Isaiah 22

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Jerusalem was a city built on a hill. On the grounds of the temple mount, God had made the court of that sacred space to be a place where the nations would come for prayer. This center of worship was to be a light to the world. But instead of being a mountaintop of insight, she had become a “valley of vision.”

In the midst of statements against Edom, Arabia, Assyria, Babylon and other nations, God had a word for Jerusalem. She too had done evil and would face discipline from the Lord. God called His people to weep and mourn about this great city. Instead of a holy humility there was a strange arrogance among some of the leaders and a hedonistic fatalism among others. Even a high official like Shebna, the steward, was seeking great things for himself in the face of impending national disaster. He would be replaced by a man who would have more concern for the good of the people.

The true worshipers of the Lord should have put on sackcloth and humbled themselves before the Lord. But they would not look to the Almighty who was the source of the discipline they faced. God would eventually put an end to the covenant community. He would one day begin a new assembly where the faithful would be connected to the One who is uniquely the Light of the World and who calls us to be the real Jerusalem, a city set on a hill.

We have a truly great man over the household of God today. Jesus Christ is the sinless leader of the Lord's church. Everything that He has done has been accomplished with a full heart for those He came to save. He has opened a door to heaven that no one can shut. He is a pathway of hope for all who will repent and believe.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Sovereign Lord, You are full of love and mercy for Your children. Help us to see Your discipline in light of Your great plan of grace. Help us to know You in the deepest valley of trial. Make our time of devastation and destruction to be a valley of vision. Teach us to see Your hand in any day of trouble, that we might rightly profit from every difficulty. You can surely throw off the oppressor in a moment. You love Your elect. You must be working out some great purpose of grace. We long for the fullest expression of Your Son’s reign over all His people.

Isaiah 21

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There is a God who is aware of every place and every time in fullest detail. His knowledge is far beyond ours. He does not learn by conducting an investigation. He knows as the One who decrees. He is the God of Israel, but He speaks through His prophet to the nations of Babylon, Edom, and Arabia. He has a word for their future.

In Isaiah 21 the Lord's ambassador began with a message for Babylon. The prophecy indicated that they would be greatly distressed by an approaching army, and would be defeated by a foreign power. After announcing the coming of enemies through the eyes of a watchman, and after pronouncing the fall of Babylon, Isaiah wrote again of the source of his prophecy. This oracle came from the Lord of hosts—the God of Israel.

Briefer messages of future difficulties were given to Edom and to Arabia. The word regarding Arabia indicated a clear and very imminent destruction, while the message concerning Edom was inconclusive, inviting the hearer to come back at a later date for further inquiry. The chapter ends with one more reminder that these sure words came from the Lord God of Israel, who had spoken definitively.

In the vast array of lands near and far and the many centuries that come and go, is there anyone who really knows the future? In the rise and fall of nations and empires through wars and rumors of wars, is there anyone who truly understands? The Almighty One of Israel is the Lord of armies. The watchman may see the sand of the deserts raised up to the skies through the galloping of horses coming through the wilderness. He can sound the alarm, and call warriors to take up their shields in the sudden panic of the most unwelcome evidence of impending doom. The Lord God is not surprised. He has made His decree, and He shall accomplish all His holy will.

It is this great God of Israel who was willing to humble Himself for our sake. He came as a servant for our salvation. He was obedient even to the point of death on the cross. What about the kingdom that He established? Jesus will reign over a new world forever and ever. Even now, if all appears to be lost, the faithful gospel watchman is able to take God's sure word of truth and announce the dawn of an eternal realm. The first glimpse of resurrection has already come. The full day of God's glorious light will soon arrive.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Our Father, help us to embrace the truth of trial and tribulation. We live in an era that You speak of as labor pains. How are we to rejoice in tribulation? Help us to see the bigger picture of Your plan. We are like those who have been troubled from difficulty in every direction. Teach us to embrace suffering as a gift, and to be willing to be remade during a time when the flesh has become weak.

