This week we
will continue the study of the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
At the announcement of the good news — “Here is your God” — His great plan of salvation — the Lord challenges His people with the question: “To whom will you compare me?” to convince them to put their trust in Him alone, even though they have sinned and will suffer judgment:
40:12-14—The Incomparability of God’s Wisdom
(1) Even with the advanced technology we have today, how much do we know about the oceans, the heavens (the universe), the dust (the lands) and the mountains?
(2) With the extreme difficulties in surveying the ocean floor (to find the missing Malaysian Airline (MH370) in mind), how will you answer these questions in vv. 12-13?
(3) What is the point of asking these questions according to vv. 13-14?
(4) How then can you apply the answers from vv. 13-14 to how God deals with
40:15-20—The Incomparability of God to Nations and their Idols
(5) To what does the Lord liken the nations?
(6) What conclusion does He draw?
(7) How do idols differ from God?
40:21-26—“Do you not know? Have you not heard”
(8) What has God revealed to us through His creation and His word, concerning the following?
a. Who the Creator is (vv. 22, 26)
b. Who is enthroned to rule over all creation
c. What the shape of the earth is
d. How He has dealt with the rulers of the world
(9) How then should we answer the question in v. 25?
(10) What does it mean by the “Holy One”?
40:27-31—“Do you not know? Have you not heard” — The Application
(11) What conclusion can we draw from the above? (v. 28a)
(12) What might be the reason for Jacob’s complaint? (v. 27)
(13) What should Jacob know and do instead? Why? (vv. 28-31)
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?” (Isa. 40:12)
The disappearance of the Malaysian airliner (MH370) on March 8, 2014 is certainly a great tragedy. To this day, nine months after its disappearance, it is still nowhere to be found. However, in the beginning weeks after its disappearance, not only were the families and friends of its passengers hopeful that it could be found soon because, as some of them put it, “It is such a big object”, the authorities and scientists were equally confident that they could locate it without much difficulties. The reason for such optimism lay squarely on our confidence in our advanced technology — if we could scale the mountains of the moon and reach Mars, we could easily access the depths of any ocean on earth.
However, as days
turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, such optimism has given way to
the following reality:
“Vast, unknown spaces still exist for humans to explore. Of course, outer space is still mostly unknown. But some of the most interesting and hardest to reach places are much closer to home. They are on the ocean floor. Only a tiny fraction of the ocean floor has ever been studied. Why? Humans can’t travel deep below the water’s surface without special vehicles. The pressure of the water is too great. Total darkness and extreme cold make it even more difficult.”
(Earth Science in Maine)
As we continue to pray for the search of the missing plane and the families of its passengers, we should also learn, once again, to humble ourselves before the Creator God, to confess our arrogance, because “Before Him, all nations are as nothing” and in our sinful state, we “are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing” (40:17).
The message of God’s incomparability continues with the emphasis on Him being the Master of human history: He has raised (or stirred up) a forthcoming world power from the East who is identified as Cyrus, the king of Persia in 44:28 and 45:1.
41:1-7—A Challenge to the Nations to Judge
(1) In the Assyrian Era, the Lord, through Isaiah, clearly prophesies about the rise of Cyrus. The time of Isaiah would be followed by the era of Babylonians and then that of the Persians (i.e. the prophecy came more than 150 years before the fact):
a. What will Cyrus do to the nations of the world? (vv. 2-3)
b. How will the nations respond to the invasion by Cyrus? (vv. 5-7)
(2) Does history, like the rise of Cyrus, happen by accident? (v. 4)
(3) How does this demonstrate Who God is? (v. 4)
(4) How should such a fact silence these idolatrous nations?
(5) How should such a fact silence all the gods and idols in the world?
41:8-20—A Comfort to Israel: As the nations fear and tremble at the sight of Cyrus, the Lord asks Israel not to be afraid and gives them the following reasons:
(6) Vv. 8-10—They are different from the nations:
a. Who are they to God? (vv. 8-9)
b. Why should they not fear? (v. 10)
(7) Vv. 11-16—God is their help
a. What will happen to those who rage against them? (vv. 11-12)
b. Why? (v. 13)
c. What will Israel become to their enemies? (vv. 15-16)
d. Why then does the Lord still call Jacob a “worm” and Israel “little”? (v. 14)
(8) Vv. 17-20—Poor and Needy
a. How may we understand the spiritual condition of Israel in their sufferings under God’s judgment?
b. What does the promise that “the Lord will answer them” imply?
c. What does the imagery of vv. 18-19 depict of the blessings they will experience?
d. What is the purpose of God’s miraculous work in answer to their prayers? (v. 20)
41:21-29—A challenge to the Nations and Their Idols
(9) What does the Lord challenge the idols to do in vv. 22-23?
(10) What is the message behind this challenge? (v. 24)
(11) The Lord points out that He is the one who announces and causes the rise of Cyrus (as judgment to the nations) and foretells the sending of a messenger to bear good news of salvation to Zion (see 40:9):
a. In both cases, how does He differ from the idols?
b. In both cases, how does Christianity differ from other religions?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“ 'Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,’ declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Isa. 41:14)
As the Lord continues His message of “comfort” (40:1) to Israel, He urges them repeatedly not to be afraid in chapter 41 (vv. 10, 13, and 14), and the reasons He gives are very moving and they include:
- Israel is special because He has chosen them as His servant and they are the descendants of His friend, Abraham (41:8).
