayer for all nations” (56:7).

That is the power of the gospel which breaks down all the walls that separate God and men, and thus men and men. Indeed, we all have equal access to God in Jesus Christ.