Isaiah 20

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In the world of the Ancient Near East, public nakedness was a reminder of the poverty and humiliation that could come upon a people if they were carried away as captives by their enemies. In Isaiah 20, the prophet gives the message of God not through mere words, but through a living parable of the exile to come. Assyria would soon be the instrument of God's judgment upon many nations. Isaiah would be a sign to Israel's neighbors of this impending disaster. The prophet was to walk around naked and barefoot for three years as a visual warning to all who witnessed this prophetic oracle.

It was tempting for small city states to look for aid from a larger empire, hoping to survive in the shadow of their strength. Many wanted to put their trust in Egypt or Cush, but there would be no real help from these powers to the south. Neither of them would be of any use in preventing the coming assault, since they too would be taken as prisoners by the Assyrians.

The most significant danger that the nations of the world face today is the coming wrath of the Almighty. Though people may be gripped by fear of some earthly enemy, nothing is more important than discovering the way that we can have peace with God. As we face the prospect of divine judgment, the confidence of the church is in the Son of God alone. All who have placed their trust in Him are called to watch and work until He returns to claim us as His beloved children.

“What is your only hope in life and in death?” The Heidelberg Catechism gives us the best answer: “I am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior.” We find our comfort in Jesus Christ. He has begun to lead us out of the darkness of self-sufficiency. We also reject any misplaced trust in some other powerful entity among the power brokers of the world. The God who made the heavens and the earth has granted us perfect deliverance from all that assails us through His mercy extended to us in Jesus our Redeemer.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, You will accomplish all of Your holy will. You have used Your prophets to bring us signs of Your judgment against the sins of the world. You have used these same men to speak boldly of the hope that is to be found in Christ alone. We will not trust in the power of men. Thank You for the deliverance that is ours in Your Son.

Isaiah 19

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Every land has something that is the pride and glory of the people. The ancient Egyptians boasted in the River Nile. Her waters were necessary for the prosperity of the economy. Without the overflow of the Nile, the fields would have no water and would produce no grain.

Who had power over the Nile? If some enemy nation could dry up the river, Egypt would be brought to her knees. God Himself would bring this great trouble upon Egypt. What would be the result of this devastation? Many would eventually humble themselves before Him in the midst of their great suffering.

The Lord was stronger than any local divinities. All the Egyptian idols would be unable to keep the Nile flowing. The people of Egypt and her proudest leaders would also be brought low. God is above all kings and counselors. God can bring a nation into confusion in a moment if He turns the advice of wise men into foolishness. Though they may run to their idols or consult the dead, all of it will be for nothing if the Lord has decided to bring that nation down.

Trouble would come to Egypt from the hand of Israel's God. This was not very surprising to anyone who knew the heritage of His dealings with Egypt. God's people were slaves there for hundreds of years. They cried out to the Lord and He delivered them through the hand of Moses. He humbled the Egyptians and their king with miraculous signs and wonders displayed through His chosen mediator.

The surprise of Isaiah 19 was that God had a wonderful plan of grace which would reach even the Egyptians. In the book of Exodus God made a very definite distinction between Egypt and Israel. One group was drowned in the Red Sea, the other crossed on dry land. Yet now the Lord revealed His gracious intentions for Egypt (and also for Assyria).

These nations had no right to partake in the sacrifices, the offerings, and the vows of the Jews. Yet a day was coming when both the Egyptians and the Assyrians would know the Lord and would fear Him. There would be a surprising common bond between Egyptians, Assyrians, and Jews in that future day. All three nations would worship together.

What would that worship look like? Their practices would not be some compromise of three very different systems of religious customs. They would all worship the God of Jacob and would be blessed by Him. They would also be a blessing to the earth rather than a terror to the weak. This would be an amazing miracle, and it could only be fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Though Old Testament words were used in Isaiah 19, the reality of the prophecy would only be fulfilled through New Testament events. These warring enemies would become sincere friends in their common bond of a Jewish Messiah.

One day Egypt and Assyria would be called the people of God, the work of Yahweh's hands, and the inheritance of the Lord. Many Egyptians and Assyrians would be counted among the people of the Lord. We have not yet seen the greatest fulfillment of this wonderful prophecy, but we do see indigenous church planting movements springing up in the Middle East today in the midst of great suffering.