- In spite of their sufferings in the hand of the nations because of their sins, He is still with them and He is still their God (41:10).
- He will take hold of their right hand, i.e. to be their strength (41:13).
The message of comfort continues with God’s promise to make them into a “threshing sledge” that will crush their enemies into chaff, who are as strong and mighty as mountains and hills (41:15-16). However, such a promise is preceded by pointing out that they are “worm Jacob” and “little Israel” (41:14). In other words, it is never their strength that conquers their enemies; it is always the doing of the Lord.
These days, as we seek to win the world for Christ, we like to think that we need more Christians to be among the successful, the powerful and the learned, not knowing that by ourselves, we remain “worm Jacob and little Israel”. If we are able to do anything for Christ, it is by the work of the Holy Spirit without whose help, we are more a liability to Kingdom work than an asset!
Now, the “servant” who will bring justice to the nations is being introduced in a bit more detail:
42:1-9—The Servant
(1) What are the things being introduced concerning this “servant” and what is His mission, according to v.1?
(2) Normally we associate the bringing forth of justice with authority and power, but what is being emphasized about this servant in vv. 2-3 and why?
(3) In what will the world (as symbolized by the islands) put their hope and why? (v. 4)
(4) In emphasizing He is the one who has called this servant, what does the Lord emphasize about Himself and why? (v. 5)
(5) The mission of this servant is so unlike any of the servants of God in the Old Testament (vv. 6-7). How is this mission fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ in the following terms?
a. A (new) covenant (Lk. 22:20)
b. Light for the Gentiles (Matt. 4:13-16)
c. Making the blind see, freeing captives and releasing the captives (Matt. 11:5; Lk. 4:21)
42:10-13—Call to Praise
(6) Who are the people being called to give praise? (see Note below)
(7) Why are they called to sing a “new” song?
42:14-17—Time to Act
(8) Why has the Lord been quiet? Why has He held Himself back and not unleashed His judgment? (Exod. 34:6)
(9) To whom will the Lord show mercy and to whom will He judge? (vv. 16-17)
42:18-25—Israel, the Blind Servant
(10) Why does the Lord call
(11) What is God's desire which this servant has failed to honor? (v. 21, 24)
(12) How dull is the heart of this servant? (v. 25)
(13) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Note:
According to Keil and Delitzsch, Sela is the rock-city of
“He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” (Isa. 42:2-3)
In introducing His “servant”, the Messiah, and His mission in a bit more detail, the Lord emphasizes three times that His mission is to bring justice on earth (vv. 1, 3 and 4). It may seem odd to us, because we would think that the emphasis of His mission should be on salvation. The reason why we may have such a misunderstanding is because we have been influenced by the world’s definition of justice.
We normally think of justice in terms of fairness, impartiality, being right or correct, and we also associate it with the giving of reward or penalty as deserved. This is, indeed, very close to the definition given by Webster Dictionary as it defines it as “the use of authority and power to uphold what is right, just and lawful”.
As a result, the symbol of the administration of justice is often depicted by a goddess (often blind-folded), holding a set of scales and a sword.
However, Webster defines justice beyond this as it refers to justice as “the quality of being righteous”. Now, that is closer to the biblical notion of justice. In biblical terms, justice obviously entails what Webster has first defined, but the Bible is even more concerned with the establishment of a people that will possess “the quality of being righteous”, and this is more than the doing of the right thing, but intrinsically entails a right relationship with God, without which no one is righteous for no one can do the right thing (Eccl. 7:20).
As a result, the New Testament word for justice in Greek is often translated as being righteous or justified, and that is the core mission of the Messiah/Servant in Isaiah 42.
Unlike the world, He is not to bring forth justice by authority and power, or by protest, demonstration, yelling or screaming. Isaiah says, “He will not shout, or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets” (42:2). No, it is not a sign of compromise, tolerance of sin, inaction or timidity. Rather, it depicts who He is — a Messiah of gentleness and meekness (Matt. 11:28-29).
If we understand that the real enemy of justice is sin — yours and mine, we would dare not call for justice, because if you and I get what we deserve, we should be in hell! You see, those bruised reeds and smoldering wicks are not so much victims of injustice, but doers of injustice. We sinners have already been weighted down and oppressed by sin like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick, waiting for eternal damnation. Instead of exercising His power and authority to judge and punish, Christ has come to suffer the consequence of our injustice and died on the cross, so that by believing in Him, we may be given His righteousness (Rom. 3:22).
This is God’s kind of justice!
After the introduction of the Messiah who shall bring forth justice, the oracle returns to the “fear not” motif of the previous chapter:
43:1-7—Fear Not
(1) V. 1 and v. 7 serve as an “inclusio”. What is being repeated by the two verses and what is its significance?
(2) In
assuring