Only God could have done this, and He is doing it now through the message of the Christian gospel. The time is long past for the nations of the world to lean on powerless idols or empty and false philosophies that only bring slavery. All the people groups of the earth have been set free, and nothing—not even the worst persecution from the enemies of the cross—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, the idols of the nations are nothing. You are the God who preserves the world and all that is in it. Men could not live without You for even a moment. Yet we love idols that should be thrown away, and we ignore You who should be worshiped. Please forgive us. We long for the day when You will save many who live in the most unexpected places. May all nations worship You together. May we know our unity in Christ, and celebrate our communion with one another in Him.

Isaiah 18

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It is a mind-expanding experience to visit another land. More than likely the people we meet there may speak, eat, and behave differently than the hometown group to which we are most accustomed. If a person is wealthy enough, he may have some first-hand experience with neighboring nations, but relatively few people have ever been to a very exotic location. If that is true in the cosmopolitan era that we live in, it was certainly the case in the Ancient Near East of Isaiah's day.

While the prophet seemed to be very aware of bordering countries, in this chapter he addresses the more remote land of Cush (southern Egypt and beyond). These people groups were far away from Israel in every way. Nonetheless the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had something to say to them. The Cushites were stirring up other surrounding nations, mighty conquerors who were “tall and smooth,” feared by others near and far. They were perhaps flexing their muscles together against the Assyrians. If they could gather the nations of the remote world of African tribes in a powerful assault against their enemies, perhaps they would prevail.

God addressed all the inhabitants of the world through His prophet. He was not threatened by the fierce alliances of men. His plans were not overturned by the strategies and capabilities of His image-bearers. He was (and is) the ultimate Gardener over all the earth, and the inhabitants of all lands were quietly pruned or rooted out as He saw fit. If He wanted to destroy a powerful nation, and give their land to the wild beasts, this was not hard for Him to do.

What was very surprising was that at the end of this chapter, the Lord announced that the tribes that Cush was joining together would instead be assembled by God to bring worship to the Lord of heaven and earth. Isaiah used the same language as he did in the beginning of the chapter to describe these distant groups. They were “a people tall and smooth.” They were “a people feared near and far.” They were “a nation mighty and conquering.” But the Lord of hosts would bring them to “Mount Zion.”

People from all over the world are streaming up the heavenly Mount Zion (Hebrews 12:22). They serve the ultimate Davidic King, the Jewish Messiah who atoned for the sins of both Jews and Gentiles. What mercy the Lord is showing to all the tribes of the earth! His plan is for the redemption of far off lands. Now we can call one another brothers and sisters in Christ though our customs may be very different from each other. What unites us is far more substantial than what may divide us. We are in Christ, and we bring our lives as tribute to the crucified and victorious Savior who led us up the holy mountain to God through His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven (Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8).

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord of the Nations, use Your ambassadors to bring the most excellent message to people who are presently far away from You. The final word for distant lands will not be wrath, though we surely all deserve to die for our rebellion. Even now people who were once so far off have been drawn near to You through Christ. They bring tribute as they worship You in Spirit and in truth. Bring Your Word to all the nations of the earth for the glory of Your holy Name.

Isaiah 17

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How long will any nation last? At the height of her power the people of every country dream that their land is going to continue forever. Yet the study of history and careful meditation upon God's Word forces us to a position of more appropriate humility. Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Meanwhile the eternal gospel will be proclaimed to the whole earth, and a very different kingdom that is not like any other enterprise in this world will be established and it will last forever.

Syria was once a great power. Her capital Damascus was mentioned in Isaiah 17. It is common for an entire country to be referred to in the Bible by the name of a leading city. Also, when the great city was taken, the whole society was humiliated. Damascus, we are told by Isaiah, will be a heap of ruins. Other important cities where many people were active in commerce and communication will now find their highest and best use to be only pasturelands for whatever flocks may remain after so many people have been destroyed. The symbols of military might will be leveled, and only a few people will remain.

We know that Damascus was captured by Tiglath-Pileser, a king of ancient Assyria, in 732 BC. Shortly after that the northern kingdom of Israel and her leading city of Samaria would also be subdued. All that would be left of Syria would be a tiny percentage of the fruitfulness that she once enjoyed. The remaining people would be like the two or three olives that have been missed on a tree after the harvesters have done a thorough job of gathering the good produce.

What would it be like to have a whole nation destroyed? All that was familiar and worthy of respect would suddenly be brought low. Only then might the people look to their Maker rather than to the idols which they once worshiped. Severe loss would perhaps help even Israel to consider once again the God of power who had created them. He alone could be the Rock of refuge for His people in a day of great trouble.

Who can stop the powerful foe when God grants him the opportunity to discipline and to destroy? His armies come like thunder, and the roar of his warriors makes an entire nation tremble. Once-mighty powers that have destroyed others are eventually brought to the day when a more terrifying adversary is able to dictate the terms of international relations. How far the mighty fall in that day!

Syria once approached Jerusalem with very proud boasts, but the Lord could make her flee in a moment before the storm of His presence. In the day of Syrian power, she had the capability of looting the people of God’s nation. But this was only by the permission of God, and only for a season of His choosing.

Though we may seem to lose for a time under the oppression of the world, the outcome of our warfare is not in doubt. Our great leader of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, has said that we will have tribulation in this world. Yet we are to be of good cheer, for He Himself has overcome the world. In His strength and faithfulness we stand fast in the gospel. The enemies of the name of Jesus cannot win forever. The love of God in Christ will be victorious.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

God of Glory, Your works of redemption are marvelous. We would not see the wonder of salvation if You had no wrath against sin. There will be a powerful display of Your righteous judgment when Your Son returns. This would have been our portion had You not rescued us from great trouble. How can we thank You enough for Your kindness to us? We do not know what to say or do. Lead us forward as Your children. Show us how to follow You.

Isaiah 16

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At various points in the prophetic oracles, God has a word to speak to the daughters of Jerusalem. What we see in the beginning of Isaiah 16 is something different. Now the fear of the daughters of Moab is described. Does God cry for Moab in her distress?

At least one daughter of Moab was a great heroine in the history of Israel. The Moabitess Ruth showed great love to her mother-in-law Naomi in the days of her deepest troubles. In a time when it would have seemed much easier to abandon Israel’s God and to cut off all ties from her deceased husband’s family, Ruth instead was extremely loyal to her mother-in-law, and specifically indicated that Naomi’s God would be her God.

Moab was a nation that would not acknowledge the special status of the descendants of Jacob. Nonetheless, when the time remaining for Moab was very brief, the cry went out from Isaiah for Israel to have mercy upon them. The outcasts of Moab were to be safe, at least for a moment, as sojourners among Israel. The people of the Lord were to be a “shelter to them from the destroyer.” Moabites were to discover protection under the banner of Jehovah.

There was no denying the sin of Moab. The nation was proud and insolent. Nonetheless, it would appear that the One who is the Lord of the nations had regarded the helpless condition of Moab. Some of her people would receive at least a moment of the mercy of God.

How should a person avail himself of a season of opportunity from the Lord? Anyone who would know the steadfast love of God should repent and find peace in the Lamb of God without delay. For Moab, the time remaining was very short. The few survivors needed to immediately forsake all false gods and to put their trust in Jehovah.

The love of the Lord for this unworthy nation was unexpected. Was God grieving for Moab? How could this be? Moab wearied herself out worshiping false gods. Yet the true God had a place in His holy affections for the ungodly.

There is much about the plan of the Lord for the people that worshiped Chemosh that we do not understand. We do know this: In the coming of Jesus, a light has now dawned for the world. Our hope cannot be based on our association with any nation. No ethnic or national relation will ever bring us eternal security. God’s heart was apparently moved concerning the imminent misery that would overtake the people of Moab, yet there would be no salvation for Moab simply because she was Moab.

We need to be part of a glorious endeavor that will never fail. God has provided everything that we need through the gift of Jesus. It is time for us to be a part of the body of Christ.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, the trouble that will come upon men one day will quickly overwhelm them. We taste that even now in the many trials that are a part of this age. One day there will come One who will be swift to do justice. Surely the nations of the earth have provoked You for centuries. You have provided so many good gifts to the sons and daughters of Adam, but we have worshiped false gods, and deliberately ignored You, the Creator and Sustainer of all Your creatures. We confess our sins before You, and we plead for those who have not yet called upon Your Name. Rescue many by Your kind provision of mercy through Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 15

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The current and following chapter in Isaiah contain a prophecy against the nation of Moab. The descendants of an incestuous relationship involving Abraham's nephew, Lot, the Moabites often stood against Israel. They called upon their false God, Chemosh, and used whatever means they could to harm God’s people.

The book of Numbers tells the story a Moabite king, Balak. He tried to retain the services of a pagan prophet, Balaam, in order to bring about the demise of the Israelites. Balaam instead prophesied about the victory of Israel and about the distant coming of a Messiah from their number.

It was the Moabites and their King Eglon who in the days of the judges oppressed Israel and extracted from her the produce of the land. They fattened themselves at Israel's expense, but the people of God were delivered from them through the provision of a judge, Ehud.

Many years later a famine came upon the land of Israel, leading a couple from Bethlehem to sojourn in Moab. When the trouble was over and Naomi the Israelite had lost both her sons and her husband, she returned with Ruth the Moabitess. Ruth would be an ancestor of King David, and from David's lineage the Savior of the world would eventually be born.

God cared even for the Moabites. Of course He did not approve of their demonic gods and their high places of false worship. He hated the way that they turned against His people with violence. Yet here in Isaiah 15 the prophet gave voice to Jehovah's heart of sympathy for Moab in her distress.

The Lord Himself joined the “armed men of Moab” in crying out for the descendants of Lot: “My heart cries out for Moab.” He brought to mind her pleasant places, her roads and rivers, her fields and vegetation. He looked ahead to the destruction that would come from the Assyrian Empire. According to His own decree, Moab would soon be no more. Even many of those who would flee would yet be appointed for death.

Today, the land of Moab is long gone. Their future generations were mixed together with the people of many other nations who were conquered by the Assyrians. Throughout the earth there are other foreign powers who will soon face the judgment of God. Our hearts go out to them.

The Lord has provided only one way of peace for all the people groups of the earth. All who dwell upon the earth must find forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He is the one sacrifice appointed for the sins of those who put their trust in Him. All who call upon His Name shall be saved.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

God of the Nations, You can destroy a powerful city in one night. We should repent of all sin. Every people in every land should flee from the wrath to come, Everyone should run to Jesus Christ. Our only safety is in Him. The sign of guilt is upon the hands of men. Only the blood of the Lamb of God can cleanse us.

Isaiah 14

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“The Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.” We turn again to the New Testament in order to correctly interpret the prophecies contained in the Old Testament. We find in Romans 9 through 11 an extensive consideration of the meaning of “Israel” and particularly of God's choosing of His people.

Paul tells us in Romans 9:6 that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” While there may have been a partial fulfillment of Isaiah's words in the return of the Lord's people from exile, the bigger story was clearly presented by Paul many centuries later. Millions of Gentiles have become the “sojourners” who have been attached to “the house of Israel.” We have become willing “slaves” of the King of the Jews.

“Babylon” is surely fallen (Revelation 14:8), but the Babylon that the apostle John would write about at the end of the first century would not be the empire that took over from the Assyrians and was soon defeated by the Medes and the Persians. The ultimate Babylon would be the anti-God system led by a fallen angel over the course of a very long period of time. In the words of Isaiah, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!” (See also Job 38:7.)

Isaiah also anticipated the joy of the church ransomed by Jesus as we serve the Lord of Israel. We are not the captives of Judah taken away in chains. We are the rejoicing bondservants of a Messiah who is leading us home in peace as we worship Him. “The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing.” (See also Psalm 68:18-27 and Ephesians 4:8.)

The enemy of our souls has been restrained for a time so that the nations can hear the good news of the kingdom and find new life in our Redeemer. An ancient serpent had dreams of a very lofty place of honor for himself. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But those pretensions have been shown to be against the decree of the Almighty. “You are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.” Even now he is held in check by the Lord who truly reigns in the heights of heaven (Revelation 20:3). One day this proud adversary will never be able to trouble us in the least (Revelation 20:10).

Isaiah wrote not only of “Babylon,” but also of Assyria and the Philistines. The fate of every nation would be determined by the Almighty and not by the dreams of those who thirst for their own glory. Those who would rejoice in the injuries that would come to God's people would find that they themselves would suffer from the wrath of the Lord.

The final words of Isaiah 14 are the great hope of all those who would align themselves with Jesus of Nazareth: “The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of His people find refuge.” The “Zion” referred to by the prophet is more than just the Promised Land of old or the remnant of Israel who would return from exile in Babylon. All of the Lord's chosen people have become His precious city, and the “refuge” that is our joy is far greater than anything that we could ask for or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord of Hosts, have compassion upon Your people, and give us rest from our pain. Men and angels have struck Your people with unrelenting persecution. You will bring the pompous low. Even that angel who made a plan to ascend upon the clouds shall be cast down. Judge the way of antichrists who have tried to deceive multitudes. If they had their way, we would have been utterly swept away from the land of the living. Your Hand is much stronger than any adversary. You will bring us safety and rest at just the right time. We take refuge even now in Your Son.

Isaiah 13

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The Lord had a message concerning “Babylon.” The Babylonians had their place in the history of humanity. They took over from the Assyrians, and another regional power would one day take over for them. For the brief time when they controlled the area east of Israel and Judah, the Lord would use them for His appointed purposes, even though they were not a righteous nation.

The power behind every possible throne or dominion can be none other than the Lord God Almighty. God even called the Babylonian forces “my consecrated ones,” but it was Jehovah who was using them to bring His discipline upon Judah. “I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proud exulting ones.”

The sovereignty of God in the affairs of all the nations should never be denied. Assyria, and then Babylon, were the great military powers in the days of Isaiah. Long after Babylon was gone from the earth, the name of that city would be used by biblical authors to refer to “proud exulting ones” from all of the nations of the world. In Revelation 14:8 when we read that “Babylon is fallen,” God is drawing us well beyond the history of Judah to a much later “day of the Lord.” Though the Lord would certainly use many nations for His own purposes in the centuries to come, all of them would one day be judged by God for their own arrogance and cruelty.

In speaking of the coming day of final judgment, New Testament authors like Matthew and Paul would use the words of Isaiah to refer to the troubles that would one day come upon the earth. It would be “like a woman in labor.” The heavens would declare the seriousness of the moment when “the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.”

Though Isaiah wrote about the specific nation that would destroy Jerusalem and would soon after be overtaken by the Medes and Persians (13:17), he gave strong indication in his ancient prophetic warning that the trouble from the Almighty would be far more widespread. The Lord said, “I will punish the world for its evil.”

Jehovah “will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant.” He used the history of His chosen nation to teach us the truth that God would one day humble “the glory of the kingdoms.” There is an ultimate day of destruction coming upon the whole earth. The only way of hope in that final Day of the Lord will be through faith in the Messiah. Because of His kind compassion, all who trust in Him will not only survive, but will even thrive as citizens of a kingdom that will never end.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, You are right to be angry with men in their arrogance. In Your people of old and in Your church at the present hour there is much surprising haughtiness. What will we do with our pride in the day of Your fierce anger? Where will we flee in that day? If judgment begins among the people who claim to know You, what will become of those who refuse to acknowledge Your Name in any good way? We grieve for those who suppress the knowledge of Your truth in unrighteousness. You have used powerful armies for Your purposes, but weapons and strategies will never save the world when You come to judge. Kings and kingdoms will not be able to stand when You determine that the end of their days has come.

Isaiah 12

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The Lord had a settled plan to bring “comfort” to His people. The achievement of that decree required that His holy “anger” against His beloved children be “turned away.” Without yet explaining how this would come about, Isaiah wrote a great chorus of celebration for future generations to say and to sing. “The Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.”

The New Covenant would begin with the death and resurrection of the King of the church. While the church would have to wait for the culmination of God's perfect work in the return of Jesus, the years between the Lord's ascension and His second coming would be a time of sacrificial gospel proclamation. The good news would be preached not only to the Jews, but also to all the other people groups of the earth.

How would God's people endure through the challenges that would surely come as they brought the good news of the Messiah to the nations of the world? “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” The people of God would sing to Him with faith and they would reveal “His deeds among the peoples.” Through their testimony and their worship, the glorious works of the Lord would be “made known in all the earth.”

Though we still look for the grand fulfillment of God's eternal purpose, even now our Savior is with us. We have received the downpayment of the Holy Spirit sent forth to the church through the Father and the Son. By the Spirit's work in our souls we can “shout and sing for joy.” As followers of Jesus the Messiah, we are not ashamed to tell others the good news of our King. What Isaiah promised has already come to pass among the Lord's faithful witnesses: “Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

O Lord, we give thanks to You. You were angry with us, but Your anger has been turned away from us through the life and death of Your Son. We rejoice in Your mercy, O God, for You are with us. Your presence is our life. You are great in the midst of Your people.

Isaiah 11

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In Isaiah 4 we learned of a coming “branch of the Lord.” We begin Isaiah 11 with the good news of this “branch,” who will be “a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” Though different Hebrew words are used in Chapter 4 and Chapter 11, the person they describe is the same. This Messiah who would be before King David and also after King David would be Jesus Christ. He would be full of the Holy Spirit beyond measure, and would rule the kingdom of God with wisdom and with “the fear of the Lord.”

No longer would deceptive people be able to abuse the poor. Our King would rule “with righteousness” and “with equity.” He would bring a very different world into being, where “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.” In our current environment, a child certainly should not “play over the hole of the cobra.” In this future world of perfect security, such dangers would be gone.

When would this promise be fulfilled? The New Testament teaches us in Revelation 21 of a new land of life, where “death will be no more.” In the words of Isaiah 11:9, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.” In that perfect day, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”

While this new era would begin with the first coming of the King as a humble child, one day the struggle of faith in this broken world would come to an end. When the great King would return, “His resting place shall be glorious.” Throughout the many centuries between His first arrival and His return in majesty, He would be reigning, but in such a way that we would not “yet see everything in subjection to Him.” (Hebrews 2:8-9)

During this proclamation portion of the resurrection era, Jesus would be “a signal for the peoples.” During these many years, the Gentiles would no longer be kept in complete darkness. “Of Him shall the nations inquire.” The Apostle Paul, quoting Isaiah 11:10 in Romans 15:12, gives us a clear New Testament interpretation of Isaiah's words. The gathering of the Gentiles through the preaching of the church was for Paul a present manifestation of the reign of “the root of Jesse.”

“In that day the Lord will extend His hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of His people.” This assembly would include not only the faithful from Israel, but even the chosen ones “from Assyria” and “from the coastlands of the sea.”

Particularly through His death and resurrection, Christ became “a signal for the nations.” The words of Isaiah suggested this in the Old Testament days of shadows. The letters of Paul confirmed it after the dawning of the new era of resurrection. As Isaiah 11:16 recorded so long ago, “There will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of His people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.” That assembly of worshipers would include not only a few neighbor nations of Israel that could be named by Isaiah, but many other people groups where the God of Israel had never before been proclaimed.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, we long to see the Branch who has come from the root of Jesse. The greatest Son of David has proven Himself by His atoning love. Now we wait for His return, for His judgment will mean peace and vindication for the people You love. On that day, the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of You. We shall see the perfect peace that Your Son won for us through the cross. Father, we are the remnant of Your people from all the nations. We are the Jews and Gentiles who believe in Your Name. We are the ones that You spoke of so long ago. We wait for You and serve You with both joy and expectation even now.